Lana Del Rey‘s lips (as portrayed to perfection by Kristen Wiig — which is especially interesting considering how many Twitterers wondered whether the performance was actually just a sketch starring Wiig) visited Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update to address the criticism hurled her away after her “stiff, distant and weird” performance three weeks ago.

Casey Anthony was back in the news this week, as a video diary was released that showed her sporting newly dyed blonde hair and in which she revealed that she was the owner of a Yorkshire terrier. Naturally, this raised some eyebrows. Casey’s dog appeared on “Weekend Update” to voice his concerns — or rather, Daniel Radcliffe bellied up to the desk in an insane wig, mustache and beard to complain about how being Anthony’s dog means he’s “living on a razor’s edge.”

When Seth Meyers reported on the story of a local strip club doing a Christmas toy drive (“give a gift to charity and we’ll give it to the manager!”), Jimmy Fallon just had to stop by his old “Weekend Update” post to hear more. Looking sharp in a navy suit and purple tie, he challenged Meyers to a “good old-fashioned ‘Weekend Update’ Joke-Off.” And, just to make things more exciting, former co-anchors Tina Fey and Amy Poehler also threw their hats into the ring.

Stefon made a show-stopping appearance on SNL’s Weekend Update to give host Seth Meyers some advice on the hottest new restaurants to take the relatives this holiday season.

Alec Baldwin made fun of his American Airlines incident by appearing as pilot Captain Steve Rogers on SNL’s Weekend Update. Seth Meyers asked Rogers’ for his take on Baldwin being kicked off the plane.

Given that Herman Cain announced that he was suspending his presidential campaign late this week, it was inevitable that he would make an appearance on Saturday Night Live to explain himself. He denied that the allegations of his affair with Ginger White were true, then clarified that he and Ms. White were “friends,” and did normal friend stuff, like exchange money for no reason. He illustrated this point by giving Seth Meyers some money and then admonishing “Now, you know that money ain’t free…”

Governor Jon Huntsman is not doing so great in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, so he was free tonight to actually appear on Saturday Night Live. It was really him!!! It’s well established that his daughters are quite media savvy and have a sense of humor, but this time Huntsman himself had the opportunity to show off his comedic chops on the show. He plied New Hampshire native Seth Meyers with compliments about his native state, like “you are as wise as a Dartmouth professor.”

Saturday Night Live’s Halloween episode came rather early tonight, and Seth Meyers’s Weekend Update segment was interrupted by “two teenagers dressed as werewolves.” The teens in question were Jay Pharoah and Drake in their best Teen Wolf gear, and they performed an original song about their favorite Halloween tradition — taking candy from small children. Apparently, this phenomenon is called “bag jackin’,” and it afforded both Pharoah and Drake ample opportunities to scream the names of different candy brands into the microphone and gyrate uncomfortably close to Meyers’s face.

Stefon, how we’ve missed you! Our favorite New York tour guide stopped by a particularly laggard “Weekend Update” to offer his recommendations for Mother’s Day. Up first was new club “Unhh,” which boasts “piles of expired Lunchables,” and where you can meet Stefon’s best friend, a 2-year-old UFC fighter with “hands like empanadas.” Bill Hader barely got through that one.

Muammar Gaddafi dropped by “Weekend Update” to let us know how the bombing in Libya is going. Spoiler alert: the answer is “not well”. Gaddafi’s attitude toward the airstrikes could be described as flippant; he actually used the phrase “Homie don’t play that” (though he explained he was just excited because they’re only now getting “In Living Color” in Libya).

SNL’s “Weekend Update” featured the triumphant return of Stefon, who appeared on the show to recommend exciting date night spots for New Yorkers. Bill Hader had a bit more difficulty than usual holding it together while describing the perfect spot for lovebirds to mingle with “Jewpids” (Jewish cupids, obviously). Stefon’s crush on Seth Meyers was [...]

