Over the years, it’s become the stuff of legend. Arriving for his first hosting stint at Saturday Night Live in 2008, Jon Hamm was surprised to find most of the show’s cast and writing staff donning 50s attire, drinks in hand, and cigarettes in mouths.
In conversation with SNL alum Kristen Wiig for an installment of Variety’s Actors-on-Actors series in 2024, Hamm recalled walking into Monday’s pitch meeting in Lorne Michaels’ office, where the host hears pitches from the cast and writers.
“All the writers are there, and the cast is there, and everybody jams into the small office,” Hamm explained. “And everybody was in Mad Men drag. Which was very strange.”
“Bill Hader was in drag. Paula Pell had a cigarette taped to her finger because she didn’t know how to smoke,” Hamm continued. “Colin Jost is two years out of Harvard and looks like a total Staten Island dirtbag.”
Wiig responded that it was a novelty for the show’s staff, who “never” pull elaborate pranks like that on the hosts. “I don’t think we’ve ever done it since,” she said.
Luckily someone had the foresight to snap a photo, which John Mulaney posted to Twitter ten years later as he was preparing to host SNL for the first time himself.
Looking back, the talent gathered in that photo is like a modern comedy version of Art Kane’s 1958 photo “A Great Day in Harlem.” You may not recognize all of the names, but you’re almost certainly familiar with their work. (Scroll down for details.)
Colin Jost is best known for his work as co-anchor of SNL’s “Weekend Update,” but he was a writer on the show for nine years before he got the gig, and has served two tours as the show’s co-head writer from 2012 to 2015 and from 2017-2022. In 2020, he published a best-selling memoir titled “A Very Punchable Face,” and in 2024 he was the featured comedian at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Paula Pell has enjoyed a thirty year career both in front of and behind the camera. As a writer on Saturday Night Live from 1995-2013, she’s credited with creating Debbie Downer, the Culps, Justin Timberlake’s Omeletteville mascot, and the Spartan Cheerleaders. She’s also served as a writer, producer and actor in dozens of TV shows and movies, including 30 Rock, Big Mouth, The Mapleworth Murders and Girls5eva, in which she stars as Gloria McManus, one the four surviving members of the show’s eponymous 2000-era girl group.
Mike Shoemaker started at SNL in 1986, working his way up from production assistant to producer. In 2009, he left SNL to serve as executive producer on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. When Seth Meyers replaced Fallon on Late Night, Shoemaker stayed on as EP for the new iteration. Since then, he and Meyers have collaborated through their company, Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions, to produce shows like The Awesomes, The Amber Ruffin Show, A.P. Bio, and Mapleworth Murders.
John Solomon wrote for SNL from 2006 to 2014. As the writing partner of former SNL cast member Will Forte, Solomon is also behind MacGruber (the sketches, film, and TV series), The Last Man on Earth, and Extreme Movie. More recently, he’s served as a writer on I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.
James Anderson worked as a writer on SNL from 2000 to 2020, frequently collaborating with Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig, and Cecily Strong. He created recurring sketches like “GIlly” and “The Californians,” and notably wrote a number of queer-themed sketches like “Gays in Space” and “GP Yass.” With fellow writer Paula Pell, Anderson co-created and starred in Hudson Valley Ballers, a web series from Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video subsidiary Above Average Productions. He has also appeared on 30 Rock, The Other Two, and Mapleworth Murders.
Jorma Taccone is best known as part of the comedy trio The Lonely Island. He joined SNL as a writer in 2005, alongside members Akiva Schaffer and Andy Samberg. The trio were behind all of the show’s groundbreaking Digital Shorts, including breakout hits “Lazy Sunday,” “I’m on a Boat,” and “Dick in a Box.” He co-wrote and directed the MacGruber movie. As part of the group, he has acted in Hot Rod, recorded three studio albums, co-wrote and co-directed Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, and now co-hosts The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. Independently, he’s acted in projects like Girls, Parks and Recreation, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
Erik Kenward has been a consistent presence behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live for nearly 25 years. He has served as a writer for the show since 2000, and a producer since 2011. Kenward also worked as a writer and producer on Veep and Documentary Now!.
