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Several sources have been following up on a report on Sean McCarthy's The Comic's Comic blog about two new Saturday Night Live cast members, including the New York Post and Variety.

The two newcomers will reportedly be Jenny Slate, who has appeared in the "7th Floor West" series of sketches on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and the Iranian-born Nasim Pedrad, who had a one-woman show called Me, Myself, and Iran at The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. Both have worked with the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe. (Note: although several sources have said the new additions are official, NBC's publicity department is not confirming it, as of about 11 AM today).

It'll be hard to avoid comparisons to Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, and some of the coverage so far have offered up the idea of Slate and Pedrad as potential replacements. Those are the same sorts of things mentioned when Casey Wilson, Michaela Watkins, and Abby Elliott joined the cast the past couple of years, which is firmly in the tradition of judging new SNL cast members by their departed comrades. That goes all the way back to season two, when Chevy Chase left and Bill Murray came aboard.

I wouldn't necessarily count on seeing Slate and Pedrad up front right away. Anything is possible, and if they hit on a character or a recurring hit sketch in the first few weeks, they could grab the spotlight.

But SNL is a tough, competitive place (read Tom Shales' excellent Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live for a good perspective on this), and the best thing that could happen for any new cast member would be to get on camera consistently, whether in supporting roles or in their own sketch, and deliver what the role calls for. That's why people still love Phil Hartman, and cringe when they hear the phrase "makin' copies."

[via TV Week]