John Krasinski hosted SNL and he kicked things off by kissing Pete Davidson as the first of many gags about The Office.
It’s been nearly eight years since The Office ended its run yet it is still buzzed about due to audiences new and old having access to it on Netflix.
So perhaps it’s no surprise that when John Krasinski rocked up to host SNL for the first time that there was inevitably going to be an Office gag or three, one of which happened to involve Pete Davidson in a heavy, non-COVID safe way.
Krasinski’s opening monologue started off with the usual “I’m so excited to host SNL!!” sentiment before things quickly pivoted to some Office-heavy material as the cast bombarded him with questions about the show.
More specifically, questions about why Krasinski isn’t his Office character Jim Halpert and where’s the character’s love interest (and wife) Pam.
After repeated requests for Krasinski to kiss Pam, things then took a turn for the unexpected as Pete Davidson rocked up and insisted that John just kiss Pam for the fans since it’s “what they want” godammit.
Since Jenna Fischer wasn’t around to play Pam, Davidson basically told Krasinksi that the actor had to kiss him since that’s what everyone is clamouring for.
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John takes questions from the audience about The Office and…actually just The Office. pic.twitter.com/hhUs0Mcrqz
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) January 31, 2021
There’s a lot to unpack about this Kraskinski/Davidson smooch.
Firstly, the kiss didn’t look particularly pleasant. Yes it was entertaining but boy did it look physically uncomfortable for Pete, who looked like he wasn’t ready for Krasinski to come in so fast.
Secondly, the whole kiss thing sorta violates the whole social distancing and COVID-safe thing doesn’t it? Given the worrying number of cases in New York City (which is where SNL is filmed), it doesn’t seem like the wisest idea to have a couple of people kissing.
Well, just as long as neither get COVID-19 then it should be fine, though it is a little bit of a collar-tugging moment watching it unfold like that.