Andy Samberg was a Saturday Night Live cast member from 2005 to 2012. He’s one-third of The Lonely Island with Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, who joined the show as writers at the same time. A frequent face of the show’s Digital Shorts, he’s also starred in the groups films Hot Rod and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Outside SNL, he’s starred in the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine and films like Celeste and Jesse Forever, That’s My Boy, and Palm Springs. He’s also lent his voice to the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies, the Hotel Transylvania movies, and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
Rob Klein was a writer on SNL from 2007 to 2017, and one of the head writers from 2013 to 2016. He has also served as a writer and producer for Shrill, A.P. Bio, and the upcoming Peacock series starring Aidy Bryant Lonely Hearts Club.
Kent Sublette is currently one of SNL’s head writers. He joined the show as a writer in 2007, was elevated to writing supervisor in 2014, and promoted to his current role in 2017, midway through season 42. He co-wrote the 2011 film Lucky, and wrote the upcoming Max horror-comedy The Parenting. He came up at The Groundlings with comedians like Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, whom he later recruited to play Sean Spicer on Saturday Night Live.
John Mulaney is one of the most present-day famous names from this lineup. As a writer from 2008 to 2013, he created the Stefon character, regularly changing Bill Hader’s lines so that he’d break on the live show. After SNL, his stand-up career took off. He’s released five standup specials, the variety special John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, the sitcom Mulaney, the Broadway show Oh, Hello, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A. and its successor Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney.He has also voiced characters in Puss in Boots, Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers, and the animated Spider-Verse films. He has since become a frequent host of SNL, managing to join the Five Timer’s Club in a span of less than four years.
Simon Rich was an SNL writer from 2007-2011. Hired at 24, he was one of the youngest staff writers in the show’s history. He went on to launch a prolific career in print, publishing two novels, seven short story collections, and essays in The New Yorker. Rich also created the series Man Seeking Woman and Miracle Workers, both based on his published works, and penned All In: Comedy About Love, which played a limited run on Broadway this winter.
Bill Hader had a ton of memorable roles during his 2005-2013 run on SNL, from characters like clubgoer Stefon and newscaster Herb Welch to impressions of Vincent Price, Alan Alda, and James Carville. He joined the cast in 2005, and was prompted to repertory status only a year later. Hader left SNL in 2013, but has returned to host twice. He’s starred in The Skeleton Twins, Trainwreck, and of course Barry—the Emmys-darling HBO show he co-created. He continues to work with castmates Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers as a co-creator of Documentary Now!
Jason Sudeikis spent nine years as a cast member on SNL (2005-2013), but he started as a writer two years earlier. He frequently imitated Joe Biden, Wolf Blitzer, and Mitt Romney. Original characters included The Devil, one of the Two A-Holes, and one half of the Bon Jovi tribute duo Jon Bovi. Post-SNL, he’s best known for developing and starring in the Apple TV+ hit Ted Lasso, in which he plays a football coach turned soccer coach, based on a character from an NBC Sports ad campaign. He returned to host SNL in 2021.
Marika Sawyer, another one of SNL’s youngest writers, was hired in 2006 at only 22 years old. She was promoted to writing supervisor in 2012. Sawyer frequently collaborated with fellow writers Simon Rich and John Mulaney at the show—and has continued that collaboration since, writing on Man Seeking Woman, Mulaney, and John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch. Since 2019, she was a writer and co-executive producer on What We Do in the Shadows.
Will Forte was both a writer and a cast member on SNL for eight season, starting in 2002. A master of the “10-to-1” sketch, some of hi his many off the wall characters, included political candidate Tim Calhoun, The Falconer and MacGruber, which he would later spin-off into a feature-length film and a streaming TV series. Since leaving SNL in 2010, he’s appeared in dozens of film and television projects, earning multiple award nominations for his supporting role in Alexander Payne’s 2013 film Nebraska, and three Emmy Award nominations for his FOX series Last Man on Earth. Since 2021 he’s starred in the FOX animated series The Great North. This May he’s set to reunite with fellow SNL alum Tina Fey in the Netflix miniseries adaptation of The Four Season.
Seth Meyers is best known to Saturday Night Live viewers as an anchor of Weekend Update. He anchored with Amy Poehler from 2006-2008, and solo through 2013. He first joined SNL as a cast member in 2001. In 2005, he became writing supervisor. Months later, he became a head writer—a title he held for the remainder of his time on the show. He departed SNL in 2014 to replace Jimmy Fallon as host of Late Night, which was recently renewed through 2028. Together with Late Night EP Mike Shoemaker, Meyers produces shows like The Awesomes, The Amber Ruffin Show, A.P. Bio, and Mapleworth Murders through their Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions banner. He’s also a co-creator, writer, and executive producer of Documentary Now! with former SNL castmates Fred Armisen and Bill Hader.
