Saturday Night Live leaned on a breakout performer this week, bringing back Jeremy Culhane's Tucker Carlson impression for a second appearance on Weekend Update. The newcomer's sharp take on the Fox News commentator proved successful enough the first time around that SNL brass greenlit an encore, this time channeling Carlson's acerbic commentary on the Met Gala.
Culhane's performance hinges on vocal precision. He pitches his voice up slightly to capture Carlson's particular cadence, delivering the character's signature blend of faux-outrage and cultural snobbery. The bit lands because it transcends simple mimicry. Culhane locates something real in Carlson's persona: the performative indignation that powers so much cable news commentary. By having Carlson trash the Met Gala, SNL taps into the irresistible comedy of a culture warrior complaining about the very elite institutions he obsesses over.
The segment also featured Mikey Day and Marcello Hernández playing what the report describes as "Kamikaze Dolphins," though specifics on that sketch remain fuzzy. What matters is that Weekend Update continues its function as the show's most reliable vehicle for current events satire. The segment works because it depends on impressionists who understand their subjects viscerally, not just surface-level.
For SNL, the Culhane success story represents the kind of talent development the show has struggled with in recent years. A performer who clicks with the live audience and the material can become a reliable weapon in the arsenal. The decision to bring Culhane back so quickly signals that NBC sees staying power in both the impression and the performer. Whether Culhane becomes a permanent Weekend Update fixture or graduates to fuller sketch work remains to be seen, but SNL has clearly identified something worth repeating.