Author: Seth Abramovitch

The second and final new addition to Saturday Night Live for Season 40 should be a familiar one. 

It’s Darrell Hammond, who is headed back to Studio 8H after leaving the show back in 2009 following a record-breaking 14-season run. This time, however, Hammond will be mostly off-camera, as he’s stepping in for legendary announcer Don Pardo, who died in August at 96.

In this 2006 interview to commemorate his induction into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame, Pardo recalls a Saturday in 1999 when he was hit with a case of laryngitis and Hammond, a gifted impressionist, saved the day. 

In the show’s opening monologue, host James Van Der Beek endured shameless flirtations from Pardo. “I love you Dawson,” Hammond says in his best Pardo voice before prompting the Dawson’s Creek star to open a gift — a pair of white briefs.

“He did such a job,” Pardo recalls, “that my sister-in-law in Newport, R.I., called up the following Sunday morning … and said, ‘You were going back to your acting days! You sounded terrific!'”

“I said, ‘Really? Well how do I sound now?'” Pardo asked, his voice completely hoarse. His relative could hardly believe the sound-alike she’d heard the night before wasn’t him.

Hammond later told Pardo, mimicking the announcer’s trademark boom, “You’re difficult to do!”

Clockwise: Beck Bennett, Brooks Wheelan, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, Noel Wells, Mike O’Brien

Lorne Michaels has made his decisions. Now it’s time for them to make us laugh, and in doing so, make themselves stars.

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A statement released from NBC on Monday morning has made official what was previously reported by The Hollywood Reporter — that Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, John Milhiser and Noel Wells have been added to the Saturday Night Live cast this season as featured players. Also joining the cast is Mike O’Brien, who has been part of the writing team for the past four seasons.

But wait — there’s more. Brooks Wheelan (below), a Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian, was a late decision and has been added as the sixth new featured player, in one of the most ambitious casting overhauls in the show’s history. The news was first reported by the New York Times on Sunday.

According to sources at his showcase audition, Wheelan openly admitted to not being able to do characters and jokingly wondered what he was doing there. But the show has a long history of casting stand-ups — including Norm Macdonald, Colin Quinn and Chris Rock — and Michaels saw in Wheelan enough charisma to warrant a spot in front of the camera.

STORY: How ‘Saturday Night Live’ Found 5 New Castmembers 

The Times also reported that Cecily Strong, who joined the show in 2012, will join Seth Meyers for a coveted spot on the Weekend Update desk. Michaels said in an interview that he hoped Meyers would stay with the show past February, beyond the debut of his Late Night gig.

Scribes Colin Jost and Rob Klein will take over head writer duties from Meyers. And Tim Robinson, who joined the cast as a feature player last season, will move behind-the-scenes to the writers room.

The venerable NBC laugher enters its 39th season on Sept. 28, with Tina Fey as host and musical guest Arcade Fire.

Clockwise: Beck Bennett, Lorne Michaels, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, Noel Wells, Mike O’Brien

KYLE MOONEY

BASICS: The San Diego native studied film at USC, where he met the other members of Good Neighbor — SNL‘s new answer to The Lonely Island. He’s guest-starred on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, and recently wrapped filming on a Good Neighbor pilot for Comedy Central, produced by Will Ferrell and former SNL head writer Adam McKay.

SHTICK: Todd, a sensitive, uber-straight SoCal surfer dude; Chris, a Jesse Pinkman-esque high school ne’er do well 

STORY: How ‘Saturday Night Live’ Found 5 New Castmembers

SNL-GEBRA: The Method commitment of Bill Murray to the power of the surreal sensibility of Will Forte. 

JOHN MILHISER

BASICS: The Brooklyn-based comic is a member of sketch group Serious Lunch, featured on The Tonight Show and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Milhiser was also chosen this year to take part in the Just for Laughs comedy festival’s New Faces showcase. 

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SHTICK: A guy from the wrong side of the tracks in “Clap It Up,” a Step Up parody about competitive patty-cake; the acne-plagued man in “Facialique,” a disturbing satire of a Proactiv ad.  

SNL-GEBRA: The boyish eagerness of Dana Carvey divided by the dark undercurrent of Chris Parnell.

BECK BENNETT 

BASICS: Born in Wilmette, Ill., studied acting at USC where he met Mooney and Nick Rutherford. They later joined with Dave McCary to create Good Neighbor, which counts Louis C.K. and Steven Spielberg among its fans. Bennett currently stars in AT&T’s “It’s Not Complicated” campaign. 

SHTICK: Buttoned-down interviewer of precocious children, as seen in web series “Fresh Perspectives” and the TV ads it inspired. Could make a good fit as Seth Meyers‘ replacement on Weekend Update. 

SNL-GEBRA: The all-American good looks of a young Chevy Chase multiplied by the infectious temperament of Jimmy Fallon. 

NOEL WELLS

BASICS: Studied animation and film at U.T. Austin. She’s performed at UCB Los Angeles since 2010, and her videos have racked up mucho views.

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SHTICK: Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl, a psycho spin on the Zooey Deschanel archetype; a send-up of Homeland‘s Dana Brody, the character the Internet loves to hate.

SNL-GEBRA: The vulnerability of Gilda Radner plus the celebrity mimicry skills of Abby Elliott. 

MIKE O’BRIEN

BASICS: Founded a comedy newspaper at the University of Michigan, then moved to Chicago to take classes at Second City, where he was a performer for many years. Flown out to NYC to do a five-minute audition at SNL in both 2005 and 2009; the latter resulted in a writing job. Among his best-loved SNL sketches is his Gathering of the Juggalos parody ad, “Kickspit Underground Rock Festival.”

VIDEO: ‘Saturday Night Live’: Watch Bill Hader’s Finest Sketches

SHTICK: O’Brien has lured big names into his closet for his online celebrity talk show, 7 Minutes in Heaven, including Jeff Goldblum, Amy Poehler and even Juggalos’ patron saints, Insane Clown Posse. 

SNL-GEBRA: The writerly mind of A. Whitney Brown nested inside the timeless elegance of Nora Dunn.

Twitter: @SethAbramovitch