The new “voice” of “Saturday Night Live” is going to have a familiar tone
Darrell Hammond, the versatile impressionist who held forth on the program between 1995 and 2009 – the longest tenure of any cast member on the show – will return to the venerable program as its announcer, Hammond and show executive producer Lorne Michaels said in interviews with USA Today and The New York Times. He will replace Don Pardo, the program’s longtime announcer who passed away in August.
Hammond has some familiarity with his new duties. He has at times quietly substituted for Pardo when he had voice problems, according to the reports.
Michaels told USA Today that Hammond would not replicate Pardo’s voice, but would come up with his own take on the role. “”I just knew it wouldn’t be anybody who sounded like Don or replicated him,” Michaels told the media outlet. “It can’t be what it was, but it could sort of be in the same tradition. And it will be nice to have Darrell around. He understands the show and will probably be helpful in ways we haven’t yet figured out.”
