Editor’s note: Mike Murray hosts The Saturday Night Network’s weekly By the Numbers podcast. Click the embed at the top of this post to watch it live Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, or catch the replay afterwards.
Miles Teller earned mostly high marks for his return to Studio 8H, hosting the fourth installment of Saturday Night Live’s 51st season. This past weekend’s episode marked his second turn as host, following his debut in the Season 48 premiere. Unusually for a two-time host, Teller’s screen time tally dipped for his return visit—down 27%—to just over nineteen minutes.
Scroll down to see how Teller stacked up against each of the show’s named performers, including musical guest Brandi Carlile and surprise guests Ramy Youssef and Shane Gillis.
Note: Our screen time calculation method prioritizes face time, meaning that any contiguous (off-screen but in-scene) moments and most 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.
Miles Teller – 19:19 (30.4%)
It’s generally a rarity for hosts to appear in SNL cold opens, but Teller has done it both times he’s hosted—this time as Andrew Cuomo. Following Amy Poehler and Sabrina Carpenter, this was the first time since 1987 that three consecutive hosts have said, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
Kenan Thompson – 10:02 (15.8%)
The show’s longest-tenured cast member made a big comeback in this week’s episode after averaging less than three minutes per episode during this season’s first run of shows. This was Thompson’s eighth 10+ minute episode in the last five seasons.
Ashley Padilla – 09:25 (14.8%)
Padilla continues to make SNL history as a featured player this season, leading the entire cast in both screen time (32:10) and appearances (21). She made her second career appearance at the “Update” desk, playing off Andrew Dismukes in “Two People Who Just Hooked Up,” ostensibly discussing the government shutdown.
Brandi Carlile – 08:50 (13.9%)
Just months after co-headlining with Elton John and appearing in a sketch alongside Sarah Sherman and host Jack Black, Brandi Carlile was back on the show performing two songs from her new album, Returning to Myself: “Church & State” and “Human.”
Andrew Dismukes – 08:45 (13.8%)
Dismukes’ offbeat comedy was on full display this week, especially in the “Murder Press Briefing” sketch where he played a reporter with aspirations of publishing his superhero comic, “Gar-Girl: half gargoyle, half girl, all justice.” He was paired with Ashley Padilla twice—advertising directors in “Hockey PSA,” and again in “Two People Who Just Hooked Up.”
Bowen Yang – 07:12 (11.3%)
After missing the live broadcast of Sabrina Carpenter’s episode, Bowen Yang made a strong comeback, posting his best screen time since Mikey Madison’s episode last March. He reprised his George Santos impression for the eighth time and showed off his physical comedy chops, getting electrocuted in the background of the “Newsroom” sketch.
Colin Jost – 06:47 (10.7%)
Jost logged his sixth consecutive episode with more than six minutes of screen time and has had the last five “Update” correspondents appear on his side of the desk.
Chloe Fineman – 06:32 (10.3%)
Fineman reprised her Melania Trump impression in the “White House Makeover” pre-tape and co-anchored the “Newsroom” sketch with Kenan Thompson.
James Austin Johnson – 05:54 (9.3%)
JAJ made two appearances as Donald Trump this week, bringing his total to 42—just 11 shy of Alec Baldwin’s total from 2016 to 2020. He tied Cecily Strong with his 40th “Live from New York” (sixth all-time). Just six seconds shy of six minutes, this week’s episode marked Johnson’s season-high screen time.
Mikey Day – 04:31 (7.1%)
Day’s sketch lead came late in the night in the “Italian Restaurant” sketch with Chloe Fineman, which saw him covered in salad by Teller and Marcello Hernández’s flirty servers. The ten-season vet currently ranks tenth among Season 51 cast members in screen time (17:40).
Ben Marshall – 03:51 (6.1%)
Marshall co-led his second pre-tape of the season, “Missing Wives Docuseries,” a piece he co-wrote. He’s now followed up a 12-second season debut with three consecutive three-and-a-half-minute episodes.
Veronika Slowikowska – 03:28 (5.5%)
Slowikowska followed up her breakout episode with Sabrina Carpenter (07:27) with a solid four-appearance outing. She has appeared in the first live sketch of the night in three of the season’s first four episodes—the most in the cast.
Tommy Brennan – 02:59 (4.7%)
Brennan followed up his “Weekend Update” debut in the Sabrina Carpenter episode with four smaller appearances this week, averaging 45 seconds each. He played reporter Dick Musk of Tomorrow Todaily in the “Murder Press Briefing” sketch.
Michael Che – 02:55 (4.6%)
Michael Che hasn’t had an “Update” guest on his side of the desk since Sarah Sherman’s Rhonda LaCenzo in the Amy Poehler episode. This week marked his lowest screen time across the last 15 episodes.
Marcello Hernández – 02:14 (3.5%)
Hernández made his SNL debut with Teller in the “ManningCast Cold Open” during the Season 48 premiere, but he narrowly avoided his first career shutout on Teller’s return—appearing in just one sketch, “Italian Restaurant,” the night’s final segment.
Sarah Sherman – 02:13 (3.5%)
Sarah Sherman’s impressive eight-episode streak passing the four-and-a-half-minute mark came to an end this week. She averaged 6:33 per episode during that span. Sherman played Ben Marshall’s “missing” wife in the Netflix docuseries pre-tape. She made five appearances in Please Don’t Destroy videos during the trio’s four-season tenure.
Ramy Youssef – 02:13 (3.5%)
Youssef led the candidates in screen time during the “NYC Mayoral Debate” cold open as Zohran Mamdani. He previously hosted in Season 49, posting an impressive 26:36 of screen time that night. With Mamdani now mayor-elect, might this spell future cameos from the Queens-born stand-up?
Shane Gillis – 01:44 (2.7%)
Gillis made his first-ever SNL cameo this week, appearing as Republican NYC mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa in the cold open. He had previously logged 54:47 of screen time across two hosting stints, in Seasons 49 and 50.
Jane Wickline – 01:03 (1.7%)
Wickline’s two on-air appearances this week were brief but drew strong crowd reactions—especially her unspoken role as a staffer dealing with a malfunctioning copy machine in the “Newsroom” sketch. She’s poised to reach one hour of career screen time in next week’s episode.
Kam Patterson – 00:43 (1.1%)
Patterson made an early appearance this week, playing NYC Mayor Eric Adams (previously portrayed by Chris Redd) in the cold open. He also made a brief seven-second appearance in “Hungover Halloween Game Show,” playing saxophone, and appeared as a background player in the “Newsroom” sketch. Patterson is currently last in the season-long screen time rankings with a total of 6:31.
Jeremy Culhane – 00:43 (1.1%)
New featured player Culhane had a standout role in last week’s Wednesday promo, but he’s still waiting for a true showcase on the show itself. He had a four-second appearance in the “Hockey PSA” sketch and appeared among the ensemble of reporters in “Murder Press Briefing.”
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Huh? Jane Wickline had an entire song
That was a cut for time sketch posted to YouTube. Didn’t air on the show.