"Key & Peele" to Stop Filming After This Season

By Sarah Christine Davis on July 26, 2015

Last Friday, comedy connoisseurs Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele announced that the current season of their Comedy Central hit Key & Peele will be the last.

“It was just time for us to explore other things, together and apart,” explained Key about the end of the show.

Image via http://www.jameywelch.com/fashion/

According to the Comedy Central website, Key & Peele is “a show that examines life in a distinctively provocative and irreverent way” that highlights the duo’s “unique point of view, born from their experiences growing up biracial in a not-quite-post-racial world.” Perhaps one example of this “not-quite-post-racial world” in their skits is seen in the “Substitute Teacher” skit, which is arguably the pair’s most popular work. In fact, Paramount Pictures has picked up the sketch and plans to reprise it into a movie. The film is to include both Key and Peele.

The highly acclaimed series launched back in 2012 after its stars had already been working together for six seasons on the sketch comedy series MADtv. Working together for so long earned them a great comedic relationship; they work together on such a brilliant level that I would go so far as to compare their companionship to that of the great Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s.

Image via http://variety.com/2015/film/news/substitute-teacher-key-and-peele-paramount-1201459417/

It’s hard to pin down exactly what makes Key & Peele so exceptionally perfect. Their top notch performance skills and unique chemistry probably stem from their compatibility, but there has to be more to it than that. It may have to do with their humorous and succinct sensibility that addresses important topics of discussion from an impeccable humorous-but-not-ignorant perspective. In an article poignantly titled, “’Key and Peele’ keep it light while getting seriously heavy,” Yahoo TV critic Ken Tucker elaborates perfectly on this:

“Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are in love with language — they like to bend it, shape it, make it do things that are both absurd and revelatory.”

Key and Peele’s use of comedy to raise awareness of issues of varying seriousness is a sign of their true talent. From poking fun at males’ misperceptions when it comes to the menstrual cycle in a clip called “Menstruation Orientation” to another clip called “Gay Wedding Advice” that uses comedy to depict how ridiculous homophobia is, Key and Peele conquer it all.

Image via https://twitter.com/jordanpeele/status/476080823389528066

There are also clips that we can all relate to; even though the topics usually go unspoken, Key and Peele articulate them perfectly. One of my favorites is “Text Message Confusion,” which speaks on the difficulty of reading someone else’s tone during text message conversations. Key and Peele’s creativity shines through characters such as Andre and Meegan, a hilarious couple that makes you laugh and makes you happy that you’re not them.

The men’s wonderful work hasn’t gone unnoticed. According to TheWrap, their show has been receiving more and more positive attention from the big leagues; it received one Emmy nomination in 2013, three in 2014, and seven in 2015. Additionally, Key was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series this year.

Image via http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-reveals-surprise-guest-white-house-correspondents/story?id=30588454

As if all of that wasn’t enough, Key was also a part of President Obama’s White House Correspondents Dinner this year. He played the part of the President’s “anger translator,” in which he poked fun at the overt prevalence of Ebola discussion across the news, and (of course) poked fun at Fox News. Key was clearly comfortable on stage next to Mr. Obama, and the audience clearly found humor in his skit.

As the fifth season of Key & Peele draws to a close, the men behind the show aren’t ready to stop. Key has said that the duo’s plan right now is to release a movie together every three years. Key and Peele aren’t wasting any time getting started with this endeavor; they are currently working on their first feature film, Keanu, which is currently in production and will be released in April of next year. It is unclear when production will pick up for the Substitute Teacher movie.

Image via http://www.cc.com/video-clips/e9bfe1/key-and-peele-lmfao-s-non-stop-party

Perhaps a force as powerful as Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele will be even more powerful apart. They work genuinely and smoothly together as one unit, but they appear to be just as strong when they’re separated. Just as we can still appreciate both Amy and Tina after they’ve gone off on different paths, I think that we will be able to appreciate Key and Peele as two separate entities. Although we’ll certainly be sad to see Key & Peele go, the comedy world now has two huge forces that just might be in the beginning stages of taking over the scene.  While we are saying goodbye to one part of their journey, we will happily greet the next stage in their comedic careers.

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