Closing out his ninth appearance as the host of “Saturday Night Live,” actor Tom Hanks donned the baseball cap and garb of Hanks’ long-time friend, “Inferno” director Ron Howard.
“Hey, it’s me, Ron Howard,” began Hanks, with the his brand of Richie Cunningham-style enthusiasm. “How cool is that, huh? You’re probably asking yourself: why in the heck am I hosting a pet bloopers show? Very simple. Pet bloopers just make me giggle! Other than that they’re a pain in the ass.” You can watch the full sketch at the top of this post.
.@TomHanks as #RonHoward = ?? #HanksOnSNL https://t.co/qjxnnbduw0 pic.twitter.com/mOssLdeTJj
— GIPHY (@GIPHY) October 23, 2016
As the first cat video aired, Hanks reacted with Howard’s typical all-American way of speaking, along with a couple painful-but-hilarious puns. “Who’s ready to laugh at funny pets? I know I am,” Hanks said over footage of a cat sitting under running sink water in a bathroom. “Oh, I’m feline so relaxed right now. If I fall in the water call a purr-amedic.”
The sketch also featured Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong as their recurring duo of co-host characters, Joelle LaRue (Strong) and Noelle LeSoup (McKinnon). LaRue and LeSoup provided their own commentary, digging into their art house roots and delivering a hilarious, morbid contrast to the enthusiasm of “Ron Howard“.
“This cat here is witnessing a violent murder,” said Strong as LaRue. McKinnon’s LeSoup interjected, beginning a back and forth between the two of them, “The victim screams, please call for help!”
“But he is paralyzed,” said LaRue.
“Hunting forever because the cat watch a man be beat to dead, he do nothing.” added LeSoup.
“In this moment, you learn he is a true coward.” finished LaRue.
As unnerved as Howard might have been at their commentary, the skit served as a great way to close out the night, and commemorate the friendship between Hanks and Howard.