Saturday Night Live continues to feature its new hires in weekly promos—although one of them just came close to getting killed off.
In a new clip teasing this weekend’s SNL hosted by Miles Teller, featured player Jeremy Culhane flirts with death while channeling his inner Joey Chestnut.
The promo finds Teller hashing out ideas in the writer’s room with Chloe Fineman, Ben Marshall, and Culhane. Teller pitches a character called “Cool Pope,” who performs baptisms in a hot tub and other “cool stuff.”
Culhane, meanwhile, is multitasking. Donning an athletic sweatband and a plastic bib, he’s seen shoveling hot dogs into his mouth after dipping them in water—borrowing a strategy from the professional hot dog eaters’ playbook.
“Jeremy is training for the big hot dog eating contest,” Marshall explains. “July 4th is right around the corner.”
While Culhane assures Teller he’s listening to the pitch, the Top Gun: Maverick actor struggles to keep his focus—until Culhane proves he’s been mulling over Teller’s sketch idea the whole time, mid-binge.
“Don’t worry, I got this,” Culhane announces. “The sketch is ‘Cool Pope.’ Your robes are made out of jeans. The Popemobile is a skateboard. And for communion, instead of wine and bread, you’re eating pizza and drinking a tallboy of ice-cold malt liquor.”
“You really are a good listener, Jeremy,” Teller tells Culhane.
“I know. I’m the best,” says Culhane—only to have his reply cut short when he begins choking, leaving the rest of the group calling for medics and scrambling to save him.
The promo continues a pattern SNL has employed since the beginning of the season: centering weekly promos around its new hires. Earlier this month, Amy Poehler had an awkward encounter with three of the newbies. To kick off the season, newly full-fledged cast member Ben Marshall shared the screen with Season 51’s inaugural host, Bad Bunny.
Teller will serve as SNL host for the second time this Saturday, having made his Studio 8H debut with the Season 48 premiere in 2022. This time around, he’ll be joined by Brandi Carlile, making her fourth appearance as musical guest (in addition to her participation in the SNL50 festivities).
Saturday’s show kicks off a new three-week run of episodes for SNL. On November 8, Nikki Glaser will host with musical guest sombr, both making their SNL debuts. The following week, another pair of first-timers will headline the November 15 episode: host Glen Powell and musical guest Olivia Dean.
