‘Saturday Night Live’ drops Watkins, Wilson

The large and amorphous cast of Saturday Night Live is changing once again. This time, two cast members have been dropped in exchange for two fresh faces, just before SNL’s 35th season is slated to kick off, the entertainment blog TV Overmind reports.

Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson, both relative newcomers to SNL, were given the boot by executive producer Lorne Michaels. They will be replaced in season 35 by Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad, keeping the male/female ratio the same as it was last season.

Wilson hasn’t said much about the firing, but Watkins has been very vocal — and not in the way you might think. “They hired two new gals that I think are going to be exquisite,” Watkins told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t have any regrets.”

So why exactly was she fired? “I honestly don’t know. What he said is he’s trying to get what’s best for him and best for me,” she said, stating, “The only explanation I got from him — and he’s not known to say things just to make people feel better — was that he felt deep down that I should have my own show. And I agreed.”

CNN is also reporting that Darrel Hammond, the cast member with the longest tenure on the show, is still negotiating his return to the show, casting just a little doubt into whether the veteran will return to the SNL stage.

Saturday Night Live will return with its thirty-fifth season on September 26. Among those expected to return with it are favorites Andy Samberg, Kenan Thompson, Kristin Wiig, Bill Hader, and Will Forte, as well as Seth Meyers for Weekend Update.