They were patched in to SAMCRO awhile ago, but Niko Nicotera and David Labrava have finally received their official promotion.

In real life, that is.

The recurring actors (Nicotera plays Ratboy Skogstrom; Labrava scares the heck out of us as Happy) have been promoted to series regulars on Sons of Anarchy Season 7.

In January, Drea de Matteo (Wendy) received this same bump in status.

Sons of Anarchy Season 6 earned a record 5.2 million viewers for its finale and was the most-watched season of this FX thriller to date.

It concluded, of course, with the shocking/brutal murder of Tara at the hands of Gemma.

No premiere date has yet been set for the final season of Kurt Sutter's masterpiece, but expect it to return some time this September.

In the meantime, you can always watch Sons of Anarchy online at TV Fanatic.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.