Paul Rudd Recreated An Iconic Friends Moment During His SNL Cameo

Back in December, Paul Rudd’s fifth time hosting Saturday Night Live was cut short due to rising COVID cases. So can you blame him for crashing John Mulaney’s own Five-Timers gig? Rudd made several appearances during the Feb. 26 episode, starting with a surprise visit to the Please Don’t Destroy writers’ room in a sketch about a new COVID variant — a wonderful one, actually.

Acting as an MSNBC news anchor, Mulaney announces the “miracle” that is the Gelvini variant, whose symptoms include feeling “dope ... cool and confident.” (Oh, yeah, and amazing hair, too.) In this delightful fictional universe, Dr. Anthony Fauci encourages his Twitter followers to “hit the club, no masks,” and the chief medical adviser even hooks up with Saweetie herself. What a world!

Great news calls for some Rudd, and that’s exactly who crashes the party with word that he’s tested positive for Gelvini. “It actually made me sick,” he says, “—at playing synth!” With that, People’s Sexiest Man Alive breaks out a keyboard and dances as he taps the keys.

If the moment sounds sort of familiar, you’re not alone — it’s all very reminiscent of Mike Hannigan jamming out on the pretend piano in Friends Season 9.

Al Roker also makes his own surprise appearance, supplying an enormous sub sandwich (because, why not?). The celebrity guests didn’t stop there, though. Immediately after the Please Don’t Destroy pre-tape, Rudd joined Steve Martin, Candice Bergen, Elliott Gould, Tina Fey, and Conan O’Brien in a sketch celebrating Mulaney’s entrance into SNL’s Five-Timers Club — aka, the elite group of celebs who have hosted the show five times or more.

Twitter was excited to see Rudd and his legion of celeb cameos — not to mention the thrill of having fellow Friends fave Gould (who played Ross and Monica’s dad, Jack) in the same episode.