America’s Dad, Tom Hanks, Hosted SNL From Quarantine & Yes, It Is Perfect

The longer we are all in quarantine, the more creative everyone must get to keep as many aspects of life as normal as possible. Saturday Night Live is no exception. Rather than halt filming all together, the cast and crew of SNL assembled an entirely remote episode this week complete with the perfect host, Tom Hanks, because who better to get us through these bizarre and trying times than America’s Dad?

Stepping out onto his kitchen stage, complete with an applause track, Hanks greeted his virtual audience with a cheery, Carole Baskin-inspired, “Hey all you cool cats and kittens!” Clearly Hanks has been spending his quarantine time binging Tiger King like everyone else. His appearance likely inspired a collective happy sigh of relief to see Hanks in such good health after the world united in concern around his coronavirus diagnosis. Seeing him in such high spirits, Hanks is the beacon of optimism we need to keep our sights set on how we will come out the other side of this.

As one of the first confirmed celebrity cases of coronavirus back in March, Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, were quarantined and treated in Australia, where Hanks was on location for a new film. Hanks thanked everyone who took care of him and his wife before pointing out some cultural differences between the US and Australia when being treated for coronavirus. 

“The people of Australia are fantastic in every way, but they use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit when they take your temperature,” Hanks explained. A fever is one of the most common symptoms of the virus. “So when they come in and say, ‘You’re 36!’ Which seemed very bad to me. Turns out 36 is fine. Thirty-eight is bad. So basically, it’s how Hollywood treats female actors.”

Seeing Hanks host SNL is a familiar sight. He has hosted 10 times, after all. In a time where we question what Saturdays even are, seeing Hanks deliver an opening monologue is like a familiar hug.

Hanks may have been hosting from home, but unlike most of us who attend Zoom meetings in sweats from the waist down, Hanks donned a full suit. However, he did admit that it was “the first time I’ve worn anything other than sweatpants since March 11.” 

“Stay safe. We are in this for the duration and we will get through this together,” Hanks said reassuringly. Catch us playing that on a loop until things go back to normal.