Late Night / Published 2026-11-01

The Brewers Surprise 'SNL' Weekend Update After Their World Series Win

Bobby Moynihan's Drunk Uncle returned to mark Milwaukee's first World Series title, and three members of the team walked on set to tell him the win was not a dream.

A flat vector illustration of empty stadium seating receding toward a wide lit field edge at dusk, a few isolated gaps in the rows and a low warm glow above the far touchline. Forest green and bone palette, no people, no team marks, no flags, no logos and no readable text.
Conceptual editorial illustration; not a photograph of the people or event described.

THE SHORT VERSION

  • Saturday Night Live marked the Brewers' World Series title during the Weekend Update segment on 31 October, with Bobby Moynihan back as Drunk Uncle, Variety and Deadline report.
  • Variety reports that Christian Yelich, Brice Turang and manager Pat Murphy walked on, and quotes Yelich telling Drunk Uncle the win was not a dream.
  • Deadline reports that the Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday for the franchise's first title, and that the team brought the trophy to the set.

A tribute segment with the trophy in the room

Saturday Night Live marked the Milwaukee Brewers' World Series title during its Weekend Update segment on 31 October, with Bobby Moynihan returning as his Drunk Uncle commentator, Variety reports. The story carries Cynthia Littleton's byline and calls the win historic in its first sentence. Deadline reports the same segment, says the team brought the trophy with them and dates its piece to the same night; Glenn Garner wrote it. Both were filed on the night of the broadcast, and neither carries a response from the team.

Both papers treat the appearance as a tribute rather than a news item. Variety says the show paid tribute to the win during Weekend Update; Deadline says the Brewers showed off the trophy with a Saturday Night Live alum and that the players made a surprise appearance. Deadline names all three who appeared, with the manager Pat Murphy first, then Christian Yelich and Brice Turang; Variety puts the two players first and the manager after them. Neither story quotes a producer, an NBC spokesperson or anyone from the team's front office about how the booking came together.

Nine seasons, and a character with a history

Moynihan is the reason the bit had a frame. Variety reports that he spent nine seasons on the show, from 2009 to 2017, and describes Drunk Uncle as a classic Archie Bunker-esque East Coast guy with blunt observations on pop culture and politics. The paper calls the character recurring, and the paper's description is about manners and opinions rather than sport. The character last appeared last year, on the show's 50th anniversary special, the paper says.

Deadline does not retrace that history. It identifies Moynihan as a returning alum and keeps its attention on the segment itself: the surprise, the trophy and the exchange with the players. That is the main difference between the two pieces, one a character history and the other a scene report, and it shows in what each paper leaves out. Variety's item is the longer of the two, and the only one that describes the shape of the segment.

The first title in nearly sixty years

The win the segment celebrated was the franchise's first. Variety calls it the Brewers' first World Series victory in the nearly 60-year history of the team, and says Drunk Uncle attributed it to the power of suds in a town synonymous with beer, which is where the name comes from. The paper gives the length of the wait rather than the club's founding year.

Deadline supplies the result that Variety leaves out. It reports that the Brewers celebrated their first World Series title on Wednesday by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5, and that they came to the segment with the trophy. Variety's piece mentions neither the score nor the opponent, and it does not say on which day the title was won. Neither story gives a parade date, a list of who else traveled, or any detail of the club's plans for the winter.

Yelich, Turang and Murphy walk on

Three members of the organization walked on set. Variety reports that Drunk Uncle was surprised by the arrival of the slugger Christian Yelich, the second baseman Brice Turang and the manager Pat Murphy, and that Yelich reassured him: “Don’t worry Drunk Uncle,” Yelich told Moynihan. “It wasn’t a dream.” Variety says the three arrived just as the character was beginning to wallow.

Murphy introduced himself with a line about the job. Variety reports that he told Drunk Uncle that being a baseball manager is “kind of like being the Drunk Uncle of the team.” Moynihan then looked up at the 6-foot-4 Yelich and declared, “I know you — you’re Pete Davidson.” Deadline renders the same line as, “Hey, I know you. You’re Pete Davidson, right?” and adds that all of them admitted to getting drunk since the win. Neither paper says whether the players stayed for the rest of the broadcast.

A complaint about the length of games

The baseball talk carried a complaint. Variety reports that Drunk Uncle told the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che he was happy for the Brewers but deeply concerned about the state of baseball overall, and that he lamented the shorter games produced by recent rule changes. The paper does not say which changes he meant. Instead of running seven hours, “the game ends in 20 minutes and everybody goes home to watch their gay hockey shows,” which Variety reads as a nod to “Heated Rivalry.”

The rest of the bit was a run of one-liners. Variety reports that Drunk Uncle got progressively more emotional as the segment went on, tossing out lines about Elizabeth Holmes (“I believe her”) and “Helen of Troy was white,” the second of which the paper ties to the argument about casting historical characters in period films and television. Neither paper explains the Elizabeth Holmes reference.

The musical guest, and what neither story says

Neither story reports what the league or the team said about the segment afterwards. Deadline notes that the same episode was Inde Navarrette's first as host and Gracie Abrams' second as musical guest, after her 2024 debut, which is the only production detail it adds beyond the Brewers material. Variety's piece does not mention either of them.

What is missing from both accounts is a comment from the Brewers or from NBC, a figure for the audience, any indication of whether the players taped their appearance earlier in the day, and any sign of whether the segment ran long. Related coverage on this site includes the surprise Halloween episode of It: Welcome to Derry, Trump's remarks on Nicki Minaj as press secretary and Matthew Weiner's exit from The Chairman.

Sources & reporting limits

  1. 'SNL' Celebrates Milwaukee Brewers' World Series Win With Bobby Moynihan's Drunk Uncle on Weekend Update — Variety
  2. Milwaukee Brewers Make Surprise "Weekend Update" Appearance After World Series Win With Returning 'SNL' Alum Bobby Moynihan — Deadline
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