Veep, Silicon Valley renewed by HBO; TJ Miller departing

There is some good news and bad news to report on today from the HBO comedy realm, but let’s begin with the part of this that is sure to make people out there smile: Veep and Silicon Valley are renewed for more episodes! For the Julia Louis-Dreyfus series, this means effectively that there will be a season 7 coming up potentially next spring; meanwhile, for Silicon Valley this represents a season 5. These shows are among HBO’s most-watched and most-acclaimed comedies, so there return is hardly a surprise.

The bigger news, unfortunately, is probably the bad news when it comes to the latter show, as TJ Miller will be departing the show after playing Erlich for the first four seasons. Here is what an HBO statement had to say on the subject via Deadline:

“The producers of Silicon Valley and T.J. Miller have mutually agreed that T.J. will not return for season 5. In Erlich Bachman, T.J. has brought to life an unforgettable character, and while his presence on the show will be missed, we appreciate his contribution and look forward to future collaborations.”

Miller is a man with a busy schedule, in between an upcoming standup special and a wide array of feature film roles. Nonetheless, the news is sad given that the hope was that Erlich would be around for the entirety of the show’s run. This is not a show that anyone expected to last all that long, and based on the events of this past episode, it’s possible that another longtime regular in Matt Ross (Gavin Belson) could also be departing.

This is also turning out to be a pretty crummy day in terms of actors leaving their respective shows; recently, it was confirmed that Sophia Bush would be leaving NBC’s Chicago PD after four seasons over there. All of this is surprising in general given that most shows out there tend to have most of their cast signed up for six seasons from the get-go, though there are changes and fluctuations that come with that here and there. (CBS and The Good Wife had such a deal with Josh Charles, and it’s possible that HBO had this with Miller or NBC did with Bush.)

What do you think about these renewals, and about the exit of Miller in this juncture of the show? Sound off with some of your thoughts and reactions in the comments below. (Photo: HBO.)