Two Legendary Actors Were Scheduled to Host Final 'SNL' Episodes Before Writers Strike Canceled Season
NBC canceled the rest of Saturday Night Live Season 48 amid the writers' strike, which began on Tuesday. The network already announced that the May 7 episode, set to be hosted by former cast member Pete Davidson, was canceled. Two more potentially great episodes were planned for this month, with Kieran Culkin and Jennifer Coolidge as hosts.
Culkin was set to host the May 13 episode, with Labrinth as the musical guest, sources told Variety. This would have been the Succession star's second time hosting. He was the host for the Nov. 6, 2021 episode that famously featured Dionne Warwick meeting Ego Nwodim in "The Dionne Warwick Show." Labrinth, an Emmy winner for his work on Euphoria, would have made his SNL debut.
Coolidge was set to make her SNL debut in the Season 48 finale. She just won her first Emmy for The White Lotus Season 1 and is expected to be in the running for another nomination for the show's second season. The musical guest was set to be Foo Fighters, who have appeared on SNL 10 times between 1995 and 2020. This would have been the group's first appearance on SNL since drummer Taylor Hawkins' death in 2022.
SNL was set to return with its first new episode in nearly a month this weekend with Davidson and musical guest Lil Uzi Vert. However, hours after the Writers Guild of America strike began, NBC announced the show would not be happening. Davidson was returning to Studio 8H in support of his new Peacock series, Bupkins, which premiered on Thursday.
Davidson joked about the situation on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "Please take care of the writers," Davidson said. "It sucks because it just feeds my, like, weird story I have in my head... Like, of course, that would happen to me. They didn't want me to host it. It's all about me."
The writers' strike immediately impacted the late-night sphere, as The Tonight Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert all went dark. NBC continues to pay Tonight Show and Late Night staffers for the next couple of weeks. SNL staffers will also be paid for the final two episodes, reports Deadline. The strike began after the Writers Guild of America and the trade union representing the major Hollywood studios failed to reach a new contract.
Since all three May SNL episodes were canceled, the April 15 episode featuring Ana de Armas and singer Karol G serves as the Season 48 finale. NBC will air repeats in SNL's timeslot, which starts at 11:30 p.m. ET Saturdays. All episodes of the season are streaming on Peacock.