This week, Saturday Night Live revived "Mid-Day News" for the second time. The sketch is the brain-child, and favorite, of SNL star Ego Nwodim.
Host Shane Gillis joined Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, and Kenan Thompson for "Mid-Day News 2" during the March 1 episode. The premise features two white and two Black new anchors getting in an escalating competition over crime stories.
The original aired on October 5, 2019. Host Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Alex Moffat squared off against Nwodim and Thompson. In an interview with The Ringer, Nwodim explained how her real-life anxiety while watching the news inspired the sketch.
"Whatever sort of crime is happening—there’s a suspect on the loose, and we’re trying to find the suspect—I’m always like, 'My goodness, what a terrible crime!' And I go, 'Please don’t let it be a Black person.' Because we don’t need that kind of press. I don’t want that kind of press for us."
Nwodim ran the idea past producer Erin Doyle, who suggested Nwodim work with Michael Che to bring the sketch to a different level. Che's idea was to turn it into a competition as each pair of anchors kept score.
Nwodim loved the idea, but expressed concern that the audience wouldn't get the joke. If the first punchline didn't land, she was in for a long, quiet sketch. Thankfully, the crowd roared in approval when the premise became clear. Nwodim singled out Thompson for helping sell the bit.
"Kenan is an angel," Nwodim said. "I would call him a sensei, as well. He’s been there for so long. He performs with such an ease, but then knows how to make a funny thing even funnier."
Mid-Day News 2 with Shane Gillis didn't mess with the formula
The original sketch was flawless, so there was no need to mess with the formula for "Mid-Day News 2." Shane Gillis also felt like the perfect host to step in to the sequel.
"Mid-Day News" 2 was the first sketch following Gillis' monologue. The opening stand-up routine from Gillis was pretty hit-or-miss, with some jokes failing to land with the Studio 8H audience. His attempts at race jokes also proved to be a helpful lead-in for "Mid-Day News," which was executed much better.
The original sketch has close to 8 million views on YouTube since it went live in 2019. The Shane Gillis edition crossed 500,000 in less than 12 hours. Both sketches are hits, and both owe Ego Nwodim for the genius idea.