Martin Short joined Saturday Night Live’s Five-Timers Club this weekend, setting a new record for longest time between first and fifth SNL hosting gigs (38 years). Compared to previous Season 50 hosts, he was slightly underutilized in his episode, with his nearly 18 minutes of screen time putting him over two minutes behind the group’s current average.
Scroll down to see how Short stacked up against each of the show’s named performers, including musical guest Hozier and a dozen unannounced guests.
Note: Our screen time calculation method has been developed in partnership with longtime SNL statistician Mike Murray, host of the Saturday Night Network’s weekly By The Numbers podcast. We prioritize 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 opening credits, bumpers, goodnights and cut-for-time sketches are not included, nor do those portions factor into our assessment of the episode’s total running time.
Martin Short – 17:53 / 28.95%
Short follows Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig as the sixth former SNL cast member to join the Five-Timers Club. He amassed over two-thirds of his December 21 screen time between the cold open and monologue segments, which featured a combined total of nine current cast members and 11 guest performers.
Bowen Yang – 11:27 / 18.53%
In terms of screen time, Bowen Yang has now finished first among his castmates in three Season 50 episodes. He is also the first male cast member to visit “Weekend Update” three times this season, appearing this week as one of the drones recently spotted over New Jersey.
Hozier – 8:33 / 13.84%
Hozier logged at least a full minute more screen time than each one of this season’s preceding male musical guests. His second SNL stint featured a performance of his Billboard #1 hit, “Too Sweet,” as well as a cover of The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.”
Colin Jost – 6:54 / 11.17%
After slipping behind Sarah Sherman last week, Colin Jost is back in second place on this season’s cumulative screen time list. As of now, he and Bowen Yang (who is more than five minutes ahead of him) are the only performers with over an hour of Season 50 screen time each.
Michael Che – 6:40 / 10.79%
Michael Che was seen in over 48% of this episode’s “Weekend Update” segment, which included his and Jost’s annual Christmas joke swap. His screen time this week was his highest since April 13, 2024.
Paul Rudd – 6:09 / 9.95%
Paul Rudd was one of nine Five-Timers Club members who helped induct Short during this week’s cold open. He later played himself in “Christmas Airport Parade” and game show contestant Greg in “Sabado Gigante Christmas Special.”
Chloe Fineman – 5:09 / 8.34%
Including Short (who was absent from “Sabado Gigante Christmas Special”), Chloe Fineman was the only performer utilized in all four of this week’s live sketches. Over 65% of her time was spent playing “Parking Lot Altercation” character Madison, whom she first played in Season 48’s “Traffic Altercation” opposite host Quinta Brunson.
Marcello Hernandez – 5:02 / 8.15%
Marcello Hernandez achieved the bulk of his screen time this week reprising his role as Don Francisco in the latest “Sabado Gigante” sketch. He also briefly appeared in “Christmas Airport Parade” and “Peanuts Christmas.”
Mikey Day – 4:42 / 7.61%
This was the third consecutive episode (and fifth this season) in which Mikey Day appeared for more than four minutes. His time was spread over four sketches, with his longest performance (3:25) being in “Parking Lot Altercation.”
Ego Nwodim – 4:26 / 7.18%
Ego Nwodim was seen in just two of this week’s segments. After appearing as herself during Short’s monologue, she reprised her Season 49 role of TSA agent Chartreuse Hamilton in “Christmas Airport Parade.”
Heidi Gardner – 4:22 / 7.07%
Heidi Gardner remains the only female cast member who has appeared in at least two minutes of every Season 50 episode so far. Her longest performance this week (2:18) was as naive do-gooder Rachel in “An Act of Kindness.”
Kenan Thompson – 4:22 / 7.07%
Kenan Thompson was one of six cast members who took part in this week’s sole pretaped sketch that made it to air, “An Act of Kindness.” He gave his longest live, post-monologue performance of the night as Snoopy in “Peanuts Christmas.”
Tom Hanks – 4:13 / 6.82%
As the self-proclaimed creator of the Five-Timers Club, Tom Hanks was on hand to literally let Short through the club’s door. He later appeared in the final minute of “Christmas Airport Parade” as Captain Chesley Sullenberger, whom he portrayed in the 2016 movie Sully.
Tina Fey – 3:16 / 5.29%
Along with John Mulaney and Alec Baldwin, Fey was one of only three December 21 cold open guests who did not take part in any of the night’s subsequent sketches. After Steve Martin, she is the second Five-Timers Club member who has shown up to welcome at least five new members, having previously helped induct Rudd, Mulaney, Jonah Hill and Emma Stone.
