Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, and More SNL Stars Who Were Head Writers
They may be behind the scenes, but Saturday Night Live's team of writers, led by the show's head writers, have created some of the show's most iconic moments.
They are the unsung heroes of Saturday Night Live, orchestrating some of the biggest laughs from behind the curtain.
Over five decades, SNL’s writers have written some of the sketch comedy show’s most memorable lines and catchphrases, creating one-of-a-kind characters and finding creative — and hilarious — ways to comment on the news of the day.
Each season, SNL’s band of merry writers are led by a head writer, or in many cases a team of head writers, who direct the often chaotic process of developing an entirely new show in just one week’s time, then resetting to do it all again.
“Working here is like, tough, you know?” SNL writer Celeste Yim shared of the process in Peacock's SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, available to stream now. “But then on the other side of that, when I have a good week, that is like millions of people are laughing, so you know, it’s a really scary trade off.”
To learn more about those who’ve held the prestigious title of “head writer” during SNL’s 50-year-run, including comedy legends like Tina Fey and Seth Meyers, read on below:
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Who are SNL's head writers?
As SNL celebrates its milestone Season 50, three talented comedy writers divvy up responsibilities as co-head writers of the show. Alison Gates, Streeter Seidell, and Kent Sublette are at the helm of the writing staff this season, a position the trio has held since 2022.
Gates, who comes from an improvisational background, was once a member of the famed The Second City Touring Company, and also performed with Virgin Daiquiri and Glass Basement before joining SNL as a writer in 2018 for its 44th Season. Gates became a head writer on the show mid-way through Season 47, according to New York Magazine's Vulture.
Seidell’s roots are in stand-up comedy. He began getting on stage to perform stand-up routines while in college at Fordham University, then took his writing talents to the website College Humor, where he eventually became editor-in-chief, according to a profile in Fordham Magazine. He was hired as a writer at SNL in 2014 and became a head writer in early 2022, midway through Season 47.
Sublette has held the position of head writer the longest, earning the prestigious title in January 2017, midway through the show’s 42nd Season, Variety reported at the time. Before joining SNL in 2007, Sublette was a member of The Groundlings improv comedy troupe, performing alongside SNL alum Kristen Wiig, who became a frequent writing partner. During his lengthy comedy career, Sublette has also been brought in to supply jokes to hit comedy films like Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Ghostbusters, according to a profile by The Associated Press.
Past SNL head writers
While Gates, Streeter, and Sublette hold the reins today, they follow a long line of past head writers who have gone on to make their own mark in the world of television and film, creating some of this generation’s best comedies.
Michael O’Donoghue
Although he wasn’t a cast member, comedy writer Michael O’Donoghue delivered the very first line ever spoken on SNL when the show premiered in 1975. O’Donoghue played a language instructor in the inaugural skit opposite John Belushi, but his primary role that season was serving as the head writer alongside SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
O’Donoghue, who was known for writing dark humor that pushed the envelope, took over as the sole head writer in Seasons 2 and 3. The New York Times once characterized his comedy style as “edgy anger at authority and a fondness for bizarre characters and behavior.”
The New York native got his start in comedy co-developing The National Lampoon in 1969. When he joined SNL in 1975, he brought with him some of the top performers from National Lampoon Radio Hour, including Belushi, Gilda Radner, and, later, Bill Murray.
O’Donoghue left SNL after Season 3 and Herb Sargent took over head writer responsibilities, but O’Donoghue was later brought back for part of Season 6 and again in Season 11, when Michaels returned to the show after a five-year hiatus. He left SNL a final time in 1985.
Aside from his tenure on SNL, O’Donoghue also notably co-wrote the holiday film Scrooged alongside Mitch Glazer. He died in 1994 at the age of 54.
Jim Downey
The early 1980s saw a number of head writers including O’Donoghue, Mason Williams, Jeremy Stevens, Tom Moore, Bob Tischler, and Andrew Smith until Jim Downey settled into the position in 1985, during the show’s 11th Season. Downey, whose successful career on SNL spanned more than 30 seasons, remained the show’s head writer for the next 10 years.
Downey first joined SNL during its second season, according to a profile in The New York Times. When Michaels briefly left the show in 1980, Downey did too, becoming a head writer instead for Late Night with David Letterman. He returned to SNL in 1984 and was promoted to head writer the next year — a position he continued to hold through Season 20 in 1995. Downey then shifted focus to producing the "Weekend Update" segments anchored by Norm McDonald.
Downey was also known for writing some of the show’s most memorable political comedy, from his take on 1984 presidential candidate Walter Mondale to his invention of the word “strategery” in a hilarious 2000 debate sketch between Al Gore and George W. Bush.
Downey left the show in 1998, but returned again two years later and stayed until he retired in 2013.
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Adam McKay
Adam McKay was just 28 years old when he became SNL’s head writer in 1996 for Season 22, alongside Tim Herlihy. The duo took over from Steve Higgins and Fred Wolf, who had led the writing staff the previous season. The Oscar winner became the sole head writer the next year, a position he held through Season 24.
