On March 9 – one week into the hugely successful theatrical run of his new movie, Dune: Part Two – actor Josh Brolin took on Saturday Night Live hosting duties for the third time in his career. By the end of his latest outing (supported by veteran musical guest Ariana Grande), he racked up over 22 minutes of screen time constituting more than 35% of the episode.
Scroll down to see how Brolin stacked up against each of the show’s named performers, including surprise guests Scarlett Johansson and Joan Grande (Ariana’s mom). 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.
Josh Brolin – 22:40 / 35.85%
Brolin attained the largest chunk of his screen time (4:02) during his opening monologue, which involved him addressing the 12-year gap between his second and third hosting gigs, reciting poems about Timothée Chalamet and Kenan Thompson, and boldly plunging into an ice bath. When it came to actual sketches, he was most prominently featured in “Bank Robbery” as a man who entices a trio of thieves to have their way with him and his wife.
Ariana Grande – 12:28 / 19.72%
Grande returned to SNL for the first time since 2016 to perform “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” and “Imperfect for You” from her newly released seventh studio album, “Eternal Sunshine.” Her live renditions of the songs only accounted for seven minutes (or about 56%) of her total performance, as she also took part in three sketches: “People Pleaser Support Group,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Sandwich King.” In the last, only her voice was heard covering Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” from the Barbie soundtrack.
Sarah Sherman – 7:46 / 12.28%
This marks the first instance this season of Sherman outpacing all of her fellow series regulars in terms of screen time. She appeared in at least 23% of each of her five sketches, giving her longest performance (2:00) as an energetic and opinionated “Shonda Talk Show” audience member.
Bowen Yang – 7:26 / 11.76%
Yang’s longest overall performance since January 20 was spread out over four live, post-monologue sketches, including the night’s first and last ones. He spent almost half of his time (3:28) as Christian (opposite Grande as Satine) in a parody of Moulin Rouge in which the famous Elephant Love Medley was padded with over a dozen extra song snippets.
Heidi Gardner – 7:03 / 11.15%
After topping last week’s cast member ranking, Gardner acted in two fewer segments this go around and experienced a 39% drop in screen time. Following her four-second impersonation of U.S. congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in the cold open, she was most heavily utilized in “Bank Robbery” as the sexually depraved wife of Brolin’s aforementioned character.
Andrew Dismukes – 6:50 / 10.81%
Dismukes improved upon his last two screen time totals by appearing in at least 31% of four different sketches. Almost four minutes of his time was evenly split between “Airplane Song,” in which he performed a number about extreme in-flight boredom, and “Wine and Cheese Night,” where he played a party host whose cat takes a liking to a morally corrupt guest (Brolin).
Ego Nwodim – 6:49 / 10.78%
Nwodim achieved her second highest screen time of the season by participating in five sketches, including the cold open in which she kicked things off with an impersonation of CNN anchor Abby Phillip. In the show’s final moments, she devoted three minutes to reprising her role as crass restaurant patron Lisa from Temecula, who was the focus of two Season 48 sketches.
Mikey Day – 5:53 / 9.30%
This episode’s cold open – which parodied Thursday’s State of the Union address and rebuttal – was this season’s fourth to incorporate Day’s impersonation of President Joe Biden, which constituted 30% of his total performance in this case. Conversely, his portrayal of the U.S. leader in the previous episode lasted just 14 seconds, translating to just 6% of his overall time.
Punkie Johnson – 4:45 / 7.51%
Just one week after clocking in with 80 seconds and ranking behind all of her fellow cast members, Johnson hit her highest screen time of the season, despite being in only three sketches. In addition to playing a “Shonda Talk Show” attendee and embodying Vice President Kamala Harris during the cold open, she reprised her role as Lisa from Temecula’s much more socially aware sister, Shayna.
