Tom Hanks steals the show... deflating Jonah Hill's ego and reminding the younger SNL host he's a real Oscar winner

There was no Brad Pitt or baseball legend Billy Beane, but Saturday Night Live did have Jonah Hill and his superstar sidekick Tom Hanks.

Hill hosted the NBC comedy for a second time yesterday and some of the funniest moments arrived during his opening monologue.

But it wasn't Hill, 28, who pulled off the best punchlines, instead it was his buddy, two-time Academy Award winner Hanks.

Bringing him back to Earth: Tom Hanks reminded Oscar nominee Johan Hill that he's an actual Oscar winner and he even brought one of his awards along to prove it

It started with Jonah talking about his excitement over receiving an Oscar nomination for his role in the baseball-themed drama Moneyball.

 

He said: 'It's been a great year for me. I was in a film I am extremely proud of.'

'Even though The Artist won best picture, I still think Moneyball was one of this year's best talkies.'

Full of himself: Jonah reminds the SNL cast he's an Oscar nominee and suggest they follow his directions

Friends in high places: Hill brags about having Brad Pitt's number in his cell phone

No one is home: When Hill tries to call his Moneyball co-star the phone number is disconnected

He then throws to a pre-taped routine about his week behind the scenes, prepping for his hosting gig.

It shows the star and his inflated ego telling the SNL cast to follow his lead because he's an 'Oscar nominee.'

Hill even brags about having Moneyball co-star Brad Pitt's number programmed into his cell phone.

Want to hold my award? Tom hands Jonah his Oscar and then quickly takes it back

In love with Oscar: Tom is so taken with his Academy Award that he strokes it and gives it a little kiss

But when he tries to call the Hollywood heartthrob, the number's been disconnected.
Then in a surprise cameo, two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks, 55, stops by and puts Jonah in his place.
The Philadelphia star reminds Hill he's not just an Oscar nominee, he's a two-time Academy Award winner.

Hanks hands his buddy one of his own Oscars saying 'I would like you to have this.'

Finally: Tom lets Jonah hold the award just before the show ends

Gratitude: Johan thanks Tom for playing along and acting as his sidekick

A surprised Hill asks: 'Do you mean it?' But Hanks immediately shoots him down shouting: 'No! I'm kidding man. You lost.'

The audience ate the bit up, with Hanks receiving the bulk of the laughter and applause.
However that was just the star of the night's laughs at Jonah's expense.
In one particularly amusing sketch, called SNL's Science Finders, in which the actor starred as a participant in a Braniac: Science Abuse type show.

A real dummy: The comedy actor perhaps should have rethought his participation in the show when he realised what he was in for

Moneyballs: Hopefully the star got a hefty fee after being struck in the groin by the tennis ball at high speed

Only the beginning: There was plenty of painful strikes below the belt to come for the Superbad star

And while the episode was purportedly about the human heart, the experiment to show how it worked consisted of Hill being repeatedly hit between the legs by tennis balls.
After being given eye-watering treatment by ball machines, John McEnroe, and even a malevolent ghost, he is shown dying from his injuries.
But a quick thinking member of staff reasons that the cause is also the cure, and after several more blows to the groin he makes a miraculous recovery.
Last week Lindsay Lohan hosted SNL's second-highest rated show of the season, pulling in 7.4 million viewers.

Edmond Honda? Jonah also played a samurai and a Broadway producer as he continued to garner laughs

Superbad pair: Jonah teamed up with his old co-star Bill Hader for a sketch where he played an annoying six-year-old in a restaurant