Saturday Night Live opened its season 48 premiere with Top Gun: Maverick star Miles Teller playing Peyton Manning, who commented on (and mercilessly mocked) the cold in a very self-conscious chill open-in-a-cold -open – if that makes sense.
The Fake Peyton described his Monday Night Football show with brother Eli Manning (actor Andrew Dismukes) as their “Manningcast, where we analyze live what’s already happening on TV.”
Teller said they’re going to watch the first cold open sketch of the season to see what the cast and writers have been up to “all summer.”
“Oh, a good Trump sketch. You can mix it up,” Teller said sarcastically as the cast reenacted a scene in Mar-a-Lago.
HOW DID MILES TELLER BECOME FAMOUS? FROM WHIPLASH TO TOP GUN AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN
Miles Teller as Peyton Manning in the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” on October 1 (NBC)
“I have to mention, where is the political balance?” Teller complained a la football criticism after a cast member made a joke about explorer Christopher Columbus. “You’re making Trump-Columbus jokes while Biden lost his damn marbles.”
The co-hosts went on to criticize the cast’s performances in the sketch and highlight the four new comedians given the major cast changes since last season.
Veterans Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kyle Mooney, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor, Aristotle Athari and Chris Redd left the team at the end of last season.
The new cast members are Ilo Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker.
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“The new guy’s just panicking, he’s just staring at the camera,” Dismukes said when Eli said of Longfellow after saying he forgot to close the door after following his small part in the sketch . “It may be the only time we see him tonight.”
The show often makes fun of itself for underutilizing some new cast members.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE – Miles Teller, Kendrick Lamar Episode 1827 – Pictured: (lr) Musical guest Kendrick Lamar, presenter Miles Teller and Bowen Yang during promos at Studio 8H on Friday September 30, 2022 – (Photo by: Will Heath /NBC via Getty Images) (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)
They also touched on the departure of Impressions wizard McKinnon, when Teller suggested the sketch should include more “funny” Impressions like Anthony Fauci, Rudy Giuliani and Lindsey Graham – all McKinnon.
The pair then looked at the sketch’s “stats” and noted that out of 14 jokes attempted, there was only “one mild laugh and two giggles.”
“Thank goodness they have [musical guest] Kendrick Lamar, because that’s the only reason anyone is tuning in.”
Top Gun star Jon Hamm made a surprise appearance in the sketch, saying, “I don’t know, but it’s not comedy,” when asked by Teller for his take on what he saw in the sketch .
Miles Teller and Tom Cruise attend the ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ photocall during the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2022 in Cannes, France. ((Photo by Toni Anne Barson/FilmMagic))
Olympic snowboarder Shawn White also made an accidental surprise appearance as former President Trump’s special champion for his Mar-a-Lago FBI investigating judge Raymond Dearie, whom Teller called “desperate stunt casting.”
Hamm threw shade at Teller by saying that “SNL” sometimes brings in real-life celebrities when the night’s host isn’t famous enough.
“I mean, when they couldn’t get the star of the big summer movie: your Tom Cruise or your Jon Hamm, they had to get the co-star,” Hamm dryly told Teller of why he and White were brought in.
Teller indignantly replied, “Well, I’ve heard they rarely cold the hosts, so when they do it’s special.”
“Especially? Or is it desperate?” Hamm replied.
Later, in his monologue, Teller remarked how much he actually loved “Saturday Night Live.” That’s pretty standard for hosts, but in Teller’s case, he brought receipts.
He said his mom, who was in the audience, found an old VHS tape of his sister and him recreating an old Spartan cheerleader skit from “SNL” from the mid-’90s, performed by former cast members Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri became famous.
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He said he was cast as Cheri Oteri along with his sister “because I had the frame for it” before showing the very real, very homemade tape.
He added: “How crazy is that? My parents used to watch me skit in my living room and now they’re here watching me do ‘Saturday Night Live!’ moderate.”