List of Saturday Night Live writers
Encyclopedia
Lorne Michaels
and Dick Ebersol
's American live sketch comedy
and variety show
Saturday Night Live
(abbreviated as SNL) has employed a large staff of writers during its thirty-seven season run. The staff generally consists of a large crew of writers who develop sketch ideas for the show and one or more head writers who help dictate which sketches will be developed further.
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Season 8
Season 9
Season 10
Season 11
Season 12
Season 13
Season 14
Season 15
Season 16
Season 17
Season 18
Season 19
Season 20
Season 21
Season 22
Season 23
Season 24
Season 25
Season 26
Season 27
Season 28
Season 29
Season 30
Season 31
Season 32
Season 33
Season 34
Season 35
Season 36
Season 37
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
and Dick Ebersol
Dick Ebersol
Duncan "Dick" Ebersol is an American television executive and a senior adviser for . He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large scale television events such as the Olympic Games and National Football League broadcasts....
's American live sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
and variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(abbreviated as SNL) has employed a large staff of writers during its thirty-seven season run. The staff generally consists of a large crew of writers who develop sketch ideas for the show and one or more head writers who help dictate which sketches will be developed further.
Season 1Saturday Night Live (Season 1)The first season of Saturday Night Live, the weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show on NBC, aired during the 1975–1976 television season...
(1975-1976)
Head writer(s) |
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Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:... & Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York... |
Writing staff |
|
Season 2Saturday Night Live (Season 2)Saturday Night Live aired its second season during the 1976–1977 television season on NBC. The second season started on September 18, 1976, and ended on May 21, 1977....
(1976-1977)
Head writer(s) |
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Michael O'Donoghue |
Writing staff |
|
Season 3Saturday Night Live (Season 3)Saturday Night Live aired its third season during the 1977–1978 television season on NBC. The season began on September 24, 1977 and ended on May 20, 1978. The DVD for the entire season was released on May 13, 2008....
(1977-1978)
Head writer(s) |
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Michael O'Donoghue |
Writing staff |
|
Season 4Saturday Night Live (Season 4)Saturday Night Live aired its fourth season during the 1978–1979 television season on NBC. The fourth season started on October 7, 1978 and ended on May 26, 1979. The season four DVD was released on December 2, 2008....
(1978-1979)
Head writer(s) |
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Herb Sargent |
Writing staff |
|
Season 5Saturday Night Live (Season 5)Saturday Night Live aired its fifth season during the 1979–1980 television season on NBC. The fifth season started on October 13, 1979 and ended on May 24, 1980...
(1979-1980)
Head writer(s) |
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Herb Sargent |
Writing staff |
|
Season 6Saturday Night Live (Season 6)Saturday Night Live aired its sixth season during the 1980–1981 television season on NBC. Season six started on November 15, 1980 and ended on April 11, 1981, with only 13 episodes...
(1980-1981)
Head writer(s) |
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Mason Williams Mason Williams Mason Williams is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his guitar instrumental "Classical Gas". He is also a comedy writer, known for his writing on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and Saturday Night Live... (episodes 1-12), Michael O'Donoghue (episode 13) |
Writing staff |
|
Season 7Saturday Night Live (Season 7)Saturday Night Live aired its seventh season during the 1981–1982 television season on NBC. The seventh season started on October 3, 1981 and ended on May 22, 1982...
(1981-1982)
Head writer(s) |
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Michael O'Donoghue (episodes 1-8), Bob Tischler (episodes 9-20) |
Writing staff |
|
Season 8Saturday Night Live (Season 8)Saturday Night Live aired its eighth season during the 1982–1983 season on NBC. The 8th season started on September 25, 1982 and ended on May 14, 1983. This was the third season to air since Lorne Michaels had left his first tenure as executive producer.Many changes happened before the start of the...
(1982-1983)
Head writer(s) |
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Bob Tischler & Andrew Smith |
Writing staff |
|
Season 9Saturday Night Live (Season 9)Saturday Night Live aired its ninth season during the 1983–1984 television season on NBC. The ninth season started on October 8, 1983 and ended on May 12, 1984.Before the start of the season the entire cast returned for another season...
(1983-1984)
Head writer(s) |
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Bob Tischler & Andrew Smith |
Writing staff |
|
Season 10Saturday Night Live (Season 10)Saturday Night Live aired its tenth season during the 1984-1985 television season on NBC. The season contained 17 episodes and was cut short due to a writer's strike and budget constraints....
