On the last Saturday Night Live show before Thanksgiving this coming Thursday, Jason Momoa (Aquaman) took on hosting duties. SNL skits tend to play on topical, trending, or important events that have recently happened, are currently happening, or soon will; such as Thanksgiving, via Deadline, Momoa plays a frisky airline pilot in the skit titled ‘Thanksgiving Week Airport Parade.”
In the skit, Ego Nwodim (Spin Me Round) and Bowen Yang (Fire Island) play TSA agents on a newscast “live” from Newark Airport terminal C as if it was the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The pair deliver commentary on the typical obnoxious stereotypes of people who travel during the Thanksgiving rush as if they were balloon floats in the parade. First, a couple on their last Thanksgiving trip together. The couple, played by Mikey Day (Is It Cake?) and Heidi Gardner (Leo), loudly argue over their differing views on veganism during the holiday. Following the pair, a woman with service animals she doesn’t need. The woman, played by Chloe Fineman (Father of the Bride), carries a small dog in her arms with two in her shoulder bag. She claims they help her with her rosacea, eczema, and anxiety. Momoa is then introduced sitting in a Chili’s to-go bar as Captain Gary Rogers.
The Captain is flirtatious and makes inappropriate comments towards Nwodim’s character. Via Deadline, Captain Gary tosses Nwodim a pilot wing badge made for kids and says, “Just so you know, I give every woman I sleep with one of these nice wing pins.” The scenes cut back and forth between the TSA agents and Captain Gary as they continue their commentary on travelers that pass by such as the gentle parenting father, and his out-of-control, evil child, and a guy who says he wants a pat down for all the wrong reasons. At one point, Nwodim’s character disappears, then comes back on camera with a drunk Captain Gary, as they suggest they went away to fool around in a nursing pod made for breast-feeding mothers. Nearly all of the Saturday Night Live cast appeared in the skit, such as Kenan Thompson (Good Burger), Marcello Hernández (Impractical Jokers), Molly Kearney (Good Burger 2), and more.
Momoa, being an actor, was heavily featured in the show’s skits, and had plenty of dialogue; such as in a Cast Away skit where he played Laird, a recently rescued plane crash survivor visiting a woman and her husband for dinner, and Cab Driver where he plays a taxi driver taking a graphic phone call with his doctor while he has a passenger in the car listening. In his monologue at the beginning of the show, Momoa debuted his comedic timing with a joke about his mother being in the audience but still recovering from giving birth to him; a jab at his own stature. Momoa gave the audience a quick rundown of his introduction to acting. From being born in Hawaii and raised in Iowa, he knew he had to return to Hawaii as he got older, which led to him being cast in Baywatch. The actor also has a passion for animals and the planet, as he has his own water company to eliminate single-use plastic bottles.
Below is the Thanksgiving Week Airport Parade skit from Thursday’s Saturday Night Live featuring Momoa.