‘SNL’: Was This the Week Weekend Update Finally Clicked?

Something amazing happened on Saturday Night Live this week. I’m not talking about how the show trotted out Matthew Broderick in the Cold Open, or let Fleabag mastermind Phoebe Waller-Bridge deliver a true monologue, or even how musical guest Taylor Swift elegantly stripped down two of her latest pop songs to their bones. For maybe the first time since Colin Jost and Michael Che were paired together, Weekend Update clicked on every single cylinder. The topical jokes were not just sharp, but exquisitely written. All three segments — Kate McKinnon’s Elizabeth Warren, Bowen Yang’s “trade daddy” Chen Biao, and Mikey Day’s daffy supercentenarian Mort Fellner — worked beautifully. But most importantly, Jost and Che’s chemistry was easy, playful, and familiar in a way that has sometimes eluded them. This week’s Weekend Update wasn’t just good, it was close to perfect.

Ever since Saturday Night Live‘s first episode, Weekend Update has played a key part in the show. It helps pace out the episode, landing right after the musical guest’s first performance and preceding the last half hour of the show. More importantly, whoever anchors Weekend Update sort of speaks on behalf of Saturday Night Live. Chevy Chase’s cocky delivery of “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not” didn’t just kick off the first ever Weekend Update; it helped encapsulate the irreverent voice of the original cast. So when the comedic voice of Update is the clearest and most articulate is usually when SNL as a whole is on a high.

Colin Jost and Michael Che were named co-anchors of Weekend Update in 2014, after a season where Seth Meyers, Cecily Strong, and Jost seemingly played musical chairs with the gig. To put it bluntly, Jost and Che struggled initially. There were numerous cue card flubs, sure, but the real issue was the two didn’t seem to have chemistry. Finding their own particular rhythm took some time. Che’s stand up style favors extended riffs on topics over tight punchlines, and that eventually informed the longer jokes both Jost and Che now do up top. However, at first, they duo seemed a bit lost, and occasionally nervous.

That was five years ago. Now, there is a noticeable spark between Jost and Che as they seem to have figured out that their chemistry is that of the two class smart-asses. More than that, there is now an ease in their performances. Both comics not only nailed each punchline this week, but did so with a mischievous twinkle in their eye. There was also a personal dynamic at play. Like when Che insulted Jost’s home of Staten Island and nervously looked at Jost, or how the two dug into cast member Pete Davidson’s leave of absence. Though small, these touches not only show their familiarity with each other, but invite the audience to feel that way about them, too.

At times, Che would chuckle to himself through a set-up, and it only helped enhance the delivery. Think of how his almost-embarrassed chuckles helped sell his Trump/Of Mice and Men comparison. Another comic would lean hard into the notion that the President might be mentally challenged, making it cruel. Che tackles it from a place of awkwardness and concern, which in the end, is actually far more dithering to the President than any cascade of zingers you hear from the likes of Colbert, Meyers, Bee, Noah, and the rest of the more political late night hosts.

Still, Weekend Update is more than just a soapbox for its anchors. It’s also Saturday Night Live‘s best character showcase. This week, Mikey Day got to close Update with a segment featuring a character in his wheelhouse: an old man who keeps calmly blustering through a literal series of tragedies. The bit thrived thanks to Day’s careful sense of timing each punchline. But the real story might have been the Weekend Update debut of new featured cast member Bowen Yang, playing a Chinese official delighting in the mayhem of the impending trade war. As Chen Biao, Yang had an infectious sense of confidence that quickly won the live audience over (and seems to have positioned him as an early favorite).

Of course, one of the most thrilling parts of this week’s Weekend Update was Kate McKinnon’s Elizabeth Warren impression. McKinnon is one of Saturday Night Live‘s most consistent performers ever and she always commands knows how to command the energy of the audience. However, her Warren bit was next level. It was in the way she harnessed the real Warren’s steely-eyed determination and threw it right back into the camera with giddy abandon.

All in all, Weekend Update this week wasn’t just a delight to watch, but hopefully a harbinger of more to come. If Jost and Che can waltz into subsequent weeks with this kind of swagger, they can only get better. If Yang’s Weekend Update debut is any indication, he’s a superstar in the making. And if McKinnon’s Warren is this funny this early on, the 2020 election cycle is going to be a good year for Saturday Night Live.

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