Colin Jost is joining a very exclusive SNL club.
With this week’s Season 52 premiere, Jost marks his 250th episode as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, becoming just the fourth cast member in the show’s history to reach the milestone.
That’s according to LateNighter’s podcast partner the Saturday Night Network, whose team tracks SNL appearance statistics.
By the time Jost joined the cast, he was already an SNL veteran. He joined the show’s writing staff in 2005, nearly a decade before making his on-camera debut as a cast member midway through Season 39.
In the more than 12 years since, he’s missed just one episode: the Omicron-disrupted December 18, 2021 show, when Tina Fey filled in alongside Michael Che for that night’s makeshift “Weekend Update.”
Unlike most cast members, Jost’s first appearance came in the same place viewers have seen him nearly every week since: behind the “Weekend Update” desk.
Jost made his cast member debut alongside Cecily Strong during the Jim Parsons-hosted March 1, 2014 episode, taking over the seat vacated by Seth Meyers after Meyers left SNL to launch Late Night:
Jost and Strong co-anchored the remaining episodes of Season 39. The following fall, Strong left the desk and Michael Che joined Jost for the Season 40 premiere, beginning what would become by far the longest-running anchor partnership in “Weekend Update” history.
Jost and Che have now completed a record 12 seasons together behind the desk, and are starting their 13th.
Jost’s role has also expanded beyond Update in recent years, with occasional sketch appearances and impressions. Earlier this year, he marked another statistical milestone when he appeared in his 300th SNL segment, playing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a cold open.
With Saturday’s episode, Jost sits fourth on the list of longest-serving SNL cast members by episode count:
Kenan Thompson — 462
Darrell Hammond — 267
Seth Meyers — 253
Colin Jost — 250
Michael Che — 243
Fred Armisen — 220
Kate McKinnon — 204
Cecily Strong — 202
Mikey Day — 201
That puts Jost just three episodes behind his “Weekend Update” predecessor Seth Meyers for third place all time.
And Jost’s “Update” co-anchor will soon be joining the 250 club himself. Michael Che enters the season at 243 episodes and is set to reach his own 250th episode in December.
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