Looking to add both a little color and a little flavor to their stale lineup, Saturday Night Live has hired Sahseer Zamata, who is the first black actress in nearly 6 years to join the show. (Yes, I know... it doesn't say much about the state of affairs in this country when a black actress hasn't been hired on a television show in nearly six years...)

According to CNN, Sasheer will make her debut on the late-night comedy stalwart on Jan. 18, when rapper Drake is scheduled to host and perform, according to a statement issued by Saturday Night Live. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Sasheer was last seen with the NYC comedy troupe Upright Citizen's Brigade. 

"In October, 'SNL' cast member Kenan Thompson told TV Guide the show had difficulty finding qualified black female comedians to hire. He insisted that the talent pool was limited because so many of the women were not seasoned enough for the job. Executive Producer Lorne Michaels told The New York Times last month he was holding audition and that a black woman would be added to the cast in January. "All told, we've seen about 25 people," he said. "A lot of the people we saw are really good. Hopefully, we'll come out of the process well," reports CNN. 

Entertainment Weekly has compiled a list of some of Sasheer's funniest moment on YouTube... some of which even earned the approval of Girls creator Lena Dunham. Aside from being a great comedian, she also writes and directs her own sketches. "In 2011, Zamata was a finalist for NBCUniversal and the UCB Theatre's Diversity Scholarship. (According to the Daily Mail, she actually beat out Diversity Scholarship winner Natasha Rothwell for the SNL job.) Zamata has also co-starred in an episode of The Morning After, a webseries by Above Average -- an online comedy network owned by Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video Entertainment," reports Entertainment Weekly.