SNL Weekend Update Brought Back Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, & Seth Meyers For A Joke-Off

This weekend’s Saturday Night Live brought out the big guns for host Amy Poehler’s return, reuniting three legendary “Weekend Update” hosts for a new bit that should become part of the show’s regular rotation. After SNL‘s record-breaking season 50, the stakes have been high for season 51. Lorne Michaels promised a shake-up, and the SNL season 51 cast has certainly seen that, with multiple shocking cast departures.

Despite the SNL season 51 cast exodus, some steady veteran presences remained, including Colin Jost and Michael Che, whose “Weekend Update” segment is a consistent bright spot, even in uneven seasons and episodes. This week, however, Amy Poehler was the host, and where Amy Poehler is, Tina Fey can’t be far behind. Indeed, Fey joined Poehler in the cold open, playing Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi, respectively.

But the pair also crashed the “Weekend Update” segment, challenging Jost and Che to a joke-off, and they had yet another surprise up their sleeve: Seth Meyers, who joined Team Fey & Poehler in the SNL joke-off against the current “Weekend Update” hosts.

Everyone was clearly having fun, and it was great to see three legends return to the anchor desk. But it also set up a new joke format that should become a regular segment on SNL.

Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, & Seth Meyers Were All Legendary Weekend Update Hosts

It’s not just that Poehler, Fey, and Meyers were beloved former SNL cast members; they were also some of the best SNL “Weekend Update” hosts to ever hold down the anchor desk. Before Jost and Che, Seth Meyers was the longest-tenured “Weekend Update” anchor, holding the spot from 2008-13; before that, he’d co-hosted with Poehler from 2006-08.

Meyers, of course, is best remembered for his instant chemistry with Bill Hader’s iconic character Stefon. After he left SNL, he took his quirky and slightly absurdist humor as a comedy writer to his current host gig on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

As for Fey and Poehler, they’re largely considered one of the greatest “Weekend Update” host pairings of all time, despite only doing the job for two years from 2004 to 2006. It was arguably “Weekend Update” that cemented Poehler and Fey as a package deal, as it showcased exactly why they work so well together, with Fey playing the straightforward journalists to Poehler’s fluffier gossip anchor.

It’s not a surprise that it was an unbroken chain from Fey and Poehler, to Poehler and Meyers, to Meyers behind the anchor desk, as they all influenced each other tremendously. It’s why they played so well off each other this week – but it’s also not the first time they have done it.

Jimmy Fallon, Poehler, & Fey Once Crashed Meyers’ Weekend Update 14 Years Ago

The joke-off with former hosts may be something new to recent SNL audiences, but longtime fans will remember that it was Meyers himself who was the victim of the same setup 14 years ago. During 2011’s season 37, when Meyers was still the “Weekend Update” anchor, Jimmy Fallon, another former anchor, crashed his segment and insisted he could do a toy drive joke better.

A moment later, Amy Poehler also appeared, joining Seth Meyers’ team, while Tina Fey also rolled behind the desk and joined Fallon. The two teams, like last night’s Poehler-Fey-Meyers vs. Jost-Che, went through a rapid-fire round of spitting out different punchlines to the toy drive joke setup, and it was delightful chaos.

In the Che and Jost era of “Weekend Update,” it’s their twice-annual joke swap segment that has defined their time behind the anchor desk, with audiences looking forward to the pair writing hilariously offensive jokes for each other. But last night and the 2011 bit show that SNL should consider utilizing their former anchors and making the joke-off a regular thing, even if it’s only once a season.

SNL50 was all about honoring the show’s legacy, and season 51 is seeking to bridge the gap between old and new. Bringing back former hosts once a season for a joke-off is a great way to continue to respect that deep comedy legacy and bring back fan-favorites while also moving forward with fresh ideas and new cast members. Saturday Night Live is in a transition period, so now’s the time to experiment – and the best way to experiment with something may be to bring back something old.

Release Date

October 11, 1975

Showrunner

Lorne Michaels

Directors

Dave Wilson, Don Roy King, Liz Patrick, Andy Warhol, Linda Lee Cadwell, Matthew Meshekoff, Paul Miller, Robert Altman, Robert Smigel

Writers

Will Forte, Bill Hader, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Chris Parnell, Asa Taccone, John Lutz, Tom Schiller, Simon Rich, Michael Patrick O’Brien, Nicki Minaj, Herbert Sargent, Matt Piedmont, John Solomon, Chris Kelly, Alan Zweibel, Kent Sublette, Ari Katcher, Marika Sawyer, Sarah Schnedier, Scott Jung, Justin Franks, Jerrod Bettis, Rhiannon Bryan