McKay’s comedy career began in Chicago, where he was a member of The Second City comedy troupe and also co-founded the Upright Citizens Brigade with Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, and Horatio Sanz. He joined the staff at SNL in 1995 and became immersed in the intense and chaotic process of producing a show in just one week’s time, a task he once called “comedy heaven.”
“During my first two years there, the average work week was around 90 hours,” he once wrote in The Rolling Stone. “There were times we basically didn’t leave the office except to grab five hours of sleep. You drink coffee, smoke, and write — and write, and write, and write.”
During his time at SNL, McKay often teamed with Will Ferrell, a partnership that would extend outside the walls of Studio 8H after he left SNL in 2001. McKay co-wrote and directed Ferrell films like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Stepbrothers. In 2007, the pair launched the comedy website Funny or Die. He also wrote and directed the 2015 movie The Big Short, earning him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a nomination for best director. McKay has also served as an executive producer on Succession and Dead to Me, along with being a producer on Vice.
Tina Fey
Tina Fey holds the distinction of becoming the first female head writer on SNL. The Second City alum, who joined SNL as a writer in 1997, ascended to the role of head writer just two years later for Season 25. During her tenure as head writer, Fey shared the responsibilities first with Dennis McNicholas and later with Harper Steele and Seth Meyers.
Fey was also a well-known cast member on the show, serving as a co-host for "Weekend Update," first with Jimmy Fallon from 2000-2004, then with Amy Poehler from 2004-2006. After leaving the show in 2006, she memorably returned to deliver an uncanny impersonation of 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and has repeatedly taken on hosting duties, earning her way into the prestigious Five-Timers Club in 2015.
Outside of her duties at SNL, Fey wrote and starred in the 2004 hit Mean Girls (Fey relaunched a musical version of the movie in 2024). After leaving show, she also created, wrote and starred in the NBC comedy 30 Rock, a show loosely based around her own experience working at SNL, and later created the TV series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Her acting credits include the films Baby Mama, Date Night, Admission, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, This is Where I Leave You, and Muppets Most Wanted.
Seth Meyers
Long before he was the host of Late Night with Seth Meyers, Meyers got his start in comedy at Northwestern University, where he performed with the school’s prestigious improv group Mee-Ow, according to a profile in The Daily Northwestern.
Meyers continued his comedy career when he joined SNL in 2001 as both a writer and cast member. He was promoted to head writer midway through Season 31 in 2006, alongside Fey and Steele. After Fey left the show at the end of the season, Paula Pell was added as a head writer before Meyers assumed sole head writer responsibilities in Season 34. He remained the sole head writer until Season 38, when Colin Jost was promoted to the position alongside him.
During his time on SNL, Meyers was known for anchoring "Weekend Update" as well as his original characters, like the Appalachian ER receptionist, comedian Boston Powers, scientist Dave “Zinger” Clinger, and Dan Needleman, one half of the couple who should be divorced.
Meyers left SNL midway through Season 39 in 2014 so that he could assume hosting duties on Late Night with Seth Meyers. In addition to his late night duties, Meyers released the Netflix comedy special Lobby Baby in 2019 and released his first picture book I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared in 2022.
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Colin Jost
Colin Jost may hold the title as the longest running "Weekend Update" anchor in SNL history, but his career on the sketch comedy show began behind the camera. Jost, who got his start writing comedy for the Harvard Lampoon, was hired at SNL as a writer in 2005.
He was promoted to the head writer position in Season 38, a role he served over the years alongside others including Meyers, Rob Klein, Bryan Tucker, Sublette, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Gates, and Seidell. Jost’s first tenure as head writer ran from Season 38 through Season 40. He took a brief hiatus from the role — at which point Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider briefly took over the post along with others — before returning as a head writer in Season 43 and continuing through Season 47.
The stand-up comedian, who is married to actress Scarlett Johansson, is mostly known to SNL fans for co-anchoring "Weekend Update" alongside Che. He’s been at the news desk since 2014, earning him the distinction as the longest running anchor of the segment to date. In 2020, Jost released his own memoir A Very Punchable Face, which would go on to become a The New York Times bestseller.
Michael Che
Michael Che, a native of New York City, once designed and sold T-shirts out of the trunk of his car before finding his way to comedy, according to TODAY. Che, who attended NYC’s prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts, was spotted doing comedy in the city by Jost, who invited him to write sketches for SNL.
Che joined SNL as a writer in 2013. The following year, he became a cast member and joined Jost as a co-anchor on the Weekend Update news desk. He became a head writer on the show in 2017 for Season 43 and continued in the post through Season 47.
Che continues to serve as both a writer and cast member on the show today. In addition, he had his own Netflix comedy special Michael Che: Shame the Devil in 2021, co-hosted the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards alongside Jost in 2018, and starred in the Max comedy series That Damn Michael Che.
