Seth Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American comedian, television host, writer, producer, and actor. He currently hosts Late Night with Seth Meyers, a late-night talk show on NBC. Prior to Late Night, Meyers was a cast member and head writer for NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2014, and hosted the show's news parody segment, Weekend Update. Seth joined the cast in 2001 along with Amy Poehler, Dean Edwards and Jeff Richards.
Seth auditioned for the Weekend Update desk in 2004, after Jimmy Fallon had left the show, but lost to Amy Poehler.[1]
Seth was named writing supervisor in October 1, 2005 at the start of season 31, and was promoted to head writer midway through the season on January 14, 2006. However, after season 31 in 2006, 5 cast members, including co-head writer Tina Fey, who had left to do 30 Rock, had left the show (3 of the 5 were let go involuntary, due to budget cuts).
Around that time, Seth's cast contract was up, but once again auditioned for Weekend Update after Tina had left; and being head writer at the time, his manager said to him that if he didn't get Update, they would've had a contract for him, where he would remain at the show as solely head writer, and never appear on camera again. But Meyers refused the contract until they decided on an Update host, and would've left the show had he not gotten Update. [2]
However, it all worked out, and Seth got the Update desk in 2006, at the start of season 32, alongside Amy Poehler. Meyers started anchoring Weekend Update by himself starting October 25, 2008, after Poehler went on maternity leave, but Poehler returned for the December 6 and December 13 epsidoes, before Seth continued to do it solo for much of the next several years.
In 2012, he surpassed Tina Fey as the longest serving Weekend Update Anchor. However, in 2021, his record was surpassed by his successor Colin Jost.
On May 12, 2013, it was announced that Meyers would be leaving SNL midway through the next season in order to start co-hosting Late Night with Seth Meyers, and at the start of season 39, then-second year cast member Cecily Strong became his co-anchor that season, until he officially left the show after February 1, 2014, after 13 seasons in the cast, 9 seasons as head writer, and 8 seasons on Update.
In May 2013, it was announced that Meyers had been chosen to replace former SNL cast member Jimmy Fallon the following year as host of Late Night. His final episode was on February 1, 2014. [3] He is currently the third longest-running cast member in the show's history, right behind Darrell Hammond and Kenan Thompson.
Seth's brother, Josh Meyers, was formerly a castmember of MADtv, a late-night sketch show that rivaled SNL for fourteen years.
NBC announced on May 12, 2013, that Meyers would be the new host of Late Night in 2014, succeeding Jimmy Fallon, as Fallon became host of The Tonight Show. Meyers assumed his role on Late Night on February 24, 2014, and his first guest was former SNL castmate and Weekend Update anchor Amy Poehler. Meyers announced February 10, 2014, that the bandleader for his house band "The 8G Band" would be his former SNL colleague Fred Armisen. More recently, he and his Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions company signed an overall deal with NBCUniversal.
Meyers has hosted the Webby Awards twice, in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, Meyers hosted the Microsoft Company Meeting at Safeco Field in Seattle. Meyers hosted the 2010 and 2011 ESPY Awards on ESPN. In April 2011, Meyers was the keynote speaker at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. During his introductory remarks, he made a joke about Osama bin Laden's actions while in hiding; namely, that bin Laden was hosting his own afternoon television show on C-SPAN. Meyers was unaware that US intelligence had located bin Laden and the Navy SEALs planned an attack on his location for the next day. In the same speech, he mocked Donald Trump (who was in attendance) for his attempts in finding then US President Barack Obama's birth certificate. He also mocked Trump's intention of running for president, which many later jokingly said was the reason for Trump's later candidacy in the 2016 US Presidential Election. In 2014, Meyers hosted the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2018, Meyers hosted the 75th Golden Globe Awards.
Impressions and Characters[]
Impressions[]
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Characters[]
- Appalachian ER receptionist
- Boston Powers
- Brad Scheinwald
- Dan Needler
- Dave "Zinger" Clinger
- Ian Gerrard
- Jonathan Feinstein
- William Fitzpatrick
- Zack Ricky
SNL Career[]
- 2001-2003: Featured Player
- 2003-2014: Repertory Player (final episode: February 1, 2014)
- 2005-06: Writing Supervisor (October 1 - January 21, 2006)
- 2006-2014: Weekend Update Anchor/Head Writer (became head writer: January 21, 2006, starting on Update in Sep. 2006)
- May 17, 2014: Cameo
- August 17, 2017 (Weekend Update Summer Edition): Cameo
- October 13, 2018: Host
Gallery[]
References[]
External Links[]
Preceded by: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler |
Weekend Update anchor with Amy Poehler (2006— 2008) |
Followed by: Himself as solo anchor |
Preceded by: Himself with Amy Poehler |
Weekend Update anchor (2008— 2013) |
Followed by: Himself with Cecily Strong |
Preceded by: Himself as solo anchor |
Weekend Update anchor with Cecily Strong (2013— 2014) |
Followed by: Cecily Strong |