Saturday Night Live knows a wave worth riding when they see it. As announced by NBC Tuesday, the show's popular Weekend Update segment intends to ride the hell out of the current wave of hype surrounding their political coverage by expanding into primetime. The half-hour Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update will feature regular anchors Michael Che and Colin Just, with other SNL cast members popping in for the occasional appearance.
"SNL is having its best season in a quarter of a century—how many shows can say that?!—so we didn't want them to take the summer off," Robert Greenblatt, NBC Entertainment Chairman, said in a statement. "We're thrilled to have Colin Jost and Michael Che continuing their unique brand of news with fresh Weekend Update shows in primetime this August." Weekend Update has been given a four-episode order and is set to premiere Aug. 10.
Understandably, dedicated SNL fans have been dropping a barrage of celebratory GIFs since the news hit:
Other fans are more concerned with facilitating Norm Macdonald's return:
The weekly Weekend Update spin-off was first rumored last month following Variety's report that Lorne Michaels and company were boasting their strongest ratings in 22 years. Updated stats, included in Tuesday's network announcement, have SNL on track to score its most-watched season in 24 years. To put that in perspective, here's the kind of shit that was going down 24 years ago:
