This weekend’s Saturday Night Live introduced out the massive weapons for host Amy Poehler’s return, reuniting three legendary “Weekend Replace” hosts for a brand new bit that ought to grow to be a part of the present’s common rotation. After SNL‘s record-breaking season 50, the stakes have been excessive for season 51. Lorne Michaels promised a shake-up, and the SNL season 51 cast has definitely seen that, with a number of stunning forged departures.
Regardless of the SNL season 51 cast exodus, some regular veteran presences remained, together with Colin Jost and Michael Che, whose “Weekend Replace” section is a constant brilliant spot, even in uneven seasons and episodes. This week, nonetheless, Amy Poehler was the host, and the place Amy Poehler is, Tina Fey cannot be far behind. Certainly, Fey joined Poehler within the chilly open, enjoying Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi, respectively.
However the pair additionally crashed the “Weekend Replace” section, difficult Jost and Che to a joke-off, and so they had yet one more shock up their sleeve: Seth Meyers, who joined Team Fey & Poehler in the SNL joke-off towards the present “Weekend Replace” hosts.
Everybody was clearly having enjoyable, and it was nice to see three legends return to the anchor desk. However it additionally arrange a brand new joke format that ought to grow to be an everyday section on SNL.
Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, & Seth Meyers Have been All Legendary Weekend Replace Hosts
It is not simply that Poehler, Fey, and Meyers have been beloved former SNL forged members; they have been additionally among the finest SNL “Weekend Replace” hosts to ever maintain down the anchor desk. Earlier than Jost and Che, Seth Meyers was the longest-tenured “Weekend Replace” anchor, holding the spot from 2008-13; earlier than that, he’d co-hosted with Poehler from 2006-08.
Meyers, after all, is finest remembered for his on the spot chemistry with Invoice Hader’s iconic character Stefon. After he left SNL, he took his quirky and barely absurdist humor as a comedy author to his present host gig on Late Night time with Seth Meyers.
As for Fey and Poehler, they’re largely thought of one of many biggest “Weekend Replace” host pairings of all time, regardless of solely doing the job for 2 years from 2004 to 2006. It was arguably “Weekend Replace” that cemented Poehler and Fey as a bundle deal, because it showcased precisely why they work so effectively collectively, with Fey enjoying the simple journalists to Poehler’s fluffier gossip anchor.
It is not a shock that it was an unbroken chain from Fey and Poehler, to Poehler and Meyers, to Meyers behind the anchor desk, as all of them influenced one another tremendously. It is why they performed so effectively off one another this week – but it surely’s additionally not the primary time they’ve accomplished it.
Jimmy Fallon, Poehler, & Fey As soon as Crashed Meyers’ Weekend Replace 14 Years In the past
The joke-off with former hosts could also be one thing new to latest SNL audiences, however longtime followers will keep in mind that it was Meyers himself who was the sufferer of the identical setup 14 years in the past. Throughout 2011’s season 37, when Meyers was nonetheless the “Weekend Replace” anchor, Jimmy Fallon, one other former anchor, crashed his section and insisted he may do a toy drive joke higher.
A second later, Amy Poehler additionally appeared, becoming a member of Seth Meyers’ crew, whereas Tina Fey additionally rolled behind the desk and joined Fallon. The 2 groups, like final evening’s Poehler-Fey-Meyers vs. Jost-Che, went by way of a rapid-fire spherical of spitting out completely different punchlines to the toy drive joke setup, and it was pleasant chaos.
Within the Che and Jost period of “Weekend Replace,” it is their twice-annual joke swap section that has outlined their time behind the anchor desk, with audiences wanting ahead to the pair writing hilariously offensive jokes for one another. However final evening and the 2011 bit present that SNL ought to take into account using their former anchors and making the joke-off an everyday factor, even when it is solely as soon as a season.
SNL50 was all about honoring the present’s legacy, and season 51 is searching for to bridge the hole between outdated and new. Bringing again former hosts as soon as a season for a joke-off is a good way to proceed to respect that deep comedy legacy and convey again fan-favorites whereas additionally shifting ahead with recent concepts and new forged members. Saturday Night time Reside is in a transition interval, so now’s the time to experiment – and one of the best ways to experiment with one thing could also be to deliver again one thing outdated.
- Launch Date
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October 11, 1975
- Showrunner
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Lorne Michaels
- Administrators
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Dave Wilson, Don Roy King, Liz Patrick, Andy Warhol, Linda Lee Cadwell, Matthew Meshekoff, Paul Miller, Robert Altman, Robert Smigel
- Writers
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Will Forte, Bill Hader, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Chris Parnell, Asa Taccone, John Lutz, Tom Schiller, Simon Wealthy, 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
