Speaking with The Wrap for the upcoming Emmy edition of their magazine, freshly nominated performer Keegan-Michael Key announced that the current season of his sketch show Key & Peele would be the last. Though the news seems sudden, it’s far from a recent decision. Key says he and his partner, Jordan Peele, have been talking about it for a while and “decided it’s probably a good time to let people know.”

Key went on to say this wasn’t Comedy Central’s decision, but one he and Peele had arrived at on their own. The show is only growing in prestige and popularity with high-profile tie-ins (Key recently appeared in character as President Obama’s anger translator Luther at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner), increasing awards recognition (the show received a Peabody Award in 2013 and five Emmy nominations this year), and glowing reviews for their fifth and final season. There have been some murmurs of trouble in paradise between the two; Key was nominated for an Emmy while Peele, mysteriously, was not. And while a rift in their friendship would certainly spoil the high-spirited Key & Peele dynamic, it’s hard to imagine a Martin and Lewis–type fracture happening between these two, especially when Peele is this publicly supportive of his long-time friend and collaborator.

More likely, Key and Peele are hearing the siren song of other, bigger opportunities calling their names. With guest appearances on shows like Playing House, Parks and Recreation, and Fargo, the duo proved they’re more than just nimble sketch performers. (The same, sadly, can’t be said for every Saturday Night Live cast member.) The low-key, deadpan humor of Fargo, especially, provided Key and Peele an opportunity to show their range. And with the job of rebooting the Police Academy franchise and even more high-profile projects like Pitch Perfect 2 and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, the pair are smart to recognize it might be time to focus their energy on their own rising stars. Even if that means temporarily breaking the act up.

“It was just time for us to explore other things, together and apart,” Key told The Wrap. “I compare it to Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. We might make a movie and then do our own thing for three years and then come back and do another movie . . . I’m thinking we could do that every three years—take a year, go bang out a movie. That’s the plan right now.”

We’ll certainly miss characters like Luther, Wendell, Mr. Garvey, Meegan, the valets, East/West Bowl football players, and more. But the last thing we want is to see those same characters on repeat to the point of exhaustion. Key, Peele, and their writing staff may be endlessly inventive, but the format of a sketch show and the pressure to bring back the same old hits can be extremely limiting. We’ll miss those characters, but with all that Key and Peele have on the horizon, we won’t even have a chance to miss the comedians themselves at all.