Clear your Saturday night plans if they don't already include watching Saturday Night Live this weekend. The series welcomes by far the most exciting host of season 51 (no shade to the other excellent hosts!) with Heated Rivalry breakout Connor Storrie making his hosting debut on Feb. 28. The episode was already primed to be the biggest of the season, but the promo just backed that up.
Ahead of the traditional collection of TV spots that include the host, musical guest, and an additional cast member promoting the latest episode, Saturday Night Live teased Connor Storrie's highly anticipated arrival with a hilarious pre-taped promotional sketch. The promo begins with Storrie laughing with Ashley Padilla and Marcello Hernández before revealing he can do multiple accents.
Once Storrie says he can do "all kinds of accents," James Austin Johnson struts down the hall and into the room, wearing cowboy boots and a hat and igniting a traditional Western standoff. Storrie puts on his own cowboy hat as the pair faces off in an accent battle that finds the actor doing German, French, "Shakespeare but bad," Shrek, and his classic Russian accent with a wink to his beloved character Ilya Rozanov.
Watch the Saturday Night Live promo in the video below!
Some fans might have been worried that the references to Heated Rivalry would be heavy handed, but in the promo at least, they are used in a perfect way. "When you get to hell, tell them Rozanov sent you" is an instantly iconic line and a great use of the Russian accent Storrie mastered for his breakthrough role. Still, the promo offers us a little more insight into what we can expect from his episode.
There will no doubt be plenty more nods to Heated Rivalry throughout the episode, some that are subtle and others that are unavoidable and obvious. But more than anything, we can also expect Saturday Night Live to take full advantage of Storrie's expansive skills in transforming himself via accents and outrageous comedy. (He's experienced in clowning, after all.) Place your bets now for how many he will actually do on Saturday night!
Before Storrie was officially announced as a host, Heated Rivalry fans had been keeping their fingers crossed that NBC would book Storrie and co-star Hudson Williams as co-hosts. If that had happened, the talented actors would have been inducted in an elite SNL co-host club that only has 20 co-hosted episodes after over 1,000 total episodes and counting.
I'm sure I'm not the only Heated Rivalry fan that's keeping their fingers crossed that Williams still manages to make a surprise cameo appearance during either Storrie's monologue or in a sketch and later return as the host of his own episode this or next season. It would be so special to see them share the stage together in celebration of the unbelievably exciting moment they're experiencing.
With or without a surprise cameo from Williams, Saturday Night Live will surely see some of its biggest ratings of the season with Storrie as host. His appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers was the late-night talker's most-watched episode in five years, per the host himself. Prepare to see some major numbers for SNL this weekend as the world's love for Storrie grows.