Pete Davidson, Ice Spice, and Bad Bunny will kick off SNL’s return
Live from New York, it’s Bad Bunny, Ice Spice, Pete Davidson, and a brand new cast member on SNL this month
Aux News ICE
Returning from a five-month work stoppage, which overlapped with the show’s regularly scheduled summer hiatus, Saturday Night Live will light up Studio 8H once again. SNL will return for its 49th season next week, with host Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice on October 14 and Bad Bunny pulling double duty as host and musical guest on October 21.
In addition, SNL also announced a new cast member for the show: Chloe Troast. Troast writes and stars in the web series The Basics and appears in the Please Don’t Destroy movie, The Treasure Of Foggy Mountain. How will SNL handle not one but two Chloes? Only time will tell.
Some are probably wondering, “But A.V. Club, how can Saturday Night Live return when its actors are still on strike?” Well, dear reader, if you give us a second, we’ll explain. Per SAG-AFTRA, like Dancing With The Stars, SNL’s cast, host, and guests work under the Network Code, which is not the contract SAG is striking over.
“They are not in violation of SAG-AFTRA strike rules, and we support them in fulfilling their contractual obligations,” a statement from SAG-AFTRA reads. “The program is a SAG-AFTRA non-dramatic production under a separate agreement that is not subject to the union’s strike order.”
“The majority of our members who are regular cast on Saturday Night Live had contractual obligations to the show prior to the strike. Many are under option agreements that require them to return to the show if the producers exercise their option, which the producers have done[…] It is important to recognize that SAG-AFTRA is fighting against the studios and not members who are required to go to work every day under other union contracts or personal service agreements.”
So there you go. The SAG-AFTRA strike continues, and SNL makes its shuffle towards 50.
16 Comments
Thank god SNL is back. What would we do without all that mediocre comedy?
Is Ice Spice the Spice Girl who does meth?
There are Spice Girls who don’t?
One year closer to Lorne Michaels’ retirement. Then maybe SNL finally does one of the two things it deserves: get cancelled, or get better.
Good timing. I just found out Ice Spice existed yesterday thanks to that incredibly annoying Ben Affleck Dunkin Donuts commercial they run two or three times every frigging Hulu ad break.
At least, unlike Matt Damon, the company he’s shilling for isn’t a scam.
It is important to recognize that SAG-AFTRA is fighting against the
studios and not members who are required to go to work every day under
other union contracts or personal service agreements. Do the members know that?Cause I’m not sure they know that.
Can’t wait for a 49th terrible season followed by a 50th that’s even worse. SNL is the greatest hate watch in television history.
Still seems like the strike would preclude Davidson from hosting
No, as it said, different contract. Performers who are members of SAG/AFTRA can’t promote any projects created under contracts that are being struck (stricken?), so he can’t talk about any of his projects like Bupkis or if he has any upcoming movies. The same applies to guests on any of the talk shows: They can talk about anything they want except SAG/AFTRA projects.
Conundrum, can he talk about his past time on SNL, as returning vets often do, especially in their return
He can since SNL is done under that network code deal and not the regular SAG-AFTRA deal which is the thing the actors are on strike about.
Yes, Pete can talk about SNL during his monologue because SNL is not a show affected by SAG/AFTRA.
Exactly. Matthew McConaughey was on Fallon’s first show back, but strictly to promote his children’s book.
I don’t understand this need people feel to speculate about who might be scabbing. Just listen to the union! It’s their strike, and they will absolutely tell you when someone is crossing the picket line.
I don’t really disagree with you, and wasn’t trying to accuse Davidson of that (though I get that I accidentally did). My confusion was that I don’t automatically think of it as the production itself being struck or not, but instead that the actors’ contracts with SNL allow each of them to work, and since Davidson isn’t under that contract anymore, he wasn’t allowed back under those terms. But I see the distinction now. I do wonder if most union members might decline to appear in future episodes anyway, if this strike ends up going on much longer. SNL might be safer going with double host/musical acts like Bad Bunny, and comedians. A few weeks of past star writers from the show would be interesting.