'SNL' Hires Five New Players, Reopens Debate over Lack of Minorities, Women

The 2013/14 version of Saturday Night Live will look rather familiar, even though several of the show’s long-time players have left the late night series.

SNL guru Lorne Michaels just added five fresh faces to the mix, but once more the additions are overwhelmingly white and male.

Those facts weren’t lost on commentators at Deadline.com, and it’s likely to be part of a bigger discussion in the weeks leading up to the show’s season premiere.

SNL’s casts have routinely featured primarily white casts, with male cast members outnumbering female comics. It’s been true since the show’s earliest incarnation with John Belushi and Chevy Chase and more or less stayed that way through the Will Ferrell and Jason Sudeikis years. Feminists have routinely blasted the show for its male-heavy cast, and some social critics aren’t happy with the dearth of minority talent on both sides of the camera.

The show’s new additions, Michael Patrick O’Brien, John Milhiser, Noël Wells, Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett, may prove to be as talented as some of SNL’s brightest stars. They won’t help the show deflect criticism of its casting decisions in some circles.