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Michael Che Will Make History On ‘SNL’ As New Weekend Update Anchor — Here’s How!

By Jonathan Franks
Published on: 04:29 PST, Sep 12, 2014

Michael Che will be the new co-anchor for “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live when the 40th season premieres on September 27.

Right now, you might be asking yourself, “Who?”

Most people might recognize Michael Che from his segments on The Daily Show on Comedy Central as one of the correspondents. In addition to his work on Comedy Central, Che also works as a stand-up comedian in New York.

Once the announcement that Michael Che would be brought on-board as a replacement for Cecily Strong (the SNL actress that co-anchored all throughout last season), it seemed as if many fans of Saturday Night Live, specifically Cecily Strong, did not like that at all.

Surprisingly, many people felt that if anyone should have been replaced, Lorne Michaels should have chosen newcomer Colin Jost to go instead:

When asked about this major shakeup and basic overhaul of “Weekend Update,” SNL creator Lorne Michaels was not afraid to stand firmly by his decision. According to Lorne, the fact that Michael Che and Colin Jost had already worked together as the top two SNL head writers means that they are the perfect duo to shake things up.

According to the New York Times, Lorne Michaels had this to say about Michael Che and the anchor change.

“Michael is a strong writer, and he’s really funny. It’s always difficult to make changes and make ‘Update’ different from what’s gone before. It struggled to find an identity last season… because what had come before had been pretty brilliant.”

Michaels then went on to comment about how this is a major change that will usher in a new era for the actual segment and the overall show.

“This is about a new era, what feels appropriate for now. That’s why we did a lot of combinations and tests, and this is kind of where we came out.”

Michaels also stated that while Michael Che will be replacing Cecily Strong at the anchor desk, Strong will still continue to keep her job on the show as a sketch actor — which has actually pleased many of her fans who want to see her bring back some of her popular characters and concepts.

The decision to place Michael Che at the anchor desk will make history in two distinct ways. First, Michael Che will be the first African-American to ever anchor “Weekend Update.” Second, this will be the very first time that two men have co-anchored this segment together. As of right now, the only thing Michael Che has had to say about being hired for this opportunity can be found in this funny tweet about his Tinder account:

What do you think? Was Michael Che the right fit for this opportunity or should Lorne have allowed Cecily to give it another shot?

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