
October 12 marked Wicked star Ariana Grande’s second hosting stint at Saturday Night Live and her first time hosting while not also serving as the musical guest. Compared to her initial outing in 2016, her combined monologue and sketch screen time this go-around was six minutes and 9% higher.
Scroll down to see how Grande stacked up against each of the show’s named performers, including musical guest Stevie Nicks and four 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.

Ariana Grande – 22:24 / 36.65%
Including her musical guest stints in Seasons 40 and 49, Grande has appeared in a total of four SNL episodes. This week’s hosting gig was like her first in that she sang in quite a few of her segments, including her monologue and the pretaped sketches “My Best Friend’s House” and “Celine Dion Sports Promo.”

Stevie Nicks – 8:58 / 14.67%
Given that 41 years have passed since the first time she performed on SNL, Nicks now holds the record for longest gap between consecutive musical guest appearances. The 76-year-old’s relatively lengthy renditions of “The Lighthouse” and “Edge of Seventeen” put her at the top of this season’s musical guest screen time ranking by a margin of 85 seconds.

James Austin Johnson – 8:38 / 14.13%
James Austin Johnson’s screen time this week bumped him from last to third place on this season’s list of most prominent male repertory players. His position behind Bowen Yang and Colin Jost is bolstered by his latest cold open and “Weekend Update” appearances as Donald Trump and Noel Gallagher.

Maya Rudolph – 7:04 / 11.56%
Former cast member Maya Rudolph’s third consecutive cold open appearance as Kamala Harris was followed by a four-minute performance in the live sketch “Castrati.” She has now surpassed Yang as the regular or recurring performer with the most Season 50 screen time so far.

Colin Jost – 5:50 / 9.54%
“Weekend Update” anchor Jost’s 45.87% screen time share of this week’s news segment was his lowest of the season by a hair (0.83%). Regardless, he still maintains a nearly seven-minute lead over his co-anchor, Michael Che, in Season 50 screen time totals.

Sarah Sherman – 5:32 / 9.05%
Sarah Sherman’s biggest episode of the season so far differed from the previous two in that she was only utilized before and during “Weekend Update” rather than exclusively after it. She spent 55% of her time this week playing Jost interviewee Liam Gallagher alongside Johnson’s Noel.

Andy Samberg – 5:23 / 8.81%
For the second week in a row, Andy Samberg performed opposite Rudolph in both the cold open and a subsequent sketch (“Castrati”). He now boasts more cumulative Season 50 screen time (13:40) than almost all of the current series regulars, save Yang and Jost.

Chloe Fineman – 5:21 / 8.75%
After opening this episode with a return to her season premiere role of CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, Chloe Fineman participated in three post-monologue sketches. More than two-thirds of her time derived from her impersonation of Jennifer Coolidge in the night’s penultimate segment, “Maybelline.”

Andrew Dismukes – 4:56 / 8.07%
Andrew Dismukes’s screen time in this episode was spread over four live sketches in which he appeared for less than 83 seconds each. His longest performance of the night was as Grande’s character’s even-keeled husband in “Charades with Mom.”

Ego Nwodim – 4:48 / 7.85%
Ego Nwodim experienced a three-minute and 18-second screen time increase this week after landing at the bottom of last week’s repertory player list. Her “Bridesmaid Speech” and “Weekend Update” appearances each exceeded two minutes.

Michael Che – 4:23 / 7.17%
Che and Jost’s Season 50 screen time gap average decreased by 26 seconds due to the fact that they were separated by only 87 seconds this episode. Unlike last week, this episode featured Che conducting a guest interview (with Nwodim) on his side of the “Weekend Update” desk.

Bowen Yang – 4:21 / 7.12%
Although his performance this week was shorter than those of seven other cast members, Yang still comfortably boasts the highest regular screen time total of the season. After playing JD Vance in the cold open and supporting his Wicked costar during her monologue, he racked up more than two and a half minutes in “Charades with Mom.”

Kenan Thompson – 4:08 / 6.76%
Kenan Thompson’s combined Season 50 screen time to date (9:35) remains lower than the amount he reached in the Season 49 premiere alone (10:18). Before briefly taking part in “Castrati,” he played a major role in the Family Feud-themed cold open by dusting off his Steve Harvey impression for the first time since 2019.

Heidi Gardner – 2:29 / 4.06%
Heidi Gardner continues to rank as this season’s most heavily utilized female cast member, albeit by just nine seconds at this point. Over 89% of her time in this episode was spent playing a singing wedding guest in “Bridesmaid Speech.”

Dana Carvey – 2:22 / 3.87%
Appearing as an unannounced guest for the third consective week, SNL alum Dana Carvey gave two performances of roughly equal length in the cold open and “Maybelline.” While his weekly portrayals of President Joe Biden have come to be expected, his impression of Coolidge (juxtaposed with Fineman and Grande’s) was genuinely surprising.

Michael Longfellow – 2:04 / 3.38%
Johnson’s ascension in the Season 50 screen time ranking leaves Michael Longfellow at the bottom of the repertory group, with Devon Walker directly outpacing him by 98 seconds. He spent the vast majority of his screen time this episode playing “Charades with Mom” character Kevin, whose attempt to introduce his boyfriend (Yang) to his family goes terribly wrong.

Jane Wickline – 1:30 / 2.45%
Despite the fact that her screen time decreased by four minutes compared to last week, Jane Wickline emerged as the most prominent featured player for the second time in a row. Before physically taking part in “Charades with Mom,” she lent her singing voice to “My Best Friend’s House.”

Mikey Day – 1:25 / 2.32%
Mikey Day experienced an 80% screen time drop compared to last week’s episode, in which his segment count was twice as high. In this case, he was only briefly seen as Donald Trump Jr. in the cold open and ostensibly harmless suburbanite Mr. Evans in “My Best Friend’s House.”

Jim Gaffigan – 0:57 / 1.55%
Jim Gaffigan’s cold open performance as Governor Tim Walz was his shortest to date by 35 seconds. Rudolph has spent nearly four times as much time playing Harris this season as he has playing her running mate.

Emil Wakim – 0:49 / 1.34%
Although he fell slightly behind Wickline, Emil Wakim was not this episode’s least prominent featured player, as that distinction technically belongs to the totally unseen Ashley Padilla. Wakim’s entire October 12 performance consisted of him speaking 17 words as Terry in “Charades with Mom.”

Marcello Hernandez – 0:24 / 0.65%
This constitutes Marcello Hernandez’s lowest single-episode screen time since he appeared for just four seconds in the third episode of Season 49. Whereas that performance was prerecorded, this one (as playboy Domingo in “Bridesmaid Speech”) was live.

Devon Walker – 0:09 / 0.25%
Walker’s minor role in “My Best Friend’s House” took him from sixth to 13th place in the Season 50 cast member screen time ranking. Although he was the last repertory player to appear in this episode, he did so five segments faster than those who were in the same position on September 28 and October 5.
Season 50 of SNL continues next week with host Michael Keaton and musical guest Billie Eilish.
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.