Tom Hanks Hosts "SNL's" COVID-19 Episode As "America's Dad"

Tom Hanks hosted last night's virtual episode of "Saturday Night Live."

BYCole Blake
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Despite not having access to the studio, Saturday Night Live still aired last night, it just did it in a non-traditional manner from home. Tom Hanks appeared from the kitchen to perform the opening monologue, where he commented on his COVID-19 diagnosis.

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"Why me as host?" he begins. "Well, for one, I have been the celebrity canary in the coal mine for the coronavirus."

Hanks was diagnosed in March with COVID-19 while in Australia.

"Ever since being diagnosed I have been more like America's dad than ever before since no one wants to be around me very long and I make people uncomfortable," Hanks says.

"It's good to be here, but it's also weird to be here hosting 'Saturday Night Live' from home," he says. "It is a strange time to try and be funny, but trying to be funny is 'SNL's' whole thing, so what the heck, let's give it a shot."

He goes on to crack jokes about social distancing, Australian accents and more.

The entire episode features a handful of guest appearances including Larry David, Fred Armisen, Alec Baldwin and more. Pete Davidson even does a parody of Drake's "Toosie Slide," which you can check out here.

[Via]


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About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.