Saturday Night Live talents Michael Che and Colin Jost have been tapped to host the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards this year on NBC.

Che and Jost, who anchor SNL's long-running "Weekend Update" together, will be joined by SNL bigwig Lorne Michaels who's expected to be executive producer of the telecast.

NBC Goes For SNL Favorites

For years, the prestigious television awards show have opted for late night show hosts or SNL alums including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien, Andy Samberg, and Seth Meyers, among others.

The "Weekend Update" duo continues the tradition and NBC is confident they're up to the task, according to a report from Variety.

"NBC is thrilled to be the home of this year's Emmy Awards, and with Colin and Michael in the driver's seat as hosts, along with surprise appearances by other cast members of Saturday Night Live, I think we are in for one of the funniest awards shows in a long time," says Robert Greenblatt, NBC Entertainment chairman, in an official statement.

Paul Telegdy, NBC Entertainment alternative and reality group president, adds that the network is proud of their impressive roster of comedians. He expects the Emmys to be "the must-see comedy event of the year."

Jost has been anchoring the "Weekend Update" since 2014, then Che joined him in 2015. They are also co-head writers of SNL since last year.

Jost and Che released a joint statement that expressed their pride at being able to say they're the first duo tapped as the show's hosts since David Hyde Pierce and Jenna Elfman.

The honor is not only notable for Che and Jost as their first time to ever host the awards show, but also for Michaels. The last time the SNL boss served as executive producer of the Emmys was in 1988.

The 2018 Emmy Awards airs live on Sept. 17.

Critics, Twitter React To Announcement

Not everyone is thrilled with NBC's choice of Emmy hosts, though.

Vanity Fair notes that the Emmys is the fourth major awards show to choose a host after the dawn of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. Yet, despite the recent push for equality in and beyond the entertainment industry, all of the host picks have been men.

While it's true that NBC often limits themselves to their own stars for hosting duties, there are plenty of strong female talents who are part of the NBC family including SNL favorites Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.

Beyond the long-running comedy show, there are other NBC female comics who can be tapped for the Emmys such as Kristen Bell, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, and America Ferrera.

NBC's decision to stick with their male talents was called out by the Twitterverse as social media users unleashed their outrage on the website.

Tags
Michael Che, Colin Jost, Emmys