Weekend Update (sketch)

Template:History of SNL

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Chevy Chase, the original anchor of Weekend Update

Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch which comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show. Each season one or two of the players is cast in the role of news anchor, telling jokes based on current events and acting as host(s) for occasional editorials, commentaries, or other performances by other cast members or guests.

History

Weekend Update was created by original anchor Chevy Chase, and appeared on the first SNL broadcast on October 11, 1975. Chase popularized several catch phrases during the segment, such as his "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not" greeting, and his repeated announcement that "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead." In addition, the practice of a picture insert of a person simultaneously giving the news read in sign language for the hearing impaired was parodied with Garrett Morris simply cupping his mouth and shouting the headlines so loudly, that Chase couldn't continue.

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 who was replaced by Bill Murray in 1978. A frequent feature of Update during this time was Point-Counterpoint, in which Curtin and Aykroyd made vicious and humourously inappropriate ad hominem attacks on each other's positions on a variety of topics, in a parody of the 60 Minutes segment of the same name which pitted conservative James J. Kilpatrick and liberal Shana Alexander during the 1970s. Aykroyd regularly began his reply with "Jane, you ignorant slut," which became another of the many SNL catch phrases. Other popular running features were John Belushi giving editorials which become increasingly hysterical until he is raving at the end; and Gilda Radner's characters Roseanne Rosannadanna giving obnoxiously irrelevent editorials and Emily Litella launching a tirade on a subject she misheard yet again.

Much like the rest of SNL, the segment floundered some after the departure of the original cast and producer Lorne Michaels in 1980, though it was arguably the "high point" of the show in an otherwise dismal season. Charles Rocket (later teamed with Gail Matthius) anchored during the ill-fated one-season tenure of new executive producer Jean Doumanian. After Rocket was fired from the show in 1981, he appeared one final time for the 03/07/81 broadcast. Chevy Chase had a special guest cameo for one show on 04/11/1981, the final show of the sixth season.

Dick Ebersol, executive producer of SNL from 1981 to 1985, didn't make the renamed SNL Newsbreak segment a high priority. The anchor position changed hands frequently, especially during the 1981 season which saw anchor Brian Doyle-Murray teamed first with Mary Gross, then going solo for three months, then back with Mary Gross for one more month before finally being teamed with Christine Ebersole for the remainder of the season. However, both Murray and Ebersole were gone by the next year.

Brad Hall took over the desk of Saturday Night News (as it came to be known) for the 1982 and most of the 1983 season. Though he could master the straightforward delivery style of actual news anchors, he was mildly received by the audience. Ebersol quietly toyed with the idea of replacing Hall, at one point even offering the job to Hall's fellow cast member 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 1984, Christopher Guest resumed duty as permanent anchor, although his tenure was short-lived, as Guest (as well as the rest of the cast) 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; his long success with the segment made naming a replacement a challenge. Kevin Nealon took over with his low-key style and delivery reminiscent of former anchor Brad Hall. Nealon had a three-year stint at the Update desk before requesting his departure, as he felt his time behind the desk was drawing away from other acting opportunities on the show. Nealon returned for his final season in 1994, making him the only solo anchor to return the following season after having been relieved of his Update duties (albeit voluntarily).

Nealon's successor was Norm MacDonald, whom Chevy Chase once deemed as the only anchor since Chase himself, to have "done it right." MacDonald's somtimes controversial comedic style differed greatly from other anchors before and since. He relied heavily on running gags (such as repeated references to David Hasselhoff), stereotypes, and general outrageousness, including audacious attacks on public figures such as O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. His deadpan delivery inspired devoted fans as well as ardent opponents. Much like the 1980 season many years earlier, Weekend Update during MacDonald's first year at the desk was considered a "high-point" in a season when ratings, substance and laughter were lacking. However, by 1997 his style had apprently grown stale, at least to those gathered in the studio. On some nights he would preside over entire Update sketches receiving nothing more than a few minor chuckles from the studio audience. His stint as "Weekend Update" anchor ended in controversy in 1997, when he was sacked upon the insistence of NBC West-Coast Executive Don Ohlmeyer, who, ironically, had earlier pushed Lorne to put MacDonald behind the WU desk in 1994.

MacDonald was replaced by Colin Quinn, who served out the rest of the 1997 season as anchor, and continued for another two seasons. Among other major media circuses of the late 90s, Quinn presided over much of the highly publicized Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal and the Microsoft Anti-Trust Trial. However, his typecast as boorish New Yorker, as well as his consistent stuttering and fumbling of words, made him somewhat unpopular with the audience. Quinn left the show in 2000.

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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, current anchors of Weekend Update.

Over the summer of 2000, cast members auditioned to be replacements. 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-Fey team caught on with viewers quickly. However, many critics panned the writing citing that much of the segment was beginning to take after The Daily Show; relying heavily on political humor and video footage, particularly during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. After a 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, giving the sketch its first two-woman anchor team.

Weekend Update anchors

Many people have anchored 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 asterisk next to a person's name denotes an anchor who either began or ended their position in mid-season.

Throughout 1984, no one specific person anchored the show. Instead, that week's host, a cast member, or a special guest handled the task. Those individuals - denoted in italics - are also listed below:

"Weekend Update":

  • Charles Rocket* (15 NOV 1980 - 07 MAR 1981) (as "SNL NewsLine" on 07 MAR 1981)

"SNL NewsBreak":

"Saturday Night News":

  • Brad Hall* (25 SEPT 1982 - 21 JAN 1984)
  • Various *: (28 JAN 1984 - 17 NOV 1984))

"Weekend Update":

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