Colin Jost, Michael Che Named 'Saturday Night Live' Head Writers
by EG
Saturday Night Live enjoyed critical acclaim, award wins and higher ratings last season thanks to its political sketches during the 2016 presidential election campaign. This season, however, ratings are starting to slide. It might be because the novelty of Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump impersonation is wearing off, or it might be because the show's writing is starting to decline in quality. Producer Lorne Michaels is betting on the latter, and he's trying to counter the problem by promoting Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che to Head Writer Positions. We'll see soon enough if the strategy pays off.
Via Page Six.
Michael Che and Colin Jost have been named the co-head writers of “Saturday Night Live,” NBC announced Tuesday.
They will join current head writers Kent Sublette and Bryan Tucker. “SNL” has also announced that Sudi Green and Fran Gillespie have been named writing supervisors.
Che and Jost currently host “SNL’s” long-running “Weekend Update” segment, which they began hosting in 2014. Che, who was previously named on Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch list and Rolling Stone’s 50 Funniest People, appeared on “The Daily Show” before joining “SNL” in 2013. A four-time WGA Award winner and recipient of a Peabody Award, Jost started at “SNL” as a writer in 2005.
Green and Gillespie together wrote “Cartier Fidget Spinner Ad,” “E! New Line-Up Promo” with Gal Gadot and more, as well as having spearheaded several other popular sketches.
The long-running series is coming off of a stellar season last year, in which the show won nine Emmys out of its 22 nominations. Alec Baldwin won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his repeated portrayals of Donald Trump, while Kate McKinnon took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, due in no small part to her portrayals of Hillary Clinton among many other characters. The series also picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series.
Get the rest of the story at Page Six.
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