What To Know
- Tom Hanks reprised David S. Pumpkins, appearing with skeleton dancers on a Halloween ride in SNL’s cold open.
- Donald Trump interrupted the sketch with a mock midterm election ad, joking about poor polling and Texas potentially turning blue.
- After appearances by impersonators of Nicki Minaj and former press secretary Katie Zacharia, Hanks and the skeletons delivered the show’s opening line.
Saturday Night Live‘s cold open featured Tom Hanks crashing a Halloween ride before President Donald Trump interrupted for something even scarier — a political ad.
On the Saturday, October 31 episode of SNL, Jeremy Culhane and Grace Reiter played a couple on a Halloween ride, led by Kenan Thompson. The attraction began as expected with a beheaded person. However, the second “scary” attraction featured Hanks reprising his role as David S. Pumpkins and his skeleton backup dancers (Mikey Day and Bobby Moynihan).
“I’m David Pumpkins, and I’m going to freak you out!” Hanks declared as the trio danced to upbeat music. “Any questions?”
“Yes, you are you?” Reiter asked, to which he replied, “I’m David Pumpkins, man!”
“And David Pumpkins is…?” Culhane said, prompting Hanks to say, “A Halloween guy!”
Culhane followed up by asking, “Why are you on this ride?”
“Two words,” David Pumpkins replied before Trump suddenly entered the cold open skit and proclaimed, “Midterms!”
The POTUS continued, “It’s me, Donald Trump, your one true God, pausing SNL skit yet again… But you know, I actually have a lot in common with Mr. Pumpkins. We both appeared in 2016. We’re both very loud, very orange, and very, frankly, annoying.”
Trump then pointed out, “It’s a great ass on Hanks. That’s something I’ve been doing lately, admiring men’s asses. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just that I might be gay. They’re calling it gay dementia. Dementia, short for the da men should show me their butts.”
Additionally, Trump pointed out, “Midterms are on Tuesday, and the polls say we’re doing very badly. And they’re saying Texas is turning purple, just like my hand. And if it goes blue, then just like my hand, I will leave it for dead.”
After wondering why Hanks was on SNL instead of “narrating World War II documentaries,” Trump introduced his “new friend and future press secretary.”
“What’s up, it’s Nicki Minaj,” said Saidah Belo-Osagie as the rapper. “I’m out here killing it, and by ‘it,’ I mean my career.”
After Nicki’s brief appearance, Trump said, “Thank you, Nicki. She’s got quite an ass. If only it were on a man, perhaps then I could admire it.”
Finally, Trump’s short-lived former press secretary, Katie Zacharia (Veronika Slowikowska), came out to say the final line to open the show.
“Live from New York and from so many cities,” she began, pronouncing “live” wrong.
Trump then shoved her aside and said, “No, you whiffed it.” He then gave it to Hanks, who exclaimed alongside his skeletons, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
Saturday Night Live, Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC
