'SNL' Canceled This Week, Pete Davidson Episode Not Happening

Pete Davidson's return to Saturday Night Live will have to wait a little longer. The upcoming May 6 episode featuring the former cast member and rapper Lil Uzi Vert was canceled on Tuesday due to the writers' strike that began overnight. The Writers Guild of America was unable to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents Hollywood studios, before the Monday night deadline.

"The previously announced Saturday Night Live hosted by Pete Davidson and musical guest Lil Uzi Vert is canceled due to the writers' strike," NBC said in a statement Tuesday. SNL will air repeats until the strike ends. The series airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET and is streaming on Peacock.

This episode would have marked Davidson's first visit to Studio 8H since the Season 47 finale in May 2022. His appearance on the show was intended to promote his new Peacock series, Bupkis, which is loosely inspired by his real life. Edie Falco and Joe Pesci co-star as Davidson's mother and grandfather, respectively. It premieres on Peacock Thursday.

When Davidson appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote Bupkis last week, he voiced support for writers. The comedian also joked about the strike being part of a big scheme to keep him from returning to SNL.

"Please take care of the writers," Davidson said, via PEOPLE. "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." He hoped the episode would happen though, adding it "would be cool."

Television viewers will see the effects of the strike immediately. Starting Tuesday night, The Tonight Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! will all be repeats. Real Time with Bill Maher, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and other similar cable shows will shut down production as well. Scripted shows like Grey's Anatomy, Ghosts, and Law & Order will continue airing new episodes through the end of the season since those episodes are already finished. If the strike continues for weeks though, it could lead to a delay in the production of new shows for the 2023-2024 TV season. This is the first WGA work stoppage since the 2007-2008 strike, which lasted 100 days.