Why we'll miss 'Saturday Night Live' greats Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah
Saturday Night Live fans got a rude awakening Monday night.
The show announced two of its longtime cast members, Taran Killam and Jay Pharaoh, had been dropped from the show in advance of its 42nd season. The show usually adjusts its cast ahead of every new season. And while struggling newcomers often get the boot (like Jon Rudnitsky this year), it's unusual, though not unheard of, for veterans to leave so unceremoniously — former cast members like Kristen Wiig have left to great fanfare.
If you're having trouble coping with their untimely departure, please enjoy a few of our favorite sketches from Killam and Pharoah.
Taran Killam
Killam has become one of the show's go-to players over the past few seasons, especially as big names like Jason Sudeikis and Bill Hader have departed. Killam plays the "straight man" in a lot of the sketches, but he also had a handy roster of impressions and characters. First and foremost, we will miss Jebidiah Atkinson, the old-timey critic who critiqued, well, everything.
He briefly took the very important part of Donald Trump, though the show later gave it to Darrell Hammond. Our favorite is his version of Christoph Waltz, a jovial, cuddly, bearded impression for the ages.
And let us not forget his contributions to the Fox and Friends sketches.
Jay Pharoah
Saying goodbye to Jay Pharoah means saying goodbye to his Barack Obama, which has entertained and amazed us for most of the president's time in office, which perhaps, conveniently, is also coming to an end.
His insane impersonation skills were put on display when he threw out impressions of nine different black comedians in the course of a single appearance on "Weekend Update." Watch and try not to be amazed.
We can't forget about Principal Frye, one of the comedians go-to characters. Frye sketches were very much love-them or hate-them, but we're certainly going to miss them.
Good luck with everything, guys. SNL won't be quite the same without you.