SNL Thursday Night Live
Encyclopedia
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday is an American limited-run series
broadcast on NBC
. It is a political satire
news show spin-off
from Saturday Night Live
, featuring that show's "Weekend Update
" segment. It initially ran for three 30-minute episodes in October 2008, during the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election
.
The format consists of a topical cold open
sketch similar to most episodes of SNL, followed by an extended Weekend Update for the remaining time. The series is essentially a continuation of the short-form "primetime extra" specials which have aired intermittently since the 2000–2001 season
, when NBC needed to fill time following "supersized
" 40-minute episodes of Friends
.
Several former Saturday Night Live alumni returned to this show: Will Ferrell
reprised his role as President George W. Bush
, while Tina Fey
appeared as Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin
, in a continuation of her much-publicized appearances on the regular show. During the first show, Bill Murray
appeared as himself, one of the undecided voters at the second presidential debate sketch. Chris Parnell
appeared in the first two episodes as the moderators of the debates, Tom Brokaw
and Bob Schieffer
.
Darrell Hammond
made guest appearances in the first three episodes, despite no longer being an SNL cast member. Former cast member Amy Poehler
also returned as a special guest to co-anchor the first two episodes of the season. Although six were announced, the spring 2010 episodes were scrapped.
Limited-run series
A limited-run series in television is a program with a predetermined end. The shortest form is the two-part or three-part "made for" television movie. A slightly longer form is a miniseries. The longest form of limited run series is the telenovela, which typically lasts about 120 episodes....
broadcast on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. It is a political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
news show spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, featuring that show's "Weekend Update
Weekend Update
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...
" segment. It initially ran for three 30-minute episodes in October 2008, during the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
.
2008 presidential run
It premiered on Thursday, October 9, 2008, at 9:30 p.m. ET, after The Office. The remaining episodes aired in the same timeslot on October 16 and 23.The format consists of a topical cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
sketch similar to most episodes of SNL, followed by an extended Weekend Update for the remaining time. The series is essentially a continuation of the short-form "primetime extra" specials which have aired intermittently since the 2000–2001 season
Saturday Night Live (Season 26)
Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-sixth season during the 2000–2001 television season on NBC. 20 episodes were produced. The season began on October 7, 2000 and ended on May 19, 2001....
, when NBC needed to fill time following "supersized
Supersize
Supersize or super size is a very large portion of fast food.Super Size referred to the largest size of French fries and soft drinks available after the large size...
" 40-minute episodes of Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
.
Several former Saturday Night Live alumni returned to this show: Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
reprised his role as President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, while Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
appeared as Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, in a continuation of her much-publicized appearances on the regular show. During the first show, Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
appeared as himself, one of the undecided voters at the second presidential debate sketch. Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
appeared in the first two episodes as the moderators of the debates, Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
and Bob Schieffer
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
.
Fall 2009 return
Although originally intended to be a limited run series, NBC announced on May 4, 2009 that they ordered six new episodes of the show, thus, as it turned out, being the only show NBC introduced at the beginning of the 2008–2009 fall season to survive into a second term.Darrell Hammond
Darrell Hammond
Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history...
made guest appearances in the first three episodes, despite no longer being an SNL cast member. Former cast member Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
also returned as a special guest to co-anchor the first two episodes of the season. Although six were announced, the spring 2010 episodes were scrapped.
Season 1: 2008
| Episode Number | Date | Special guests | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 9, 2008 | |
|
| 2 | October 16, 2008 |
Bob Schieffer Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since... and moderated the debate. |
|
| 3 | October 23, 2008 | |
George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... 's (Will Ferrell Will Ferrell John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega... ) endorsement of a proud Sarah Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was... (Tina Fey Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the... ) and rather reluctant John McCain John McCain John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election.... (Darrell Hammond Darrell Hammond Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history... ). |
Season 2: 2009
Despite Lorne Michaels saying that 3 episodes would be airing in Fall 2009, then another 3 in early 2010, and 3 in Spring 2010, there were only 3 Weekend Update Thursday installments that all occurred in Fall 2009.| Episode Number | Date | Special guests | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 17, 2009 | , |
|
| 2 | September 24, 2009 | , , |
Amy Poehler Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is... once again returns as a special guest to co-anchor Update alongside Seth Meyers Seth Meyers Seth Adam Meyers is an American actor and comedian. He currently serves as head writer for Saturday Night Live and hosts its news parody segment Weekend Update.-Early life:... . Darrell Hammond Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history... ) appears as Bill Clinton. Megan Fox Megan Denise Fox is an American actress and model. She began her acting career in 2001 with several minor television and film roles, and played a regular role on Hope & Faith. In 2004, she launched her film career with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen... appears to parody the finale of the soap opera Guiding Light Guiding Light Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009... . |
| 3 | October 1, 2009 | , |
Darrell Hammond Darrell Hammond is an American actor, stand-up comedian and impressionist. He was a regular on Saturday Night Live from 1995 until 2009, the longest tenure of any cast member. Upon his departure, Hammond, at age 53, was the oldest cast member in the show's history... appeared as Dennis Franz Dennis Franz Dennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt... . Maya Rudolph Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber... appeared as Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011... . |
Nielsen ratings
| # | Air Date | 18-49 | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season One | |||
| 1 | October 9, 2008 | 5.1/12 | 10.9 |
| 2 | October 16, 2008 | 4.2/10 | 8.8 |
| 3 | October 23, 2008 | 4.0/9 | 8.8 |
| Season Two | |||
| 4 | September 17, 2009 | 2.0 | 5.7 |
| 5 | September 24, 2009 | 1.8/5 | 4.66 |
| 6 | October 1, 2009 | 1.8/5 | 5.08 |