Last night, Seth Meyers returned to host Saturday Night Live. While there, he also returned to the Weekend Update desk to revive "Really!?!", this time with Michael Che and Colin Jost tackling Kanye West's much discussed lunch meeting with Donald Trump. You can check out the segment below...
Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update isn't typically known for its recurring segments, as the bulk of each week's runtime typically focuses on current events and topical jokes. Most of the hosts, however, eventually stumble upon some catchphrases ("Jane, You Ignorant Slut", "I'm Chevy Chase, And You're Not", etc), recurring guests (Stefon, Bennett Brauer) or through lines which ultimately define their tenures. For longtime Weekend Update host Seth Meyers, one of those through lines was "Really!?!", a hilarious now and again bit in which him and his co-anchor (usually Amy Poehler) would fire question-after-question off about a particular topic, pausing to say "Really?" before flipping it to the other.
The key to "Really!?!" is having multiple people involved who agree whatever is being lampooned is ridiculous but are interested in going after different elements. That gives the whole thing a one-upping quality about it, like these are real friends sitting on a couch just trying to make each other laugh with new takes on the same subject. You can tell from the above video there's a lot of smirking going on, and each person is trying to get through his bit without laughing.
Last night's 'Really!?!" segment wasn't the only time the show took aim at Kanye West and President Donald Trump's meeting. The sketch show delivered a fuller take at the beginning of episode, and in a way, it highlighted the word line Saturday Night Live often has to walk. Both Donald Trump and Kanye West have appeared on the show in the past. West was actually the musical guest for the premiere episode earlier this season. So, on the one hand, SNL has a responsibility to fans and to itself to make fun of whatever is in the news. On the other hand, the show also has to attract high end talent and to entice celebrities to continue making appearances. It's a tough line to walk, but SNL has been perhaps better at it than any other show for the past forty-four seasons.
I'm not going to get into where Seth Meyers falls in the history of SNL Weekend Update hosts because I've learned at this point that people are not on the same page at all. There is a not insignificant percentage of people who will tell you Norm Macdonald is the best of all-time (me included), and there is a not insignificant percentage of people who will tell you he's the worst of all-time. It just depends on how mean you like your humor and the package you like it presented in. That being said, I think we can all agree "Really!?!" is a great segment, and anytime Seth wants to return and do it, he should.
