As is with most off seasons for a team, Saturday Night Live is going through a few staff changes before it comes back for season 42. TV Line reported that Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah will not be returning this fall for the 2016/2017 season. An NBC spokesperson later confirmed the departures.
The two players have been with the show for six seasons and are departing to pursue other opportunities. It’s not uncommon this time of year when veteran cast members make decisions about their future on the show. Particularly as the standard SNL 7 year contract nears the end.
Killam will be remembered for impersonating many political figures like Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, and Paul Ryan. He’s also know for celebs like Matthew McConaughey and Brad Pitt. He also has two movies in the pipeline for 2016.
Pharoah has become a master impressionist on the show, handling almost any rapper from Jay-Z to Will Smith. He also has a killer Ben Carson and was handling all President Obama roles since the departure of Fred Armisen. A character that we surprisingly saw little of in season 41.
Of course, SNL mastermind Lorne Michaels has handled plenty of cast change ups over the years. The departure of these two players, though will be missed, will probably be handled just as well as usual. This also means it’s very possible we could see some more cast departures or a few new faces in the next few weeks.
UPDATE: The show’s newest featured player, Jon Rudnitsky is also reportedly out after one season.
It also appears that the decision for Killam and Pharoah to leave the show was not on them, rather Lorne Michaels decided not to pick up their contracts for their final season. While Pharoah has yet to say anything, Killiam was giving an interview Uproxx about a movie project and he stated, “I don’t know fully. I don’t know the other side of it. You sign for seven years, so I had one more year. I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren’t going to pick up my contract. I was never given a reason why, really. I can assume until the cows come home.”
