Hancher, Iowa City star in James Franco's 'Saturday Night Live' spelling bee skit

The new Hancher Auditorium has attracted plenty of attention since it opened last year, but the entertainment venue got a brand-new platform Saturday when it was the (alleged) site of a (supposedly) very uncomfortable scholastic spelling bee on "Saturday Night Live."

The live NBC sketch show returned from a commercial break just after 11 p.m. with an establishing shot of Hancher's exterior; an introduction and signage on the set indicated that the second round of an Iowa City school district bee was about to begin, broadcast on a local Iowa Public Radio affiliate, KSUI 91.7 FM.

That was about all for the Iowa references — the premise was that host James Franco, playing the moderator of the bee, used the stage to unload a litany of traumatic childhood experiences as he defined and used in context such words as "berate," "chagrin" and "adolescent."

Franco was hosting "Saturday Night Live" the same week as the release of his latest movie, "The Disaster Artist." Franco directed and starred in the comedy-drama about Tommy Wiseau, the enigmatic filmmaker behind what is considered to be one of the worst American movies ever: 2003's "The Room."

But plenty of people with Iowa City ties were watching, and the setup was enough to get them talking:

Others speculated about who might have selected the Iowa setting in penning the sketch. Was it "SNL" writer Steve Higgins, who grew up in Des Moines? Cast member Mikey Day? Somebody else?

Iowa connections to the four-decade-plus TV staple aren't unusual — Iowa City native Andrew Steele wrote for the show from 1995 to 2008 and was the head writer from 2004 to 2008; Grinnell College alumnus Kumail Nanjiani hosted just a few weeks ago — but the specifics of the spelling bee sketch set it apart.