Seth Meyers will remain the lone talking head on the “Saturday Night Live” Weekend Update desk, at least in the near future, according to the comedian.
“It looks like for right now, we’re going to stick with doing it solo,” Meyers, said Monday in New York, as he was getting ready for the show’s 35th season premiere on September 26. Meyers, SNL’s head writer, hosted the popular sketch alone after Amy Poehler left the show last season. Last week, several online sites were reporting that featured player Kristen Wiig was set to become Meyers’ partner on the show’s longest-running recurring segment. “I’m so heartbroken that the Internet, for the first time, was wrong about something,” Meyers joked. “How are we ever going to trust the Internet again” Meyers called Wiig, the show’s only returning female cast member, “almost too valuable,” saying making her a full-time co-anchor would mean she could never play guest characters during the segment. Poehler reportedly will join Meyers for some segments of “Weekend Update Thursday,” a 30-minute, prime-time version of the skit that debuted during the 2008 presidential election and that the network hopes will have similar success during the upcoming season.
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“I owe a big thanks to politicians,” said Meyers. “They did not stop being crazy and disingenuous after the election. So we have that going for us.” Poehler won’t be the only cast member from last year missing on the September 26 premiere, hosted by actress Megan Fox with musical guest U2. Fans were surprised last week about news that regulars Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson had been sacked. Both said they were surprised that their contracts were not renewed. “I think that the two who are leaving are going to be incredibly successful wherever they go,” Meyers said, declining to elaborate on his thoughts about the decision by creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels. In their places will be Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad, both veterans of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. “They came and auditioned and were outstanding,” Meyers said. “We looked at them a couple of times this summer. I think they’re both great writers as well as performers.” While change can be unsettling, Meyers said turnover among the “SNL” cast helps keep its humor fresh. “It’s always nice to have new people,” he said. “They’ll give new looks at things and see things in new ways. Any time you get new voices in, that tends to help.”
