We always talk about the sadness that comes with Saturday Night Live cast members departing the show, but the truth is every time someone leaves, it also leads to additional opportunities. The most obvious of those opportunities comes in the form of screentime, but there are also additional benefits like more access to writers, better offices and hilariously in the case of Seth Meyers, his preferred cue card holder.
Meyers was recently asked about cue card master Wally Feresten during a Q&A with the audience on his talk show. After praising Wally and calling him “the best ever,” Meyers admitted that when his longtime Weekend Update partner Amy Poehler left SNL, he was elated when he realized that meant he’d get to start using Wally for himself from that point forward. Here’s a portion of his quote...
The best thing is when I was doing Update with Amy, (Wally) did Amy’s cards. You have two different people because we had different cameras at Update. And when Amy left, I got Wally, and I remember thinking, ‘I’m so f*cking happy she’s gone.’
Saying Meyers has a strong relationship with Feresten would be an understatement. The cue card writer and holder, who has been with SNL since 1990, actually now pulls double duty and works on Late Night With Seth Meyers, as well. In fact, during the same conversation with the audience, Meyers said he thinks at this point, Wally has held up the cue cards for 95% of all the words he’s ever spoken on television. Given his lengthy career, that’s a huge statement.
Meyers and Poehler tag teamed the Weekend Update desk during Seasons 32 and 33 and part of Season 34. After Poehler left the show to star in Parks & Recreation, Meyers then manned the desk by himself (with the help of Wally) until Season 39 when Cecily Strong was added. That turned into Strong and Colin Jost, which turned into Colin Jost and Michael Che, who have shared the desk for the last decade plus since Season 40.
Meyers, of course, transitioned from the Update desk to his own talk show, Late Night With Seth Meyers, that has produced more than 1,800 episodes in the years since. Feresten has been around that entire time, and he remains an active part of SNL, where he’s now one of the longest serving crew members. Meyers himself also still shows up from time to time.
You can watch Meyers gush about Wally in the full video below…
As for what changes we might see at SNL before the next season, that’s still an open question. Rumors, as always, are swirling about everyone from longtime showrunner Lorne Michaels to Weekend Update hosts Jost and Che, but we likely won’t have any official word until much closer to the season. It’ll be sad to see anyone leave, but as always, it’ll just create additional opportunities for screentime and access to beloved employees like Wally.
