Saturday Night Live: James Franco kicks off show with Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Steve Martin as he pokes fun at hosting SNL for fourth time

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James Franco relied on his famous friends to get laughs on the latest Saturday Night Live, bringing out Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Steve Martin — and also brother Dave.

The Hollywood star opened his monologue with a joke about his fourth time hosting, calling it ‘the most you can do without it being special.’

‘When you host it five times you get a jacket,’ he said. ‘But the fourth time they don’t even write you a monologue, they just throw you out here and make you answer questions from the audience.’

Famous friends: James Franco relied on his famous friends to get laughs on the latest Saturday Night Live, bringing out Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Steve Martin — and also brother Dave

As a woman stood to ask a question, James’s regular movie collaborator Seth poked his head out from the seat behind her — but denied he was there to see his regular co-star.

‘I’m just here to see the show in general, I didn’t realize you were hosting it,’ Seth insisted. ‘I put my name in the lottery for SNL tickets and this is the week I got, it was just totally random.

‘Luckily I‘m a huge Sza fan, so it worked out,’ he joked, referring to the week’s musical guest.

Seth then raised the hand of the woman sat next to him, saying: ‘This woman here has a question. She wants to know how come you’ve hosted four times and Seth Rogan has only hosted twice?’

Fourth time:The Hollywood star opened his monologue with a joke about his fourth time hosting, calling it ‘the most you can do without it being special.'

Heckler: James then randomly pointed out Steve Martin in the audience, who told him he used to be ‘the center of attention’ and host the show, telling him: ‘I resent it, just a little bit.’

Hiding: As a woman stood to ask a question, James’s regular movie collaborator Seth poked his head out from the seat behind her — but denied he was there to see his regular co-star

'Why don’t you ask Seth, ma’am, why the movies I do on my own like 127 Hours get nominated for Oscars, while the movies I do with Seth get nominated for a Stoner Award?' James replied.

Seth stressed that the awards were actually ‘called Stonys — an hilarious play on the name Tonys' and insisted: 'They are prestigious as an Oscar, plus when you win you get a bag of weed.’

James then replied: 'Look, Seth, I’m sorry there’s an award that only one stoner can host a season, and it’s me — that’s who everyone is here to see, OK?’

Opener: The show had opened with Kenan Thompson playing a Santa at a big store where the kids all asked political questions

Irreverent: Questions included if President Trump was ‘on the naughty list’ as well as asking Al Franken, Roy Moore, tax cuts, ‘feminizes,’ and kneeling NFL players

After their exchange, Jonah Hill came in to sit next to Seth, getting huge cheers as he kicked out the woman who had been there and asking: 'Did I miss Sza?'

When he was told 'Franco' was hosting, he insistently assumed it was his brother, ‘Davey,’ and when corrected asked of James: ‘People… they want to see that?’

James then randomly pointed out Steve Martin in the audience, who told him he used to be ‘the center of attention’ and host the show, telling him: ‘I resent it, just a little bit.’

Fired: James also played a CFO who was fired at his company following a crack-down on workplace sexual harassment that also saw the front desk staffer Charlie being forced out

Real talk: He was attacked as a ‘creep’ by the woman as he apologized for his behavior that was mostly flattering comments about his staff, including calling one a ’honey bee’

When James insisted the comedy legend was ‘still hot,’ Steve quipped: ‘Do I look hot?’

Seth, in an orange sweater, and Jonah, accentuating his weight loss by dressing in black, then joined James onstage at the end of the monologue — with Steve Martin shouting out ‘Sza! Sza!’ as James previewed the show.

His brother Dave Franco also made a surprise appearance during a skit where James pretended to be at a Franco family reunion where a long-lost cousin was concerned for him.

Bloody good time: As James and the cast members, including his co-worker played by Kate McKinnon, all laughed, he only made it worse when pretending to use a paper cutter — and slicing off the ends of the fingers on his other hand, also spurting out blood

Laugh it out:James had failed to keep a straight face in some of his skits, especially while playing a Bloomingdale's gift wrapper who got a paper-cut that spurted blood everywhere. He already appeared to be struggling to hide his giggles as he covered his first customer in blood — and then filled a container of candy cane with his blood

‘Do you need help? I heard that the movie you made is a bad movie,’ she told him of his latest, The Disaster Artist which is about the making of cult classic The Room, asking: ‘Remember when you used to make good movies?’

She then reminded him of his ‘North Korea flick’ The Interview which most theaters refused to show because of safety concerns, insisting: ‘It was so bad the refused to show it. Zero people saw it.’

