 In 2000 , Fey began performing in sketches , and she and Jimmy Fallon became co @-@ anchors of SNL 's Weekend Update segment . Fey said she did not ask to audition , but that Michaels approached her . Michaels explained that there was chemistry between Fey and Fallon , though the decision 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 <unk> – poison filled jokes written in long , precisely <unk> sentences unprecedented in Update history – with such a bright , sunny countenance makes her all the more <unk> 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 <unk> " of the pairing . 
