Seth Meyers
Seth Meyers is Saturday Night Live's current head writer and Weekend Update anchor. Born in 1973 and raised in New Hampshire, he attended Northwestern University and joined the cast of SNL in 2001, making him the longest-running member of the current cast and the second longest-running cast member of all time (after Darrell Hammond who was on the show from 1995 to 2009, a whopping 14 years). He began co-anchoring Weekend Update in 2006 with Amy Poehler, and has continued to do so even after Poehler's departure from the show in 2008. Since assuming the head writer position in 2006, he's moved toward a more behind-the-scenes job at SNL, with some fans of the show theorizing that he may be posturing to take over for longtime Show Runner Lorne Michaels. Until then, it seems like he'll stick to hosting things, like the Espy Awards and the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Has a younger brother named Josh Meyers (who looks like Seth, except Josh is a redhead and is three years younger), who was a cast member on SNL's former rival sketch show Mad TV from season eight to season nine, then played Randy on the final season of That '70s Show.
Tropes
- Ambiguously Jewish: In late March 2012 he spoke at the University of Florida; unbeknownst to him, he was also considered the keynote speaker for the university's Jewish Awareness month. When told this during Q&A, he confirmed that he is in fact not Jewish (although he understands why people think he is) and that UF's Jewish Awareness is pretty bad.
- Blue Eyes
- Deadpan Snarker: Meyers is somewhere between Dennis Miller and Norm MacDonald (or Brad Hall and Norm MacDonald) on the "Snarkiest Weekend Update Anchor" scale.
- Demoted To Weekend Update Anchor: Ever since season 32 [1], Meyers hasn't been in any sketch outside of Weekend Update. He has appeared in some sketches (like in a cold opening that had Mitt Romney's five children or in the "Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy" pretaped sketches as Boston Powers [2]), but it's rare.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Played for laughs on Weekend Update during the Ho Yay-tastic Stefon segments.
- Nerds Are Sexy: Avowed comic book fan? Check. Avid gamer? Check. Admitted to crying during the penultimate episode of Battlestar Galactica? Ding ding ding.
- Odd Couple: With Martha Stewart, of all people. Watching his frequent appearances on Stewart's show is both bizarre and thoroughly entertaining.
- Mentioned on a fake SNL commercial for a photo studio specializing in taking cell phone pictures of men's penises. Seth Meyers' testimonial ends with him saying, "You're welcome, Martha Stewart."
- Platonic Life Partners: He often refers to Amy Poehler as his "best friend" and even signs off each of his solo Weekend Update segments by tapping the desk where she used to sit.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Really??" tends to be this towards a specific individual.
- Take That: His excellent roast of Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2011. Made even better by the fact that Trump was sitting right in front of him, visibly furious.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Typical of his impressions during his years as a repertory cast member (from season 27 to season 31 [3]. Near the end they began to veer into Not Even Bothering with the Accent territory. Particularly hilarious when you take into account that he lived in Europe for several years and his brother, Josh, is better at accents and voices than he is as evidenced on his two-year stint on Mad TV
- Weirdness Magnet: The characters Meyers interacts with on Weekend Update are very colorful to say the least (Bill Hader's Stefon, James Carville as played by Bill Hader, Nicolas Cage as played by Andy Samberg, Bobby Moynihan's Drunk Uncle, Andy Samberg's Larry the Goose and Liam, the Teenager Who Just Woke Up, and pretty much every character played by Kristen Wiig) and the only thing Meyers can do is play Only Sane Man.