Don Roy King, who has won eleven Emmys for directing Saturday Night Live, is retiring and is set to be replaced by The Ellen DeGeneres Show director Liz Patrick.
Roy King is the long-running director of the NBC series. He is believed to have directed more live U.S. television hours than anyone else.
Having previously directed CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS This Morning and Good Morning America, Roy King was only the fourth director in the 46 year run of the comedy variety series.
Patrick, who has directed over 2,000 episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, becomes the fifth. She has worked with DeGeneres on a number of series including Ellen’s Game of Games, Repeat After Me and Heads Up! She previously spent 15 years at MTV, working across live events as well as series such as Wild N’ Out.
This change is made ahead of season 47’s launch on NBC October 2. Beck Bennett is leaving the show, but the other main cast members will continue to work and there are three new featured characters.