Tina Fey
In 2000, Fey began performing in sketches. She and Jimmy Fallon became co-anchors of SNL's Weekend Update segment. Fey admitted she did not ask to audition, but that Michaels asked her to do it. Michaels explained that there was "chemistry" (connection) between Fey and Fallon. Michaels, however, said that choosing Fey was "kind of risky" at the time. Her role in Weekend Update was well received by critics. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote: "...Fey delivers such blow darts – poison filled jokes written in long, precisely parsed sentences unprecedented in Update history – with such a bright, sunny countenance makes her all the more devilishly delightful." Dennis Miller, a former cast member of SNL and anchor of Weekend Update, was pleased with Fey as one of the anchors for the segment: "...Fey might be the best Weekend Update anchor who ever did it. She writes the funniest jokes". Robert Bianco of USA Today, however, commented that he was "not enamored" with the pairing.