Sandy Kominsky is going to have to find himself a new agent.
Alan Arkin, who plays rep Norman Newlander to Michael Douglas’ actor, is exiting “The Kominsky” method ahead of its third and final season at Netflix, Variety has confirmed.
Sources with knowledge of the situation say the decision for Arkin to leave the series was made some time ago, and that his departure will be addressed in the storyline for season 3.
News of Arkin’s exit comes almost three months after the show was renewed for a third outing, at which time there seemed to be no indication that Arkin would be leaving the Chuck Lorre series. The end of season 2 appeared to give no indication that the character would be no more, and this development comes as an added shock given the buddy comedy nature of the show.
“’The Kominsky Method’ has been a true passion project for me and it’s been an incredible experience to see the warm response from both audiences and critics. I’m excited to wrap up the story with this final chapter,” Lorre said when the show was renewed once more.
Arkin, Douglas and the series itself were all nominated at the Emmys last weekend, but lost out to “Schitt’s Creek,” which swept every single comedy category. Both actors garnered Emmy noms for each of the two seasons so far, with Douglas picking up a Golden Globe for his performance as the titular actor and acting coach.
The bombshell represents the second departure of a major star from a Chuck Lorre series within the last month. Earlier in Sept., it was revealed that Anna Faris is leaving the CBS multi-cam sitcom “Mom” ahead of season 8. Faris made the decision to leave in order to pursue other opportunities beyond the show, according to sources.
Deadline first reported the Arkin news.