February 24 marked the end of a two-week break in Saturday Night Live’s current season, with stand-up comic Shane Gillis making his hosting debut alongside first-time musical guest 21 Savage. By appearing in over 42% of the episode, the comedian outpaced almost every previous Season 49 host in terms of screen time and stood apart from anyone else by an 18-minute margin.
Scroll down to see how Gillis stacked up against each of the show’s named performers (including surprise musical guests Brent Faiyaz and Summer Walker). Note that our screen time data is calculated using a method that prioritizes face time, meaning that any contiguous (off-screen but in-scene) moments and practically all partial body appearances do not count. Screen time in the show’s opening credits, bumpers and goodnights are not included, nor do those portions factor into our assessment of the episode’s total running time.
Shane Gillis – 27:11 / 42.74%
A dozen episodes in, the only Season 49 host who has racked up more screen time than Gillis is Bad Bunny (episode two – October 21), who got a boost from simultaneously serving as the show’s musical guest. After delivering a nearly eight-minute monologue, Gillis acted in a total of eight sketches, with “Gump” (in which he played a clueless former classmate of movie character Forrest Gump) being the sketch that featured him most prominently (3:56).
Marcello Hernandez – 8:22 / 13.16%
Hernandez’s position in this ranking gives him the distinction of being the first featured player this season to have the second most screen time in an episode. More than half of his overall performance (4:30) was contained within the “Trump Victory Party” cold open – in which he debuted an impersonation of Florida senator Marco Rubio – while another 3:10 was spent playing a frozen embryo on “Weekend Update.”
Mikey Day – 7:22 / 11.58%
In this case, the highest ranking repertory cast member also amassed most of his screen time during the cold open, in which he portrayed Idaho senator Jim Risch for four minutes and 32 seconds. He made three more appearances throughout the main show, including a two-minute and 10-second one as the titular character in “Gump.”
Heidi Gardner – 7:15 / 11.40%
After finishing as the Ayo Edebiri episode’s lowest ranking repertory member by showing up for less than two minutes, Gardner bounced back this time, making sizable appearances in all six live, post-monologue sketches. She devoted more than a quarter of her time (1:52) to her “Church on Vacation” character: a Catholic mother of two whose devout husband (Gillis) forces their family to attend Sunday service while visiting Jamaica.
21 Savage – 7:08 / 11.22%
Six weeks after the release of his third studio album, American Dream, 21 Savage took the SNL stage to perform its lead single, “Redrum,” and a medley of two additional tracks. Despite the two segments being almost equal in length, his screen time in the former was 34 seconds higher due to his assistance from Faiyaz and Walker in the latter.
Colin Jost – 6:54 / 10.85%
In typical fashion, Jost ended up with a significantly higher amount of screen time than his “Weekend Update” co-anchor, Michael Che, lapping him three times in this case. This is due to the fact that he interacted with both guests – Hernandez and Bowen Yang – while Che simply delivered a portion of the news.
Bowen Yang – 5:46 / 9.07%
After acting in two live sketches (“HR Meeting” and “The Floor”) for less than 70 seconds apiece, Yang added three and a half minutes to his screen time total by visiting the “Weekend Update” desk in character as deceased writer Truman Capote. As the subject of the FX miniseries Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, the literary legend was introduced by Jost as a commentator on the topic of women’s history.
Sarah Sherman – 5:42 / 8.96%
Sherman’s screen time was spread out over one pre-taped sketch and three live ones, with her most significant appearance being in “Fugliana.” As the titular sex doll designed for “below average-looking men,” she pulled attention for just over two-thirds of the three-minute and 22-second segment.
Devon Walker – 5:21 / 8.41%
Featured cast member Walker achieved this relatively high screen time total by taking part in four segments, starting with the cold open. For the second episode in a row, he donned a bald cap to reprise his role as failed presidential candidate Tim Scott during an introductory sketch, but this particular impersonation lasted almost 10 times longer (3:35) than the preceding one.
