'Saturday Night Live': Michael Che in, Cecily Strong out for 'Weekend Update'
NBC says a correspondent on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" is joining "Saturday Night Live."
Comedian Michael Che will handle "Weekend Update" duties with Colin Jost during the upcoming 40th season of "SNL," the network said Thursday.
Che, who wrote for "SNL" last season, had joined Stewart's Comedy Central show earlier this year. In an August episode focused on the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, Che appeared as a reporter trying to find a safe place in America for a black man.
Che is replacing Cecily Strong on the "Weekend Update" desk. Strong will stay with "SNL" as a cast member, NBC said. Strong debuted on “SNL” in 2012 and Jost has written for the show since 2005, currently serving as its head writer. He joined “Weekend Update” this past March.
"Saturday Night Live" returns for its new season Sept. 27 with host Chris Pratt, who appeared in the August comic book hit “Guardians of the Galaxy” – currently the highest-grossing movie of 2014 so far, according to Box Office Mojo – and is set to star in the upcoming fourth “Jurassic Park” movie, which will be released next June. The musical guest will be Ariana Grande, whose song “Bang Bang” with singers Jessie J and Nicki Minaj is at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of Sept. 20., with her song “Break Free” placing at number eight on the same list.
In addition to his film work, Pratt stars on the NBC comedy “Parks and Recreation,” which is set to debut the first episode of its seventh and final season midseason, according to E! “We have several of our strongest comedies by some of our best auspices being held for midseason, including the final season of Parks and Recreation,’” NBC president Jennifer Selke said of the 2014 NBC fall schedule in a statement.
