Paul Brittain to leave Saturday Night Live, "effective immediately"

This season of Saturday Night Live has claimed its first victim: Paul Brittain, who joined the show in 2010, will be leaving the Not Ready For Prime Time Players, "effective immediately." That sounds ominous, like Brittain was caught stealing cast mates' underwear or accidentally saw Lorne Michaels without his human suit on, but according to "a source," he and the show are parting amicably. (The show will be seeking full custody of the children, but it's letting Brittain keep the house in Narragansett and Rocky, their Weimaraner.) Apparently, the comedian had opportunities elsewhere (movies!) and decided to pursue those, instead of playing a tween for three minutes every Saturday night.

This marks the first cast change since Brittain came on (along with Vanessa Bayer, Taran Killam, and Jay Pharoah) and the first exit since Jenny Slate's dismissal in 2010. (We still think that was much too soon, and not just because one of our editors went to high school with her.) Brittain didn't have a large gallery of roles, though he managed good James Franco and Ron Paul impressions; his biggest hit during his tenure was probably Sex Ed Vincent, which you can watch below. Good luck, Paul — here's wishing you the post-SNL career of Casey Wilson, and not the post-SNL career of Michaela Watkins.