On Sept. 28 Cecily Strong (no relation) will begin co-hosting “Weekend Update” alongside Seth Meyers, who will be departing “Saturday Night Live” in February to replace Jimmy Fallon as the host of “Late Night.”
The piping hot Strong only joined the cast last year and was still billed as a “featured player” when SNL’s last new episode aired last May.
Presumably she’ll be promoted to “starring” status when the show returns in two weeks.
Series mastermind Lorne Michaels suggests Strong will become sole anchor after Meyers departs.
The last female to host Update solo was Jane Curtain, who held down the desk alone during parts of 1976 and 1977.
While Meyers won’t leave the show until early next year, longtime cast members Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis quit the SNL cast over the summer, and Kristen Wiig quit last year.
Six new players will join the SNL cast this fall, among them Upright Citizens Brigade vets Noell Wells, John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett, as well as Los Angeles-based comedian Brooks Wheelan.
Cast member Tim Robinson will transition from cast member to writer starting this fall -- while Mike O’Brien, an SNL writer since 2009, will assume a regular on-camera role.
The first three SNL hosts of the coming season:
Sept. 28: Tina Fey (with musical guest Arcade Fire)
Oct. 5: Miley Cyrus (with musical guest Miley Cyrus)
Oct. 12: Bruce Willis (with musical guest Katy Perry)
SNL is the highest-rated scripted show – in primetime or late night – on NBC, and routinely outrates the overwhelming majority of primetime and late night series on the other broadcast networks.
Find all of Bill Carter’s New York Times story on the matter here.
