Colin Jost

No late-night comedians could easily resist the call of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and it looks like SNL will be getting in on the fun as well. Long before Season 42 hits NBC, Colin Jost and Michael Che will bring special editions of Weekend Update to MSNBC for both events.

The behind-the-scenes workings of SNL could fill a TV series all their own (in fact, they have!), but many a fan were caught off guard to learn that young head writer Colin Jost would step down from his position, following an already somewhat controversial tenure. Now, Jost opens up about the decision, hoping freedom will grant him a second wind at the revered NBC sketch series.

SNL co-head writer Colin Jost has been something of a polarizing figure, rising through the writers’ ranks, taking over as head Weekend Update anchor from Seth Meyers, and subsequently replacing co-host Cecily Strong with comedian Michael Che. Now, a surprising shift has occurred behind the scenes, as Jost has abdicated his role as co-head writer to fellow heads Rob Klein and Bryan Tucker.

The energy level from last week’s ‘SNL’ season premiere wasn’t quite there with Saturday night's Sarah Silverman hosted effort. It was almost like last week felt like “we’ve got a cast we’re proud off; let’s show it off!” and this week was almost a little more experimental. (I realize, most likely, none of this was intentional.) Silverman was good in the respect that it at least appeared she was certainly trying, but sometimes stumbled over some lines (hosting ‘SNL’ isn’t easy!) and she would go back and forth from looking, at times, confident – obviously she was comfortable doing her standup act in the monologue -- and, at other times, looking a little off ... which all seems really reasonable. Oh, hey, here’s a scorecard for your Sunday morning...

Last Thursday saw a uniquely surprising shift in 'SNL''s upcoming 40th anniversary season, as senior "Weekend Update" host Cecily Strong was relieved from the desk, and replaced with writer Michael Che alongside head writer Colin Jost. Many had taken the swap as an unfair slight against Strong in favor of Jost's writer seniority, though now Strong herself has spoken out on her feelings toward the "Weekend Update" shakeup.

We'd known that 'SNL' would need some additional fine-tuning after shedding some of the dead weight of season 39, but where writer Colin Jost had replaced "Weekend Update"s departed Seth Meyers alongside Cecily Strong, an unexpected shakeup has emerged. Strong will step down from the Update desk, remaining an 'SNL' regular, while 'Daily Show' correspondent and 'SNL' writer Michael Che will become Jost's new co-anchor.

The truth is, I don’t particularly enjoy reviewing ‘Saturday Night Live’ – something I’ve done now for four full seasons at three different outlets. Now, I’ve loved the show for my entire life and I love writing about the show, but it’s not easy to be critical of what these people do every week because it really is remarkable what they can pull off in less than one week on live television. (I’ve a