Tom Hanks hosted the first-ever remote, prerecorded episode of Saturday Night Live from his home after recovering from the coronavirus.
The show aired Saturday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic put most of the United States under stay-at-home orders and marked the show’s special “At Home” edition.
“It is a strange time to try to be funny, but trying to be funny is SNL’s whole thing,” Hanks began his opening monologue, which was filmed in his kitchen, later adding, “My wife and I are fine. We’re doing great. We’re hunkering down like all of us should be.”
The jokes heard no laughs from a live audience or an accompanying laugh track, but the cast still created skits from inside their homes. Hanks joked that he hadn’t worn anything other than sweatpants since being diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus on March 11.
“My wife had to help me put it on because I forgot how buttons work,” he quipped, adding that although the show is not really live, “We are doing everything we can to make this feel like the SNL you know and love.”
“We have a great show for you tonight,” the 63-year-old actor said. “Now is it going to look a little different than what you’re used to? Yes. Will it be weird to see sketches without big sets and costumes? Sure. But will it make you laugh? Eh. It’s SNL. You know, there’ll be some good stuff, maybe one or two stinkers, you know the drill.”
Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the illness after becoming sick while in Australia. He ended his monologue by thanking the workers who are more exposed to the virus than others.
“Stay safe. We are in this for the duration, and we will get through this together,” Hanks told viewers. “We are going to thank our hospital workers, our first responders, and all the helpers.”
