In his ten years working as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Seth Meyers has become a household name, making audiences melt with his irresistible charm, witty jokes, and his signature signoff every week. On February 1, 2014, Seth Meyers performed his last show on Saturday Night Live. His last segment included alumni such as Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, and Bill Hader audience favorite, Stefon.

Before SNL, Meyers attended Northwestern University where he was a part of the improvisation group, Mee-Ow. He later moved on to become a part of the improvisation group Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. Although Meyers has made an appearance in certain movies such as Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and Journey To The Center Of The Earth, audiences know him primarily for his time as a writer and anchor on the “Weekend Update” segment of the comedy show Saturday Night Live. Meyers joined the cast of SNL in 2001; however, in his time as a cast member, he was promoted to writing supervisor, co-head writer with Tina Fey, co-anchor of “Weekend Update” with Amy Poehler, and eventually solo anchor until the addition of cast member Cecily Strong joined him as a co-anchor.

On “Weekend Update,” where Meyers acted as co-anchor, he imitates a news anchor, usually poking fun at modern day politics or reporting ridiculous news. The interviewees on “The Weekend Update” are cast members of the show, frequently mocking politicians, historians, and specialists. Some of Meyers’s famous interviewees include Kat and Garth, two goofy musicians who never remember the words to their songs; Stefon, a partier who tends to go to ridiculous and unheard of clubs around New York; and Jacob, a young boy who has just celebrated his bar mitzvah and talks in a scripted manner. Caroline Wren ’16 said, “My favorite is Stefon- definitely Stefon, and I liked it when he interviewed Olya Pavlatsky.” Olya Pavlatsky, played by Kate McKinnon, is an older Russian woman who often discusses current events in Russia and some of the cruel and harsh conditions from her homeland.

Meyers recently announced that he will take over Late Night, previously hosted by Jimmy Fallon. Fallon, who is also a previous cast member of Saturday Night Live, is taking over The Tonight Show for a retiring Jay Leno. Saturday Night Live co-head writer Colin Jost will take over Meyers’s anchoring duties along with current co-anchor and cast member, Cecily Strong. Julia Blumberg ’15 said, “I’m surprised by it. He [Meyers] was hilarious, and he changed everyone he worked with in a positive way, but he’s moving on to better and greater things. It’s not the last we will see of Seth Meyers. I am okay with it because he is going to be hosting other shows.”

In an interview with John Jurgensen, Meyers said, “Likability. That’s what Lorne stresses the most in a job like this.” Michael Lorne, the creator of SNL, is also the creator of Late Night and provides a similarly comic feel to his shows. As to why Meyers decided to leave SNL, most SNL viewers will say that it is just part of the process, and like Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler and many before them, Seth Meyers is just moving forward in his career as an actor and writer. In an interview about his upcoming show, Meyers said, “The nice thing about having a nightly show at 12:30 PM is the previous hosts have all shown that it’s a piece of real estate where you can try to be as creative as possible and take some risks that you probably can’t take in prime time, and to some degrees maybe can’t take at 11:30.”

In an interview about Meyers’s first months on SNL, Meyers said, “When I first got that job, I spent a lot of time, probably too much time, spinning out how I’d make it different than everyone before me. Then you realize that just happens, because you are genetically different from those people.” During his time as a cast member, Seth Meyers did just that. Meyers brought heart to the show many have known and loved since the first episode aired in 1975. Although the cast of Saturday Night Live  constantly changes, the show has not lost its charm and humor because it has cast members like Meyers that have made the show what it is today. Sujuylee Alvarez ’16 said, “It’s sad because Saturday Night Live is funny, and I watch it during my free time, but even though he is leaving, he’ll still be a part of the show in viewers’ minds.” Meyers’s first show as the host of Late Night aired on February 24, 2014. His first guests included actress Amy Poehler and vice president of the United States, Joe Biden.