SNL appoints Michael Che as first black head writer

Michael Che has made history as the first person of color to become a head writer at Saturday Night Live.

SNL announced Tuesday that Che and his Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost have been promoted to head writers. 

They will be leading the writing staff along with veteran head writers Bryan Tucker and Kent Sublette. 

Che and Jost are filling the spaces left behind when Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider left at the end of last season to start their new Comedy Central show, which has SNL boss Lorne Michaels as an executive producer. 

Michael Che has been promoted to head writer of SNL, making him the first person of color to hold the role

Che, right, was promoted to head writer along with his Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost, left. Jost previously worked as head writer from 2012 to 2015

Che, right, was promoted to head writer along with his Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost, left. Jost previously worked as head writer from 2012 to 2015

In the 43-year history of SNL, the head writers of the show have been largely white and male. 

There have been just three female head writers in the past. Tina Fey broke that glass ceiling in the 1999-2000 season, when she was appointed as the sole head writer for the show. She continued to hold that role for another six seasons. 

Che’s appointment to head writer comes just four years after the show faced criticism for its lack of diversity. 

The native New Yorker joined Saturday Night Live as a writer in 2013, the same year that the show came under fire for not having a single black woman on the cast.  

Facing outrage not only from viewers – but also black cast members Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharaoh – Lorne Michaels held mid-season auditions to add at least one black woman to the cast. 

Sasheer Zamata beat out comediennes across the country to be appointed as a featured player in January 2014. It was also during this nationwide search that Leslie Jones was hired, first as a writer and eventually as a cast member.

Jost and Che will be head writers alongside Bryan Tucker (left) and Kent Sublette (rigtht)

Jost and Che are filling the head writing positions vacated by Chris Kelly (left) and Sarah Schneider (right)  

Despite SNL addressing the issue back in 2013, the scandal doesn’t seem to have had a large affect on the diversity of the cast since then.

Jost is currently dating actress Scarlett Johansson

Jost is currently dating actress Scarlett Johansson

Today, Jones is the only black female cast member, while the number of black male cast members has remained the same since Che was promoted to Weekend Update co-anchor in 2014. SNL made some inroads though when they fired their first Latina cast member last year, Melissa Villasenor. 

Meanwhile, the promotion for Jost will seem like a bit of deja-vu. 

Jost, who is currently dating Scarlett Johansson, was head writer from 2012 to 2015, but stepped down to focus on Weekend Update. He first joined the show in 2005. 

NBC also announced on Tuesday that Sudi Green and Fran Gillespie have been promoted to writing supervisors – the position below head writer. 

They have been behind recent popular sketches like ‘Cartier Fidget Spinner Ad’ and ‘E! New Line-Up Promo’. 

SNL is currently having its second best season in nine years, behind last year’s election year extravaganza. 

The show is averaging 9.6million viewers an episode with a 2.9 rating in adults 18-49, a key demographic for advertisers.  

SNL HEAD WRITERS THROUGH THE YEARS 
Season  Years  Head writer(s) 
1 1975-1976 Lorne Michaels and Michael O’Donoghue 
1976-1977  Michael O’Donoghue 
1977-1978  Michael O’Donoghue 
1978-1979  Herb Sargent 
1979-1980  Herb Sargent 
1980-1981  Mason Williams, Jeremy Stevens, Tom Moore and Michael O’Donoghue 
1981-1982  Michael O’Donogue, Bob Tischler 
1982-1983  Bob Tischler and Andrew Smith 
1983-1984  Bob Tischler and Andrew Smith 
10  1984-1985  Bob Tischler 
11  1985-1986  Jim Downey 
12  1986-1987  Jim Downey 
13  1987-1988  Jim Downey 
14  1988-1989  Jim Downey 
15  1989-1990  Jim Downey 
16  1990-1991  Jim Downey 
17  1991-1992  Jim Downey 
18  1992-1993  Jim Downey 
19  1993-1994  Jim Downey 
20  1994-1995  Jim Downey 
21  1995-1996  Steve Higgins and Fred Wolf 
22  1996-1997  Steve Higgins and Tim Herlihy 
23  1997-1998  Tim Herlihy and Adam McKay 
24  1998-1999  Adam McKay 
25  1999-2000  Tina Fey 
26  2000-2001  Tina Fey and Dennis McNicholas 
27  2001-2002  Tina Fey and Dennis McNicholas 
28  2002-2003  Tina Fey and Dennis McNicholas 
29  2003-2004  Tina Fey and Dennis McNicholas
30  2004-2005  Tina Fey and Andrew Steele 
31  2005-2006  Tina Fey, Seth Meyers and Andrew Steele 
32  2006-2007  Seth Meyers, Paula Pell and Andrew Steele 
33  2007-2008  Seth Meyers, Paula Pell and Andrew Steele 
34  2008-2009  Seth Meyers 
35  2009-2010  Seth Meyers 
36  2010-2011  Seth Meyers 
37  2011-2012  Seth Meyers 
38  2012-2013  Seth Meyers and Colin Jost 
39  2013-2014  Seth Meyers, Colin Jost, Rob Klein, Bryan Tucker 
40  2014-2015  Colin Jost, Rob Klein and Bryan Tucker 
41  2015-2016  Rob Klein and Bryan Tucker 
42  2016-2017  Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Bryan Tucker and Kent Sublette 
43  2017-2018  Colin Jost, Michael Che, Bryan Tucker and Kent Sublette 

 



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