She then brought up his brother Dave, suggesting he was doing better than him and telling James: ‘I think it’s cool that you have not done enough to get Dave jealous of you.’

Spit take: But the giggles overcame him after he pretended to suck his bloodied finger — then spat it in Leslie Jones’s face as she arrived with Kenan Thompson

After he made his excuses, Dave came out to cheers from the live audience, telling the cousin she was ‘still smoking hot’ and struggling to hold his laughter as he congratulated her for getting a bullseye at darts that was her own key achievement in life.

James did not promote his new movie, The Disaster Artist, during his monologue, but managed to get in a plug during a hilarious skit where he played himself.

In it, a businesswoman played by Cecily Strong took pit on what she assumed was a homeless man, buying him expensive clothes from Saks, taking him for a bike ride around Manhattan before taking him back to her apartment to smarten him up and look for a job.

Spelling bee: James also cracked up playing a moderator at a spelling bee who uses painfully personal stories about being abused by his stepfather to explain the words.

Wrong word: After already confusing everyone, he was banned from using the word ‘urophiliac’ — only to use it explaining the next word, ‘adolescent,’ saying: ‘I used to be an adolescent — now I’m a urophiliac, I derive sexual pleasure from being treated like a toilet

But he refused to let her shave him — telling her: ’No seriously, I can’t shave. It’s for a part, a role in a movie. I’m James Franco.’

Cecily’s shocked character pointed out she ‘spent over $1500’ on him, asking: ‘Why didn’t you say something?’

‘I mean, people give me free things all the time, I’m a famous person,’ he replied, before asking if she wanted an autograph or selfie.

Crack: But he completely cracked up — also leaving Pete Davidson looking down to control his own laughter — as he said the next word was ’Little pig boy.’

After he finally left, he called out to her through the door: ‘The Disaster Artist. It’s in theaters now. I’ve heard the phrase ‘Oscar worthy’ a couple of times.’

James had failed to keep a straight face in some of his skits, especially while playing a Bloomingdale's gift wrapper who got a paper-cut that spurted blood everywhere. He already appeared to be struggling to hide his giggles as he covered his first customer in blood — and then filled a container of candy cane with his blood.

But the giggles overcame him after he pretended to suck his bloodied finger — then spat it in Leslie Jones’s face as she arrived with Kenan Thompson.

Scrooged: In another skit, he played a cool guy smoking on a rooftop as a Mr Scrooge-style character played by Beck Bennett came up to steal a cigarette from him

Rear end:Beck’s Scrooge went down an made a moving speech about ‘the true meaning of Christmas’ — only to prove he had not really changed as he walked off with his butt hanging out of his pants

As James and the cast members, including his co-worker played by Kate McKinnon, all laughed, he only made it worse when pretending to use a paper cutter — and slicing off the ends of the fingers on his other hand, also spurting out blood.

As Kenan told him he ‘chopped your whole damn fingers off’ James joked: ‘Just the tip — that’s what she said!’

He was hardly able to control his laughter as the ended the skit, pretending to lift up his leg — with the fake foot already falling off before he pretended to accidentally cut it.

Italian wordage: He also played an attorney in a criminal case who caught out a suspect by proving his slang word ‘za’ actually stood for lasagne and not pizza — on revealing the photo of him at the scene of the crime after winning his argument over the word

Case in point: James won the argument

James also cracked up playing a moderator at a spelling bee who uses painfully personal stories about being abused by his stepfather to explain the words.

After already confusing everyone, he was banned from using the word ‘urophiliac’ — only to use it explaining the next word, ‘adolescent,’ saying: ‘I used to be an adolescent — now I’m a urophiliac, I derive sexual pleasure from being treated like a toilet.’

But he completely cracked up — also leaving Pete Davidson looking down to control his own laughter — as he said the next word was ’Little pig boy.’

Rough cut: A businesswoman played by Cecily Strong took pit on what she assumed was a homeless man, buying him expensive clothes from Saks, taking him for a bike ride around Manhattan before taking him back to her apartment to smarten him up and look for a job

Spendthrift: Cecily’s shocked character pointed out she ‘spent over $1500’ on him, asking: ‘Why didn’t you say something?'

‘Mistress hates her little pig boy, I’m her dirty little pig boy, please stand on me with your boots on,’ he said when asked to use it in a sentence. When asked for a definition, he said: ‘That pathetic dirty b*tch baby mistress gets to stand on.’

James also played a CFO who was fired at his company following a crack-down on workplace sexual harassment that also saw the front desk staffer Charlie being forced out.

