Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: Heated Rivalry, saturday night live, snl

SNL: Connor Storrie vs James Austin Johnson: It's Accent Duel Time!

NBC's Saturday Night Live star James Austin Johnson takes on SNL host Connor Storrie (Heated Rivalry) in an epic Accent Duel smackdown.

NBC's Saturday Night Live already has a pretty stacked lineup for March, with Ryan Gosling (Hail Mary) returning as host, alongside musical guest Gorillaz, on March 7th, and Harry Styles (Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.) as the host and musical guest on March 14th. But with that said, there are a whole lot of Heated Rivalry fans who will be checking out this weekend's return show, with Connor Storrie hosting (and joined by musical guest Mumford & Sons). That brings us to the official kick-off of Storrie's big week: the SNL midweek sketch. We kick things off with Storrie speaking with Marcello Hernandez and Ashley Padilla, during which Hernandez compliments Storrie on his Russian accent. When Storrie says that he can do a number of accents, that brings James Austin Johnson onto the scene for an accent duel. We don't want to spoil it, but let's just say that it has a surprise, tragic, and slightly awkward ending.

SNL 51: Heated Rivalry Creator on Love, Sex & Season 2

Series creator, writer, and director Jacob Tierney recently shared some insights about the second season of Heated Rivalry, which is drawing inspiration from author Rachel Reid's The Long Game. Released in 2022, the story spotlights Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov (played by Storrie and Hudson Williams in the series, respectively) ten years later, their relationship still a secret to the league and those close to them. Shane fears what going public would do to them personally and professionally, but (according to Reid's website), "Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist." Speaking with Variety, Tierney was asked how the series will handle the sex scenes between Shane and Ilya in the second season, given where the couple is by the end of the finale, and whether viewers can expect more nonsexual, intimate moments.

"You know, Rachel [Reid] talks a lot about the promise that I made to her to take her characters seriously. She takes them very seriously in 'The Long Game,' and that doesn't mean there's no sex. There's quite a bit of sex in 'The Long Game.' But I think it functions differently in the second book, and that's just what I want to do. The journey of this show, no matter how long it goes on for, will always be centered around the relationship between Shane and Ilya. Sex will always be a big part of it, like it is with any romantic relationship," Tierney explained. "But it's really about continuing that progress of what happens after that first blush of love, what happens after you decide you're in love, and how do you sustain it? That's a very adult question: 'We love each other, and now what? Does that mean everything's easy?' No, it does not. There's loads of challenges that get thrown Shane and Ilya's way. Beyond what's in the books, I really don't have an agenda besides that I love this couple, and I love these characters, and I want to just hang out with them more and watch them grow more and watch them become better for each other."

The SNL Season 51 cast includes Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Colin Jost, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson, and Bowen Yang, along with current featured players Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline. Joining them are newcomers Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, and Veronika Slowikowska.

New writers for this season include actor-writer Jack Bensinger (Rap World), stand-up comedian Jo Sunday (Just for Laughs), comic Maddie Wiener (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), actor and writer Rachel Pegram (Harley Quinn), writer-comedian Claire McFadden (Second City), Maxwell Gay (The Harvard Lampoon), and Tucker Flodman (The Harvard Lampoon). NBC's Saturday Night Live premiered on Oct. 11, 1975, and broadcasts live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer.

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