'Saturday Night Live' Brings 20-Year-Old Comedian on as Featured Player

Studio 8H is about to get a little younger. Saturday Night Live is adding 20-year-old comedian Pete Davidson to its featured player repertoire, not long after cleaning house this summer.

Davidson is originally from Staten Island, which is a nice New York touch, but his age is the attention-grabbing detail here. Being 20 doesn't make him the youngest ever – Anthony Michael Hall was 17 when he started in 1985, while Eddie Murphy was 19 at the start of his tenure – but it does make him younger than SNL premiere musical guest Ariana Grande, who will probably always look like a tween. Davidson is also the youngest since Abby Elliott joined the cast in 2008 – and she was already 21 at the time.

Having a Not Ready for Primetime Player who's Not Ready to Drink at the Afterparty is an interesting move – as is casting another white male after last year's controversy about cast diversity. Since then, SNL has added two black cast members, Sasheer Zamata and Michael Che. Davidson is the first white comedian cast in a year. Good for white people.

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In other SNL news today, Mike O'Brien is out as an actor – returning to the writers' room where he originated. That brings the total number of cast members for the new season to 14. The late night institution's 40th season premieres in two weeks.

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2014/09/saturday-night-live-brings-20-year-old-comedian-on-as-featured-player/380202/

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