Trump may be upending world order and leaving a path of death and destruction as part of his weekend plans, but the show goes on at SNL. I actually chuckled pretty hard during the cold open, when James Austin Johnson as Trump went meta and noted one of the benefits of an early Saturday morning surprise military attack was that it forced the SNL writers to scramble to rewrite the open in only a few hours. (Sidenote: Johnson is way too good at the Trump voice, to the point where it’s hard to listen to.) Don’t worry writers, you pulled it off! As did host Connor Storrie, who has nothing to promote right now but himself, and he did that with aplomb. Many were wondering if hockey and/or his Heated Rivalry costar Hudson Williams would make an appearance in the episode. Well, we got the answer to the hockey question in the monologue itself, when Connor brought out members of the Olympic gold medal winning men’s and women’s hockey team:
US women’s hockey team gold medalists Megan Keller and Hilary Knight skated by some ongoing drama related to the US men’s hockey team when they appeared on the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live.”
The episode, hosted by “Heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie, took place days after the US men’s hockey team won gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, going on to draw ire for partying with FBI director Kash Patel and subsequently facing backlash for laughing during a call with President Trump after he joked he would be “impeached” for not inviting the US women’s hockey team, who also won gold, to the White House.
The women’s team later declined Trump’s invitation to attend the State of the Union, citing scheduling conflicts, while the men’s team did show up.
Storrie welcomed brothers Jack and Quinn Hughes on the stage first during his opening monologue on Saturday, with the pair donning their gold medals and some missing teeth.
“We’ve been so busy playing, we haven’t had time to see your show yet,” Jack Hughes said, before his brother chimed in to joke, “It’s about hockey, right?”
Keller and Knight, also donning their gold medals, then walked out on stage after Storrie said he hoped “some hockey players” watched “Rivalry,” winking at the fact that much of the show’s audience has been women drawn to the gay romance aspect.
“Don’t worry,” said Keller. “We saw your show.”
Keller and Knight went on to poke fun at the Hughes about how the women were originally supposed to appear on “SNL” alone, but “we thought we’d invite the guys too,” and reminded the audience that the women’s hockey team won gold just “two whole Olympics ago,” after the men mentioned their team last won gold over 40 years ago.
The appearance by the athletes all appeared to be in good fun, with no mention of the controversy surrounding the men’s team’s reaction to Trump’s remarks.
“My show speaks to people who are not always represented in hockey,” Storrie said at the end of his monologue. “So this is really great to have actual hockey legends here tonight.”
We’re dealing with four athletes and an actor, so the whole thing flows better in action as opposed to the transcript. I thought the bit was elegantly done; first and foremost it was funny, but it also made its points about all the misogynist f–kery that’s gone down. And the humor here wasn’t mean, it was merely the women hockey champions stating the facts of their accomplishments. #Winning. And speaking of winning, my gosh, Connor Storrie is SO READY for this moment! In his monologue, he made a passing comment about only being a professional actor for six months now, but that is not how he carried himself at all. He walked out like a seasoned pro! And that was just the monologue, but the skits? Full theater kid energy! He was prepared, he was committed, and he was sure of himself enough that there were no nerves for us watching as audience members. It was just relaxed fun! I knew the clown would deliver! And as for the other question — yes, Hudson Williams did make a cameo, in another perfectly-executed bit where he and Connor were “ice skating” in the background of a couple fighting. It was a smooth way to bring Hudson in without taking the moment away from Connor.
Connor Storrie: he came, he saw, and he comedied the sh-t out of that episode. And then he flew right back to LA to hand out the first trophy of the night at the SAG Awards Actor Awards! Connor recently gushed to VMAN about expensive fashion really truly feeling better. Clearly he must have also meant luxury jewelry feels better too, based on the smoking hot necklaces he wore for his SNL monologue and for presenting at the Actor Awards. Our boy’s got good taste!
The bit about his being a professional actor for only six months was meant to be a joke I think. He’s been acting since 2018 and was in the last Joker film in 2024.
Yea he also took improve classes with the Groundlings (where so many snl cast members have come from) and was big into clowning. The guy has been acting for a while and this is a huge big break for everyone involved
I understood it more like that acting is now his only job because now it pays enough and he don´t need a job in the service industry anymore.
I haven’t watched Heated Rivalry but Connor was an absolute DELIGHT!! My favorite skit was the How Dare You! One.
Highly recommend watching it! But Connor IRL is very different than the character he plays almost to the point I couldn’t believe it was the same guy. He is an excellent actor!
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams before! They both are the polar opposites of the roles they play in Heated Rivalry, and yet they are perfectly cast. It cannot be said enough, Connor disappears into Ilya. He actually is the whole damn book as Ilya, but watching him in interviews, especially with Hudson, is to realize that he is a phenomenal actor, and at the very beginning of his career, it’s really special to watch.
Same goes for Hudson. What a delightful human being, and absolutely nothing like Shane Hollander, but still perfect as Shane Hollander. I read the books long before the show came out, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I am utterly charmed.
Never watched the series and I’m already fed up with these two guys that have no charisma. Every US tv channel, program and brand is booking them and it’s boring. Makes me long for the days of first season Outlander when the media tried to push the two leads as lovers.
I haven’t watched the show either but I think they have an enormous amount of charisma. People are greeting them with screams as if they were the Beatles. You don’t provoke that kind of reaction if you didn’t have “it” and they both certainly do.
