new cast members-related stories
Posted Sep 4th 2009 3:26PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free

Nick told you earlier today that
Saturday Night Live had hired two new female cast members. I guess two female cast members had to be let go to make room for them (it's late night math).
Casey Wilson and Michaela Watkins have been let go from the show. Watkins has actually released a statement saying that she had a great time on the show and doesn't have any regrets. No official word yet from Wilson.
I didn't mind Watkins at all, she was fine, but I can't say I'll be sad to see Wilson go. I really don't think she added too much to the show and was often over the top/irritating in her performances and impersonations. I think she's the type of cast member that can be replaced rather easily. I know that other
SNL fans never grew to like her either. But at least
she had a sense of humor about it.
Update: Watkins is actually shocked by the firing.
Posted Sep 30th 2008 2:01PM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Desperate Housewives, ER, House, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, The Office, TV Squad Lists, Casting, Reality-Free

The genius that was Amy Ryan's Holly beatboxing on
The Office last week got me thinking about other cast additions that have made shows better.
The first that came to mind was actually another Amy Ryan role -- Beadie on season two of
The Wire. It took awhile for me to get into the whole dockworkers storyline, but it was Beadie that helped me through.
If a show plans to stay on air for awhile, it needs fresh blood -- but the process of introducing new characters isn't easy (witness how reviled Maya was on
Heroes). The best new additions combine great actors with well-written characters.
Here are seven other (fairly recent) new characters that succeeded.
Continue reading Seven new characters that worked