Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | News | August 18, 2025
In my review of Peacock’s Bupkis, I noted that the problem with the Pete Davidson series was … Pete Davidson. Not that there’s anything wrong with Pete Davidson, but after playing variations of himself in his stand-up, on “Weekend Update,” and in King of Staten Island and Big Time Adolescence, it might have been nice to see him play … someone else.
Turns out, Davidson agreed, as he explained on The Breakfast Club podcast (via Deadline): “It just got to a point where I got really tired of my whole career just being my personal life, and living through that is sort of traumatic — not to be lame — but it’s traumatic to live in your own crap all the time.”
I can 100 percent understand that perspective.
Even worse, in the second season they brought in a new writer who wanted him to play a version of himself that wasn’t even realistic. “This new person came and was like: ‘I think Pete should be banging Martha Stewart this season, I think Pete should have more mental issues.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, but I wouldn’t do that.’ And they were like, ‘Well, Pete the character [would].’ And I was like, ‘I can’t do this. If I want any shot at being in real movies or being seen a certain way, I can’t just play myself all the time and be this sack.’”
He’s not wrong. Ultimately, that’s why he abruptly pulled the plug on season two (before even informing the production company). The decision to bail after the show’s renewal, however, didn’t sit well with NBC brass. “They were not pleased. Have you seen me in any NBCUniversal [project since]? They were upset.”
To his credit, Davidson at least “took care” of the writers who wouldn’t have otherwise been paid. But it made him realize that the corporate suits didn’t care about him, except inasmuch as the Pete Davidson persona could generate revenue. They wanted him to be their monkey, and Davidson didn’t want to be their monkey any longer.
He thought canceling his own show might have ended his career, but says of his relationship with NBC now: “I think we’re cool. I talk to everyone over there now and we’re cool. There was a little time where there was some heat and it wasn’t all good … and I understand why, but it just hurt because it was a place I worked for over a decade.”
It’s hard to say, though, that Davidson’s post-Bupkis career has been particularly successful: The Home came and went ($1.7 million at the box office), and The Pick Up is so bad it doesn’t even deserve to be called bad. A box-office hit still eludes him, but I have hope for How to Rob a Bank, a David Leitch feature with Davidson, Nicholas Hoult, and Zoë Kravitz, about bank robbers who post their heists on TikTok.
