Why Tom Hanks Called Jerry Seinfeld Before Starring in SNL's "The Stand-Ups" Sketch
This gem from the future Five-Timer co-starred Damon Wayans and Jon Lovitz — and was inspired by a certain famous comic.
In the weeks leading up to February 16's three-hour 50th anniversary celebration on NBC, the team behind Saturday Night Live has selected one sketch from every single season — 50 seasons in 50 days — to reflect the show's rich legacy across five decades. Presenting the sketch chosen to represent Season 11: "The Stand-Ups” starring Host Tom Hanks and cast members Jon Lovitz and Damon Wayans.
Morgan Neville's four-part Peacock docuseries, Beyond Saturday Night, devotes an entire episode to "The Weird Year," aka Season 11. The first season after creator Lorne Michaels returned from a five-year absence is remembered as an awkward fit when it came to both the tone and the cast, despite including bona fide 1980s movie stars Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Michael Hall, and Randy Quaid.
But the truth is, there's still plenty to celebrate about "the weird year." It introduced memorable performers Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, and Dennis Miller, for example — and it included Tom Hanks' first of 10 outings as an SNL Host. And his Season 11 "The Stand-Ups" sketch is among the gems of that era.
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In the sketch, two stand-ups (Hanks and Lovitz) converse backstage at comedy club Carol's — likely a play on the venue Caroline's on Broadway — and it soon becomes clear that everything they say to each other is a Jerry Seinfeld-style bit, peppering their small-talk with "I mean, hey" and "what's the deal?" They even sport classically Seinfeld-ian outfits: button-down, square tie, and blue jeans.
"Hey, Keith Matt: I hate to interrupt, but look at this," Hanks says amid Lovitz's exchange with a third comic (Damon Wayans), holding up a carton. "Ninety-nine percent fat-free milk. Where's the other one percent? I mean hey! Back to your story!" Even serious news gets the jokey-delivery treatment, including news of a colleague's kidney disease.
Hanks told the story behind "The Stand-Ups" on David Spade and Dana Carvey's Fly on the Wall podcast in 2022. The recurring sketch was conceived by longtime SNL writer Robert Smigel, who had just joined the show that year. On the podcast, Hanks deemed Smigel an "absolute genius" as he explained its premise, and shared that they'd cleared a bit about socks with Seinfeld himself ahead of air.
Tom Hanks called Jerry Seinfeld to ask permission for a joke in SNL's "Stand-Ups" sketch
As Hanks recalled on Fly on the Wall, Smigel told him that he'd written a sketch that skewers the way comics talk onstage. "He wrote in a joke that was like, 'hey: what's the deal with socks?,'" he said.
But per Hanks, cast member Dennis Miller — himself a seasoned stand-up comic by the time he arrived at Studio 8H, and a longtime friend of Seinfeld's according to the New York Times — told them, "Hey man, that's that's Jerry Seinfeld's material. You can't take that from him.' He was adamant."
Because of Miller's passion, "we called Jerry Seinfeld," Hanks continued.
"I'd never met him, but you know, we're in the famous people's club: 'Hey, you're famous, I'm famous, so we can talk to each other like we know each other,'" Hanks joked. After explaining the sketch, Hanks told Seinfeld, "but if you're still doing the sock bit, we'll come up with some other jokes."
Hanks said Seinfeld told him that he "really appreciated the call," confirmed that he had in fact retired the socks joke, and gave "The Stand-Ups" his blessing, "which was very gracious." And thus, the socks bit made it into the sketch.
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"The Stand-Ups" aired during Tom Hanks' first SNL episode
While the December 14, 1985 episode was the future Five-Timers Club member SNL debut, Carvey said on Fly on the Wall that he always remembered Hanks as a Host who "felt like a cast member to me."
"The first time I did it, I was wickedly excited. The second time I did it, I wasn't very good at all," Hanks replied (definitely selling himself short). By his third time, he said, "I knew what not to do, how to save your energy, and how to participate."
