How Jerry Seinfeld Influenced Seth Meyers’ ‘Really!?!’ Weekend Update Bit

Last week, Seth Meyers was a guest on Neal Brennan’s podcast The Blocks to talk about what’s making him “feel lonely, isolated and like something’s wrong.” During their conversation, the Late Night host discussed a humiliating realization related to one of his popular Weekend Update bits: “Really!?!”

Thanks to its cadence and his fellow castmate Amy Poehler, the segment was instantly iconic and regularly used to react to news that was simply unbelievable. But although the phrase is typically attributed to Meyers and Poehler, there’s one other comedian who may deserve credit for bringing the recurring bit to life — Jerry Seinfeld.  

On The Blocks, Meyers told the story of calling up Seinfeld ahead of the Bee Movie actor’s 2010 Weekend Update appearance, and asking him to do a “Really!?!” segment, explaining, “We think you’d be really good at it.” In his best Seinfeld impression, Meyers relayed the comedian’s response: “Some might say I invented it.” To which Meyers compared the interaction to “someone suggesting LeBron James should try dunking.”

You can’t really — or really!?! — disagree with any of that.