Pete Davidson was slated to headline Saturday Night Live over a year after leaving the NBC variety show before the ongoing WGA writers’ strike took hold of the entertainment sector. Longtime cast member Kenan Thompson expressed his delight at seeing his buddy and former colleague back on the show, but sadly, the strike caused production on SNL to be suspended, thus closing down the show for the rest of the season. Now, series newcomer Devon Walker has revealed whether there are any Davidson sketches that are just waiting to be resurrected.
Pete Davidson wasn’t the only person set to serve as a host, as Jennifer Coolidge and Kieran Culkin were in the same boat. Devon Walker spoke to People about the now-shortened season of SNL, which was just three episodes short of completion. Based on Walker’s comments, it doesn’t seem like much had been done yet for Davidson’s episode by the time things had been shut down. He attributes that to the timing of the strike:
It’s amusing because we didn’t write anything. So there were practically no sketches from that since we only had Monday, which is pitch day, and then everything shut down. So we didn’t make it to Tuesday.
It’s a shame we missed the star’s return to Studio 8H, and it would’ve been nice to know there were sketches with his name on them sitting around. Yet, there is a chance that Pete Davidson will host Saturday Night Live when it returns for Season 49. In the meanwhile, Davidson will most certainly continue to stand in solidarity with the writers and protest alongside them, as he has done previously.
After eight years on the show, the comedian quit at the end of Season 47. His departure coincided with that of Kate McKinnon and others. By the time Season 48’s cast was confirmed, it had changed dramatically. And, as the long-running show navigates its new period, the King of Staten Island actor is moving on. Most recently, he celebrated the premiere of his new comedy, Bupkis, which can be viewed with a Peacock subscription.
Not only that, but Pete Davidson is making inroads in big-screen films as well. He is going to voice Mirage in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and also appears in the film Wizards! alongside Orlando Bloom and Naomi Scott. It’s fantastic to see him working and doing other things, but it’d be even better to see him return to his old haunts at some point. Let’s hope he gets to do it eventually, and that the ensuing sketches are fantastic.
Saturday Night Live is expected to return to the 2023 TV schedule later this year, assuming the writers’ strike ends sooner rather than later.