The New York Times is reporting that Darrell Hammond will officially be announced as the new announcer for Saturday Night Live Thursday morning. Hammond will replace the late Don Pardo, who was the announcer for 38 of the show’s 39 seasons, and passed away last month at the age of 96.
Hammond holds the distinction as the longest tenured cast member ever, spending 14 years (1995-2009) at SNL. He is most remembered for his impressions of former President Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, and Donald Trump, and also once held the record for most impressions done by a cast member with 107.
One of those impressions was of Pardo, who Hammond would fill-in for when Pardo was ill. When Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek hosted in 1999, Hammond as Pardo and Van Der Beek had a somewhat awkward monologue discussion involving underwear.
While executive producer Lorne Michaels hinted that Hammond will not be doing an impression of Pardo, hopefully we will see Hammond return to the stage as Clinton with the upcoming midterm and 2016 presidential elections.
Saturday Night Live also confirmed through their Facebook page that former cast member Bill Hader will host the 40th season’s third episode on Oct. 11th with musical guest, Hozier.
