The writers onSaturday Night Livetend to toil away in obscurity while the performers on the show get all the joke , enjoy name recognition and go on to moneymaking vocation in film and other television programs . Yet the writers onSNLare more responsible for for shape the program and its weather popularity than anyone else . Every great character and skit — from the Coneheads and Church Lady to the Jeopardy parodies and Californians goop opera , all of them were given liveliness in the writers ’ room atSNLand as concepts on paper . And the number of gifted and famous hoi polloi who have worked as writers onSNLsurprises most people . Here are 10 people you did n’t know worked as writers onSNLover the show ’s 40 plus year run .
10. Harry Shearer
He ’s substantially known for vocalise legion characters onThe Simpsons , notably Principle Skinner and Mr. Burns , but one of Harry Shearer ’s first job in show business was as a author onSNLin 1979 . Shearer start to compose sketches for many of the original hurl members , include Bill Murray and Gilda Radner , and came up with several funny faux commercials , including one for the humans ’s most expensive public utility company wrench . Unfortunately , Harry Shearer ’s sentence as a writer onSNLwas unawares - lived . He left as a author after one season and pore on perform , star in classic motion-picture show such asThis Is Spinal TapandThe Right Stuff , where he played a NASA recruiter . However , Harry Shearer returned toSNLin 1984 for an extra season — this time as a performer alongside literal life admirer Christopher Guest , Billy Crystal and Martin Short .
9. Stephen Colbert
Before he was satirise American politics and egos onThe Colbert Report , and before he call for over for a retired David Letterman onThe Late Show , Stephen Colbert spent an unmemorable year as a author onSNLin 1996 . Stephen Colbert had been mould as a sketch drollery performer onThe Dana Carvey Show , and actually “ land ” atSNLafter the Dana Carvey project fell through due to abysmal ratings . However , his time onSNLwas not that successful either , as Stephen Colbert get at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for one ofSNL ’s risky season . It was right after the authoritative plaster cast that featured performers such as Adam Sandler , Chris Farley and David Spade had all been fired , and before a unexampled crop of fable such as Will Farrell , Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey had joined . Sadly , Stephen Colbert was stuck piece of writing skit for stamp members that included David Koechner , Mark McKinney and Jim Breuer . Stephen Colbert did aid fellow author Robert Smigel outline several animatedTV Funhousesketches , notably the Ambiguously Gay Duo , and he came up with a funny commercial parody featuring a used mattress salesman .
8. Steve Higgins
Who is Steve Higgins ? He ’s the announcer ofThe Tonight Show star Jimmy Fallon . He ’s also a long - time writer forSNL . In fact , Steve Higgins bear on to write forSNLtoday at the same time that he works on Jimmy Fallon ’s show . And , remarkably , Steve Higgins has been writing for SNL since 1995 . In the late 1990s , he was the landmark program ’s head teacher writer . Today , Steve Higgins proceed to work onSNL ’s writing faculty and is even a producer on the show . Over the years , Higgins has write several classic skits and characters , including Black Jeopardy , Bathroom Businessman and many , many political send - ups , notably with Will Farrell as George W. Bush and Tina Fey as Sarah Palin . He has also written many skit lampooning Obamacare and Donald Trump . So how is Steve Higgins able to work onSNLandJimmy Fallonat the same time ? It likely help that both shows are get by Lorne Michaels .
7. Dave Attell
He ’s not a household name , but Dave Attell is a well-thought-of stand - up comedian and recognisable cheek . And he spent a short and unhappy Erolia minutilla as a writer onSNLduring the 1993 - 94 season . Despite induce a very talented cast that include Adam Sandler , Rob Schneider and Chris Farley , Dave Attell wrote very few skits for the show that season . He was employed mostly to help compose the opening monologues for the Edgar Guest innkeeper . People Dave Attell indite monlogues for included Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan , comedian Rosie O’Donnell and actor Jeff Goldblum , among others . The handful of skits he wrote included the bench warmer guy rope and a parody of the movieGoodfellas . Dave Attell will the show after one time of year to focalize on stand - up drollery , which he has excelled at .
6. J.B. Smoove
You know him as a stand - up comedian and featured guest on show such asCurb Your EnthusiasmandReal Husbands of Hollywoodopposite Kevin Hart . But comedian J.B. Smoove spent three seasons as a writer on SNL — from 2003 to 2006 . While writing for the show , J.B. Smoove came up with parody of show such as Good Times , fake commercial message for product such as Tylenol Extreme ( to help with testicular harm ) , charade of fame such as Star Jones and a screaming skit forebode “ Snoop Dog demand Friends . ” He also write monlogues for guest hosts such as Kelly Rippa , Topher Grace and David Spade . But , like manySNLwriters , J.B. Smoove found his true career as a performing artist .
