Watch Pete Davidson Grow Old in New SNL Sketch (Wait, He Isn’t Old Already?)

Saturday Night Live had a rocky start to season 47, hitting the lowest ratings the show had ever seen. For a cultural institution built on jolting late-night audiences with envelope-pushing comedy, 2021 had the show looking tired and safe. As if that wasn’t bad enough, SNL suspended all live performances until further notice thanks to the unwanted guest at Christmas dinner, Omicron. But the beauty of the show-that-keeps-on-swinging is that every now and then it lands an unexpected punch. And for this holiday season, that sweet left hook came in the form of a washed-up, rinsed-out, has-been version of Pete Davidson.

You could consider this concept pretty on the nose for a guy like Davidson who treads the has-been waters like a retired lifeguard down at the Jersey Shore. A guy who makes headlines not so much for the thing he does professionally but more for his catch-of-the-day dating style. (He’ll make the Dating Hall-of-Fame way before he ever makes the Comedy Hall-of-Fame.)

But while Pete might occasionally seem washed-up to the casual observer, he always proves the naysayers wrong by upping the ante on his own talent and taking the whole damn business of being doubted by the public in stride.

So the question of what Pete Davidson will be doing in the year 2045 when the high tide of celebrity inevitably rolls back into wherever it goes is a funny one to ponder. Growing old sucks, especially if you do it alone while toiling in obscurity. Fortunately, Pete Davidson may not have canoodled with Kim this Christmas, but he’ll always have Paul Rudd in the snow. (We’d take either.)

Here then, in all its receding-hair glory, is An Evening with Pete.

Cover Photo: MEGA (Getty Images)