weekend update (sketch)

Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch which comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longing 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 is parodied with Garrett Morris simply cupping his mouth and shouting the headlines Chase reads so loudly that Chase can'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 and Bill Murray. 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 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 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 that dreadful 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. 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 straightforward delivery style of actual news anchors, he 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 cast member and friend Tim Kazurinsky who turned down the position, seeing the offer as somewhat underhanded. 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, 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; his long success with the segment made naming a replacement a challenge. Kevin Nealon took over; his low-key style and delivery was reminiscent of former anchor Brad Hall. Nealon had a three-year stint at the Update desk before being replaced for his last season on the show. Nealon's successor was Norm MacDonald; Chevy Chase reportedly said MacDonald was the best since Chase himself had done it. MacDonald 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. MacDonald's stint as "Weekend Update" anchor ended in controversy in 1997, when he was sacked from the show upon the insistence of NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer; Ohlmeyer had earlier pushed for Lorne to give MacDonald a shot at the WU desk in 1994. MacDonald was replaced by Colin Quinn, who served as anchor for two years. 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, and soon the "Weekend Update" segment became the most consistently funny part of the show. 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, the show's 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":