Tom Hanks has revived one of Saturday Night Live’s most unforgettable Halloween characters, but his long-awaited return didn’t go quite as planned. David S. Pumpkins was back — complete with his dancing skeleton sidekicks — before an unexpected political interruption turned the entire sketch upside down.
The Halloween cold open, titled Scary Halloween Cold Open (ft. David S. Pumpkins), begins with two visitors exploring a spooky attraction called Fright Nights. Guided through a series of creepy scenes featuring familiar horror figures, the pair soon encounter something far more bizarre than they expected.
Suddenly, Hanks appears in his iconic orange pumpkin-patterned suit as David S. Pumpkins, accompanied by skeleton dancers played by Mikey Day and former cast member Bobby Moynihan. The eccentric character quickly breaks into his trademark routine, leaving the visitors completely confused about who — or what — he is supposed to be.
But just as the audience expects another classic David S. Pumpkins moment, James Austin Johnson storms into the sketch as Donald Trump.
The interruption transforms the Halloween attraction into a political comedy routine, with Johnson’s Trump poking fun at the upcoming US midterm elections and comparing himself to the famously strange Halloween character. Both, he jokes, first appeared in 2016 and are loud, orange and annoying.
The sketch continues with a series of topical jokes, while Hanks and the other performers remain frozen in the background as Trump takes over the scene.
The final surprise comes when Trump attempts to hand over SNL’s famous opening line to another character, only for things not to go according to plan. Eventually, Hanks gets his moment in the spotlight again, delivering the iconic words that officially launch the show.
David S. Pumpkins first became a Halloween sensation in 2016, and his return nearly a decade later gave longtime viewers a nostalgic surprise — even if the sketch had a very unexpected guest determined to steal the show.
