Tom Hanks & Bobby Moynihan Returned To SNL As Fan-Favorite Characters

If first-time host and musical guest Jack Harlow expected to be the biggest name on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 29, well, it just wasn’t in the cards. The show had two surprise guests lined up, one of whom is a 10-time SNL host and a bona fide national treasure. That’s right: Tom Hanks returned, and better still, he was joined by former SNL cast member Bobby Moynihan to revive the weird and beloved Halloween character David S. Pumpkins.

Before dusting off his pumpkin suit, Hanks revealed himself to the audience in the sketch “AA Meeting,” in which Harlow’s character, Jesse, derailed the gathering by speaking not about his addiction but the “perfect idea” he had for a Pixar movie. The group loved his vision and helped him hammer out several key details. Then, as they pondered the ideal actor to voice the main character, none other than “Tom H.” walked in to “research a role” but also because he “may be an alcoholic.” Perfection. As one fan tweeted, “No way Tom Hanks just pulled up on SNL!!”

Once Moynihan reprised his absurd Drunk Uncle character (“Tom was too good for Gisele!”) later in the episode, fans saw the parts coming together: In the original David Pumpkins sketch from 2016, Hanks played the titular character, joined by skeleton sidekicks Moynihan and Mikey Day. “Tom Hanks is on SNL, Bobby Moynihan just on Weekend Update… IT’S DAVID S PUMPKIN TIME!!!!!!!” one viewer tweeted.

Oh, yes, it was David S. Pumpkin time. The sketch was largely the same as the original, though the scary Halloween ride took place in a terrifying prison this time rather than a haunted elevator. Kenan Thompson was back as the ride operator, while Harlow joined Ego Nwodim and Andrew Dismukes as the ridegoers. Once again, Pumpkins kept appearing in the ride, much to the confusion of Dismukes’ characters. He had “mucho” questions, especially after Pumpkins revealed that he’s from Ibiza. Harlow’s character, on the other hand, was “kind of feelin’ David Pumpkins” and thought he was “fire.”

A lot of fans agreed with Harlow’s assessment. The audience “went apesh*t,” as one viewer noted on Twitter, and another called David S. Pumpkins “the real reason for the season.” Yet another fan wrote, “I actually really loved that they brought back David S Pumpkins on SNL tonight. Was it a blatant nostalgia grab? Sure. Did it work on me? 100%.”

Though Pumpkins has already proven to be an iconic SNL character, Hanks was initially not sold on him. Moynihan, who created the sketch with Day, told Seth Myers in 2017 that he was “not a fan” and even tried to pass it off to the next week’s host, Chris Hemsworth, per Entertainment Weekly. Luckily, the two-time Oscar winner has come around since then.