John Lutz has been a writer for NBC late-night since 2004. He joined the writing staff at Saturday Night Live midway through its 29th season, where stayed until 2010. At the same time, Lutz played a writer—also named Lutz—on the Tina Fey-created 30 Rock throughout the sitcom’s run. In 2014, he was hired as a writer for the launch of Late Night with Seth Meyers. He continues to write for the show and perform in sketches. Lutz also starred in and executive produced Mapleworth Murders, and recurs on Girls5eva.
Emily Spivey joined the Saturday Night Live writing staff in 2001. After leaving in 2010, she created the sitcom Up All Night, and co-wrote the films Masterminds and Wine Country—the latter of which she also acted in. She also created Fox’s animated 2019-2021 comedy Bless the Harts. Other writing credits include The Last Man on Earth, Loot, and Maya & Marty. Prior to joining SNL, she was a writer for Mad TV.
Kristen Wiig is one of those SNL cast members who secured legend status by the time she left the show. Part of the cast from 2005-2012, her best-known recurring characters include Gilly, Aunt Linda, Target Lady, and one half of the duos Garth and Kat and Two A-Holes. Her star rose higher after 2011’s Bridesmaids. Since then, she has starred in movies like The Skeleton Twins, Ghostbusters, and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Wiig currently toplines the Apple TV+ show Palm Royale. She has also returned to SNL as host. In April 2024, she joined the Five-Timers Club.
Casey Wilson was a featured player on SNL for two seasons between 2008-2009. From 2011-2020, she starred in the ABC sitcom Happy Endings. She has also appeared in the films like Gone Girl, The Meddler, and Julie & Julia — as well as the miniseries The Shrink Next Door. In 2013, she co-wrote and starred in the comedy feature Ass Backwards.
Fred Armisen enjoyed an 11-year career on Saturday Night Live, from 2002-2013. Though he began his carer as a drummer, his sketch comedy chops brought countless breakout characters to SNL. Impressions included Lawrence Welk, Joy Behar, Prince, President Barack Obama, NY Governor David Patterson, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Beyond those, he’s also remembered for his roles in sketches like Garth and Kat, The Californians, and Court Stenographer. While still on SNL, he co-created the Lorne Michaels-produced IFC sketch series Portlandia with Carrie Brownstein, which ran for 8 seasons. When Seth Meyers took over Late Night in 2014, he enlisted Armisen as bandleader and musical director of the house band, The 8G Band. He also co-created and stars in Documentary Now! with Meyers and Bill Hader, and is a voice on Big Mouth.
Bobby Moynihan came to SNL in 2008, staying for nine years. He’s often remembered for recurring Update characters Drunk Uncle and secondhand news reporter Anthony Crispino. His impressions ranged from Guy Fieri to Snooki, and characters included Ass Dan and a dancing skeletons in the David S. Pumpkins sketches. He’s voiced characters in Inside Out, IF, and The Secret Life of Pets, as well as the recent DuckTales animated series. He returned as Drunk Uncle in a 2022 episode of Saturday Night Live and for SNL‘s 50th Anniversary special in February.
Bryan Tucker is a writer who has been with SNL since 2005. From 2014 to 2018, he was one of the show’s head writers. Since 2018, he has served as a senior writer on the show. From 2021-2022, he was an executive producer on Kenan Thompson’s NBC sitcom Kenan, of which he also co-wrote two episodes. Past writing credits include Chappelle’s Show and The Chris Rock Show.
Amy Poehler influenced SNL even before she was cast on the show. In 1996, she co-founded the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, which eventually became New York City’s main tributary of SNL talent. She was cast on SNL in 2001 and promoted to repertory status only one-and-a-half seasons later. She’s perhaps best known as an anchor of Weekend Update—with Tina Fey from 2004-2006, and with Seth Meyers from 2006-2008. She also performed in a range of roles, from Bronx Beat co-host Betty Caruso to Dakota Fanning and Hillary Clinton (which she even played alongside the real Hillary). After SNL, she starred as local Parks Department politician Leslie Knope on the long-running NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Film roles have included Baby Mama with Tina Fey, Wine Country with a whole bunch of SNL peers, and the Wet Hot American Summer franchise. Most recently, she reprised her voice role in Pixar’s Inside Out 2. Poehler has also returned to host SNL twice.
Jon Hamm hosts Saturday Night Live this weekend with musical guest Lizzo this Saturday, April 12, 2025.
