Considering his tenure at Saturday Night Live got off to a famously rocky start, Shane Gillis has become one of the late night institution’s go-to hosts. The comedian returned to Studio 8H on Oct. 10 with musical guest Rosalía. After getting hired — and fired — from the Not Ready for Primetime Players back in 2019, the comedian has since hosted episodes in Season 49 (2024) and Season 50 (2025).
Since we’ll all have to wait until Saturday to see Rosalía perform, featured player Veronika Slowikowska was ready to show off her own vocal talents in her promo with Gillis:
Hot off the third season of his Netflix comedy series Tires (which Slowikowska may or may not have watched), Gillis will next be seen in the David O. Russell film Madden, which opens in select theaters on Nov. 11 ahead of a Prime Video premiere on Nov. 18.
Here are the best moments from Shane Gillis’s latest hosting gig.
COLD OPEN
In lieu of his usual Donald Trump cold open, James Austin Johnson premiered a brand new impersonation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who just needed a good pat on the back from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) to cure his scratchy voice. Pete was addressing the sailors from the USS Lincoln, who had spent a record-breaking 321 days deployed at sea as a result of the Iran War. The troops had finally returned to San Diego, which the President just encouraged Iran to bomb. Hegseth then introduced Kennedy, who thanked the soldiers for all of their help identifying spoiled meat by testing it (albeit unwittingly) before the American public.
OPENING MONOLOGUE
Shane Gillis trotted out some brand new stand-up material during his monologue, joking about his attempts to work out while overweight. He recalled one embarrassing moment at Joe Rogen’s private gym, which includes a sauna. Mistakenly believing he was alone, Gillis stripped completely down in the hot house, only to discover Rogen and Theo Von were watching him. Rogen jokingly told him that Von said he looked like a gas station egg, an insult that was made all the more upsetting when Gillis looked in the mirror and found the comparison was apt.
GREEN EGGS AND HAM
Sam-I-am (Andrew Dismukes) got really pushy trying to convince Guy-I-am (Mikey Day) to try some green eggs and ham, so much so that Guy’s son (Gillis) stepped in to tell Sam to back off. Gillis got a little too worked up over it and dropped an F-bomb, which got him a stern talking-to from his dad. Sarah Sherman as a randy Thing One and Marcello Hernández as a drunken Cat in the Hat were other stand outs of this R-rated Dr. Seuss spoof.
During his closing remarks, Gillis apologized for the not suitable for broadcast slip of the tongue, which will undoubtedly be bleeped out in future airings of the episode (so check it out before it’s too late!).
FATHER-DAUGHTER SONG
Few moments in life are as special as a father (Gillis) watching his daughter (Sherman) dance on her wedding day. It’s the day every dad dreams of, because it means they’ll finally be able to take over their daughter’s room and turn it into their own, complete with a Pac-Man machine, popcorn maker, and cardboard cutout of Shaq. It’s even better when your wife (Ashley Padilla) leaves you and you can knock down the wall between your bedroom and your daughter’s room, creating a super room. Sure, you run the risk of mold exposure from the broken wall, but that just means you get to make out with Ms. Pac-Man.
WEEKEND UPDATE
While giving the news of the week with Michael Che, Colin Jost mercilessly mocked President Trump for getting upset about losing the Nobel Peace Prize yet again, saying, “Trump kidnapped Venezuela’s president, then he did so much war that we’re running out of missiles, and he still thought, ‘This is my year!’ It’s truly like if I thought I might win an Oscar for Tom & Jerry.”
After that, Jost spoke with Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary (Johnson), aka “Mr. Wonderful,” about the new data center he’s building in Utah. When pressed about public resistance to having one of the noisy, water-sucking monstrosities built in their state, Mr. Wonderful conceded that no one would want to live near one, but that’s little matter to him considering he doesn’t live in Utah.
Next up, Jost spoke with a Mom Whose Babysitter Cancelled (Padilla) about some fun activities for fall. But mom kept sparring with her unruly daughter (Grace Reiter), who’s still trying to figure out who her dad is based on the few clues she’s gotten. According to mom, her dad is in his 50s, gay, and on TV, which narrows it down to one person: Sean Hayes.
Gillis is the third host for Saturday Night Live’s 52nd season, following Jalen Brunson (with musical guest Katseye) on Sept. 26 and Dakota Johnson (with musical guest Turnstile) on Oct. 3. Next up on the SNL stage will be Inde Navarrette (with musical guest Gracie Abrams) on Oct. 31. SNL just won another Emmy in September, bringing its record-holding total to 114.
SNL added two new featured players to its roster for Season 52: Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter. All of the Season 51 cast members are returning except for Chloe Fineman, plus Bowen Yang, who departed after the Christmas episode. Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline have been promoted to repertory players this season.