'Silicon Valley' Season 5 News: Star Kumail Nanjiani Teases 'Very Different' Season Without T.J. Miller
"Silicon Valley" is going into its fifth season next year without one of its main characters. While that may be quite the loss, it can also be seen as a blessing.
As fans already know, T.J. Miller, who played Erlich Bachman on the HBO comedy series, left the show earlier this year. Kumail Nanjiani, who plays Dinesh Chugtai, spoke to Metro.co.uk recently about Miller's absence from the upcoming season.
"It feels different," he said. "He was a big part of the show and now he's not around, it certainly feels different."
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Although fans and co-stars alike will miss Erlich's shenanigans, Nanjiani revealed that the departure of a key character does open new doors for the show to explore.
"I think comedy can fall into formulas and patterns. We're going into season 5 so it's a risk to redo the same things over and over," he said. "So the departure of a major character like that, while unfortunate, does afford the show [the chance] to change itself, to refresh itself, figure itself out again."
In September, creator Mike Judge explained that keeping Erlich around was already getting difficult because of where Pied Piper was going. So, it seems that Miller's timing was right on point. Judge also revealed that writing around Erlich's absence was easy enough for them and that there are a ton of hilarious storylines in store for fans when the show returns.
As for what else fans should expect, Nanjiani teased a "very different" season 5. Executive producer Alec Berg, on the other hand, previewed bigger companies coming into the fold to challenge Richard (Thomas Middleditch) and his team. Richard's idea of a decentralized internet will affect a lot of giants, so fans should not be surprised to see companies like Facebook or Google attempting to squash Pied Piper.
"Silicon Valley" season 5 will premiere in 2018 on HBO.
