Pete Davidson had one of the best gigs on Saturday Night Live! since they aired Mr. Bill. Show up for a couple sketches, deliver a line or two each, perform a tight three minutes on “Weekend Update,” shake the celebrity guest’s hand, and go home. Easy. Now, after exiting the series, Davidson has his own Peacock series, Bupkis, premiering on May 4—which means the comedian will be making the rounds to promote it. Reportedly, via Page Six, Davidson will be back on the SNL stage to host on May 6.
Although it seemed like Davidson’s time on SNL was the cushiest gig for a burgeoning comedian, his rising popularity soon took over the news cycle. Stories about who he was dating—from Cazzie David, to Ariana Grande, to Kim Kardashian—would soon be parodied in the show’s cold opens. It’s mighty awkward when you go from the jokester to the butt of the joke. “It’s your own show, and I’ll be sitting in the back watching the cold open and [it’s] topical political humor or whatever in the culture, and they’re making fun of you and you gotta walk out and do a sketch next and hit your mark,” Davidson recently said on Jon Bernthal’s podcast, Real Ones. “The show just made fun of you, so why are they going to laugh at you? They just dogged you.”
Davidson has been recently linked to his Bodies Bodies Bodies co-star Chase Sui Wonders—a topic of conversation most likely to enter SNL parody territory unless he puts a stop to it beforehand. Wonders will also appear on his new show, Bupkis, which stars Joe Pesci as his grandfather and Edie Falco as his mom. Charlie Day, as well, will work his way in somehow. Until then, bet on Pete parodying one of the Succession kids, or Chad meeting the Please Don’t Destroy guys.
Assistant Editor
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.