For the first time in 15 years, the Writers Guild of America is on strike. The decision came late Monday after talks to renew a contract — one that would, the WGA hoped, better reflect the changes streaming has wrought upon film and television — stalled. The effect on movies, which can take years to make, won’t be felt for a while. TV, however, is a different ball game. While many sitcoms already have a bunch of episodes in the can, much of late night television, taped and aired on the same day, quickly announced they were going dark.
There was a show that was a bit slow to go on hiatus, one that wasn’t scheduled to air for a few days. But, as per Deadline, that program — SNL — announced mid-afternoon that they, too, were at least temporarily shuttering their next episode. And it would have been a doozy: It was to be the return of one of its most popular and news-grabbing modern cast members, Pete Davidson.
Granted, Davidson hasn’t been away from the show that long. His final episode was about a year ago, during the Season 47 finale. Still, that would have made him perhaps the fastest SNL alum to return as host. He could still do that homecoming at another date, but it might have to wait till next season. SNL seasons tend to wrap in May, and given the long list of quarrels between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the major studios and streamers, this strike might not be resolved any time soon.
Indeed, the last WGA strike lasted a whopping 100 days. While that means SNL viewers got almost an entire season worth of new episodes, it may be a while till they watch the likes of Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers yukking it up on late night weekdays.
(Via Deadline)