(1984-1985)
Head writer(s) |
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Bob Tischler & Andrew Smith |
Writing staff |
|
Season 11Saturday Night Live (Season 11)Saturday Night Live aired its 11th season during the 1985-1986 television season on NBC. The season started on November 9, 1985 and ended on May 24, 1986, 18 episodes were produced....
(1985-1986)
Head writer(s) |
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Al Franken & Tom Davis |
Writing staff |
|
Season 12Saturday Night Live (Season 12)Saturday Night Live aired its twelfth season during the 1986-1987 television season on NBC. The 12th season started on October 11, 1986, the 11th anniversary of the show's first episode, and ended on May 23, 1987....
(1986-1987)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 13Saturday Night Live (Season 13)Saturday Night Live aired its thirteenth season during the 1987-1988 television season on NBC. Season 13 started on October 17, 1987 and ended on February 27, 1988.Before the start of the season few changes happened...
(1987-1988)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 14Saturday Night Live (Season 14)Saturday Night Live aired its fourteenth season during the 1988 - 1989 television season on NBC. The season began on October 8, 1988, and ended on May 20, 1989. 20 episodes were produced....
(1988-1989)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 15Saturday Night Live (Season 15)Saturday Night Live aired its fifteenth season during the 1989 - 1990 television season on NBC. The fifteenth season started off with a 15th anniversary special on September 24, 1989 and ended on May 19, 1990. 20 episodes were produced....
(1989-1990)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 16Saturday Night Live (Season 16)Saturday Night Live aired its sixteenth season during the 1990-1991 television season on NBC. 20 episodes were produced. The sixteenth season began on September 29, 1990, and ended on May 18, 1991....
(1990-1991)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 17Saturday Night Live (Season 17)Saturday Night Live aired its seventeenth season during the 1991-1992 television season on NBC. The seventeenth season started on September 28, 1991, and ended on May 16, 1992. 20 episodes were produced....
(1991-1992)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 18Saturday Night Live (Season 18)Saturday Night Live aired its eighteenth season during the 1992-1993 television season on NBC. The eighteenth season began on September 26, 1992, and ended on May 15, 1993....
(1992-1993)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 19Saturday Night Live (Season 19)Saturday Night Live aired its nineteenth season during the 1993-1994 television season on NBC. The season began on September 25, 1993 and ended on May 14, 1994....
(1993-1994)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey |
Writing staff |
|
Season 20Saturday Night Live (Season 20)Saturday Night Live aired its twentieth season during the 1994–95 television season on NBC. The twentieth season began on September 24, 1994 and ended on May 13, 1995....
(1994-1995)
Head writer(s) |
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Jim Downey & Fred Wolf |
Writing staff |
|
Season 21Saturday Night Live (Season 21)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-first season during the 1995-1996 television season on NBC. The twenty-first season began September 30, 1995 and ended on May 18, 1996. 20 episodes were produced....
(1995-1996)
Head writer(s) |
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Steve Higgins Steve Higgins Steve Higgins is the announcer for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He was previously a cast member, writer, and producer for the show The Higgins Boys and Gruber, and he has a long-time association with Saturday Night Live in mostly behind-the-scenes roles as writer and producer. Higgins was... & Fred Wolf |
Writing staff |
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Season 22Saturday Night Live (Season 22)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-second season during the 1996-1997 television season on NBC. The twenty-second season began on September 28, 1996 and ended on May 17, 1997 with 20 episodes in all....
(1996-1997)
Head writer(s) |
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Steve Higgins & Adam McKay |
Writing staff |
|
Season 23Saturday Night Live (Season 23)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-third season during the 1997–98 television season on NBC. The twenty-third season started September 27, 1997 and ended on May 9, 1998, with 20 episodes being produced. A few changes happened before the start of the season, Mark McKinney left the show while...
(1997-1998)
Head writer(s) |
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Adam McKay |
Writing staff |
|
Season 24Saturday Night Live (Season 24)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-fourth season during the 1998-1999 television season on NBC. The twenty-fourth season started on September 26, 1998 and ended on May 15, 1999 with 19 episodes in all .Before the start of the season Jim Breuer was fired from the show...
(1998-1999)
Head writer(s) |
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Adam McKay |
Writing staff |
|
Season 25Saturday Night Live (Season 25)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-fifth season during the 1999-2000 television season on NBC. The 25th season started on September 25, 1999 and ended on May 20, 2000 with 20 regular episodes plus a 25th Anniversary Special. The special looked back at the series' highlights during its first...
