‘Saturday Night Live’: Pete Davidson to Host Season 49 Premiere

With the end of the WGA strike, Saturday Night Live is coming back, and so is Pete Davidson! Deadline exclusively reports that the former SNL cast member will kick off the long-awaited 49th season on Oct. 14. His hosting gig is also long-awaited. The Bupkis star was set to host the long-running variety series the week the writers’ strike began. His episode, along with the remaining few episodes of Season 48, were canceled. So Davidson will officially be returning to Studio 8H, and the wait will be well worth it.

Davidson made his SNL debut in 2014 and quickly became a fan favorite. After he appeared in only a handful of episodes during Season 47, he announced that the season finale would be his last show. He left the series along with a handful of fan-favorite cast members like Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Kyle Mooney. The series has gone through plenty of rotating cast members. Even so, it didn’t make the exits hurt any less.

Joining the comedian as musical guest is rapper Ice Spice. The 23-year-old rising star, whose real name is Isis Naija Gaston, first gained major recognition in 2022. Since then, she has blown up and collaborated with some of the hottest artists like Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj. It’s going to be interesting to see her and Pete Davidson team up for the first episode of the season. And with plans going back as far as May for Davidson’s episode, there will be a lot to look forward to.

Since Saturday Night Live falls under SAG-AFTRA’s Network Code, it is able to return, and with the full cast. Late-night talk shows have officially returned, as well as more daytime talk shows. While the actors’ strike is still going on, writers’ rooms have reopened this week in preparation for new seasons. SAG seems to be getting closer to a resolution with studios, so hopefully, the rest of Hollywood will be able to go back to work soon. But at least fans can look forward to some bit of normalcy returning. And with the show off the air for five months, who knows what kind of jokes the writers will slip into SNL in the coming weeks about the strikes and everything else that has been going on.

Season 49 of Saturday Night Live with Pete Davidson as host will premiere on Saturday, Oct. 14 on NBC. The previous 48 seasons are available on Peacock if fans want to watch Davidson’s original run on the series and his best characters. Maybe some of those will make a return when he does.