Is Saturday Night Live new tonight on NBC, May 13, 2023?
So why isn’t that happening tonight? Well, let’s just say that there is a pretty clear reason for it: The writers’ strike is still ongoing.
Based on some reports some time ago, the original plan was to have Succession actor Kieran Culkin return for the second time as host, but those plans were officially dashed a little over a week ago. The finale, which was set to be hosted by The White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge, was also canceled. (Last week was meant to feature the return of Pete Davidson.) Our hope is that all three are invited to take part in the next season, which we hope will still start at some point this fall.
We imagine that for a lot of the cast and crew of SNL, it feels weird to shut things down at a point when there isn’t a proper finale or any real closure. Yet, it also is the right thing. Most of the cast members have experience in comedy writing and they understand the work that goes into making this show. There is so much that the WGA is currently fighting for, and it is about setting a precedent that could last for many years to come.
With the ever-increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence, you can argue that this is the most important negotiation for writers in a generation. You are adding this of course to streaming residuals and a lot of other talking points.
The good news is that when the writers’ strike is over, Saturday Night Live is one of those shows that can return to work soon. Or, at the very least, it could be back in its standard spot in the fall.
Do you still hope to see some of the aforementioned people come back to Saturday Night Live?
Be sure to sound off in the comments! Once you do just that, come back for all sorts of other updates.
(Photo: NBC.)