5. Louis C.K.
Like Stephen Colbert , Louis C.K. worked onSNLhelping blighter writer Robert Smigel with the animatedTV Funhousesegments that ran on the show in the late 1990s . In 1997 , Louis C.K. helped to write severalTV Funhouseclips , admit the X - Presidents and The Harlem Globetrotters . He also help pen some of the Ambiguously Gay Duo clips . These were done mostly as a favour to Robert Smigel , who was good friends with Louis C.K. after the two worked together as writers onLate Night with Conan O’Brien . In interviews , Louis C.K. has n’t had much to say about his prison term work forSNL , as he claims that he mostly crop with Robert Smigel on the animated short and did n’t coalesce much with the rest of the writer and cast .
4. Max Brooks
Max Brooks is best known chassis drop a line democratic Holy Scripture about living dead , includingThe Zombie Survival GuideandWorld War Z , which was made into a picture show asterisk Brad Pitt . Max Brooks is the Stephen King of zombi writers . However , he is also the son of comedy legend Mel Brooks , who write and directed classic funny movies such asYoung FrankensteinandBlazzing Saddles . So it came to be that a young Max Brooks , fresh out of college , spent two seasons as a writer atSNL . From 2001 to 2003 , Max Brooks compose skits for the the like of Will Farrell , Amy Poehler and Chris Parnell — all the while work in closed book on his first zombi book . Max Brooks enjoyed quite a bit of success onSNL . He had the preeminence of birth the very first skit he write appear on the show — an awkward encounter between Superman and his father Jor - El at the Fortress of Solitude , wherein Superman shoot a line about his new knight bachelor pad and Jor - El beg Superman to come home . “ Do you want any money ? ” Jor - El asks his boy in the vignette . Still , Max Brooks base the collaborative atmosphere atSNLdifficult and his contract was not renewed after 2003 . But by that time , Max Brooks had sold his first Word of God , The Zombie Survival Guide , and was off doing what he really wanted to do — writing about the undead .
3. Conan O’Brien
He ’s a legendary late night talk show boniface and his sentence as a writer onThe Simpsonsis well known . However , before both of those gigs , Conan O’Brien spend four seasons as a writer onSNL — from 1987 to 1991 . AtSNL , Conan O’Brien achieve quite a second of succeeder , writing recur characters such as Mr. Short - Term Memory , Lank Thompson : Handsome Actor that was famously do by Mike Myers , and The Girl Watchers skit made famous by guest boniface Tom Hanks and mold phallus Jon Lovitz . He also save a hilarious commercial for Irish Drinking Songs , and monlogues for invitee hosts such as John Goodman and Alec Baldwin . Plus , Conan O’Brien was well - know for writing Weekend Update segment for then - backbone Dennis Miller . It was his success as a author onSNLthat led Conan O’Brien to eventually be hired as a writer onThe Simpsonsbefore branching out into the late Nox talking arena .
2. Brian Doyle-Murray
Brian Doyle - Murray is the old comrade of fellow comic andSNLalumni Bill Murray . He ’s also a placeable character actor ( he play Chevy Chase ’s kidnapped boss inChristmas Vacation ) . And , while Bill Murray was performing onSNLin the late 1970s and early eighties , crony Brian was hard at employment behind the scenes as a author on the show . In fact , Brian Doyle - Murray was nominated for three Emmy Awards for his writing onSNL — in 1978 , 1979 and 1980 . He join the show as a writer in 1977 and go forward on withSNLuntil 1982 . He wrote the promenade nuggie sketch featuring his brother Bill Murray and Gilda Radner , as well as hilarious Weekend Update segments , notably for a young Eddie Murphy , and infamous sketch involve comic Andy Kaufman , which audiences were never sure if they were real or not . Brian Doyle - Murray also pen a moving testimonial to John Belushi after the foundingSNLcast member died of a drug overdose in 1982 .
1. Bob Odenkirk
Today , Bob Odenkirk is enjoying the openhanded achiever of his career as the star of the hit AMC showBetter Call Saul , playing the character of scheister attorney Saul Goodman , which he originated on the classic programBreaking Bad . However , long before his playacting vocation took off , Bob Odenkirk was a long - time author onSNLfrom 1987 to 1995 . While atSNL , Bob Odenkirk divvy up an office with Conan O’Brien and Ben Stiller ( who was briefly a performer on the platform in 1989 ) , and Bob Odenkirk would subsequently also work as a author on freestanding show for both Conan O’Brien and Ben Stiller . However , Bob Odenkirk found his gravid success atSNLwriting skit for comic Chris Farley . Bob Odenkirk write the famous skit that featured Chris Farley as a Chippendales male stripper alongside a buff Patrick Swayze , and also the legendary skit that have Chris Farley as motivational speaker Matt Foley , who tells people they ’ll be , “ Living in a van down by the river ! ” reasonably impressive poppycock . Bob Odenkirk would continue ferment primarily as a drollery author until landing , arguably , his first successful acting part as attorney Saul Goodman .