I mean the media and fashion companies follow where the engagement and clicks are. The red jacket from H&M that Hudson wore on snl sold out within hours. Fashion companies took notice when both Connor and Hudson had the highest engagement numbers after the GG. That’s just how it works. HR came out over the holidays and just in time for awards season and fashion shows. The industry season is about to slow down and they’ll both be working on new projects and it’ll die down.
You must be a blast to be around in real life. Maybe watch the show before you eviscerate complete strangers who are living out their dreams? You just sound cranky and bitter.
He did really well as host! Not every actor manages the switch to sketch comedy well, but Connor was great. I was glad he brought out the hockey men and women and that they all poked fun and laughed about it. Well played.
The best part about the hockey players coming out was that the women got about 5x as loud and long applause as the men. To the point where the two Hughes brothers were standing there looking so awkward and sad. It was amazing.
I noticed that too. I have to admit, it made me laugh.
Heated Rivalry was a delightful surprise this winter!
Enjoy seeing people from the superb cast getting recognized and rewarded: Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, Francois Arnaud, Robbie GK, Christina Chang, Ksenia Kharlamova, etc !!
Way to go Canada 🇨🇦 & Crave + plus HBO
Heated Rivalry is actually funded in part by the Canadian government. The US would never.
Heated Rivalry gets good ep3 – first 2 eps very steamy!
He was great on SNL!
I was locked in from episode one on through. I find the sex negativity in opinions I hear from some re episodes 1-2 disappointing. The sex was only 10% of the show and it’s an important part of character and story development b/c the young men aren’t good at verbal communication, especially in the context of living and/or working in very homophobic , toxically masculine environments where they feel they have to hide themselves. And the sex is consent based, hot and non-violent, as opposed to most mainstream sexy HBO shows.
This is a beautiful love story made all the more powerful by the struggles the characters go through to accept themselves and their feelings. You don’t get the payoff of episodes 4-6 without the sex forwardness of 1-2.
Yep, this is the take I’m here for. 100%.
Well said! All of this. It’s a magnificent series, lifted almost wholly from the books and the cast are all stellar. Connor and Hudson are such good actors that everyone is amazed at how different their real personalities are from their characters. It’s a well done show all around–the cinematography, the acting, the direction, the music….
Agreed!
This guy is the epitome of Ready for the Moment. I’m happy for him.
Connor was super cute, a sweetheart. I have issues with snl but I knew he’d elevate it. Truly they need to get some fresh and frankly more diverse people on the writing staff. The stripper skit was the best one and I think connor actually pitched it, so major kudos to him. No surprise though bc he’s a true clown. Seeing him get emotional at the end had me in the feels. The less said about the Hughes brothers the better but watching the women poke fun at them was nice.
When Hudson William came out on skates, it was hilarious, mostly bc it’s clear these men really cannot skate. The audience lost it. Connor may be a little better than Hudson at skating though. lol. It looked like someone off stage had just super pushed and launched Hudson on skates out towards Connor. Bc the struggle was real even if it was roller blades rather than ice skates. A journalist in the audience revealed that Hudson was trying to hang back during the goodbyes to give Connor his moment but the snl cast pushed him forward. And then we got the hug. Connor was so so good. Love these guys .
Yeah, my thoughts were similar about SNL – even with an amazing host, most of the material was just not very funny. And the two guys who do the news are so unbearable. The whole show needs an overhaul.
I was hoping for more Hudson but the skating skit was cute. And I loved that the women hockey players got a TON more applause than the men. Made my heart warm.
It’s been a weird snl season that’s for sure. Genuinely painful for a lot of it. The absence of Ego Nwodim has been felt. I’m a fan of hers. Then add in Bowen. The skating skit was insanely cute.
I can’t help it, it completely cracks me up that Connor and Hudson suck at ice skating! I mean, it’s really the least important part of the show, but you know another show runner, other than Jacob Tierney, would have really drilled down on making that part look authentic. Meanwhile, a whole bunch of hetero women got their interest piqued when they learned about frotting and docking. It’s just the gift that never stops giving.
I’ve watched the skate rink sketch like 15 times because 1. everyone is so cute in it and 2. how they did it (answer they’re on rollerblades)
Edit: just saw Jais’ post after mine. Yes the whole thing was super cute! Veronica trying not to break and continue her lines over all the screaming was classic.
It was a v cute skit. It’s funny how the snl comedians really don’t want to break character but whenever they do it’s always so memorable. Pedro Pascal and Ego at the restaurant is one of the more recent skits that genuinely gets me.
There is a great analysis of the hockey situation that basically says the male hockey players still haven’t apologized, haven’t acknowledged that they supported (one of them wore a 45/47 hat at some point?) someone who is anti-women, anti-LGBTQ rights, and yet the women and gays are supposed to do the emotional labor of being classy, taking the high road, helping them redeem themselves on SNL. It put it all in an interesting (and depressing) light.
+1
Yeah, they both wore Trump’s ugly hats (the USA ones) and looked very happy to be paraded as props, all the PR in the world won’t be enough.
I’m so glad you covered this. My faves were the how dare you and the ice skating skits, though the stripper that got hit by a car and the tourette one were pretty good too. And the thank yous at the end – the crying, the hug, all super cute. It’s fun to watch actors getting plucked out of nowhere and become stars instead of the usual nepo nonsense.