"Weekend Update" to get four weeks of primetime pleasure

It's happening. Again. The ever popular Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live is going to primetime during the off season. Hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost will bring their witty brand of news to the evening starting on August 10. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that NBC announced today that four new specials will be produced.

Below is an episode of News Time that went over a history of "Weekend Update's" history with primetime and how SNL's ratings are exploding this season.

This isn't the first time the show has tried an evening move. Elections specials dubbed Weekend Update Thursday  in the fall of 2008 ran for three consecutive weeks. Fall 2009 saw a return to the format for the same amount of time. SNL creator Lorne Michaels said that, in the same season, winter and spring episodes were to join the schedule in early 2010 but those never did. It wasn't until nearly four years later that Weekend Update Thursday came back for two episodes in September of 2012.

More recetnly during the summer national conventions for democrats and republicans, Che and Jost got to perform live during MSNBC's coverage to crowds of tens.Ratings slipped for the later years which explains the absence and ultimate cancellation. Sadly, this new political climate has allowed for punchier lines and ample stories. 

Netflix has all this fall's comedy specials

Saying Netflix is this generation's HBO may not be as hyperbolic as someone saying it four years ago. The streaming service has it all from mediocre cartoon series to overrated live action shows and overhyped movies. But the service is also an outlet for comedians to release their stand up specials. When HBO or Comedy Central would cut out a few minutes of lame jokes, Netflix will let them keep it in making the whole product available. This fall will see specials like those from the likes of Dana Carvey, Reggie Watts and more. 

Carvey comes back after eight years of being off the Hollywood grid with Straight White Male, 60. Watts brings Spatial, which is being billed as an "experimental comedy adventure." SNL Weekend Update hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost are among the line up as well. Check out the full schedule below.

“8/26—Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy: We’ve Been Thinking…

9/16—Cedric the Entertainer: Live from the Ville

9/23—Iliza: Confirmed Kills

10/7—Russell Peters: Almost Famous

10/21—Joe Rogan: Triggered

11/4—Dana Carvey: Straight White Male, 60

11/18—Colin Quinn: The New York Story

11/25—Michael Che Matters

12/6—Reggie Watts: Spatial

12/20—Gabriel lglesias: I’m Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry”

Weekend Update duo Michael Che and Colin Jost are doing real news for the national conventions on MSNBC

After years of pandering to the stoners and alcoholics still awake past midnight on a Saturday, Saturday Night Live writers, cast members, and hosts of Weekend Update Michael Che and Colin Jost are finally branching out. Sure, they're doing it with NBC but they're still slowly taking over the Comcast owned network. Tonight at midnight EST, the two will host a Republican National Convention special on MSNBC that will be considered a Weekend Update Special. Entertainment Weekly revealed will be live from both Cleveland this week (July 20th) and Philadelphia next week (on July 27th), much like Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee and The Daily Show. The two are also said to appear on the Today show the morning after. Make room on your DVRs.

SNL Weekend Update Host Colin Jost's Movie is on Netflix, Boast

Colin Jost is headed to a laptop/phone/game console near you. The Wrap is reporting that Netflix is closing a deal to stream Colin Jost's movie Staten Island Summer. The movie is written by Jost and is slightly based on his time as a lifeguard in New York. Graham Phillips (The Good Wife) and Zack Pearlman (Married) star in the movie as best friends/recent grads who are just trying to figure out things in life. Twilight's Ashley Green and Teen Beach Movie 2 The Soundtrack's John DeLuca costar with current SNLer's Bobby Moynihan and Cecily Strong as well as SNL alum Will Forte and Fred Armisen.  Rapper Method Man and food dewrapper Jim Gaffigan have roles too. Rounding out the cast is the kid from Bad Grandpa, Jackson Nicoll. The movie is produced by Lorne Michaels and directed by Rhys Thomas. Staten Island Summer is rumored to appear on Netflix on July 30.

UPDATED: Jost is the host for the Weekend Update portion of SNL. Also, grammar.  

Michael Che To Cohost SNL's Weekend Update

In a surprise turn of events, former SNL writer and current fresh Daily Show correspondent Michael Che is now returning to the late night variety program as a Weekend Update host. Che will join Colin Jost in telling the week's news stories with some sort of punchline. The comedian confirmed it on his Twitter account earlier Thursday night:

i wanna thank Jon & the entire @TheDailyShow staff for letting me do this. i had a FANTASTIC time there. 1st class all the way

— Michael Che (@CheThinks) September 12, 2014

According to a New York Times report, the show's producer Lorne Michaels has been trying out several combinations of hosts over the past few weeks. Lorne notes that it is difficult to make changes but he ultimately comes to the conclusion that “Michael is a strong writer, and he’s really funny."

There are a lot more changes coming this season with two more featured players to take the stage although those names have not been finalized yet. Then there is the three hour 40th anniversary special in February. As a bonus, Michaels hs come to the decision that instead of reairing recent season's episodes of SNL at 10 PM before new ones, the network will show episodes from the previous 39 seasons. 

This will make the first two man pairing on Weekend Update.