Since “Saturday Night Live” apparently still considers two straight men kissing as the absolute height of comedy, here’s John Krasinski and Pete Davidson sealing the first episode of 2021 off with a lip-lock.
For his “SNL” debut over the weekend, Krasinski went hard on “The Office” jokes, since fighting international terrorism on “Jack Ryan” doesn’t exactly lend itself well to sketch comedy. So, when it came time for his opening monologue, the actor was continually interrupted by diehard fans of the beloved sitcom.
Before he could even get a joke out, cast member Alex Moffat had one pressing non-question to ask: “You’re the character Jim, from ‘The Office.’”
“Well, no, I’m actually John, so hello,” Krasinski hit back, to which Moffat responded: “OK, follow-up question: Do ‘The Office.’”
Krasinski was then peppered with inquiries from fans in the audience having trouble separating fact from fiction, with Ego Nwodim asking why he looks more in shape than his alter ego.
“Jim is soft,” she said. “Jim sits all day. When you touch Jim, your hand goes in like memory foam.”
But eventually, it all came back to his on-screen love interest, Pam, played by Jenna Fischer in the series, with Kenan Thompson demanding that, “I need you to kiss Pam. That is what I need to see today.”
“Guys, here’s the deal. Pam is not real. She’s played by Jenna Fischer. We’re friends and we are also married to other people,” Krasinski said.
That’s when Davidson joined him onstage to explain that, because “The Office” has become a popular binge watch during quarantine, “Jim and Pam are like really real” to fans of the show.
“I think we’ve gotta give them what they want, Jim,” Davidson, staring longingly into Krasinski’s eyes, continued. “Jim, you’ve got to kiss Pam.”
And then, after one of his signature shrugs directly into the camera, the deed was done with Krasinski pulling Davidson in for an extended kiss, as the fans in the audience cheered on.
While some watching along appreciated the shoutout to the classic couple, others on social media criticized the late-night sketch show for once again using men kissing as a punchline.
But “The Office” cracks didn’t end at the opening monologue.
Elsewhere in the episode, Krasinski gave the sitcom’s theme song some long-awaited lyrics when he joined characters from various series to perform original renditions of some classic opening credits.
Take a look at the sketch below.
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