Lorne Michaels Engineers Another Inspired Succession
The choice of Jimmy Fallon to take over for Jay Leno will rank as one of the best decisions comedy impresario Lorne Michaels has ever made. As if that weren’t enough for the current calendar year, there is now news of an equally inspired move in the SNL announcer department.
Taking over in this 40th season of SNL for the late Don Pardo will be Darrell Hammond. From Andrea Romano’s Mashable item:
Hammond, who was a cast member from 1995 to 2009, also occasionally sat in for Pardo when he was sick.
“I sat in for Don when he had laryngitis several times over the years,” Hammond told USA Today. “When he passed, they wanted me; it felt right for me to be the one to replace him.”
The first wave of reaction from fans at the NBC official announcement end is uniformly positive. Hammond is a survivor in the truest sense of that word; not to mention someone who, when pressed into Pardo replacement service, was able to completely fool the announcer’s sister-in-law. FishbowlNY looks forward to seeing how he puts his talented stamp on this SNL coda. Not to mention announcing his old pal Bill Hader as host on October 11.
Previously on FishbowlNY:
RIP: Don Pardo
[Photo: Lev Radin/Shutterstock.com]
