Tom Hanks kicks off first 'Saturday Night Live' show post coronavirus shutdown

The actor who recently made a full recovery joked about how he makes people uncomfortable now

American television classic Saturday Night Live (SNL) made a comeback after an unprecedented hiatus last week, that too with COVID-19 survivor Tom Hanks as its newest celebrity host, reported NBC. 

In what was perhaps the most fitting way to open the show, Hanks served as the surprise host of the evening, poking fun at his recent coronavirus diagnosis in Australia and subsequent recovery.

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"It’s good to be here, but it's also very weird to be here hosting Saturday Night Live from home," he said, adding that it is a strange time to try and be funny, throwing in a laughing with, "but trying to be funny is SNL's whole thing."

Hanks then went on to explain why he was chosen as the host this time. "I have been the celebrity canary in the coal mine for coronavirus," he said, going on to joke that he feels more like America's dad than ever right now. "No one wants me to be around me for very long and I make people uncomfortable."

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The actor then took a playful jab at Hollywood and its ageist attitude towards women - all in good humour though. "Now, folks in Australia are fantastic in every way but they use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit when they take temperature. So, I come in and they said, ‘You're 36’ and turns out 36 is fine, 38 is bad. So, basically, it's how Hollywood treats female actors."

Watch the monologue here:


Hanks went on to assure viewers that he and his wife were doing just fine now and 'hunkering down' like the rest of us should be. Here's hoping the Hanks' stay in good health!

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