Former SNL head writer and producer Bob Tischler has reportedly died.
Tischler first boarded SNL as a writer and producer when Dick Ebersol took creative control of the show in 1981. He went on to serve as head writer of the series for Seasons 7 through 10, departing in 1985.
Early Tuesday morning, former SNL writer Kevin Kelton—who wrote on the show from 1983 to 1985—shared a Facebook tribute to Tischler. “Sad to learn of the passing of SNL producer Bob Tischler,” Kelton wrote. “Bob hired me (along with Dick Ebersol) on SNL and mentored me along with the rest of the writing staff. He was always fair and supportive and gave us as much autonomy as he could.”
Kelton credited Tischler as being “instrumental in saving SNL” after Jean Doumanian’s “disastrous” year-long tenure as the show’s executive producer (Doumanian briefly served as EP following Lorne Michaels’ resignation at the end of Season 5). Tischler, along with the rest of the writing staff, was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1984.
Kelton also noted that Tischler elevated Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo to SNL leads, discovered Julia Louis-Dreyfus, recruited Jim Belushi, and “built the great ‘84-85 cast,” which included Martin Short, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer.
Tischler and Kelton were reunited in 1996 when they worked together on the NBC sitcom Something So Right. In 1997, Tischler was awarded the Humanitas Award for writing the episode “Something About an Older Guy.”
“We had a lot of fun on that staff,” Kelton wrote of his and Tischler’s time on Something So Right. “I sat next to Bob every day in the writers’ room, where he was again supportive and funny to know.”
Kelton added that, although he and Tischler hadn’t spoken in about eight years, he “always felt a connection” to the former head writer. “Good man, too soon,” the end of the tribute reads. “RIP.”
Outside of SNL, Tischler was an accomplished audio engineer. He engineered National Lampoon’s first comedy album and co-created/produced the National Lampoon Radio Hour; he also produced four Blues Brothers albums. Additionally, he served as a writer and co-executive producer on Boy Meets World, among other sitcoms.
