David S. Pumpkins

About

David S. Pumpkins is a character played by Tom Hanks in a Saturday Night Live sketch. Pumpkins is an eccentric part of a Halloween ride who appears with two skeletons dancing next to him.

Origin

On October 22nd, 2016, Saturday Night Live aired a Halloween-theme sketch featuring host Tom Hanks. Hanks appears in a sketch called "Haunted Elevator." In it, two people get on an amusement park ride called "100 Floors of Frights." Hanks' character, "David Pumpkins," appears in a suit covered in pumpkins, introduces himself, and then smiles as two men dressed as skeletons dance next to him. This befuddles the riders, who don't understand the character.

Spread

The sketch quickly became a hit among fans and critics. Uproxx^[1] wrote "When we see the 'best of ‘SNL’ Halloween,' shows, we will now be seeing David S. Pumpkins for eternity." The Washington Post^[2] dubbed it "a rarity… a sketch that made you giggle uncontrollably that wasn’t about politics at all." In the days following the sketch, AV Club^[3] reported that David Pumpkins costumes had sold out at costume store Spirit and on Amazon. Horror Freak News^[4] reported that SNL writers had wanted to create a Santa Claus for Halloween. On Twitter, Pumpkins was the target of a mashup by @Papapishu, who uploaded the sketch with the song You're Gonna Have a Bad Time from Undertale in a tweet that has gained over 180 retweets as of October 24th, 2016.

Search Interest

External References