BLIND GOSSIP

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A Sudden Exit

SOLVED!

UPDATE!

[Blind Gossip] When a key cast member leaves a successful show, you have to ask what happened.

No, it’s not creative differences or scheduling difficulties or any other bulls*t you’ll probably hear. It may be hard to believe, but he’s actually more obnoxious than his character. He walked into contract negotiations making demands like he is the biggest star on the show, and he came out with nothing. They hate working with him so it was as good a time as any to can him.

Everybody will make it look like it was a mutual decision so everybody saves face. He does have other gigs lined up, so people probably won’t question it too hard.

On a side note, we hear that now producers have to figure out what to do with the actor whose character was the foil to the departing actor’s character. One possibility is to make him the key player in a real estate transaction that keeps the rest of the cast together.

TV Show:

Actor:

His Foil:

[Optional] Will the TV show be better off or worse off without his character?

SOLVED!

TV Show: Silicon Valley

Actor: T.J. Miller (playing Erlich Bachman)

His Foil: Jimmy O. Yang (playing Jian Yang)

TJ Miller, who plays Erlich Bachman in HBO’s Silicon Valley, has departed the hit series in a swirling trail of fire and trash talking!

Miller’s new “exit interview” in The Hollywood Reporter is this crazy circular pile of babble that alternates patting his former teammates on the back with kicking them in the testicles.

T.J. Miller Says Leaving ‘Silicon Valley’ “Felt Like a Breakup”

The HBO comedy wrote out T.J. Miller’s fan-favorite character in a rather unexpected and unceremonious fashion. After going to China to meet up with Gavin Belson (Matt Ross), the pair stop at an opium den in Tibet, where Erlich gets so high that he can barely function. So the ousted Hooli CEO pays the owner of the drug den a wad of cash to keep Erlich there for five years.

And with that, Silicon Valley said goodbye to one of its most beloved characters. HBO first confirmed in May that Miller would not be coming back for the upcoming fifth season, writing in a statement that “the producers of Silicon Valley and T.J. Miller have mutually agreed that T.J. will not return for season five.” The news left many wondering why there was a sudden parting, particularly since Erlich has been one of the show’s biggest breakouts.

The low point of the interview when he took Executive Producer Alec Berg to task.

“I think that HBO and Alec Berg, specifically, kind of thought — and I guess apparently Thomas Middleditch — I guess they thought, “All right, maybe this is the end of the character. But like everything in the show, we’ll sort of solve this and then it’s back to normal.” And they just didn’t imagine that I would be in a position of being like, “I think that’s it.” I don’t know how smart [Alec] is. He went to Harvard, and we all know those kids are f—ing idiots. That Crimson trash. Those comedy writers in Hollywood are f—ing Harvard graduates and that’s why they’re smug as a bug.”

Yikes.

You can read the entire interview here. Just don’t expect any definitive answers about whether T.J. Miller was fired or quit… had his role sharply reduced voluntarily or involuntarily… or if everyone loves him or hates him. We found the whole interview weirdly incomprehensible and inconclusive, but you can judge for yourself.

For now, everyone is pretending that his leaving the series was either T.J.’s own decision or a mutual decision. T.J. says:

But for me, television, unlike women and wine, does not get better with age. So I thought, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to leave at the height of the success of the show?”

Whatever. However, we know that there was a lot of sh*t talking behind the scenes, and T.J. Miller was not as well-liked as his character… who was incredibly unlikable.

The main cast is now reduced from five to four, with a bunch of secondary characters (Monica, Big Head, Russ Hanneman, Jian Yang) still dwelling around the periphery.

So, with the main character of Erlich Bachman tucked away in an opium den for five years, what will happen to Jian Yang’s character? With his nemesis now gone, Jian Yang needs something to do.

You might recall that Erlich Bachman owns the incubator/house where all the main characters reside. We doubt that the characters will move. That would be like moving the characters from The Brady Bunch or Seinfeld or Friends to a new place! Nooo. They need to stay put.

Since Jian Yang had a recent windfall from selling his Not Hotdog/Seefood app, there is a possibility that he will buy the house and become the new landlord of Richard, Dinesh, and Gilfoyle.

We don’t want Jared to leave the house – and we also think it would be great fun to have Big Head and Russ Hanneman move in – but that’s just wishful thinking on our part.

Congratulations to Mmemordant for being first with the correct response!

UPDATE!

We were right! Jian Yang has taken over the house!

In the original blind item from a year ago, Blind Gossip told you that Silicon Valley producers were looking to keep the Jian Yang character (played by Jimmy O. Yang), but they needed to give him something to do once TJ Miller’s character, Erlich Bachmann, left.

On a side note, we hear that now producers have to figure out what to do with the actor whose character was the foil to the departing actor’s character. One possibility is to make him the key player in a real estate transaction that keeps the rest of the cast together.

Since Richard and the other guys hate Jian Yang, they would have booted him out of the incubator if they had control. The perfect answer was to have Jian Yang take over the incubator instead!

Yang managed to do this by convincing a judge that Erlich Bachmann was dead, by producing Bachmann’s “ashes” (which were really a pig’s ashes), and by paying off Bachmann’s debts. Then he kicked Richard, Gilfoyle, and Dinesh out of the incubator house!

Since those three are now temporarily homeless, that gives them lots of story lines in which they try to find alternative housing. However, we think that’s just temporary. We believe that they will eventually be reunited under the same roof, that it will be at the incubator house (which is almost a character itself), and that it will likely be with Jian Yang.

As for Erlich Bachmann? Well, he’s not coming back.

In fact, TJ Miller – the actor who played Bachmann – was just arrested in real life for calling in a fake bomb threat on a train traveling to Connecticut.

