TV NOTES & NEWS
NEW YORK — A familiar face — former cast member Darrell Hammond — is taking over for a familiar voice at “Saturday Night Live.”
Hammond, who acted on the long-running comedy show from 1995 to 2009, is replacing announcer Don Pardo. He spent three hours in the announcing booth practicing on Thursday for Saturday's season opener.
For all but one year of the NBC show's 40-year history, it was Pardo's voice that would announce the host, musical guest and cast members every week, and the veteran broadcaster continued the job even after he retired to Arizona. Pardo died Aug. 18. He was 96.
While he was on the show, Hammond filled in for Pardo six times. NBC never announced the change, and although a few bloggers may have noticed something different, the sound was so similar that his role wasn't widely known.
NEW YORK — Zachary Quinto got his big acting break on NBC's “Heroes,” but he's ruling out any role in the “Heroes Reborn” miniseries due to air on the network next year.The 37-year-old actor, who's best known for his role as Spock on the 2009 J.J. Abrams' “Star Trek” reboot, says timing is part of the problem, but he also felt that it wasn't right for him creatively, because he's “really interested in cultivating other experiences” for himself.“I'm not going to do it,” he says.Instead, he's turning his attention to mentoring two first-time filmmakers on the reality series “The Chair,” which airs at 11 p.m. Saturdays on Starz.