He was attacked as a ‘creep’ by the woman as he apologized for his behavior that was mostly flattering comments about his staff, including calling one a ’honey bee’ — while the staffer played by Kenan Thompson was still much-loved despite far worse behavior.

No thanks: But he refused to let her shave him — telling her: ’No seriously, I can’t shave. It’s for a part, a role in a movie. I’m James Franco.'

Stunner: Musical guest Sza wore a stunning long green gown as she appeared in front of a small choir and wind section for her first song, The Weekend

‘You can’t fire Charlie — it’s just Charlie!’ one staffer said, as he repeatedly replied at his overtly-sexual behavior with a simple: ‘My bad.’

Even when James’ character pointed out just how bad the other man had been, he ended up the one under fire as the staff accused him of making ‘everything sexual.’

‘It feels like you guys are going easier on him because he’s a charming old black man — and he’s done way worse stuff!’ he complained.

Pipes: The newcomer showcased her amazing voice

Encore: She came back with an unusual yellow sweatshirt dress for Love Galore

His shock only grew when told the other man was not even being fired for the remarks — but instead for having stolen $300, having cocaine and porn at work, stealing a van that was found outside a brothel, and using an assumed name as he was wanted for kidnapping.

‘So it’s still kidnapping if I bring them back? Ok it’s my bad, my bad,’ Charlie smiled.

In another skit, he played a cool guy smoking on a rooftop as a Mr Scrooge-style character played by Beck Bennett came up to steal a cigarette from him.

Character: They also brought out recurring character Cathy Anne, played by Cecily Strong, who spoke about the resignation of Al Franken, but calling him ‘Al Franco.’

Truth tea: However, she touched on key issues of the discussion over his resignation speech, saying: ‘Why are you going t resign if you’re not going to apologize. And if you got nothing to apologize for, why the hell are you resigning?’

After being called ‘the sad, lonely roof guy,’ James’s character made the Scrooge look down at the party below to see how everyone he had just been offending really felt about him — before flying off with angel wings.

Beck’s Scrooge went down an made a moving speech about ‘the true meaning of Christmas’ — only to prove he had not really changed as he walked off with his butt hanging out of his pants.

He also played an attorney in a criminal case who caught out a suspect by proving his slang word ‘za’ actually stood for lasagne and not pizza — on revealing the photo of him at the scene of the crime after winning his argument over the word.

Musical guest Sza wore a stunning long green gown as she appeared in front of a small choir and wind section for her first song, The Weekend, before coming back with an unusual yellow sweatshirt dress for Love Galore.

Trump era: Meanwhile, the show refused to stay away from the current sexual harassment scandals

No room: They criticized Trump for his exclusive party

Meanwhile, the show refused to stay away from the current sexual harassment scandals.

Michael Che drew gasps from the audience during the Weekend Update called the California wildfires ‘the worst thing spreading in L.A. since Harvey Weinstein’s bathrobe.’

They also joked about having an advent calendar with senators’ faces, with Colin Jost also joking: ‘A government shutdown is when a woman tells a senator to pull his pants back up.’

Role play: Michael Che also had a skit where he pretended to go undercover as a ‘liberal white woman’ — but refusing to put on makeup to change his skin color nor change his language

Gretchen: His character Gretchen tried to fool people

They also brought out recurring character Cathy Anne, played by Cecily Strong, who spoke about the resignation of Al Franken, but calling him ‘Al Franco.’

However, she touched on key issues of the discussion over his resignation speech, saying: ‘Why are you going t resign if you’re not going to apologize. And if you got nothing to apologize for, why the hell are you resigning?’

The show had opened with Kenan Thompson playing a Santa at a big store where the kids all asked political questions, including if President Trump was ‘on the naughty list’ as well as asking Al Franken, Roy Moore, tax cuts, ‘feminizes,’ and kneeling NFL players.

Trying to make everything more innocent, Santa asked one boy if he wanted a ‘toy,’ to which the boy asked: ‘Oh, you mean toy like the one Matt Lauer gave to his co-worker?’

Michael Che also had a skit where he pretended to go undercover as a ‘liberal white woman’ — but refusing to put on makeup to change his skin color nor change his language.

Surprise: His brother Dave Franco also made a surprise appearance during a skit where James pretended to be at a Franco family reunion where a long-lost cousin was concerned for him

Movie magic: ‘Do you need help? I heard that the movie you made is a bad movie,’ she told him of his latest, The Disaster Artist which is about the making of cult classic The Room, asking: ‘Remember when you used to make good movies?’

Sibling rivalry: She then brought up his brother Dave, suggesting he was doing better than him and telling James: ‘I think it’s cool that you have not done enough to get Dave jealous of you.’