Please Don’t Destroy the SNL cast.
Martin Herlihy has decided to exit Saturday Night Live after five seasons, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Hollywood Reporter.
Herlihy, who primarily served as a writer on the show, is one-third of comedy group Please Don’t Destroy and the son of SNL legend Tim Herlihy. Martin Herlihy follows fellow Please Don’t Destroy nepo-comic John Higgins, the son of Steve Higgins, out the Studio 8H door — albeit one year (and one week) later. Steve Higgins has been an SNL producer since the mid-1990s; he’s also Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show announcer. The other member of Please Don’t Destroy, Ben Marshall, was upped to SNL‘s main cast last year. To this point, Marshall is considered the standout of the bunch — it probably doesn’t hurt to be 6’5″ with red hair.
Please Don’t Destroy will continue on as a comedy trio. Though the Saturday Night Live sketches ended with Higgins’ exit, the guys toured a live stage show last year.
Martin Herlihy has been getting a good number of acting roles, beyond just playing exaggerated versions of himself (like in the Please Don’t Destroy shorts). He recently starred opposite Glen Powell in the Running Man remake, had roles in Roommates and The Breadwinner, and acted in dad’s Happy Gilmore 2. Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler have been working together since their old SNL days.
Please Don’t Destroy effectively took over the SNL Digital Shorts scene following the departure of another trio, The Lonely Island: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. They carried the torch quite well, and even got a movie out of their newfound exposure: 2023’s Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain. Please Don’t Destroy first formed in 2017 at NYU.
Some of the standout Please Don’t Destroy sketches that made NBC’s airwaves include “Roast” starring Dakota Johnson, “Mean Cute” with Charli xcx and “Three Sad Virgins,” which featured Taylor Swift.
Herlihy’s exit from the series follows the high-profile departure of Chloe Fineman in July. Season 52 of Saturday Night Live premieres on Sept. 26; the host and musical guest have yet to be announced.