Yahoo News How Silicon Valley addressed TJ Miller's absence
Warning: The follow article contains spoilers for Silicon Valley's new season.
Silicon Valley definitely didn't pull any punches in its explanation of former star TJ Miller's absence.
The comedian had a very public break with Silicon Valley writer Mike Judge and co-star Thomas Middleditch at the end of the HBO sitcom's fourth season, with his character Erlich Bachman being shipped off to an opium den in China by nemesis Gavin Belson (Matt Ross).
In Sunday's season premiere 'Grow Fast or Die Slow', Erlich's former Pied Piper co-horts aren't even concerned enough to mention his absence… but his old tenant Jian-Yang (Jimmy O. Yang) is definitely aware (via Vulture).
Jian-Yang realises that he may be able to inherit ownership of the Hacker Hotel and a partial stake in Pied Piper, if he's able to prove that Erlich died while trapped in China.
When a scheme to import a dead body from China goes awry, Jian-Yang instead has the carcass of a pig shipped to the Bay Area, where he can have it cremated in an attempt to pass the remains off as Erlich.
Viewers have yet to see how the totality of Jian-Yang's plan will pay out, but the debasement of the Erlich, even in his absence, seems like sweet revenge for writer Mike Judge.
In the run-up to the new series launch, Mike Judge candidly admitted that working with TJ Miller had become virtually impossible by the time the actor quit Silicon Valley.
"There are a lot of different ways you can find out somebody doesn't want to do the show anymore," Judge explained.
"And it's not fun to work with someone who doesn't want to be there, [especially when] they're one of the main people and you've got however many crewmembers and extras and people who are [not paid as well] and they're all showing up before 7am, and then are just like, 'Oh, OK, we're not shooting today'."
Silicon Valley continues on Sundays at 10pm on HBO. Sky Atlantic airs the show in the UK.
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