NBC’s Saturday Night Live made its post writers strike debut on Saturday October 14 with SNL alum Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island) as host, with Ice Spice as the musical act, and few surprise guests. According to The New York Times, the cold open performed by Davidson, which is historically known to be comedic, switched gears to a serious tone as the comedian told the audience the suffering of both Israeli and Palestinian children caught in the crossfire of the Israel-Hamas war has taken him back to a horrible time in his life; when his father, a NYFD firefighter lost his life in the 9/11 attacks and how it affected him.
Saturday Night Live along with all other late night shows were thwarted due to the writers strike that began in May. Via The New York Times, this is the first new broadcast of Saturday Night Live in six months. Late night talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night With Seth Meyers, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, returned to network television at the beginning of the month, with Saturday Night Live joining the pack nearly two weeks later.
Musical guests on Saturday Night Live perform twice. For the first introduction of 23-year-old rapper, Ice Spice, Davidson announced her to the crowd before she kicked off performing her song ‘In Ha Mood’. Before her second performance, record-breaking musician Taylor Swift introduced her friend, who collaborated with her on a remix of Swift’s song “Karma”. Swift is no newbie to making headlines, but since rumors began swirling about a romance with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, and a few appearances at his games, her name has been at the tip of everyone’s tongue. A skit in Saturday’s show mocked Fox’s NFL coverage on the Jets and Eagles game happening Sunday. Instead of typical football coverage, Swift and her relationship with Kelce were at the forefront of all the jokes. At the end of the skit, the audience was again surprised by another guest, Kelce himself, who had hosted SNL in March before the strike.
Next week, Saturday Night Live returns with host and musical guest Bad Bunny.