‘Saturday Night Live’ Fans Wonder Why Tom Hanks Got Crickets on His ‘Black Jeopardy’ Return
Tom Hanks hasn’t had such a chilly reaction during a red-carpet live show since A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood went 0-for-5 in the 2020 awards season.
The Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special is underway, but the illustrious alumni and A-list former hosts of 2025 arrived at 30 Rockefeller Plaza this Sunday night amidst a very different socio-political landscape than the one they took for granted during SNL40. The veritable comedy all-star game comes during a tense time for both Saturday Night Live and the country, so the surprise appearance of a special goatee, jean jacket and Make America Great Again hat during SNL50 drew an equally surprising round of quiet, hesitant applause.
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Naturally, SNL50 featured a return to one of SNL ironman Kenan Thompson's most reliable recurring sketches, “Black Jeopardy!,” with fellow SNL greats Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones and Eddie Murphy behind the contestant podiums. Then, toward the end of the sketch, none other than Doug, Hanks’ “Black Jeopardy!” character from his hosting appearance on October 22, 2016, made his grand return — and the crowd went mild.
Hanks’ original performance as a white conservative contestant on “Black Jeopardy!” back in 2016 wasn't just a hit — it’s still the second-most viewed video of all time on the official Saturday Night Live YouTube channel. So, when Hanks snuck onstage during the cut to that night’s “Black Jeopardy!” prizes, fans were surprised to hear that only a small handful of A-list audience members in attendance for SNL50 seemed to both recognize Doug and celebrate his return.
“I think keeping Doug MAGA completely derailed that sketch,” one commenter in the SNL subreddit's live thread for tonight's event wrote of the almost pity claps that scored Hanks’ entrance onstage at Studio 8H.
“lol no one feeling the maga rn,” another user added.
One more wrote, “Audience doesn’t know how to react to Hanks in a MAGA hat.”
Others pointed out that the sloppy swap-out of Murphy for Hanks may have played a factor in the live studio audience’s response to the Trump-loving Doug’s triumphant return, but, ultimately, it seems that even SNL veterans thought Doug was a lot more funny when Trump was just a presidential candidate than when he’s President proper. If Lorne Michaels is planning to bring out one-time SNL host Elon Musk for “Wario Returns,” now is the time to cut it.
