Will Forte Leaves SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE while Matt Damon Returns to 30 ROCK

Though NBC hasn’t made any official announcements regarding their cast line-up for Saturday Night Live, The New York Times’ Art Beat has learned that Will Forte (MacGruber) won’t be returning for the staple sketch show’s 36th season. He wasn’t fired by Lorne Michaels or anything, and there aren’t any hard feelings, but Forte simply wanted to pursue other projects outside of SNL. Nothing has been formally announced yet, though we have heard other details leak out including Jane Lynch’s hosting stint on October 9th. Apparently new deals will be announced for SNL sometime around Labor Day.

Forte joined the cast line-up in 2002, and I must admit, his poor impersonation of George W. Bush after Will Ferrell’s departure from the cast made me heartily dislike him. But eventually his characters like MacGruber, the quiet, yet opinionated Senator Tim Calhoun, The Falconer, and appearances in several SNL Digital Shorts. Forte still has a growing career with plenty of voicework on shows like The Cleveland Show and films like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. His departure will certainly allow him to branch out further into comedy on film.

News on Matt Damon’s return to 30 Rock after the jump.

There were rumblings earlier this month from 30 Rock star Katrina Bowden that guest star Matt Damon would be returning for the forthcoming season of the NBC comedy series, and it’s just been double confirmed via Twitter. MovieLine noticed Sherri Shepherd (co-host of The View and frequent 30 Rock guest star) updated her Twitter to say ““OMG!! I’m on set @ 30 Rock next to Tina Fey & MATT DAMON is sitting behind me. I went over & said hi — think I just got pregnant! Jamal Damon.” That’s kind of awkward and not nearly as formal as a press release, but there you have it. Those of you who enjoyed his stint on the show last season apparently won’t be disappointed.