Every Sketch From the Miles Teller-Hosted Episode of ‘SNL’ Ranked

On Saturday Night Live’s first episode back after its Oct. 25 bye week, the show achieved liftoff. The writers made good use of host Miles Teller — who’s in the upcoming A24 film Eternity, with Elizabeth Olsen, and reminded viewers that he was in the 2022 box-office hit, Top Gun: Maverick — throughout the show.

That started with the cold open, which also featured cameos from Shane Gillis and Ramy Youssef and the first helping of James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump impersonation. We also were treated to a strong Weekend Update (the program’s most dependably funny segment), and musical guest Brandi Carlile brought the heat with performances of “Church & State” and “Human” from her excellent new album, Returning to Myself.

How strong was this episode? Even tired go-tos like gameshow and restaurant date sketches were working well. Four episodes in, trends are emerging, the clearest being that Ashley Padilla is on a hot streak and deserves to be promoted to a regular cast member. Her work in two sketches this week — paired with Andrew Dismukes in both — showed that she’s got the right stuff for not only comedy but acting. It’s also clear that Jane Wickline’s deadpan persona can zhuzh any skit, and that this is a cast built for slapstick, particularly Dismukes, Mikey Day and Sarah Sherman, who didn’t get enough screen time this episode.

Next week, Nikki Glaser hosts with sombr as the musical guest; and on Nov. 15, another Top Gun: Maverick star, Glen Powell, hosts in conjunction with the opening of his starring role in a remake of The Running Man with Olivia Dean as the musical feature. Until then, here are the Nov. 1 sketches ranked in ascending order of funny. The term “worst” does not apply.