Colin Jost Holds Record For Most SNL “Weekend Update” Appearances

In the comedy record books, he’ll be known as one of the best to ever humorously tell us the news.

Over the weekend, NBC’s Saturday Night Live cast member Colin Jost made history by surpassing alumni member Seth Meyers for most appearances as host of the show’s legendary Weekend Update segment.

Jost has hosted the iconic desk sketch on 155 episodes since he first took the chair in 2014.

Jost began hosting Weekend Update as co-anchor alongside Cecily Strong during Season 39, taking over from Meyers, who left the show to host Late Night with Seth Meyers. For the second half of Season 39, he hosted with Strong, but starting in fall 2014, he began hosting it with Michael Che.

The Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch and fictional 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 typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance. Historically, one or two of the players are cast in the role of news anchor, presenting gag news items based on current events and acting as hosts for occasional editorials, commentaries, or other performances by other cast members or guests. In modern times, dedicated anchors are chosen among writing staff, often lead writers, in lieu of cast or featured players. Chevy Chase has said that “Weekend Update” – which he started as an anchor in 1975 – paved the way for comedic news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

Jost began on SNL as a writer in Season 31 before becoming co-head writer in Season 38 alongside Meyers.

Notable former Weekend Update anchors include Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Colin Quinn, Bill Murray, Dennis Miller, Amy Poehler, and Norm Macdonald. SNL recently paid homage to Macdonald who passed away from cancer in September of this year with a special video tribute to close out the Weekend Update.