The starting lineup for Season 51 of Saturday Night Live is as good as locked, after Deadline revealed that Ego Nwodim is leaving after seven seasons.

Nwodim is one of five people exiting and Lorne Michaels has hired five new people to join the cast of the show, which returns on October 4.

Deadline spoke to a half-dozen insiders about the latest hirings and firings and what it means for the show, highlighting how it paints a picture of a show at an inflection point.

One source called the new class of cast members “one of the best in a long time.”

“I think what you’re seeing right now is SNL operating in a new era, where the talent has more of a voice than ever before,” he said. “In previous years when you would hire a cast member, it would be a total discovery. This yea

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