Before the ongoing WGA writers’ strike took hold of the entertainment industry, Pete Davidson was supposed to host Saturday Night Live nearly a year after his departure from the NBC variety series. Longtime cast member Kenan Thompson expressed his excitement over having his friend and former colleague on the show again but, unfortunately, the strike led to production on SNL being suspended, with the show effectively shutting down for the remainder of the season. Now, series newbie Devon Walker has revealed whether there are sketches involving Davidson that are just waiting to be dusted off.
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:
Actually, it's funny because we didn't write anything. So there literally were no sketches from that because we only had Monday, which is pitch day, and then everything shut down. So we didn't make it to Tuesday.
It is disappointing that we missed out on the star's return to Studio 8H, and it would've been comforting to know that there were sketches lying around that had his name on them. Nevertheless, there may still be a possibility that when Saturday Night Live comes back for Season 49, Pete Davidson will get to host. In the meantime though, Davidson will likely continue to stand in solidarity with the writers and protest with them as he's done before.
The comic left SNL at the end of Season 47 after being on the show for eight years. His exit came at the same time as a Kate McKinnon's departure and those of others. The cast was drastically different by the time the list was finalized for Season 48. And as the long-running show continues to navigate its new era, the King of Staten Island star is on to new things. Mostly recently, he marked the release of his new comedy, Bupkis, which can be streamed with a Peacock subscription.
Not only that, but Pete Davidson is making moves with big-screen productions as well. He's set to voice Mirage in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and is also starring in the movie Wizards! alongside Orlando Bloom and Naomi Scott. It's great to see him working and doing different things, but it'd still be great to see him return to his old stomping grounds at some point. Let's hope that he gets to do so eventually and that the resulting sketches turn out great.
It's likely that Saturday Night Live will return to the 2023 TV schedule later this year, should the writers strike subside sooner rather than later, of course.
