Michael Che and Colin Jost, the news anchor team on “Saturday Night Live,” will step out from behind the Weekend Update desk to host the Primetime Emmy Awards this fall, NBC announced Thursday.
In a joint statement, the two accomplished stand-up comedians said, ““We’re proud to be the first duo hosting the Emmys since Jenna Elfman and David Hyde Pierce [in 1999], and somehow that’s a real fact.”
NBC promised “surprise appearances” by other “SNL” talents during the ceremony, airing from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 17.
In addition to wisecracking about the news each Saturday, Che and Jost also are co-head writers on “SNL.” Their boss, the show’s creator Lorne Michaels, will be executive producer of the Emmys.
The four broadcast networks take turns airing the Emmys from year to year, and NBC traditionally turns to its “SNL” and late-night talent pool when appointing its hosts — going back to Eddie Murphy, who co-hosted with Joan Rivers in 1983. More recent choices have included Seth Meyers (2014), Jimmy Fallon (2010) and Conan O’Brien (2002 and 2006).
Another “SNL” alum, Andy Samberg, hosted an Emmys broadcast on Fox in 2015 to promote his Fox sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
