''Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday'' is an American

limited-run series In television programming, a limited-run series (or simply limited series) is a program with an end date and limit to the number of episodes. For instance, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' definition specifies a "program with two or mo ...

broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. It is a

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where s ...

news show News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming, ...

spin-off from ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'', featuring that show's ''

Weekend Update ''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that 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 typic ...

'' segment. It initially ran for three 30-minute episodes in October 2008, during the lead-up to the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

. On March 14, 2017, NBC ordered a three-episode fourth iteration to be hosted by

Michael Che Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on '' Weekend Update'' alongside Colin Jost, and the two w ...

and

Colin Jost Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has been a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) since 2005 and '' Weekend Update'' co-anchor since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writ ...

, premiering August 10, 2017, and going by the title ''Weekend Update Summer Edition''.

Production history

Fall 2008

It premiered on Thursday, October 9, 2008, at 9:30 p.m. ET, after ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

''. The remaining episodes aired in the same timeslot on October 16 and 23. The format consists of a topical

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Ameri ...

sketch similar to most episodes of ''SNL'', followed by an extended ''Weekend Update'' for the remaining time. The series is essentially a continuation of the short-form "primetime extra" specials which have aired intermittently since the 2000–2001 season, when NBC needed to fill time following "

supersize Supersize is a phrase that means “to sizably increase the amount or the extent of something”. The phrase was particularly used by McDonald's restaurants to upsize their French fries and soft drinks to an extra-large size. In the United State ...

d" 40-minute episodes of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

''. Several former ''Saturday Night Live'' alumni returned to this show:

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

reprised his role as President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, while

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

appeared as vice presidential candidate

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

, in a continuation of her much-publicized appearances on the regular show. During the first show,

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...

appeared as himself, one of the undecided voters at the second presidential debate sketch.

Chris Parnell Thomas Christopher Parnell (; born February 5, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006 and played the role of Dr. Leo Spaceman on ''30 Rock''. In animation, he voices Cyril Figgis ...

appeared in the first two episodes as the moderators of the debates,

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

and

Bob Schieffer Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...

Fall 2009

Although originally intended to be a limited-run series, NBC announced on May 4, 2009, that they had ordered six new episodes of the show, making it the only show NBC introduced at the beginning of the 2008–2009 fall season to survive into a second term.

Darrell Hammond Darrell Clayton Hammond (born October 8, 1955) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2009, and has been its announcer since 2014. Upon his departure, Hammo ...

made guest appearances in the first three episodes, despite no longer being an ''SNL'' cast member. Former cast member

Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy tro ...

also returned as a special guest to co-anchor the first two episodes of the season. Although six were announced, the spring 2010 episodes were scrapped.

Fall 2012

NBC announced two ''SNL'' specials to be broadcast on 8 p.m. Thursday beginning September 20, 2012. This time around, the show was listed as "SNL Primetime Election Special" in some TV listings, but the actual on-air program retained its original title.

Summer 2017

On March 14, 2017, NBC announced a three-episode run of the series beginning August 10, 2017. This time, the program takes on the title of ''Saturday Night Live Weekend Update: Summer Edition'' and, with the exception of the third episode, completely does away with the cold open sketch and goes right into the news.

Episodes

Season 1 (2008)

Season 2 (2009)

Despite Lorne Michaels saying that three episodes would be airing in Fall 2009, then another three in early 2010, and three in Spring 2010, there were only three ''Weekend Update Thursday'' installments that occurred in Fall 2009.

Season 3 (2012)

Season 4 (2017)

References

External links

* {{Lorne Michaels Weekend Update Thursday NBC original programming 2000s American late-night television series 2010s American late-night television series 2000s American political comedy television series 2010s American political comedy television series 2000s American satirical television series 2010s American satirical television series 2000s American sketch comedy television series 2010s American sketch comedy television series 2000s American television news shows 2010s American television news shows 2000s American variety television series 2010s American variety television series 2008 American television series debuts American news parodies American television spin-offs English-language television shows Political satirical television series Television shows directed by Don Roy King Weekend Update Thursday Weekend Update Thursday