Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL 50 Finale Pregame Revisits Michael Che & Colin Jost's Joke Swaps

With NBC's SNL Season 50 wrapping up tonight, here's a look back at "Weekend Update's" Michael Che and Colin Jost's "joke swap" history.

The combination of tonight's NBC's Saturday Night Live being the Season 50 finale and Scarlett Johansson (Jurassic World Rebirth) hosting (with Bad Bunny set as musical guest) could make for a very interesting end-of-the-season edition of "Weekend Update's'" Michael Che and Colin Jost's "joke swap" tradition (more on that in a minute). If you're new to the twistedly hysterical tradition, the writers and WU co-anchors abuse each other for our enjoyment by making each other read some truly brutal and over-the-top "news stories." And if tradition continues, we should have another round tonight, which means now might be as good a time as any to look back on the previous editions.

It was during Season 41's Thanksgiving show (Host Matthew McConaughey and Musical Guest Adele: November 21, 2015) that painfully young-looking Che and Jost introduced viewers to the "joke swap" concept. From there, things pick back up in 2018, and you can check out each edition below to get you up to speed before tonight. In addition, we look back at what went down this past December that brought Johansson into the mix:

Christmas 2018:

2019's Season 44 Finale:

Christmas 2019:

2020's Season 45 Finale:

Christmas 2020:

2021's Season 46 Finale:

Christmas 2023:

2024's Season 49 Finale:

With SNL getting ready to wrap up 2024, Christmas 2024 was time for Jost and Che to unleash their annual joke swap – and were they able to top their past efforts? Oh, yes. Jost warned the crowd when they began applauding the start of the annual event with, "You applaud now…" Because Che had Jost read his racially charged joke headlines about VP Kamala Harris looking into slavery reparations, Johansson celebrating a birthday, and Costco roast beef – in a "Black voice." The jokes themselves saw Jost referring to Johansson as "boo," dropping a roast beef/oral sex joke, and more – all while the camera cut to Johansson's reactions behind the scenes (with her offering an "Oh my god!" at one point). Meanwhile, Jost had Che making the argument that Jay-Z was innocent and that Che frequented Diddy parties – while throwing in some Jeffrey Epstein and Moana 2 references along the way.

"I had all these cameras on me. I didn't expect the setup to be like that," Johansson shared during her recent interview with Vanity Fair regarding December 2024's swap, where she found herself the subject of a number of Che's jokes (in real-time while she was backstage at SNL). "I was like, 'Wow, you really are seventh-, eighth-grade boys [grins]. I feel like it's almost my responsibility to come up with some way to burn Michael back. Retaliation, I'd say, should be expected." Well, it looks like Johansson has drawn a line in the sand – and it appears that she might get some help. "Others on the show could support this desire. Know what I mean?" Hmmm… let the speculation begin!

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