Andrew Dismukes – 5:08 / 8.07%
Although his segment total of six was one higher than the previous episode, Dismukes experienced a screen time drop of more than 90 seconds. In this case, the largest portion of his time (1:57) was spent playing one of 12 office mates in “HR Meeting,” during which he spoke a single line consisting of 13 words.
James Austin Johnson – 5:04 / 7.97%
For the third time since he joined the show in 2021, Johnson took on the part of South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, with his performance in the cold open amounting to three minutes and 35 seconds. He later appeared in three more sketches, including the pre-taped “Trump Sneakers” in which he once again impersonated the titular former president.
Ego Nwodim – 4:31 / 7.10%
Following her appearances in the first three live, post-monologue sketches, Nwodim was absent from the rest of the show. Almost half of her time (2:14) was confined to “Church on Vacation,” during which she portrayed a passionate male Jamaican church leader named Father Lawrence.
Kenan Thompson – 3:44 / 5.87%
Immediately after outpacing all of his cast mates for the second time this season, Thompson was relatively underutilized this week, showing up in four segments compared to last episode’s seven. He can also credit much of his general time (1:44) to “HR Meeting,” during which he played an office worker named Eric with a penchant for unprovoked tickling.
Michael Longfellow – 3:40 / 5.77%
Longfellow’s screen time derived from his appearances in more than one-third each of two live segments. After spending 1:57 playing unexpectedly outed “HR Meeting” attendee Clark, he completed his overall performance by lampooning The Floor host Rob Lowe during a sketch based on the new FOX game show.
Chloe Fineman – 2:37 / 4.11%
Fineman’s talents were employed in a total of three live sketches, including one in which she briefly embodied an alternative version of the Fugliana doll. She was most heavily utilized in “Gump,” where she showed up for 77 seconds as a ditzy high school reunion plus-one who ended up in the arms of her husband’s famed classmate.
Punkie Johnson – 2:06 / 3.30%
Discounting the “Weekend Update” anchors, Johnson was this episode’s most underutilized repertory cast member by a margin of 31 seconds. More than half of her overall performance (1:11) occurred in “HR Meeting,” where she played the direct work superior and formerly secret lover of Dismukes’s character.
Summer Walker – 1:58 / 3.09%
Walker, who released her Grammy-nominated EP Clear 2: Soft Life last May, joined 21 Savage for a rendition of “Prove It,” the studio version of which is his second song featuring her, following 2020 single “Secret.” The pair are also known for their work with Usher on the 2023 R&B hit “Good Good.”
Michael Che – 1:42 / 2.67%
The brevity of Che’s appearance in this episode was especially noticeable given the lengthiness of its “Weekend Update” segment, which lasted for 12 minutes and 10 seconds (almost two minutes longer than the last). Whereas his screen time amounts to 14% of the segment, Jost’s constitutes 57%, while both guest commentators fall between 26 and 29%.
Chloe Troast – 1:39 / 2.59%
After showing up three times during the previous episode, Troast took part in only one segment this time, playing one of the dozen “HR Meeting” attendees. As office drone Laurel, she repeatedly fended off the advances of Gillis’s character, who remained steadfast in his misunderstanding of workplace dating policies.
Molly Kearney – 1:15 / 1.97%
As was the case in the last episode, Kearney appeared in just one sketch this week, but they more than doubled their earlier screen time total. In “Church on Vacation,” they and Dismukes took on the roles of Gillis and Gardner’s displeased children who eventually came to enjoy their experience in a new place of worship.
Brent Faiyaz – 0:32 / 0.84%
Right before launching into his and Walker’s three-minute performance of “Prove It,” 21 Savage spent about a minute showcasing a portion of “Should’ve Wore a Bonnet” with support from its original featured artist. Like Walker, Faiyaz received a writing credit for his single contribution to American Dream.
Season 49 of SNL continues next week with host Sydney Sweeney and musical guest Kacey Musgraves.
Can’t get enough SNL stats? Join us for an in-depth discussion of this week’s screen time, power rankings, and more on the Saturday Night Network’s By The Numbers podcast, streaming live Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, right here on LateNighter.
