NBC has the past several weeks detailed many changes at “Saturday Night Live,” particularly among the show’s cast. But one of the most important shifts at the program has gone undisclosed — until the program’s 51st season premiere.
Credits rolling early Sunday morning after a hosting stint by Bad Bunny revealed the elevation of longtime producer Erin Doyle to the top echelon of the show’s production staff. Doyle joins two “SNL” stalwarts, Steve Higgins and Erik Kenward, at the top levels of managing the series, which continues to be executive produced by Lorne Michaels.
An NBC spokeswoman for the show declined to comment on Doyle’s new role. Neither the network or the show have made any announcements about any changes in production staff.
Doyle’s overall responsibilities may not change that much. After joining “SNL” in 2009 as a intern and working as one of Michaels’ many assistants, she has risen in the show’s ranks. “She has a palpable warmth and, like Michaels, a knack for dealing with high-strung famous people; she also produces shows for his production company, Broadway Video,” according to a recent biography of Michaels written by New Yorker editor Susan Morrison that was released earlier this year. Doyle “sometimes functions” as the show’s conscience, Morrison wrote, “flagging jokes that the audience could find offensive.”
But she is rising to a new level that does not change much at “SNL.” Kenward has been one of the program’s senior producers since 2011, having joined the program in 2001 as a writer. Higgins, who also appears regularly as a sideman on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” has been with “SNL” since 1995.
