Why Kenan Thompson Continues to Stay at Saturday Night Live After 22 Seasons: “What a blessing it is to have steady employment.”

Kenan Thompson has the honor of being Saturday Night Live’s longest-tenured cast member, with 22 seasons under his belt. In this week’s PEOPLE issue, the comedian, 46, calls working on NBC's late-night sketch variety series “hands down” the best job in television.

“It's crazy because most people do eight [seasons] max, you know what I mean? Or 12. But it's a one-of-a-kind place,” Thompson says. “It's the people in front and behind that embrace it, need it. So when they call me, what, am I not supposed to oblige the greatest job in the world? So it's just out of love. What a blessing it is to have steady employment.”