‘Saturday Night Live’: Seth Meyers, Cecily Strong look back at ‘Weekend Update’ change

There have clearly been many changes in the cast this season on “Saturday Night Live,” but when it comes to the actual format of the show, there is still one change that sticks out more than perhaps any other: The new, two-anchor format of “Weekend Update.” Seth Meyers has been joined by Cecily Strong ever since the beginning of the season, and for the most part, it has worked rather well. While we’ve unfortunately lost her “girl from the party” character, we’ve gained someone who has figured out a rhythm for telling jokes, and interviewing a few of the zany “guests.”

The reason for the change is clearly to prepare Cecily to take over the chair after Seth leaves to start his own version of “Late Night” in February, and despite some previous hopes from Lorne Michaels that the longtime “SNL” head writer could do both shows, his conversation with Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy last weekend suggests that this may not be happening. Cecily should be ready whenever Seth does leave, and you can read a little bit about why she was picked for the part in a new TV Guide story. Here is what Meyers had to say on the subject first of all:

“[Executive producer] Lorne [Michaels] made the decision over the summer that she’d be a good person to slide in there. I’m not the first person to make the observation that Lorne has a very good eye for talent. As soon as he told me where he was leaning, it made a lot of sense.”

As Strong also confirmed, this was not the sort of position that she put in a job application for. It was Lorne who made the offer to her, and she is simply adapting to it:

“I didn’t ask for it — I was chosen. The writers for ‘Weekend Update’ are the funniest group of nerds. They make me laugh so much at their jokes, so I feel very safe in their hands.”

While we could understand there being a sudden amount of concern that Cecily would cease to appear in other “SNL” sketches after becoming a sole “Weekend Update” anchor, we don’t really see that happening to the extent that it did for Seth. His writing responsibilities are really what kept him from being more of an active sketch performer, though he has shown up here and there throughout the years.

Do you think that Cecily is going to make a worthy replacement for Seth in the “Weekend Update” chair full-time? Share what you think below, and be sure to also click here to watch a preview for the next new “Saturday Night Live” featuring John Goodman as host.

Photo: NBC