Hosni Mubarak suddenly has a lot more time on his hands, after resigning on Friday to the delight of the Egyptian people. He returned to “Weekend Update” this weekend to talk with Seth Meyers about his feelings. Mubarak assured Meyers that everyone was sad to see him go, and he was heartbroken to leave his [...]

Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” featured Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who appeared on the show to explain the unrest in his country. Though Mubarak (as played by Fred Armisen) claimed to be sensitive to protesters’ concerns, his solutions — among them, to fire his current cabinet and then staff it with members of the old [...]

Ever think to yourself, I wish there was a show out there that was The Daily Show meets SNL‘s Weekend Update segment meets SportsCenter? Then it’s your lucky day, because Hulu is currently planning an original program that aims to be just that. This program, whose genre is listed as infotainment/comedy/satire, will run for five minutes every Monday through Friday and offer a “quick and humorous survey of the past 24 hours of media and pop culture.” So, basically, it’s the Internet.

In an aside during SNL‘s “Weekend Update” segment, Seth Meyers chastised the New Oxford American Dictionary for selecting Sarah Palin‘s literary “fender-bender” refudiate as the 2010 Word of the Year. The stern lecture, titled “Come on, Dictionary,” had the exasperated fake news host urging the Oxford University Press not to celebrate Palin’s accidental mash-up and offering evidence as to why the Alaskan politician is no William Shakespeare.

Last night’s SNL Weekend Update featured James Carville (Bill Hader) weighing in on the pluses and minuses of a Tea Party victory: “Crazy can be appealing, I’ve made a career out of it, but that doesn’t mean I should be elected to office.” Indeed.

It’s been hard to tell this season whether SNL is just not in top form or if the political candidates it is spoofing are simply too ridiculous to do justice to. One might conclude that between Christine O’Donnell, Carl Paladino, and Sharron Angle this political season is simply an embarrassment of riches where SNL is concerned, and yet thus far they’ve failed to capitalize on all this good material.

Saturday Night Live was surprisingly easy on the newly unemployed Rick Sanchez on its “Weekend Update” segment tonight. The show, which has famously mocked Good Morning America for being inane and New York Governor David Patterson for being blind, was merciful to Sanchez—despite his anti-semitic comments.

Tonight’s all-star SNL featured a favorite “Weekend Update” staple — and reunited three of Update’s favorite anchors. “‘Really!’ with Seth & Amy” morphed into “‘Really! With Seth, Amy & Tina,’” bringing together the Update anchors who have manned the desk for the last decade: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers.

Few things make SNL more fun than when the cast members themselves struggle to keep a straight face. Last night, SNL introduced a new character to their weekend update last night: Stefan, played by Bill Hader, is a Williamsburg-esque hipster club kid whose job is to report to Seth Meyers where tourists might go when visiting Manhattan. An attempt to describe ‘human fire hydrants’ proved to be the breaking point.

People scoffed when they heard that Saturday Night Live recurring sketch “MacGruber” starring comedian Will Forte was being turned into a full-length feature film. Something about the ending being spoiled. Well — that’s all in the past, because the trailer’s out and it looks pretty damn awesome.

In its 34th season last year, SNL went mainstream — super mainstream. Thanks to Tina Fey‘s uncanny resemblance to Sarah Palin — a Vice-Presidential candidate who revealed herself to be a headline machine in one of the most riveting election seasons in U.S. history — SNL hit its stride with viral video after viral video, [...]

Oh, leave me alone. SNL’s 34th season kicks off this Saturday night, and Megan Fox is hosting. Even Obama is talking about her. This is news.

“I’m so heartbroken that the Internet, for the first time, was wrong about something. How are we ever going to trust the Internet again?” Who said it?

MacGruber is moving away from poorly defusing ticking bombs in tight spaces to the wide open of New Mexico, in the screen version of the Satuday Night Live recurring sketch.

We talked to MacGruber himself, Will Forte, this week about the film’s plot, cameos, his new hairdo and more.