Just days after the news came out that they wouldn't be returning to Saturday Night Live, Jay Pharoah and Taran Killam have already moved on to greener pastures. Showtime announced at the Television Critics Association press tour on Thursday that the comedians would both have their own comedy pilots on the network, according to Vulture.
Killam will star in a show tentatively called Mating. It is billed as Showtime's first comedy anthology show, meaning that each season will focus on a different character. It will deal, as its title implies, with the world of dating and relationships. In the initial season, Killam plays a newly divorced man thrown back into the dating pool who "now finds himself completely unprepared for the brave new, frank and fluid world of dating and hooking up.” The show is executive produced by Jason Katims and Stu Zicherman.
Pharoah's show is executive produced by Tom Kapinos and Jamie Foxx, and is loosely based on Foxx's early stand-up comedy career. Foxx also has a recurring role in the series, which is about an African-American comedian named Floyd Mooney (played of course by Pharoah) adjusting to his growing white audience as he gains popularity. Its title? White Famous.
Although this news is newly announced, both shows have been in the works for months. Showtime Networks President and CEO David Nevins said that his network had long been in talks with both actors.
"We were prepared to work around their SNL schedules," Nevins said at the press conference. "But our schedule got easier when they got released from the show."
