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 Weekend Update (sketch) - Definition 


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Weekend Update
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Chevy Chase, the original anchor of Weekend Update -- "I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not."
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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the current anchors of Weekend Update.

Weekend Update is SNL's most popular and most highly received recurring sketch. Typically scheduled at the midway point of after the first musical performance of the guest music act, the action consists of a mock newsroom with one or two of the players in the role of news anchor, telling jokes based on current events.

In between stories, various other SNL cast members and guests give humorous and sometimes bizarre editorials, commentaries, or other performances.

Weekend Update was created by original anchor Chevy Chase, and appeared on the first SNL broadcast on October 11, 1975. Although he left the show in the middle of its second year, Chase is still strongly associated with the segment, having developed such catch phrases as "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not" and the repeated announcement that "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."

Jane Curtin replaced Chase when he left in 1976 and remained as anchor until 1980, first alone, and then later with co-anchors Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. A frequent feature of Update during this time was Point-Counterpoint, in which Curtin and Aykroyd viciously attacked each other's positions on a variety of topics. When Aykroyd could not come up with a cohesive or logical counterargument to the points made by Curtin, he would begin his reply with, "Jane, you ignorant slut," which became a catch phrase much as Chase's earlier ones did.

Much like the rest of SNL, the segment floundered after the departure of the original cast and producer Lorne Michaels in 1980. Charles Rocket and Gail Matthius were anchors during the ill-fated one-season tenure of new Executive Producer Jean Doumanian. After Rocket was fired from the show in 1981, he actually appeared one final time for the 03/07/81 broadcast before being replaced by Chevy Chase (making a special guest cameo) for one show on 04/11/1981, the final show of the dreadful 1980 season. Dick Ebersol, Executive Producer of SNL from 1981 to 1985, didn't make the renamed SNL Newsbreak/Saturday Night News segment a high priority. The anchor position changed hands frequently, especially during the 1981 season which saw anchor Brian Doyle-Murray being teamed first with Mary Gross, then going solo for three months. In February of 1982 he was back with Mary Gross for one more month before finally being teamed with Christine Ebersole for the remainder of the season, though both Murray and Ebersole were gone by the next year. Brad Hall took over the desk for the 1982 and most of the 1983 season. Though he could master the straight-forward delivery of actual news anchors, he wasn't often written the best batch of jokes and was mildly received by the audience. Producer Dick Ebersol quietly toyed with the idea of replacing Hall, at one point even offering the job to Hall's fellow castmember and friend Tim Kazurinsky who turned down the position, seeing the offer as somewhat underhanded. Regardless, Ebersol sacked Hall of his position at the desk in the middle of the 1983 season and throughout most of 1984, there was no regular anchor at all, and both cast members and SNL guest hosts took turns at the chair. In December of 1984 Saturday Night News, as it came to be known, finally had a permanent anchor in Christopher Guest although it didn't last long, as Guest was off the show by next season.


In 1985, Michaels returned to the show, bringing back the Weekend Update name with him. The new anchor was the acerbic Dennis Miller, who made the segment his own and remained in the chair for a still-unmatched six years. The opening was a parody of the NBC News openings of the mid-1980s, using different songs to open the sequence. Miller left in 1991 and was replaced by Kevin Nealon, whose low-key style, and delivery reminiscent of former anchor Brad Hall, seemed tame by comparison. Nealon had an uneventful three-year stint at the Update desk before being replaced for his last season on the show.

Nealon's successor, Norm MacDonald, also had a three-year stint as anchor. MacDonald was regarded by many (including Chevy Chase himself) as the best anchor since Chevy Chase. His style was suited to the segment although he did rely heavily on running gags, stereotypes, and general outrageousness, including his repeated references to Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, and some comedic - yet often audacious - attacks on public figures such as O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. His deadpan delivery seemed to divide devoted fans, as it was often "hit-or-miss" with audiences. Indeed many nights during his tenure, Weekend Update was the high point of the show. However, there were numbers of instances where only a deadpan stare and a light grin from Norm would eventually entice the audience to laugh at a joke that had bombed.

MacDonald's time with Weekend Update ended in controversy in 1997 when he was sacked from the show upon the insistence of NBC West Coast Executive Don Ohlmeyer, who pressured the producers to remove him, stating that MacDonald was "not funny" -- though an opinion shared by many, the SNL live audience still greeted him with heavy applause. Despite the incident, MacDonald left the show the following year under decent terms with Ohlmeyer, who - to his credit - originally pushed for Lorne to give MacDonald a shot at the WU desk in 1994.

MacDonald was replaced by friend and cast member Colin Quinn, but two years into his tenure, it was apparent that the one-anchor system was beginning to wear thin. Over the summer of 2000, auditions were held for the position, and among the candidates were two duos: Ana Gasteyer & Chris Parnell and Jimmy Fallon & writer Tina Fey. The latter group got the nod, and they made their first on-air appearance that October.

The Fallon and Fey team caught on with viewers quickly, and soon the Weekend Update segment became the focal point of the show. The two became SNL's "goodwill ambassadors" to the media, even appearing on the cover of Entertainment Weekly together in 2002. After a wildly popular four-year run, Fallon left to pursue a film career in 2004 and was replaced by Fey's longtime friend and fellow cast member Amy Poehler as co-anchor, creating the show's first all-woman lineup.

Weekend Update anchors

Many people have had the honor of serving behind the Weekend Update desk. Some more memorable than others. Below is a complete list of all SNL cast members who have served as an anchor at one time, or another, and the dates between which they served. An asterik (*) next to a person's name denotes an anchor who either began or ended their position (voluntarily or involuntarily) in mid-season. Also note that throughout 1984, no one specific person anchored Weekend Update. Often that particular week's host, a cast member or a special guest handled the task of delivering the "fake news." Those individuals - denoted in italics - are also listed below:


Various Cast/Guests*: (28 JAN 1984 - 17 NOV 1984) (as "Saturday Night News")

See also

External links
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