Darrell Hammond Is Officially the New ‘SNL’ Announcer

Following the death of SNL’s longtime announcer Don Pardo last month, former cast member (and occasional Pardo fill-in) Darrell Hammond said he’d be “honored and thrilled� to take over Pardo’s duties on the show going forward, and now that change has officially been made. The New York Times confirms that Lorne Michaels has chosen Hammond to become the show’s new announcer going forward. It’s not yet clear whether Hammond will imitate Pardo like he’s done in the past or make the job his own, but a quote from Michaels seems to hint it will be the latter: “There were a lot of sweet ideas about carrying on with Don somehow,� Michaels said. “Because everyone has a Pardo impression. But he had the greatest run and he’s a completely beloved figure. So I thought: Don’t turn this into something else. That period ended.� Michaels later added that he’s “really happy� to have given Hammond the gig and that he thinks “it will be good to have Darrell doing his own separate thing.