Jon Hamm’s Opening Monologue Gets “Jolt Of Energy” From Kieran Culkin: “Mad Men Is Better Than Succession”

Jon Hamm may be the cameo king at Saturday Night Live, but this time around — during his fourth-time hosting stint — he was upstaged by none other than Kieran Culkin, who provided a “jolt of energy” to a meandering opening monologue poking fun at his actor-narcissism.

“Making a cameo is even more special than being the host, which is something Lorne’s told me many times — always right before he loses service going into the tunnel. He’s always in that tunnel,” he said, grimacing and laughing, referring to storied creator Lorne Michaels.

Hamm joked he found out through his Wikipedia page — a site he checks “often” — that he has amassed 14 cameo appearances since his last hosting gig, in October 2010. “Let’s take a look [at the cameos],” he cued up, then adding after all 14 of them played at once on screen, “OK, uh, I maybe thought they would be played separately, that’s a little weird.”

Transitioning, he said, “I know a cameo may seem inconsequential but it really is an important part of the show, like when a sketch needs that little something extra to take it from a medium sketch to a marginally better than a medium sketch or when a monologue is feeling aimless and needs a jolt of energy…”

Stepping onto the stage was none other than an errant Kieran Culkin, who came to simply make a cameo.

“Why? I’m a huge, huge star and I’m doing really well by myself,” Hamm said.

Culkin promised to “make it up to” him for the intrusion, to which the Your Friends & Neighbors star replied, “OK, cool man, just give me your Oscar.”

But the A Real Pain star wasn’t buying it, referencing Hamm’s heartthrob status: “Look, don’t you have enough man? I’ve seen those photos of you in those gray sweatpants. Must be nice,” he sing-songed.

That left Hamm to grumble out one last zinger: “Mad Men is better than Succession,” which the audience responded with a bunch of oohs.