Although he’s best known for his deadly serious performance as Don Draper on Mad Men, Jon Hamm has never hesitated to show off his funny side, especially when it comes to Saturday Night Live. With Hamm’s latest Apple TV+ series Your Friends and Neighbors now on the airwaves, it was the perfect time for the Emmy winner to return to Stage 8H for his fourth hosting gig. Although he hasn’t headlined since 2010, Hamm has made 14 cameo appearances throughout the years, becoming something of an SNL mainstay. Here are the best moments from Hamm’s most recent hosting gig, from the opening monologue to the best sketches.
COLD OPEN
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With Easter just around the corner, SNL opened with a sketch recounting the cleansing of the temple, when Jesus (Mikey Day) sought to rid money from the holy site. He was interrupted, however, by President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), who dropped by to talk about his own efforts to remove money, albeit from the world economy instead of merely a temple. “Some people are calling me the messiah,” Trump said, “because of the mess I made out of the country.” He also talked about his own anticipation of the upcoming holiday, saying “We love Easter, we love hunting for eggs, just like people are doing at the supermarket.” Before leaving, Trump once again stressed the importance of removing money from religion, but not before hawking his golden-plated Trump bible.
OPENING MONOLOGUE
As Hamm took to the stage, he acknowledged it had been a while since his last hosting gig. At the same time, he’s been no stranger to SNL, since according to his Wikipedia page — which he says he checks often — he’s made 14 cameo appearance. “Sometimes a cameo is more important than hosting,” the actor boasted, “which is what Lorne [Michaels] tells me all the time,” usually right as he’s driving into a tunnel. To prove the point, recent Oscar-winner Kieran Culkin dropped by for a cameo in the middle of the monologue (which was convenient, since he’s currently starring in Glengarry Glen Ross right down the street). Feeling bad about stealing the host’s thunder, Culkin promised to make it up to him, and Hamm asked him for the one thing that would make things better: his Oscar.
GUESS THE CORRECT ANSWER SKETCH
The latest game show sensation, Guess the Correct Answer, pits opposite teams of two against each other, as one player has to… well, guess the correct answer to a clue provided by their teammate. Seems easy enough, except one of the players, a family dentist from New Jersey (Hamm), is worried that he’ll say something that will go viral and get him cancelled. The category is things you’d find in an office, which should be right up his alley since he works in one. The first clue his teammate (Day) gives him is, “Something that’s racist.” His answer: “Me.” It gets worse from there.
THE WHITE POTUS
With The White Lotus having wrapped up its third season, SNL made a pre-taped parody imagining the characters as members of the Trump administration. In The White Potus, Trump (Johnson) is on vacation in Thailand with Melania (Chloe Fineman), Don Jr. (Day), Eric (Andrew Dismukes), and Ivanka (Scarlett Johansson in a Hamm-esque cameo), as well as RFK Jr. (Hamm), Howard Lutnick (The White Lotus’ own Jon Gries), Kristi Noem (Heidi Gardner), and other “luminaries.” Reeling from the fallback from his tariffs, Trump imagines turning a gun on Uncle Sam (Michael Longfellow), threatening to hit China with a 500% tariff. Musical guest Lizzo, meanwhile, notices something shady going on with her bank account, which dropped from $20 million to just $5 million.
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