Saturday Night Live characters appearing on Weekend Update

Last updated April 11, 2024

Weekend Update has been a platform for Saturday Night Live characters to grow and gain popularity ever since Gilda Radner used it to create Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna. Many cast members have used Update as the primary vehicle for a certain character. Don Novello was featured almost exclusively on the news segment as his breakout character, Father Guido Sarducci, and Tim Kazurinsky, in the face of Eddie Murphy's overshadowing popularity, created characters almost exclusively for Update. Before becoming an anchor on Update, Colin Quinn used the segment as his main sounding board as well.

Significant characters who appeared chiefly on Weekend Update are listed here in chronological order of their first appearance.

Emily Litella (Gilda Radner) – November 15, 1975
Baba Wawa (Gilda Radner)
Audrey Peart Dickman (Jane Curtin)
Debbie Doodie (Gilda Radner)
Roseanne Roseannadanna (Gilda Radner) – January 21, 1978 (first overall appearance was in a fake commercial called "Hire the Incompetent" which aired on the season 3 episode hosted by Charles Grodin^[1])
Lester Crackfield (Al Franken) – February 18, 1978
Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) – May 13, 1978
Chico Escuela (Garrett Morris) – November 11, 1978
Big Vic Ricker (Harry Shearer) – January 26, 1980
Raheem Abdul Muhammed (Eddie Murphy)
Dr. Jack Badofsky (Tim Kazurinsky) – March 20, 1982
Siobhan Cahill (Mary Gross) – January 22, 1983
Dwight MacNamara (Gary Kroeger) – November 12, 1983
Worthington Clotman (Tim Kazurinsky) – January 28, 1984
Wayne Huevos (Tim Kazurinsky) – February 18, 1984
Lew Goldman (Billy Crystal) – October 13, 1984
Buddy Young, Jr. (Billy Crystal) – October 20, 1984
Nathan Thurm (Martin Short) – November 17, 1984
Tommy Flanagan, the Pathological Liar (Jon Lovitz) – November 16, 1985
Babette (Nora Dunn) – April 19, 1986
Mr. Subliminal (Kevin Nealon) – October 11, 1986
A Grumpy Old Man (Dana Carvey) – February 11, 1989
Annoying Man (Jon Lovitz) – November 11, 1989
Queen Shenequa (Ellen Cleghorne) – October 26, 1991
Jan Brady (Melanie Hutsell) – January 11, 1992
Cajun Man (Adam Sandler) – February 8, 1992
Buster Jenkins (Chris Rock) – February 15, 1992
Opera Man (Adam Sandler) – April 18, 1992
Hank Fielding (Robert Smigel) – November 14, 1992
Bennett Brauer (Chris Farley) – April 10, 1993
The British Fops (Mark McKinney, David Koechner) – November 11, 1995
Joe Blow (Colin Quinn) – November 18, 1995
Gary Macdonald (David Koechner) – December 2, 1995
Lenny The Lion (Colin Quinn) – December 9, 1995
Cinder Calhoun (Ana Gasteyer) – November 23, 1996
Dominican Lou (Tracy Morgan) – March 22, 1997
Gunner Olsen (Jim Breuer) – March 7, 1998
Jacob Silj (Will Ferrell) – December 4, 1999
Jasper Hahn (Horatio Sanz) – January 8, 2000
Jeannie Darcy (Molly Shannon) – November 18, 2000
Gay Hitler (Chris Kattan) – October 13, 2001
Drunk Girl (Jeff Richards) – December 8, 2001
Fericito (Fred Armisen) – October 5, 2002
Tim Calhoun (Will Forte) – October 19, 2002
The Kelly Brothers (Fred Armisen, Will Forte) – February 8, 2003
Billy Smith (Fred Armisen) – October 18, 2003
Jorge Rodriguez (Horatio Sanz) – May 1, 2004
Jon Bovi (Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis) – October 7, 2006
Two Gay Guys from Jersey (Fred Armisen, Bill Hader) – October 28, 2006
Aunt Linda (Kristen Wiig) – December 2, 2006
Nicholas Fehn (Fred Armisen) – October 13, 2007
Roger A. Trevanti (Fred Armisen) – November 3, 2007 (was a one-shot character that gained a following on YouTube videos during the 2007–2008 Writers' Guild of America strike)
Judy Grimes (Kristen Wiig) – April 12, 2008
Jean K. Jean (Kenan Thompson) – March 8, 2008
Willie (Kenan Thompson)
David “Big Papi” Ortiz (Kenan Thompson)
Garth and Kat (Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig) – December 19, 2009
Stefon (Bill Hader) – April 24, 2010 (first overall appearance was in a one-shot sketch on the season 34 episode hosted by Ben Affleck^[2])
Anthony Crispino (Bobby Moynihan) – October 2, 2010
Drunk Uncle (Bobby Moynihan)
Cathy Anne (Cecily Strong)
Jebidiah Atkinson the 1860s newspaper critic (Taran Killam)
Best Friends from Growing Up (Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer)

Child actor Laura Parsons (Vanessa Bayer)
[[Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 2012–13#Arianna Huffington (Nasim Pedrad) - February 11, 2012
The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation with at a Party|The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation with at a Party]] (Cecily Strong) – November 3, 2012 (first overall appearance was on the September 27, 2012 Weekend Update Thursday)
Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy (Vanessa Bayer) – December 15, 2012
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Kate McKinnon) - February 11, 2017
The Guy Who Just Bought a Boat (Alex Moffat) – February 11, 2017
Angel, Every Boxer's Girlfriend from Every Movie About Boxing Ever|Angel, Every Boxer's Girlfriend from Every Movie About Boxing Ever]] (Heidi Gardner) – November 4, 2017
Teen film critic Bailey Gismert (Heidi Gardner) – January 27, 2018
Chen Biao (Bowen Yang), a Chinese trade commissioner (or "trade daddy") who is now a health minister because of the coronavirus epidemic. - October 5, 2019
Dr. Wayne Wenowdis (Kate McKinnon) – October 10, 2020
Crystal Your coworker who is extremely busy doing seemingly nothing (Heidi Gardner) – April 8, 2023

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References

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Saturday Night Live characters appearing on Weekend Update

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References

See also