‘SNL’: Peyton Manning Crashes ‘Weekend Update,’ Compares Tom Brady’s Retirement to ‘Emily in Paris’

Hall of Famer Peyton Manning made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend, popping into “Weekend Update” to give his take on the 2022 NFL Playoffs and his thoughts on Tom Brady’s retirement rumors. At least, that’s what he was supposed to do. In reality, he wound up explaining why Emily in Paris is one of the greatest things since sliced baguettes.

At the beginning of his segment, Colin Jost asked Manning just how great the divisional round was last weekend. “Yeah, I heard they were incredible,” Manning said. “You heard?” Jost asked. Manning explained that he had an hour to kill before the first game began, so he put on the first episode of Emily in Paris Season 2. “I watched the entire season straight through,” Manning said, before going on a Stefon-style rant. “Oh, my God Colin, this show has everything – romance, adventure, sensuality, culture, a fresh take on feminism – finally! Not to mention a culinary tapestry so rich, I can only describe it as ‘food porn.’”

Jost tried to bring back Manning to the topic of football by asking about the Brady rumors. It didn’t work. “I’m not sure it’s true,” Manning said of the rumors. “I think it’s probably just speculation. But if it were me, I probably would retire if it gave me more time to watch Emily in Paris. I really think for Tom right now, it’s just a tough decision between balancing his career and relationships, sort of like Emily.”

Then, Manning proceeded to “break down” Emily Cooper’s struggles to balance her crazy love life with her career in Paris. Manning even turned it all into an x’s and o’s map. He also talked about how Emily’s crazy fashion LEWKS are not staying on the sidelines.

Jost was still too stunned that Manning missed all those great games last weekend. “Sure, watching football was the safe thing to do, that’s what everyone expected me to do,” Manning, now wearing a beret, said. “But if I’ve learned anything from Emily, it’s to follow my passions and always be true to myself. The French have a saying – ‘Parelez-Vour Francais?’ Which means, ‘You do you, girl.’”

The bit had the perfect ending. “So you think Season 2 was even better than Season 1?” Jost asked. “Wait, there’s a Season 1?” a shocked Manning wondered.

SNL airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET, and past episodes are available to stream on Peacock and Hulu. The show will be back on Feb. 26 with another John Mulaney-hosted show, and performances from LCD Soundsystem.