Saturday Night Live is a job that so many comedians and performers seek out, and there has been endless amounts of talent walking through NBC's hallowed halls since the show first went into production. But all good things must come to an end at some point, and it looks like one of the show's longest-running current cast members, Bobby Moynihan, could be making an exit soon. The actor has signed on for a lead role in the in-development CBS pilot Me, Myself and I. This isn't the network's normal programming fare, either.
But before we get into the kind of storytelling that Me, Myself and I will employ, let's go over how it could affect things. The cut-and-dry situation depends on whether or not CBS picks the pilot up to series. If Me, Myself and I gets ordered, Bobby Moynihan will officially exit Saturday Night Live ahead of Season 43. On the flip side, it's a little less clear what happens if the network passes on the pilot and it enters TV limbo. THR's report has no confirmation of him retaining his repertory player position for Season 43 if his schedule is open, but one would assume that'd be the case. In that scenario, one is also assuming no competitive feelings are spawned from him working with a different network.
For the timeline-jumping Me, Myself and I, Bobby Moynihan will play lifelong inventor Alex Riley, at least the present-day version of Alex. While struggling with a creative block, Alex looks into his past for inspiration, which is when the comedy would then skip back to 1991, when Alex was 14 years old. (We can expect nothing uncomfortable to happen to him in that post-pubescent stage, right?) It won't just be those two versions of the character, either, as potential audiences would also see a 65-year-old version of Alex kicking around in 2042. No details about that part were given, but with an inventor as the lead character, the sky is the limit for what they could make the year 2042 look like.
If Bobby Moynihan indeed leaves Saturday Night Live for this new project, anyone happy or upset with the news would have Galavant writer/producer Dan Kopelman to thank or blame, as he penned the script for the pilot, and he'll executive produce alongside Kapital Entertainment execs. Randall Einhorn, a TV vet who has directed lots of The Mick and It's Always Sunny episodes, will be behind the camera for the pilot. Also cast for the project are current Big Little Lies star Kelen Coleman as the adult version of Alex's daughter Abby, and former Daily Show correspondent Brian Unger as Alex's step-father Ron.
In his roughly nine years on Saturday Night Live, Bobby Moynihan has taken on plenty of other acting gigs, although none of them have been of the "lead role in a live-action network series" variety. He's been in a slew of animated series, though, from kid-friendly fare as Jake and the Never Land Pirates and We Bare Bears to more adult-skewing stuff like Chozen and The Awesomes. (He's Louie in the upcoming DuckTales reboot, too.) Moynihan has also made in-person appearances on shows like Girls and Comedy Bang! Bang! On the feature side, he voiced a role in last year's Secret Life of Pets and will soon be seen in the drama The Book of Henry from director Colin Trevorrow.
With Bobby Moynihan still locked down for the rest of Season 42, the rejuvenated Saturday Night Live returns to NBC this weekend, March 4, with Octavia Spencer as the guest host and Father John Misty as the musical act. Head to our list of SNL hosts to keep up with what's ahead and check out our midseason premiere schedule to learn what's heading to the small screen in the near future.
