Colin Jost and Michael Che tackled everything from the rising cost of the American Dream to bizarre crime stories and celebrity headlines in a fast-paced edition of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. The October 2026 segment combined sharp observations, dark humor and the duo’s trademark back-and-forth, drawing loud reactions from the Studio 8H audience.
The co-anchors opened with jokes about National No Bra Day and scientific research into newborn consciousness before turning their attention to a subject that hits close to home for many Americans: the soaring cost of building a traditional family life.
The American Dream Comes With a $5 Million Price Tag
Jost introduced a report estimating that the American Dream—owning a home, raising two children and sending them to college—now costs approximately $5 million.
The figure became the setup for a joke about the financial pressures facing families, with Jost quipping that the expense made it impossible for men to start a secret second family.
The exchange brought economic anxiety into familiar Weekend Update territory, using an eye-catching price tag to highlight the growing challenges associated with homeownership, raising children and paying for higher education.
From Celebrity Controversies to Bizarre Crime Stories
The segment then moved through a series of unusual headlines, giving Jost and Che plenty of material for their characteristically irreverent commentary.
Among the stories was the arrest of a Florida TikTok personality described as a demonologist. The anchors also addressed reports involving Halle Berry and allegations that she had denied choking someone.
Another headline concerned an Ohio man who was reportedly sent to prison after texting a graphic image of Shrek to a state senator. The unusual story provided another opportunity for the pair to find humor in an otherwise improbable news item.
Che also delivered a joke about the world’s two oldest living men, both aged 114, who reportedly killed each other after sharing a high-five. The grim punchline prompted a strong audience reaction and became one of the segment’s darkest moments.
Colin Jost and Michael Che Rely on Their Familiar Comic Chemistry
The appeal of Weekend Update rests on the contrast between its news-desk format and the increasingly absurd stories the anchors discuss. Jost and Che lean into that tension, delivering punchlines with the composure of traditional news presenters while allowing the material to become progressively more outrageous.
Their October segment followed that familiar formula, moving quickly between social observations, celebrity-related headlines and stories that seemed almost too strange to be true.
The audience’s reactions were particularly noticeable during the jokes about the cost of the American Dream and the bizarre high-five story. The latter also gave Che an opportunity to acknowledge the darkness of the punchline, joking afterward, “Got dark at the end!”
A Dark Punchline to Close the Segment
The closing joke about the two 114-year-old men provided a fittingly bleak ending to an update built around the absurdities of the news cycle.
After delivering the punchline, Che briefly recognized how grim the joke had become, drawing another round of laughter. It was a characteristic Weekend Update moment: a seemingly straightforward headline transformed into an unexpected piece of dark comedy.
With Jost and Che alternating between economic satire, celebrity news and strange human-interest stories, the segment demonstrated the format’s enduring appeal. Rather than treating every headline with the same level of seriousness, the anchors used timing, contrast and sharp punchlines to expose the absurdities hiding within the news.
For viewers who enjoy Saturday Night Live at its most irreverent, the October 2026 edition offered a brisk collection of jokes about the cost of modern life and the increasingly bizarre stories competing for attention.