Why Pete Davidson's Saturday Night Live Episode Was Canceled
Pete Davidson will just have to wait to make his Saturday Night Live return.
The comedy sketch show's May 6 episode—which was initially scheduled to be hosted by the Bupkis star alongside musical guest Lil Uzi Vert—has been canceled due to the Writers Guild of America strike, according to NBC. The network announced May 2 that it will air repeats of SNL moving forward until further notice.
Pete, who left the series last year after eight seasons, previously joked that he would take the cancellation personally if the writers' strike were indeed to happen.
"It sucks," he quipped to host Jimmy Fallon an April 28 appearance of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, "because it just feeds my weird story I have in my head, like, 'Of course that would happen to me.'"
At the time, Pete said he was unsure if his episode would tape, though "it would be really cool" to revisit his old stomping grounds.
The WGA went on strike May 2 after weeks-long negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down.
"The WGA Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios' responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing," the guild said in a statement on May 1. "Picketing will begin tomorrow afternoon."
This is not the first time SNL's broadcast schedule has been affected by a strike. In 2007, the show had only aired four episodes from its 33rd season when a WGA strike put production on pause, effectively scrapping two pre-planned tapings slated to star Dwayne Johnson and Jonah Hill.
The series returned three months later in February 2008, with Tina Fey serving as host. Overall, the season only had 12 episodes, while a typical season has around 20.
(E! and NBC are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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