‘SNL’ Promo: Shane Gillis Curbs Enthusiasm For Long-In-Coming 30 Rock Debut

Comedian Shane Gillis will be making his long-in-coming Saturday Night Live debut this weekend, and it wouldn’t be the worst idea to keep expectations from soaring to impossible heights.

At least that seems to be the gist of his new SNL promo, which shows Gillis rehearsing a decidedly underwhelming monologue loaded with hackneyed, anything-but-controversial gags. “A new Planet of the Apes is coming out,” he cracks as cast members Sarah Sherman and Marcello Hernández look on. “It’s gonna be bananas.”

Gillis’ SNL appearance is already one of the more unusual bookings in the show’s history, coming about five years after the comic was hired as a featured player, but was fired before making his debut after videos surfaced in which he used an anti-Asian racial slur during his stand-up act (“always a Mad TV guy anyway.” he tweeted after he was let go).

Since the incident, Gillis’ fan base has skyrocketed: His most recent comedy special, Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs, debuted on Netflix last September and charted in the streamer’s Global Top 10 TV (English). His debut special, Shane Gillis: Live in Austin, debuted on YouTube in 2021 and has thus far racked up over 16 million views.

The musical guest for Saturday’s show is 21 Savage.

Check out the promo above.