![]() ![]() Bush to say, based on Bush's reputation for difficulty with public speaking. For an October 2000 skit satirizing a recent presidential debate, Downey coined the word " strategery" for then-presidential candidate George W. He continued to write for the show until 2013, pausing only in 2005 to work on a novel. Simpson a murderer Ohlmeyer was a good friend of Simpson's. Downey believes that it was a result of various jokes on Weekend Update calling O. They were both fired from the show in 1998 at the request of NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer. Downey and Macdonald subsequently became a team, working away from the rest of the cast and crew. When Norm Macdonald began as Weekend Update anchor in the mid-1990s, Downey wrote exclusively for that segment of the show. He returned to SNL in 1984, serving for a while as head writer. Downey left the show in 1980 as part of the mass exodus of writers and actors following Lorne Michaels' departure.Īfter leaving SNL, Downey became head writer of Late Night with David Letterman for a little over a year, 1982 to 1983, during its formative stages. By the 1979–1980 season, Lorne Michaels had lost both Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi to feature film careers, causing him to look to writers like Downey, Tom Schiller, Dan Aykroyd's brother Peter, Al Franken, Alan Zweibel, and Tom Davis to fill spots as cast members (along with SNL bandleader Paul Shaffer and newcomer Harry Shearer). His first stretch as writer for the show ran from 1976 to 1980, culminating in a brief stint as a featured cast member. He arrived at Saturday Night Live the same week as Bill Murray with whom he ended up sharing an office overlooking 50th Street, but he mostly began writing at SNL with Al Franken, Tom Davis, and Dan Aykroyd. ĭowney ultimately worked on 27 of the show's first 32 seasons, one of the longest tenures in the show's history. He was among the first Harvard Lampoon writers to write for television writer Steve O'Donnell said "the proliferation of cable and the proliferation of comedy the sensibilities of the Lampoon a little closer to the sensibilities of the mass media." Simpsons writer Mike Reiss called Downey " patient zero" of Lampoon comedy writers. In 1976, Downey joined the Saturday Night Live writing staff as its youngest member. ![]() He graduated from Harvard in 1974 with a degree in Russian. After graduating from Joliet Catholic High School, he entered Harvard University, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon and later became its president. Early life and education ĭowney grew up in Joliet, Illinois. SNL creator Lorne Michaels called Downey the "best political humorist alive". Downey wrote for over 30 seasons of Saturday Night Live, making him the longest tenured writer in the show's history. James Woodward Downey (born 1952 or 1953) is an American comedy writer and occasional actor. ![]()
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