In terms of YouTube views, no Saturday Night Live Season 50 sketch has yet surpassed the very first one.
As of this writing, September 28’s “Harris and Trump Rallies Cold Open” has racked up 12.6 million views on YouTube, making it one of the SNL YouTube channel’s 200 most-watched videos ever (out of almost 9,000). At just over 13 minutes, it is also the longest sketch of the season (outside of “Weekend Update”) by a four-minute margin.
The main draw of Season 50’s first cold open was former cast member Maya Rudolph’s first performance as Kamala Harris since March 2021. The lengthy sketch also featured surprise cameos from Jim Gaffigan, Andy Samberg, and Dana Carvey debuting their respective impressions of Tim Walz, Doug Emhoff, and Joe Biden.
As one might expect in a presidential election year, all seven of this fall’s political cold opens place among this season’s 20 most-viewed sketches. So far, the most-viewed post-monologue sketch is October 12’s “Bridesmaid Speech,” featuring Marcello Hernandez as surprise hit character Domingo. Its sequel, November 16’s “Babymoon,” is also in the top 20.
Six of this season’s 20 most-watched sketches are from the October 12 episode hosted by Ariana Grande. Another five are from the October 5 episode hosted by Nate Bargatze, who happened to star in Season 49’s second most-viewed live sketch, “Washington’s Dream.” (“Washington’s Dream 2” currently ranks at #7 this season.)
The most heavily utilized performer across Season 50’s top 20 sketches is James Austin Johnson, six of whose 11 appearances were as Donald Trump in cold opens. Bowen Yang is in second place with nine appearances, while the most prominent non-regulars are Carvey (eight) and Rudolph (six).
The full list of this season’s 20 most-viewed sketches so far follows below:
- Harris and Trump Rallies Cold Open (Jean Smart/Jelly Roll) – 12.6M views
- Bridesmaid Speech (Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks) – 12.2M views
- Family Feud Election 2024 Cold Open (Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks) – 11.3M views
- 2024 Pre-Election Cold Open (John Mulaney/Chappell Roan) – 10.9M views
- VP Debate 2024 Cold Open (Nate Bargatze/Coldplay) – 8.46M views
- Fox News Kamala Harris Interview Cold Open (Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish) – 8.25M views
- Washington’s Dream 2 (Nate Bargatze/Coldplay) – 6.15M views
- SNL for Trump Cold Open (Bill Burr/Mk.gee) – 5.29M views
- Trump and Biden Meeting Cold Open (Charli XCX) – 4.77M views
- My Best Friend’s House (Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks) – 4.61M views
- Castrati (Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks) – 4.43M views
- Charades with Mom (Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks) – 3.90M views
- Buffalo Wild Wings (Bill Burr/Mk.gee) – 3.88M views
- Weekend Update: Trump Calls Harris “Mentally Disabled Person” (Jean Smart/Jelly Roll) – 3.53M views
- Weekend Update: Trump Wins 2024 Election (Bill Burr/Mk.gee) – 3.28M views
- Weekend Update: Trump Scrolled Twitter During Jan 6 (Nate Bargatze/Coldplay) – 3.24M views
- Babymoon (Charli XCX) – 3.23M views
- Water Park (Nate Bargatze/Coldplay) – 3.1M views
- Mile High Burger Challenge (Nate Bargatze/Coldplay) – 3.08M views
- Maybelline (Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks) – 3.03M views