Melissa McCarthy – 2:55 / 4.72%
Melissa McCarthy is the only one of this week’s 12 unannounced guests who had not appeared on SNL within the past three years. After showing up in the cold open, she played brief but memorable roles in “Parking Lot Altercation” and “Christmas Airport Parade.”
Sarah Sherman – 2:43 / 4.40%
Despite being back in third place in this season’s overall screen time ranking, Sherman is still at least three minutes ahead of every other female regular. Following a two-minute monologue appearance, she was utilized in three of this week’s sketches.
Emma Stone – 2:34 / 4.15%
Stone was welcomed into the Five-Timers Club by Fey and Candice Bergen on December 2, 2023. After taking part in this week’s cold open, she could be briefly glimpsed conversing with Wiig during the backstage portion of Short’s musical monologue.
Kristen Wiig – 2:30 / 4.05%
Just like Rudd and Short, Wiig and Short share the rare distinction of having appeared in each other’s Five-Timers Club induction sketches. She received her jacket during her April 6, 2024 monologue, which featured Rudd and several wannabe five-timers, including Matt Damon and Jon Hamm.
Scarlett Johansson – 2:05 / 3.37%
This episode featured Scarlett Johansson’s second cold open performance of 2024, following her portrayal of Senator Katie Britt on March 9. She was also seen during “Weekend Update” reacting to Jost and Michael Che’s holiday joke swap.
John Mulaney – 1:51 / 2.99%
Mulaney became a six-time SNL host this November, joining just 12 others including Baldwin, Hanks, Fey and Johansson. Mulaney’s Season 47 Five-Timers Club induction sketch was the last to involve 16-time host Martin.
Alec Baldwin – 1:40 / 2.70%
Baldwin has now appeared in three of this season’s cold opens, having previously played Bret Baier on October 19 and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on November 16. The 17-time host’s Season 50 screen time total now exceeds six minutes.
Michael Longfellow – 1:39 / 2.67%
Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker are the only two repertory cast members who have yet to amass at least half an hour of screen time this season. Longfellow has now landed below the 100-second mark four episodes in a row.
Jimmy Fallon – 1:18 / 2.10%
Jimmy Fallon’s second SNL cameo of 2024 (after January 27) came just two days after he interviewed both Short and Fineman on The Tonight Show. The former SNL cast member has hosted the show three times himself, the last of which was in 2017.
Ashley Padilla – 1:11 / 1.92%
This episode was the first since the Season 50 premiere in which all three current featured players had less than 75 seconds of screen time. While not by much, this was Ashley Padilla’s fifth time outpacing the other two newcomers.
Emil Wakim – 1:09 / 1.86%
Emil Wakim was seen in four of this week’s sketches for a maximum of 25 seconds each. His longest performance was as obscure Peanuts character Five in “Peanuts Christmas.”
Jane Wickline – 1:02 / 1.67%
Jane Wickline experienced a steep drop in screen time after racking up almost six and a half minutes last week. She and Longfellow played roles of relatively equal size in the same three sketches: “An Act of Kindness,” “Christmas Airport Parade” and “Peanuts Christmas.”
Andrew Dismukes – 0:38 / 1.03%
Andrew Dismukes’ December 21 screen time is his lowest in a single episode since October 21, 2023, when he was seen in one sketch for only four seconds. In terms of cumulative Season 50 screen time, he has now slipped from fourth to fifth place, with Gardner surpassing him by 49 seconds.
James Austin Johnson – 0:34 / 0.92%
Despite his unusually low screen time this week, James Austin Johnson retains his seventh place position in this season’s screen time ranking. The last episode in which he appeared for less than 45 seconds aired on December 10, 2022 and was co-hosted by Martin and Short.
Dana Carvey – 0:23 / 0.62%
SNL cast veteran Dana Carvey has now appeared in nine of this season’s 10 episodes, having only missed the December 14 show. His portrayal of a kooky “Sabado Gigante” performer brings his Season 50 screen time total to 21 minutes and 44 seconds.
Lorne Michaels – 0:23 / 0.62%
Lorne Michaels has now made a cameo appearance during each of the most recent three monologues delivered by new Five-Timers Club inductees (Stone, Wiig and Short). He also appeared alongside Short during host Molly Shannon’s monologue on April 8, 2023.
Devon Walker – 0:15 / 0.40%
Recently promoted repertory player Devon Walker has finished the first half of Season 50 with a screen time total of just 17 minutes and 15 seconds. Despite having been on the very bottom of this season’s overall screen time ranking for several weeks, this was the first episode of the season in which he was outpaced by every one of his castmates.
Season 50 of SNL will resume in January. No hosts or musical guests have yet been announced.
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.
