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Live from Chicago — it’s Saturday Night Live‘s new cast additions. The veteran NBC sketch comedy series just announced it is adding three featured players 
heading into its 38th season: Aidy Bryant, Tim Robinson and Cecily Strong. All three hail from Chicago. (Word of Bryant and Robinson’s appointment leaked on Friday.) The reinforcements are coming as SNL is returning without departing cast members Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Abby Elliott, with Jason Sudeikis, who portrays presidential candidate Mitt Romney, also rumored to exit following the November election.
Bryant trained with iO Chicago, Annoyance Theatre and was an ensemble member of the Second City E.T.C Stage. Robinson, also an alumnus of The Second City, performed on its Mainstage and in its national touring company. He has also performed at the iO Theater in Chicago and at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Strong also has performed as a member of the Second City national touring company and has studied at the iO Theater. SNL’s new season kicks off September 15 with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane as host and musical guest Frank Ocean.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Yet another year of Keenan Thompson in drag anytime they need a black female on screen….
You’ll never see an interview where Lorne Michaels is asked about it, either. One of the bigger problems is likely a similar bleaching behind the scenes. Aren’t all of the writers white?
Longevity of current cast:
Seth Meyers – 2001
Fred Armisen – 2002
Kenan Thompson – 2003
Bill Hader – 2005
Jason Sudeikis – 2005
Bobby Moynihan – 2008
Nasim Pedrad – 2009
Vanessa Bayer – 2010
Taran Killam – 2010
Jay Pharaoh – 2010
Kate McKinnon – 2012
Some of SNL’s biggest stars have come from Groundlings (Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Phil Hartman, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte to name just a few) – not to mention current stars Taran Killam and Nasim Pedrad.
3 new hires, none from Groundlings, or even LA? Why isn’t Tony Cavalero on this list? Greg Worswick? Matt Cook? Misty Monroe, so we can actually see a black woman play Michelle Obama? Or at UCB, Lauren Lapkus? Kyle Mooney?
Come on SNL, LA has funny people too!
If SNL gets any whiter it’d be a suburb.
If SNL gets any whiter it’ll be Fox News.
The lack of diversity on this show is downright shameful.
This has to be a joke.
People of Color:
Nasim Pedrad (Iranian)
Jay Pharoah
Kenan Thompson
Fred Armisen (Half Asian)
and now Cecily Strong (Hispanic)
Five out of 14 is more than 1/3 of the cast being “Diverse”. I think that’s pretty good, considering that 85% of comedy is white dudes.
Seriously, not one ethnic person? It’s kind of lame.
Don’t you guys like Finesse?
What do you think Cecily is? She’s latina
no black women, not latinos, no gay men. shameful. (especially considering how many gay sketches they do.) lorne needs to go out to the farm with clint eastwood and chase butterflies.
Lorne finally hired a plus-size woman. Can’t I just be happy about that?
So so proud of our fellow CalArts school mate, Cecily Strong!!
Just such a strong actor and was just born with and trains with such natural comedy talent!! 
Go Cecily!! 
I must be a white guy, but I could honestly not care less about how diverse their cast is. Just keep the funny coming.
Didn’t you know NBC is the No Blacks Channel [ or Company, if you prefer]. And that doesn’t just go for SNL. They really haven’t given any love to Blacks — with the exception of Russell Hornsby on Grimm — or people of any other racial or ethnic background in THREE decades!!! The Cosby Show and A Different World are the only gifts they’ve ever given viewers, in terms of providing classy, well-produced, highly entertaining television featuring actors who happen to be black.
Both 30 Rock and Community have major roles for black people.
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Hmmm…someone forgot about Amen, 227, Generations…plus countless other shows that were ratings flops (e.g. Undercovers, Sonny Spoon) but you can’t honestly say NBC hasn’t tried. They’re about to try again with Meagan Good leading Deception.
Wow. They really need diversity in the cast. Pharoah hardly gets any screen time and Kenan is painfully unfunny. He makes my throat dry thinking about how many times he’s tried to drag out a meaningless joke or running gag. If SNL becomes In Living Color, then I will be tempted to watch the entire show without cringing at the thought of how the program continues to stay on TV.
Pharoah is a youtube sensation, not a sketch performer. He doesn’t get screen time not cause hes black, but because his is not funny.
It’s true. Some decent imitations does not a sketch performer make. This gets proven often on S.N.L. (Abby Elliott is a recent example; some good imitations; didn’t make a dent in sketch at all in my opinion.) It really is a special talent to be consistently good at – in even the bad material. Cast talent for sketch – not ethnicity. Eddie Murphy had and Kenan Thompson has it; Jay Pharaoh seems not to and Janeane Garafolo did not as well. It’s a rigorous discipline and only a select few have the will and the talent to do it incredibly well. Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis all have it.