CNN’s Have I Got News For You is expanding its writers’ room ahead of its third season. LateNighter has learned that veteran late-night scribe Jill Twiss has joined the show’s writing staff.
Twiss is best known for her five-year run as a senior writer on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014–2019), where she collected multiple Emmys, several Writers Guild of America Awards, and a Peabody Award. (Fans of the show may recognize her as “Janice in Accounting.”)
Twiss also wrote the show’s New York Times No. 1 bestseller A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, which went on to become a cultural phenomenon. She later authored several more children’s books of her own, including 2021’s Major Makes History: From the Shelter to the White House, about Joe Biden’s German shepherd Major—the first rescue dog to live in the White House.
Her new role on Have I Got News For You reunites Twiss with Amber Ruffin, with whom she collaborated on The Amber Ruffin Show during its Peacock run from 2021 to 2022.
Twiss joins returning HIGNFY writers Jim Biederman, Dan Chamberlain, Jodi Lennon, and Michael Pielocik. The show’s head writer is Mason Steinberg.
Hosted by Roy Wood Jr., and featuring team captains Ruffin and Michael Ian Black, Have I Got News For You returns this Saturday, September 6. Airing on what has traditionally been a quiet night for cable news, the show has proven to be a bright spot for CNN’s Saturday schedule, earning praise from critics, and frequently outperforming the network’s weekday primetime lineup. Episodes stream the following day on HBO Max.
