Saturday Night Live Cold Open Pokes Fun at Cast Exits with Help from Jon Hamm

The sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live debuted its newest season on Saturday night with some big changes. Along with the unveiling of a new logo for the show, the cast is also very different as several key players exited the show after the end of last season. The cold open segment for the new episode features host Miles Teller as NFL star Peyton Manning alongside Andrew Dismukes as brother Eli Manning as the two take a break from their ManningCast to comment on what’s happening with the season premiere of Saturday Night Live.

Watch the skit below, courtesy of SNL on YouTube.

“There were a lot of changes at the show, which could be exciting. Let’s see what they spent the entire summer coming up with,” Teller’s Peyton Manning notes.

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The sketch then goes meta with the Mannings watching a faux episode Saturday Night Live. Joking how the Donald Trump impersonations will remain a part of the series, Jake Austin Johnson’s Trump appears in a skit where he’s advised not to be hiding from the hurricane at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“Oh, good. Trump skit. Way to mix it up,” Teller says.

Another quip took a jab at many of SNL’s biggest stars leaving ahead of the season. Teller asks if the show could delve into some “fun impressions” of celebrities like Anthony Fauci, Lindsey Graham, and Rudy Giuliani.

“Those were all Kate McKinnon,” Dismukes snapped back.

Related: Saturday Night Live: Everything to Know About Season 48

Jon Hamm Joined the Fun

NBC

Teller then brought in his Top Gun: Maverick co-star Jon Hamm for a surprise appearance. The actor, who had previously hosted SNL three times himself, remarks that that SNL has come up with in this premiere episode is “not comedy.” He then blasts the faux cold open for not featuring longtime series favorite Kenan Thompson, one of the few veterans that remains on the show.

“They haven’t even used Kenan yet,” Hamm jokes. “That’s like putting a whole team of Elis on the field when you’ve got Peyton sitting on the sidelines.”

After Shaun White appeared in the faux sketch, Hamm alluded to his own surprise appearance by joking, “Sometimes they need to bring in a real celebrity when the host isn’t that famous. 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.”

Teller clapped back by saying, “Well, I heard they rarely put the host in cold opens, so when they do, it is special!”

Along with Kate McKinnon, who was mentioned in the sketch, other SNL co-stars who left ahead of the season opener include Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor, and Aristotle Athari. New cast members include Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, and Micahel Longfellow. Returning stars from previous seasons include Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Heidi Gardner, Mikey Day, Michael Che, Colin Jost, Andrew Dismukes, and James Austin Johnson.

You can stream the latest episode of Saturday Night Live on Peacock.

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