Steve Carell helps SNL bounce back from season low with The Office reunion and hilarious Jeff Bezos sketch

Steve Carell's hosting gig helped Saturday Night Live bounce back from a season low over the weekend, achieving its second highest ratings of the current series.

The comedian was joined by three of his former cast mates from The Office during his opening monologue.

He also starred as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a hilarious skit inspired by the retailer's upcoming arrival in Queens, New York, and Arlington, Virginia.

SNL achieved a healthy 4.4 rating in metered markets on Saturday night, according to Deadline.

This tops the season low of 4.0 experienced by the show last week, during an episode hosted by Liev Schreiber, with Lil Wayne as musical guest.

Carell was joined by English singer Ella Mai on Saturday.

The pairing achieved a rating equal to the one scored by Jonah Hill and musical guest Maggie Rogers on 3 November.

On that occasion, too, SNL had a 4.4 rating – its second highest score of the season.

The series premiere featuring Adam Driver as host and Kanye West as musical guest remains the record holder of the ongoing series, with a 4.8 rating.

Carell was joined during his opening monologue by his former The Office colleagues Ellie Kemper, Jenna Fisher, and Ed Helms.

The trio, along with Carell's wife Nancy and their two children, tried to convince Carell to reboot the acclaimed sitcom, but Carell didn't budge.

One of Carell's most acclaimed sketches of the evening saw him impersonate Bezos.

The character insisted that his decision to bring Amazon's second headquarters to Trump's native borough and right next to his current residence in Washington, DC had nothing to do with a desire on his part to "troll" the president – all while clearly revelling in the situation.

"I chose our new locations because they were idea for growing business, not just to make Donald Trump think about how I'm literally a hundred times richer than he is," Carell's Bezos (whose real-life incarnation has a net worth of $128.8bn – £100.2bn – according to Forbes) said.

Carell also played a clueless father who is unaware that his wife has left him in a skit called Disney, and a cosmonaut answering questions from a hectic International Space Station in a sketch titled Space Station Broadcast.

Saturday marked the comedian's third time headlining SNL.

The last time he hosted the comedy show was in 2008, and his debut came in 2005.