Fred Armisen Bids ‘SNL’ Goodbye Punk Rock Style

Although no official confirmation, Armisen is reportedly leaving "SNL" after 11 seasons. Was his performance on Saturday night's season-ender his swan song? 

If the reports are true that Fred Armisen is following in the footsteps of his friend and fellow cast member Bill Hader and leaving "SNL," then we may have just seen the comedian's last performance on the NBC comedy sketch show's May 18th season finale.

In the final minutes of Saturday night's season-ender, Armisen reprised his role as punk-rock star Ian Rubbish, the British pink rock character he introduced just over a month ago in the "History of Punk." Joined by guest stars including Aimee Mann, Steve Jones, Kim Gordon, and fellow departing cast-mates Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis (who The New York Post says is probably also leaving), Armisen sang a song with the repeated chorus "It's been all right/It's been a lovely night with you" while on the fictional British music show "Top of the Pops." 

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Armisen, whose "SNL" characters are often boisterous, lively, jittery, loudmouthed individuals,  was unusually subdued during the performance of the upbeat song (titled "It's A lovely Day"), and the performance seemed more like a sentimental farewell to fans than it did an attempt to get laughs. 

Following the performance, Hader and Armisen joined the rest of the cast onstage for the traditional end-of-the-night goodbyes, wrapped their arms around one another and shared a warm embrace as Ben Affleck wrapped up the episode. 

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And while Armisen has yet to officially announce he's leaving SNL, New York Post reported that a source at NBC has confirmed that he will in fact be moving on after 11 years with the show.  

If Armisen did bid adieu to Rockefeller Center's Studio 8H on Saturday night, at least he went out rocking.

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