Seriously.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. jbj2016 says

    I will go with the popular response of TJ Miller. Even his closest friends would joke about how obnoxious he is long before he became a breakout. They would also admit that he is a exceptional comedian. So, I would not be surprised that he left over money. It is a risky move, because he is the type who must be taken in small doses, and he has a history of trashing his mainstream movies (like Yogi Bear and Transformers).

  3. luvprue1 says

    TV show: The Originals
    Actor: Elijah aka Daniel Gillies
    His foil: Marcel aka Charles Micheal Davis

    Elijah/Daniel has been a main character on the show since it started so I was surprised when they killed him off. However they made Marcel/Charles a Original. Therefore they do not have to change the title once Daniel leave.

  4. BeauSo says

    The clue is right in the picture: ARROW actor John Barrowman, who played a villain, is leaving that show.

  5. thirsty4trash says

    I’m getting a John Barrowman vibe (Arrow). He died on the season finale this week and he’s been known to be a bit of a diva. The green “Enter Key” with the close up of the arrow could be a hint.

  7. Lurky Lou says

    Ooh is this Jim Parsons?? The Big Bang Theory, David Galecki.

    After 10 seasons, the whole ensemble is so linked, I think if one goes it will head downhill fast.

  8. mermaidh2 says

    SNL- Bobby Moynihan?
    He is irritating as f*.
    Don’t know the foil…he has so many sh**y characters it could be multiple people if this blind is about him.

  14. Iwonder says

    TJ Miller
    show: Silicon Valley

    optional: I don’t watch the show, so I wouldn’t know….

  25. Brizzles says

    Glenn Howerton (Dennis Reynolds) on Its Always Sunny? It’s been said he may not return for season 13 due to “creative differences” and “scheduling issues. His character is a narcissistic sociopath lol.

  27. GingerGirl3 says

    Tv Show: Silicon Valley

    Actor: T.J. Miller

    His foil: it would be interesting if Jian-Yang got the house in some way that Bachman deserved. I’d also like to see Big Head triumph in some way.

    I think the show could be better without him. Bachman’s very one dimensional and more crude than actually funny.

  31. AnnieBaby says

    A google search led me to TJ Miller from Silicon Valley. Never heard of him, but he has a bunch of movies and projects in production. A Steven Spielberg movie, a part in the Deadpool franchise, an animated blockbuster, and a Comedy Special. Probably thinks he’s a big star now and wanted to be paid like it. Oh well.

  32. DenverJayhawk says

    Looking at headlines for actors who are leaving their shows, and the top 2 are Sophia Bush from Chicago PD show and TJ Miller from Silicon Valley.

    Since the blind mentions “he,” I’ll go with TJ Miller.

    I don’t know him, and I’ve only seen like 1 episode of that show. I thought it was absolutely hilarious…I don’t get HBO.

  34. lovefifteen says

    TJ Miller
    Silicon Valley
    His foil is either Jian Yang or Bighead.

    The show will be worse off without him.

  35. Insiderher says

    This is TJ Miller from Silicon Valley not returning for season 4. WOW!
    He’s very funny-and the show won’t be the same without him. Hard to believe TJ is more unbearable than his character!

  38. KiwiFi says

    TJ Miller of Silicon Valley – I think the show will do just fine without him! It’s not hard to find someone to play a stoner without a brain to mouth filter…

  39. toasted_owl says

    TJ Miller on Silicon Valley. his foil is Jian Yang? maybe he’s buying the incubator so the other characters can still live there.

  43. definitely says

    Show: Silicon Valley
    Actor: T.J. Miller (Erlich Bachman)
    Foil: Sounds like good ol’ Jin Yang get to become a homeowner next season! Good for him!

  47. DaniJo says

    Silicon Valley

    T.J. Miller

    I actually don’t watch this show, but I did read that he was leaving.

  48. Goodgrief says

    TV show is Silicon Valley
    Actor is TJ Miller
    Have no idea about the foil since I don’t watch it.

    • alternageek says

      THIS!!!!

      Jian is so going to own the incubator and then force Erlich to pay back the rent Jian owes.

  50. mmemordant says

    Show: Silicon Valley
    Actor: TJ Miller
    Will the show be better?: Not if it means Jin Yang is going to get more screentime – for a smart, funny show like Silicon Valley, that character has about as much nuance as a Japanese businessman in an 80s John Hughes movie.

  52. stolidog says

    The Flash, Grant Gustin.
    Haven’t watched the show all season, so, I can’t say…..

    • Warrior1461 says

      the last episode ended with a way for him to return, I think Grant is doing a couple feature films so this is to give him time to do them.

  53. phrancophaux says

    Show: Silicon Valley
    Actor: TJ Miller
    Foil: Richard Hendricks/Thomas Middleditch

  55. darlingidontmind says

    TV Show: Supernatural

    Actor: Mark Sheppard

    His Foil: Misha Collins or Mark Pellegrino (< more likely to take over as the big bad)

    • Capricorn75 says

      Jared and Misha both confirmed this past weekend at JIBCON that Cas will be back next season. Mark Sheppard will not, and is not happy about it.

    • kimmukwest says

      Really?! I did not know that. Glad you could decipher my autocorrect fail lol

    • mark3905 says

      When I first read the post, this is the first thing I thought of, too. The character, although a fan favorite, is obnoxious. With him getting so much screen time, I could easily see his agents demanding a huge pay increase. Although I’ve never read or heard anything about the rest of the cast dislike working with him, there is not the same level of bonding that you hear about and see between Misha, Jared, and Jensen.

    • nicole says

      Makes no sense. The real estate clue has no bearing on Supernatural and by all accounts Mark is a wonderful person to work with and very humble