‘SNL UK’s Weekend Update Is Boldly Doing What the American Show Can't Pull Off

Saturday Night Live UK’s second episode of its sophomore season didn’t waste much time finding the line, and then stepping right over it. On Saturday, Weekend Update anchors Ania Magliano and Paddy Young turned the recent Ed Sheeran controversy into some of the sharpest material the series has seen so far. While Young criticized Sheeran’s selective advocacy, Magliano aimed at billionaire tycoon Robert Kraft’s message about “building bridges” between Israel and Palestine, only to note that those very bridges are the ones being bombed constantly.

Each of these jokes lands because they have something specific to say about the language being used around issues and the people trying to stay safely above it. That kind of clarity is also becoming one of the most interesting differences between SNL UK’s Weekend Update desk and the American version, currently anchored by Colin Jost and Michael Che, that it inherited.

‘SNL UK’s Weekend Update Lets the Joke Say the Quiet Part Out Loud’

Saturday Night Live UK’s Weekend Update has always been a little naughty, but this week, anchors Ania Magliano and Paddy Young really ran with the format. While discussing the fallout between Macklemore and Ed Sheeran over their differing positions on Israel’s assault against Gaza, Young pointed out the apparent contradiction between the songwriter being vocal about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while remaining comparatively silent here: “He’s always been a passionate advocate of causes that are allowed.”

This isn’t the first time Weekend Update has been so politically pointed. In Season 1, Episode 3, Young gleefully noted another uncomfortable dichotomy: “It’s Easter…the time of year where we celebrate the only murdered Palestinian we’re allowed to talk about.” The comedian’s jokes clearly trigger an emotional response, but that isn’t all they’re doing. Weekend Update asserts that there is something about the world that is absurd, contradictory, or worth questioning, with shock acting as its delivery mechanism. The audience experiences a jolt because the comparison crosses an expected social boundary. Then they have to do some of the work to understand what the joke is really saying. It’s particularly effective because the segment itself uses the language and appearance of a traditional news broadcast. Yet conventional news would normally express politically sensitive issues more cautiously, or not at all.

Young clearly finds novelty in being able to push those boundaries. He told The Guardian in July, “There are people on set that are 30 years older than me that tell me they’ve never got away with this on TV.” That doesn’t mean the show operates without guardrails. Britain has broadcasting rules overseen by Ofcom, while Magliano has also said, “Everything has to be looked at by our lawyers. I’ve now got a much better understanding of the laws of contempt of court,” according to The Standard.

Saturday Night Live UK appears comfortable pushing against those boundaries because, despite the risks, there are clearly some things its Weekend Update jokes are willing to say plainly. While the words themselves might be making headlines, Britain has a long tradition of using humor to punch up the truth. From Monty Python and The Thick of It to Brass Eye and Spitting Image, British comedy has made political figures, royalty and institutions fair targets for criticism over the years. In that context, what Young and Magliano are doing on Weekend Update isn’t particularly new for the UK. Couple that with the immediacy of the SNL format, and these lines seem uncharacteristically powerful. Saturday Night Live UK may have borrowed that format from America, but after this week, what the anchors are willing to say behind that desk is starting to feel distinctly British.

‘Saturday Night Live’ Goes There Too — Just Not Quite Like This

Image via Lloyd Bishop/NBC Universal

To be fair, Saturday Night Live has gone there before. In 2024, guest host Ramy Youssef used his monologue to call for an end to Gaza’s suffering, freedom for Palestinians, and the release of the hostages. Former cast member Emil Wakim also brought his Lebanese-American perspective to Weekend Update for a set about Gaza and the Middle East that visibly tested the room. As host, Youssef was speaking personally, and Wakim came to the desk with something tied to who he is. The American show will go there, but it has a habit of putting distance between the anchors and the ones holding the grenade.

That doesn’t mean Jost or Che spend Saturday nights playing it safe. Their year-end joke swaps have likely taken years off the lives of NBC lawyers. But Jost has been candid about the line they toe, telling the Fresh Air podcast in 2020 how he and his co-anchor judge jokes. “You kind of need an audience to guide you about what’s too far,” he said. While there’s also a level of mutual trust the pair need to figure out where the line is, Jost adds it can be scary, especially when they hear things backstage during the Weekend Update segment. But that tension makes their version just as funny. After they go too far and share a glance, that audience reaction quickly becomes part of the joke.

Magliano and Young don’t always give themselves that much of a safety net, and that might be the biggest difference between the two desks. Where Jost and Che make crossing the line part of their schtick, Magliano and Young are more willing to act like the line itself is worth questioning. It might seem small, but it changes the desk’s temperature and the audience reaction. A pointed joke comes off the prompter, lands, and then they’re onto the next story. There’s something sharper about that, especially when the UK series aims at the careful language networks use when nobody wants to say the uncomfortable part out loud.

Saturday Night Live UK returned for its second season on September 12, kicking off a six-episode fall run before the series returns with additional episodes in early 2027.

Saturday Night Live UK