In addition, a source at NBC has confirmed to The Post that, after months of rumors, veteran performer Fred Armisen will also be leaving the show. Headliner Jason Sudeikis will “probably” jump as well, the source said.
The main thesis of the article speculating on many headliners “jumping ship” and the show “about to sink” is complete bullshit. This kind of turnover is always happening and has happened countless times before. ‘SNL’ isn’t going anywhere and the Post can kindly STFU.
This week’s season finale will cap Hader’s eight-year tenure on the show. The Times reports that Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis’ status on the show is also in question, and of course Seth Meyers will depart for ‘Late Night’ by at least February.
Lorne Michaels on Hader:
“In terms of intelligence and talent, he was in that same tradition,” Mr. Michaels said in a telephone interview. “He was so completely committed to the art of it and enough a student of it that there’s something strikingly original. He didn’t explode onto the air, but gradually he found his voice, and that became a huge thing.”
Mr. Hader said: “My joke was, we’ll start singing ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and just say bye to Kristen again. I can just do a little wave at goodnights, and that signifies it.”
With this and J. Lo’s rumored departure the ‘Idol’ table is again going to look very different next season. Also, producers will have to act fast as auditions take place over the summer.
The producers of the show have granted Spader an exit. Variety reports that Spader always intended for it to be a one season arc. It’s not yet known whether he’ll be written out this season or explained after-the-fact next fall.
For a character that showed some promise at the end of last season, nothing they did with him really panned out, and he’s been all but completely absent as of late. This brings up a greater issue, which is, it’s time to end The Office. Of course, NBC won’t give up anything that’s performing marginally well (even if it’s only a shadow of what it once was), but creatively it’s running on fumes and for the sake of legacy and all those involved it should be let go.
Damn, he showed promise. Lord Windermere could have been a new classic.
A source close to the actor tells EW that Brittain “had the opportunity to pursue other projects, and he and the show parted ways amicably.”
Shum Jr and Criss have been upped to series regulars while Overstreet’s option was not picked up - making appearances, if any, on a guest star basis.
Personally while this is great for Shum Jr and Criss, who are fan favorites, it doesn’t bode well for the show’s future. Overstreet’s character Sam was the only underclassmen not scheduled to graduate at the end of this season. He would have made a great workable bridge between the show’s current and presumably new casts. Also this screws the Sam/Mercedes relationship cliff hanger they set up in the finale.
Zach left PopEater, Dan left TotalFilm, and Hillary left EW.
You all will be dearly missed (as the voice of those Tumblrs) and deserve lots of kudos for building up your sites.
The beauty of having my own brand: the rest of you losers are stuck with me.
