The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special now has a preview
There’s no doubt to us after watching the video below that this is either going to be a thing of beauty or absolutely terrible, and we’re still not sure which. The issue that Tom Hanks’ new signature Saturday Night Live character faces is that for the entirety of the original sketch, the premise was that nobody really understood why David S. Pumpkins was a part of the haunted elevator ride, and why he was stating his name over and over again as though he was someone people should already know about. He’d ask “any questions?” at the end, but then disappear before you could really ask any of them to such an extent that he would answer.
The premise of the animated special, flimsy as it may be, seems to be this: A kid finds a magic pumpkin, which summons David S. Pumpkins for the day. The kid has no idea who he is or what in the world this means. The preview contains many of David’s signature catchphrases, confusion, and then the goofy theme music at the end.
This special is effectively helping to fill the void with there not being a new episode of Saturday Night Live proper this weekend. It’s not taking away an episode from the show, but is mostly a fun little diversion (or, hopefully fun) for those of you who want to see some dancing pumpkins at some point this weekend.
We do understand why Lorne Michaels and the fine folks over at SNL wanted to go through with this — Hanks is one of the biggest movie stars on the planet and there really haven’t been all that many great characters who we’ve seen get born out of SNL in recent memory. They benefit very much from trying to do something different and exciting, and this is an experiment that they clearly feel is worth taking. We’ll get a better chance to see if that turns out to be the case when it airs Saturday in the show’s typical timeslot.
For those of you who want to see typical SNL hijinks, there is a Halloween best-of special airing after the animated special for those who want to watch old sketches.
Do you think that the David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special will be fun, or a compete and utter disaster that should be avoided in the years to come? Share one way or another below!
Also, check out this story here at CarterMatt for some insight into why Lady Gaga was originally going to be in the first iteration of this sketch. You can also like us on Facebook to get some more news regarding SNL and other shows we cover. (Photo: NBC.)