(1999-2000)
Head writer(s) |
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Tina Fey & Dennis McNicholas |
Writing staff |
|
Season 26Saturday Night Live (Season 26)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-sixth season during the 2000–2001 television season on NBC. 20 episodes were produced. The season began on October 7, 2000 and ended on May 19, 2001....
(2000-2001)
Head writer(s) |
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Tina Fey & Dennis McNicholas |
Writing staff |
|
Season 27Saturday Night Live (Season 27)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-seventh season during the 2001-2002 television season on NBC. The season started on September 29, 2001 and ended on May 18, 2002, 20 episodes were produced....
(2001-2002)
Head writer(s) |
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Tina Fey & Dennis McNicholas |
Writing staff |
|
Season 28Saturday Night Live (Season 28)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-eighth season during the 2002-2003 television season on NBC. Season 28 started on October 5, 2002 and ended on May 17, 2003 having 20 episodes through the season....
(2002-2003)
Head writer(s) |
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Tina Fey & Dennis McNicholas |
Writing staff |
|
Season 29Saturday Night Live (Season 29)Saturday Night Live aired its twenty-ninth season during the 2003–04 television season on NBC. The twenty-ninth season began on October 4, 2003 and ended on May 15, 2004 with 20 episodes in all....
(2003-2004)
Head writer(s) |
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Tina Fey & Dennis McNicholas |
Writing staff |
|
Season 30Saturday Night Live (Season 30)Saturday Night Live had its thirtieth season on the 2004-2005 television season on NBC. The thirtieth season began on October 2, 2004 and ended on May 21, 2005 with 20 episodes in all.Before the start of this season, Jimmy Fallon left the show...
(2004-2005)
Head writer(s) |
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Tina Fey & Andrew Steele |
Writing staff |
|
Season 31Saturday Night Live (Season 31)Saturday Night Live aired its thirty-first season in the 2005-06 television season on NBC. The season began on October 1, 2005, and ended on May 20, 2006 with 19 episodes in all. The season was cut one episode short due to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games...
(2005-2006)
Head writer(s) |
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Tina Fey, Seth Meyers Seth Meyers Seth Adam Meyers is an American actor and comedian. He currently serves as head writer for Saturday Night Live and hosts its news parody segment Weekend Update.-Early life:... & Andrew Steele |
Writing staff |
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Season 32Saturday Night Live (Season 32)Saturday Night Live aired its thirty-second season during the 2006-2007 television season. This season began on September 30, 2006 and ended on May 19, 2007 with 20 episodes produced....
(2006-2007)
Head writer(s) |
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Seth Meyers, Paula Pell & Andrew Steele |
Writing staff |
|
Season 33Saturday Night Live (Season 33)Saturday Night Live aired its thirty-third season, during the 2007–2008 television season on NBC.Because of the 2007–2008 WGA strike, there are 12 episodes this season instead of the usual 20 , making this the shortest season in the series run and beating out both the sixth season...
(2007-2008)
Head writer(s) |
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Seth Meyers, Paula Pell, Andrew Steele |
Writing staff |
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Season 34Saturday Night Live (Season 34)The thirty-fourth season of the variety series Saturday Night Live began airing in 2008 and concluded in 2009 on NBC. This season of Saturday Night Live consisted of 22 episodes, in an attempt to compensate for episodes lost during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike...
(2008-2009)
Head writer(s) |
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Seth Meyers |
Writing staff |
|
Season 35Saturday Night Live (season 35)Saturday Night Live aired its thirty-fifth season during the 2009-2010 television season on NBC. This season began on September 26, 2009 and ended on May 15, 2010....
(2009-2010)
Head writer(s) |
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Seth Meyers |
Writing staff |
|
Season 36Saturday Night Live (season 36)Saturday Night Live aired its thirty-sixth season during the 2010–2011 television season on NBC. This season began on September 25, 2010 with former cast member Amy Poehler serving as host and Katy Perry as the musical guest, and ended on May 21, 2011 with Justin Timberlake serving as host and Lady...
(2010-2011)
Head writer(s) |
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Seth Meyers |
Writing staff |
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Season 37Saturday Night Live (season 37)Saturday Night Live is airing its thirty-seventh season during the 2011–2012 television season on NBC. The season officially began on September 24, 2011 with host Alec Baldwin, who returned to host for a record sixteenth time and with musical guest Radiohead...
(2011-2012)
Head writer(s) |
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Seth Meyers |
Writing staff |
|