The New York Times: With the Writers’ Strike Over, ‘Saturday Night Live’ Will Soon Return by
Pete Davidson returns to Saturday Night Live to host the season premiere.
The writer’s strike that has been going on for the last five weeks finally came to an end last week. With the strike ending TV shows are coming back first with late-night shows on Monday and now Saturday Night Live will return with the 49th season on October 14th.
Pete Davidson who left the show in May 2022 with other cast members such as Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant will return to host the season premiere. While Pete Davidson is an actor the union does not consider host a violation of the strike. A letter from SAG-AFTRA was posted on Wednesday making it clear that members of the union who are on S.N.L as hosts, guests, or cast members are not violating anything because they work under the Network Code Agreement, not the contract the union is striking. From the letter “The majority of our members who are regular cast on ‘Saturday Night Live’ had contractual obligations to the show prior to the strike”.The letter also states that “Many are under option agreements that require them to return to the show if the producers exercise their option, which the producers have done.”
I am glad that the writer’s strike is finally over because many shows are coming to be coming back including late-night talk shows. With the return of late-night talk, the host can finally back new episodes and stop showing reruns. That will make many viewers happy to watch new episodes.
Comment on the stories, Emma. This is a good example of a
story that is maybe important to New Yorkers (SNL Lives!),
but maybe also to others who fancy the show.
And, as you suggest, this is news for anyone who watches
TV and is hopeful for the new season.