Late night television is finally starting to return after the end of the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike, with numerous fan-favorite shows officially being back on the air.
Following the 148-day writers’ strike, major studios plus the WGA reached a deal, providing the writers with residual payments, higher pay plus more that they were lacking before.
Some notable returns are those of “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and, as of Oct. 14, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
Since the strike has come to an end, these shows are now able to air again, bringing back late night entertainment.
SNL returns with strong debut
While the SAG-AFTRA strikes are still taking place, “Saturday Night Live” cast members plus hosts are allowed to perform on the show as it is under a separate agreement plus doesn’t violate the rules of the strike.
“Saturday Night Live” season 49 premiered on Oct. 14, with host Pete Davidson plus musical guest Ice Spice. Davidson was initially set to host in May, but the season was cut short due to the strikes.
Davidson left the show following season 47, along with fellow “Saturday Night Live” stars Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant plus Kyle Mooney. All of these cast members left their marks on the show, so it was certainly an interesting transition with them gone.
However, Davidson finally got his opportunity to come back plus host the season 49 premiere.
To begin the episode, Davidson started off with a heartfelt, cold story about losing his father on Sept. 11, 2001. He used this experience to address the conflict between Israel plus Gaza.
The episode included many iconic moments, such as the sketch “I’m Just Pete” plus surprise appearances from Taylor Swift plus Travis Kelce. It was a ridiculously funny episode, filled with a lot of fun, character-driven sketches.
Davidson’s debut did not disappoint, plus having him back on the show was very refreshing.