The departure of Seth Meyer, as head writer and “Weekend Update” anchor, from Saturday Night Live was definitely a bittersweet moment, even if he wasn’t moving far away. Meyers left the show to host his current late-night talk show, Late Night With Seth Meyers, a show that actually films in the same building as SNL. Meyers’ last episode was hosted by Melissa McCarthy in February 2014, when he bid goodbye to the show midway through the episode on “Weekend Update,” where he was (at that time) the longest-running anchor, having served in the role for eight years. This record would later be surpassed by Colin Jost.
In this episode, Meyers told his last joke on “Weekend Update” before being joined at the desk by his former “Update” cohost Amy Poehler and Stefon, a recurring “Update” guest (presented as Meyers’ husband) who was played by Bill Hader. At this point, both Poehler and Hader had already left the show but returned for Meyers’ last episode to “take him to the other side” of life after Saturday Night Live. Andy Samberg, another former SNL cast member, also joined the group to sing a comical, off-key rendition of the Boyz II Men song “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” Meyers then took a moment to express his gratitude for the job as well as the cast, crew, and creator Lorne Michaels before signing off for the final time.
You can watch Meyers’ goodbye here on NBC, or watch the episode on Hulu (Season 39, Episode 13).