Scarlett Johansson – 4:13 / 6.67%
The Oscar-nominated wife of “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost gave an unannounced performance during the cold open as Alabama Senator Katie Britt, whose actual speech in response to Biden’s message has drawn widespread ridicule. Apart from showing up briefly during the goodnights on February 25, 2023, she had not appeared on SNL since she hosted for the sixth time in December 2019.
Marcello Hernandez – 4:05 / 6.46%
For the sixth time this season and fourth time in a row, Hernandez ended up with more screen time than any other featured cast member. His 80-second lead was acquired over four live sketches, with his respective longest and shortest performances occurring in “Shonda Talk Show” (1:36) and “Lisa from Temecula: Sports Bar” (0:05).
Colin Jost – 3:43 / 5.88%
Since this episode’s “Weekend Update” included no guest commentators (breaking a two-year streak), it naturally ran shorter than any of this season’s previous news segments at just six minutes and 36 seconds. This was not, however, Jost’s shortest performance of the season, as he was seen for five fewer seconds during the October 21 episode.
James Austin Johnson – 3:23 / 5.35%
Johnson’s performance consisted of appearances in just one live and one pretaped sketch, both of which aired before the night’s first musical segment. After initially playing one of the befuddled criminals in “Bank Robbery,” he showed up in “Shrimp Tower” as the concerned friend of an aristocrat (Brolin) whose obsession with his party’s edible centerpiece drives him mad.
Kenan Thompson – 3:02 / 4.80%
Along with Dismukes, Thompson was one of only two regular cast members to show up in both of this episode’s pretaped sketches. In all, he briefly participated in seven segments, spending the largest portion of his time (1:13) playing a “Shonda Talk Show” audience member who bolts from the studio at the first sign of impropriety.
Devon Walker – 2:45 / 4.35%
Although he took part in three sketches last week and only two this week, Walker’s screen time between the two shows improved by more than a minute. In this case, almost three-quarters of his time was spent playing a thief in “Bank Robbery,” with the remainder being contained within “Wine and Cheese Night.”
Michael Che – 2:42 / 4.27%
Although he had 34% less screen time in this episode compared to the last, Che’s share of the specific “Weekend Update” running time was eight points higher. Nonetheless, he still fell behind his co-anchor for the 11th time this season, with the full minute between him and Jost dividing them by about 15 single-segment percentage points.
Michael Longfellow – 2:32 / 4.01%
Compared to last week, Longfellow took about a 13% screen time hit by appearing in just two sketches rather than the previous four. Prior to playing a party guest in “Wine and Cheese Night,” he returned to his role as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (who he first portrayed on October 28) during the cold open.
Chloe Fineman – 2:10 / 3.43%
Following the November 11 episode, this marked the second instance this season of Fineman having less screen time than any other repertory cast member. In the earlier case, however, her amount was 37 seconds lower. Here, she was only utilized during “Bank Robbery” and “Sandwich King,” the latter of which featured her as one of four office workers who vainly attempt to deviate from their usual lunch order of subpar subs.
Chloe Troast – 1:07 / 1.77%
Over the course of two sketches, Troast delivered her second shortest performance of the season by a margin of 22 seconds. Her characters in this case were a vocally talented flight attendant in “Airplane Song” and a mostly silent friend of Shayna’s in “Lisa from Temecula: Sports Bar.”
Molly Kearney – 0:56 / 1.48%
By appearing in just two sketches – “People Pleaser Support Group” and “Shrimp Tower” – Kearney fell below the 60-second mark for the fifth time this season and ended up on the bottom of the overall cast ranking for the fourth time, after December 2, February 3 and February 24.
Joan Grande – 0:05 / 0.13%
The night’s second musical segment was introduced by the artist’s own mother, who is known for having made cameos in her daughter’s 2020 music videos for “Stuck With U” and “Positions.” At this point, half of Grande’s SNL musical performances have included non-host lead-ins, as those in the 2016 episode she emceed were both introduced by Larry David.
Season 49 of SNL continues March 30 with host Ramy Youssef and musical guest Travis Scott.
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.
