The good news; It was announced earlier this week that Silicon Valley, which just kicked off its fourth season in April, would be returning to HBO for Season 5. The bad news; T.J. Miller and, likewise, his iconic stoner entrepreneur counterpart Erlich Bachman will not be involved.
Miller’s exit from the Emmy-nominated series was confirmed via a statement from HBO. “The producers of Silicon Valley and T.J. Miller have mutually agreed that T.J. will not return for Season 5,” read the statement. “In Erlich Bachman, T.J. has brought to life an unforgettable character, and while his presence on the show will be missed, we appreciate his contribution and look forward to future collaborations.”
While Miller is officially out, the remainder of the cast, led by Thomas Middleditch, Zach Woods, Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, Josh Brener and Amanda Crew, are all expected to return.
News of Miller’s exit from Silicon Valley comes amidst a flurry of other projects — The Emoji Movie and Walden among others — involving the comedian-actor. He is slated to appear in Steven Spielberg’s highly-anticipated Ready Player One out in 2018 as well as Deadpool 2, which he recently promised — in an interview with MovieWeb — to be even more “weaselicious” than the first Marvel film.
Miller currently voices the title character of Comedy Central’s The Gorburger Show and will make his HBO stand-up special debut in Meticulously Ridiculous (see a promo for the hour-long here) on June 17.