One of the best recent Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che. This year was arguably the wildest one yet, making it one of the best but also showing the limits of the premise. While SNL has many lengthy traditions, the joke swap, surprisingly, has not been around all that long. The first one technically happened a decade ago in 2015 for the Thanksgiving episode of season 41. While they only swapped one joke each, it quickly established a recurring theme of the yearly joke swap - Che getting Jost to dunk on himself.

Despite the fun premise, the SNL Weekend Update joke swap didn't pick up again until three years later, when they traded jokes for the 2018 Christmas episode and established it as the "gift exchange" format it has today. Since then, they've swapped jokes twice a season, every season, for the Christmas episode and the season finale, and it's become a bi-seasonal tradition for audiences as much as the hosts themselves. Each year, viewers look forward to seeing how Che will horrify Jost, and if Jost can even come close to giving as good as he gets. The answer is usually "not even close," but this year, neither host pulled punches, making it an even more brutal joke swap than the SNL 50 Weekend Update Christmas episode last year.

Colin Jost & Michael Che's Annual SNL Weekend Update Joke Swap Was The Diciest One Yet

It Pushed Boundaries Even For Them

It's always been the goal of SNL's Weekend Update hosts to make snarky jokes about news headlines, and while they're often risqué and sometimes borderline questionable, at the end of the day, it's still network TV, so they can't push the boundaries too far. All bets are off for the annual joke swap, however. In fact, it's a running joke that Jost tells the audience every season finale that the point is for them to give each other jokes that won't get anyone canceled - the joke being that, of course, the jokes Che writes for Jost would be horribly offensive and racist if everyone weren't in on the joke, the audience included. As the jokes are always delivered tongue-in-cheek with horrified laughter by Jost, it's all in good fun.

This Saturday's annual joke swap pushed the boundaries further than ever for both Che and Jost. Jost has seemingly realized that the key to victory isn't that he has to "beat" Che, but that they both just have to lose, and last night's joke swap, which Che usually handily wins, was arguably a draw. As the two Weekend Update anchors and SNL co-head writers, Che and Jost have had very good instincts about how to tiptoe right up to the line without crossing over it, but this weekend's swapped jokes, depending on your level of comfort, arguably crossed over it for some viewers.

Jost has seemingly realized that the key to victory isn't that he has to "beat" Che, but that they both just have to lose.

I have to it, a few of their jokes made even my eyes widen and wonder if maybe they'd gone a bit too far this time. Jost got Che good with an extended bestiality joke, which, from Jost, was arguably the first time he's ever really pulled the gloves off for the joke swap. Notably, however, the joke that was sure to raise eyebrows was a convoluted one that Che sprung upon the eternally put-upon Jost that involved Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and his son, Nick, all to get Jost to say the line, "But I wouldn't say I'm a Nick Kerr lover..." with the implication that "Nick Kerr" sounds an awful lot like the n-word when delivering it quickly. Still all in good fun, but very close to one of the few true taboos that can't and should never be broken.

It's Hard To See How Che & Jost Can Push The Joke Swap Envelope Further In SNL Season 51

There Are Limits To The Game Of Joke Swap Chicken

Considering how dicey the entire Weekend Update joke swap segment was this season, it's hard to see how it can go even further in Saturday Night Live season 51. There's virtually no way it can, unless they want their good-natured game of one-upping each other to actually turn into something problematic and earn them both heat, whether from viewers or even perhaps legally. That's the thing about playing a game of chicken: eventually, someone has to blink first, and if neither opponent decides to blink, well, then, it can only inevitably end in mutually assured destruction. Che and Jost came very close to that this weekend.

While this was one of the best SNL joke swaps in recent memory, it was also hard to watch it and not realize that next season can either match it or be a downgrade, but it certainly can't go further. Not unless Lorne Michaels wants a lawsuit on his hands, or Che and Jost want pixels and ink devoted to thinkpieces about how they've crossed the line into actually problematic and cancelable. It's entirely possible that they were told they were allowed to go big and bold for the finale of the fiftieth season. If any pair is able to navigate between sharp and funny from just offensive, it's Che and Jost. Still, if there is a line, it's arguable that they found it in the SNL season 50 finale.

Next Season Will Feel Tame Overall Compared To SNL 50

The Whole Season Had A Chaotic & Throwback Feel

Long before this weekend's joke swap, Saturday Night Live season 50 has had a freewheeling feel to it thanks to the season-long celebration of the live show being on air for half a century. That's a heck of an accomplishment for any show, much less one that wasn't even expected to last more than a few episodes when it first aired in 1975. That first chaotic live show was chronicled in last year's biopic Saturday Night, which was released to coincide with the premiere of season 50.

Plenty of other events were scheduled throughout the season, including Peacock's SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night documentary, which was released in January of this year. February saw the biggest events of all, with the star-studded SNL50: The Homecoming Concert TV special leading up to the fantastic SNL50: The Anniversary Special. That special was indeed special, with former alumni and even a few of the original 1975 SNL cast , such as Garrett Morris, returning to participate in the three-hour-long live episode. It was chaotic and messy but an absolute delight to watch, reminding viewers of the deep history of SNL and the legendary comedians it birthed.

In the spirit of the joyful chaos of the entire season, then, Jost and Che's Weekend Update joke swap was fitting. Sure, the jokes were eyebrow-raising at times, but the segment fully embraced the risk-taking "Aw hell, why not?" ethos that made Saturday Night Live what it was. Sure, SNL doesn't quite pack the punch it used to, but it still has brilliant writers and comedians, and when they're allowed to slip their leashes, it can be a lot of fun. Che and Jost showed that this weekend – even if going further next season would be unwise.