Sometimes, the payoff is worth it. On Saturday night's new episode of Saturday Night Live, an opening monologue from John Krasinski culminated in a kiss between Krasinski and cast member Pete Davidson. The moment — proceeded by a mock audience Q&A in which the former star of The Office was asked to kiss "Pam" to satisfy quarantined TV watchers — might have seemed random and forced, but it seems it could have actually been the culmination of a three-year-long joke setup at Studio 8H.
Back in 2017, Davidson appeared in a Weekend Update segment, insisting that his appearance in more sketches would alleviate his very public mental health battles. His demand included a faux doctor's note, which requested a) the comedian get more camera time, b) he portray the then-in-the-news Rex Tillerson, and c) he would get to air his rap videos (which his "doctor" heard were "really good"). But the note also included the following plea:
"Please use Pete in more sketches where he gets to kiss the host."
A monologue kiss, plus an actually really good "Stan" rap parody from late 2020? We're still one Rex Tillerson impression away from a true hat trick, but seems Season 46 is helping Davidson check most of his boxes.
Image: NBC