We’re glad he’s back.
Comedy fans assumed last season was going to be Pete Davidson’s last for “Saturday Night Live.”
Following a May interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the comedian made numerous comments that suggested he might be moving on, with the pull quote being, “I’m ready to hang up the jersey.”
Not to mention, 2020 saw Davidson stretch his acting chops in the semi-autobiographical streaming hit film, “The King of Staten Island.”
His commercials for Smartwater were not only funny, but true — Davidson is in the long process of having most of his endless tattoos removed. And that’s also connected to his ongoing battle to stay sober and leave some of the wild antics of his youth behind. Then came the announcement he is to play Joey Ramone in an upcoming biopic, which he’s also executive producing.
If those events didn’t make the case, the emotional short speech he gave at the end of SNL’s season 46 — “I’m very grateful to be here. It’s been an honor to grow up in front of you guys” — proved a serious turn away from the NBC comedy mainstay would not have been shocking.
But as Page Six pointed out, there he was Saturday night, the premiere of the 47th season of SNL, dishing up another of his consistently hilarious and surrealistically on point “Weekend Update” monologues.
He spent most of the bit mocking the outfit he wore to The Met Gala the week before. “I look like Tilda Swinton on casual Friday.”
As he wrapped it up and the crowd cheered, Pete yelled — sounding as surprised as his fans — “I can’t believe I’m back.” It was an admission he is in fact ready to tackle another season of “SNL.”
In a tribute to recently deceased “SNL” alum, Norm Macdonald, Davidson wore a tie-dyed t-shirt with a picture of Macdonald on it. It was a subtle hint that maybe Davidson has come to more fully appreciate the history and impact of the NBC late night mainstay.
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