'Saturday Night Live' subtracts after it adds

The two new hires "Saturday Night Live" made last week won't end up making the cast any bigger after all.

NBC's late-night comedy show added two new female performers, Nasim Pedrad and Jenny Slate, to its cast last week, but we now know that their addition came at the expense of two people who were with the show last year: Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson. That means the cast will stay at 13 people, with four women -- Pedrad, Slate and returnees Kristen Wiig and Abby Elliott.

As was the case with the hirings of Slate and Pedrad, The Comic's Comic was first with the news about the firings of Wilson, who joined "SNL" in February 2008, and Watkins, who came aboard last November. In an e-mail to the site, Watkins says her tenure on the show, while brief, was "awesome."

"I will say to you now, though, that I had a GREAT time there. Met some of the most truly talented and fantastic people, had the most exciting job and I honestly can say I don't have any regrets I can think of right now," she says. "Although it seems kinda crazy right now, this may shake out to make sense to everyone. ['SNL' executive producer] Lorne [Michaels] isn't known for indulging in any lip-service, and I feel very encouraged by his words last week. I'm working on something I'm very excited about now, so ... the journey continues, and I feel so lucky I got to stop off at 30 Rock. It was awesome."

"Saturday Night Live" begins its season Sept. 26 with host Megan Fox and musical guest U2.

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