This week two staple late night comedy programs will be losing vital cast members who have become an integral part of their respective shows.

First off, earlier this week, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart bid a fond farewell to resident fill-in-the-blank correspondent Rob Riggle. As Variety reported back in October, Riggle will be taking his comedic persona over to CBS where he has been given a talent holding deal, which includes development of a half-hour comedy show in which Riggle will create and star. While CBS certainly has comedy success in How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men, but is CBS really the place for Riggle to go for comedy?

Along with Riggle, husband and wife Daily Show correspondents Jason Jones and Samantha Bee are also developing a half-hour laffer, but it remains to see how long those two will stick around before joining the ranks of other departed correspondents like Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Ed Helms who left for broadening careers. I'm glad to see Riggle stretching his wings, but I just don't know if CBS is the right home for these edgy comedians. Check out Daily Show's tribute to Riggle embedded below. Jon Stewart and company will be back will be back with new episode of Daily Show after the New Year.

Another great cast member from another great and incresingly improving comedy team is also looking to branch out as Amy Poehler appears on her last episode of Saturday Night Live as a regular cast member. As it has been said on air in recent episodes of Poehler's absence from Weekend Update, she will have her hands quite full with her and husband Will Arnett's newborn son.

Poehler joined SNL back in 2001 (actually her first episode was SNL's return to television after 9/11) and has since become a highlight of the late night sketch show and creating a close knit personal and comedic relationship with then head writer Tina Fey. It became clear in recent years that the only place Poehler had to go was up as she has had bit parts in numerous films and even co-starred with Tina Fey in this past year's comedy Baby Mama (not the best endeavor, but a stepping stone to more for sure).

Poehler's residence at SNL is now only bested by Seth Meyers who also joined the cast in 2001 and Darell Hammond who is 417 years old and was on SNL before Lorne Michaels was born. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Poehler may do on the big screen or elsewhere on the small screen.

You can catch Poehler's farewell tonight when SNL airs at 11:30 EST on NBC with host Hugh Laurie and musical gues KanYe West (And I still don't understand why his name is spelled like that now).

Labels: Amy Poehler, Daily Show, Rob Riggle, Saturday Night Live, SNL, TV News