Former Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Rock returned to host the show for the fourth time this weekend, and although reviews have been less than stellar, he grew his screen time over his most recent hosting gig (in October 2020) by a full nine minutes,
Scroll down to see how Rock stacked up against each of the show’s named performers, including musical guest Gracie Abrams and SNL cast veteran Adam Sandler.
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.
Chris Rock – 23:57 / 38.19%
Although Rock’s screen time is only the third highest for a Season 50 host so far, he currently holds the record for longest monologue of the season (at 7:48). He appeared in five live and two pretaped sketches, with his longest and shortest performances being in “Gallbladder Surgery” (3:34) and “Office Christmas Party Extravaganza” (0:27).
Sarah Sherman – 8:27 / 13.47%
Sarah Sherman has now surpassed Colin Jost as the performer with the second most Season 50 screen time. She is also the first cast member to outpace each of her fellow series regulars in three episodes this season, having previously done so on October 19 and November 16.
Ego Nwodim – 7:52 / 12.54%
Ego Nwodim’s December 14 screen time is her highest of the season by 28 seconds. She took part in five of the episode’s segments, with “Blind Date” featuring her longest single-sketch performance of the season so far (3:03).
Andrew Dismukes – 7:21 / 11.72%
After being seen in at least six minutes of each of the last four episodes, Andrew Dismukes has moved up to fourth place on the overall Season 50 screen time chart to date. This week he made his first “Weekend Update” appearance since November 18, 2023, when he and James Austin Johnson were interviewed as members of the fictional band Remember Lizards.
Gracie Abrams – 6:56 / 11.06%
Abrams’ SNL debut constitutes her third late night guest appearance of 2024, following performances on The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Both of the songs she sang on SNL (“That’s So True” and “I Love You, I’m Sorry”) were off her sophomore album, The Secret of Us.
Jane Wickline – 6:29 / 10.34%
New featured player Jane Wickline achieved her highest screen time to date this week. Prior to racking up over two and a half minutes as a background character in “Blind Date,” she visited “Weekend Update” for the third time overall and second time as herself, this time performing an original song from the point of view of Sabrina Carpenter.
Colin Jost – 6:09 / 9.81%
Jost was seen in over 48% of this week’s nearly 13-minute-long “Weekend Update” segment. Including his newest ones with Dismukes and Wickline, he has now conducted 11 guest interviews this season.
Mikey Day – 5:36 / 8.93%
Mikey Day was utilized in both of this episode’s pretaped sketches as well as its first three live, post-monologue ones. Nearly one-third of his time was spent playing Benny, the inheritor of the titular enchanted object in “Grandpa’s Magic Car.”
Kenan Thompson – 4:55 / 7.84%
Longest-serving SNL cast member Kenan Thompson now boasts a Season 50 screen time total of 33 minutes and 20 seconds. His nearly four-minute performance in this week’s “Sexual Harassment Charlie” is his longest of the season to date.
Emil Wakim – 4:37 / 7.36%
This marks the second week in a row that new cast member Emil Wakim has set a personal best in terms of single-episode screen time. He now sits atop the Season 50 featured player ranking by a margin of two minutes and 25 seconds.
Heidi Gardner – 4:01 / 6.40%
One week after amassing more single-episode screen time (12:56) than she’s ever had before, Heidi Gardner delivered her fourth shortest performance of the season so far. She appeared in four December 14 sketches for less than 100 seconds each.
Adam Sandler – 2:56 / 4.68%
Sandler’s live cameo in “Gallbladder Surgery” marked his first SNL appearance since he participated in two of 2020’s three SNL at Home episodes. He spent about 19% of his time in the new sketch hiding under a surgical blanket before revealing his face to the audience.
Bowen Yang – 2:50 / 4.52%
Although Bowen Yang’s screen time in this episode is his lowest of the season, he still outranks every other performer in this season’s overall totals. Only 53 seconds now separate him from Sherman, while Jost is just 15 seconds behind her.
Michael Che – 2:38 / 4.20%
After conducting at least one “Weekend Update” interview in each of the last three episodes, no guests were seen on Michael Che’s side of the desk this week. He appeared in just 20.60% of this week’s “Update,” bringing his Season 50 average to date below 30%.
James Austin Johnson – 2:25 / 3.85%
Johnson was physically seen in only 20 seconds of this episode. The remainder of his screen time was spent doing voiceover work in the cold open, “Grandpa’s Magic Car” and “Office Christmas Party Extravaganza.”
Chloe Fineman – 2:12 / 3.51%
Chloe Fineman’s December 14 screen time was spread over three early sketches. She gave her longest performance of the night (0:57) in “Grandpa’s Magic Car.”
Devon Walker – 1:22 / 2.18%
This week’s screen time results put Devon Walker at the very bottom of the culmulative Season 50 cast ranking by a margin of nearly three and a half minutes. He is now the only series regular who has yet not amassed at least 20 minutes of screen time this season.
Marcello Hernandez – 1:18 / 2.07%
Marcello Hernandez has now clocked in under 80 seconds three times this season. He was briefly utilized in four of this week’s sketches, with his biggest role (0:38) being in “Blind Date.”
Ashley Padilla – 0:59 / 1.57%
Since last week, Ashley Padilla has moved from the top to the bottom of the Season 50 featured player screen time ranking. Wickline, who fell under 90 seconds in each of the previous three episodes, now outpaces Padilla by 44 seconds.
Michael Longfellow – 0:32 / 0.85%
This was the second consecutive episode in which Michael Longfellow was the least prominent cast member. He was also the last regular to show up this week, with his only appearances coming at the very end of the show during “Office Christmas Party Extravaganza” and “Blind Date.”
SNL is set to wrap 2024 next week with host Martin Short and musical guest Hozier.
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.
