NEW KIDS: Tim Robinson and Aidy Bryant are joining “SNL.” (
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‘Saturday Night Live,’ which is in a rebuilding year after losing three longtime cast members, is on the verge of hiring two young comics from Chicago — including its first plus-sized female actress.
Aidy Bryant and Tim Robinson — both veterans of the Second City comedy troupe that has been supplying performers to the show since the days of John Belushi and Bill Murray — are reportedly set to join the cast in time for the new-season debut this Saturday.
They will be replacing Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg and Abby Elliott, who left “SNL” at the end of last season.
Bryant would reportedly be the first full-figured female to be cast as a regular on the late-night sketch show — following “Bridesmaids” stand-out Melissa McCarthy, who won an Emmy last season for her starring role in the CBS sitcom “Mike and Molly.”
Robinson, a star at Second City, was at the top of the current crop of Chicago improv comics — and had long been considered a shoo-in for an “SNL” job once one became free.
The two newest cast members would join as featured cast members — appearing often but not necessarily every week on the show.
Vanessa Bayer and Taran Killam are reportedly going to be promoted to full-fledged cast members this week to fill out the roster.
NBC yesterday declined to confirm the reports.
Still, as some of the show’s closest followers on the Internet pointed out over the weekend, the sketch show still has not been able to settle on an African-American female for the cast, which has been without one since Maya Rudolph left two years ago.
All last season, any black female roles had to be “played by Kenan Thompson in lipstick and a skirt,” as one Web site pointed out.