Mikey Day is entering rarefied SNL air. With this week’s Will Ferrell-hosted season finale, Day marks his 200th episode as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.
That’s according to LateNighter’s podcast partner the Saturday Night Network, whose team tracks SNL appearance statistics.
Day’s journey at SNL began behind the scenes in 2013 as a writer before he stepped into the spotlight as a featured player in 2016. He was promoted to repertory player in 2018.
Day’s first sketch appearance as a cast member came during the Season 42 premiere on October 1, 2016, when he originated the character Matt Schatt in the post-monologue sketch “Live Report” (below).
It would be the first of multiple appearances for Schatt over the years, each time pairing Day with a news reporter or TV host who can’t believe his character is married to such an attractive woman. Margot Robbie played his wife in the first sketch, while Jennifer Lopez and Ana de Armas stepped into the role in subsequent installments.
In addition to his on-screen work, Day has also helped pen some of the most memorable SNL sketches of the past decade alongside writing partner Streeter Seidell, including “Haunted Elevator” (a.k.a. David S. Pumpkins), “Washington’s Dream,” and the viral “Beavis and Butt-Head” sketch with Ryan Gosling.
Outside of Studio 8H, Day hosts Netflix’s hit show Is It Cake? and has appeared in films like Unfrosted, Good Burger 2, and Home Sweet Home Alone, which he co-wrote. Alongside Seidell, he’s also developing new takes on Rugrats and Inspector Gadget for Disney.
Day is currently the ninth longest-serving cast member in SNL history by episode count:
Kenan Thompson — 461
Darrell Hammond — 267
Seth Meyers — 253
Colin Jost — 249
Michael Che — 242
Fred Armisen — 220
Kate McKinnon — 204
Cecily Strong — 202
Mikey Day — 200
And he may well climb further up the list. “I want to work there for as long as I can,” Day told Variety’s Brian Steinberg in an article published last summer. “I want to work there until it’s sad.”
Our hearty congratulations to Mikey Day. Here’s to another 200.
