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Downey Wrote That • SNL Documentary on Peacock

Posted on 10/20/25 at 9:15 am
Posted by Fewer Kilometers
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2007
37829 posts
Posted on 10/20/25 at 9:15 am

Decent doc on Jim Downey, the long-running head writer on SNL who also did a stint on the early years of Late Night with David Letterman.

A highlight was the segment about his years as the partner of Norm Macdonald for Weekend Update. Even though it's been covered with Downey's interviews with Conan, it's always great to hear those stories again.
Posted by rebelrouser
Columbia, SC
Member since Feb 2013
12686 posts
Posted on 10/20/25 at 9:40 am to
Wow that guy was in There Will Be Blood. Great writer.
Posted by Choupique19
The cheap seats
Member since Sep 2005
64452 posts
Posted on 10/20/25 at 9:50 am to



Not meant for the documentary, just my favorite Jim Downey line
This post was edited on 10/20/25 at 9:51 am
Posted by SUB
Silver Tier TD Premium
Member since Jan 2009
24548 posts
Posted on 10/20/25 at 10:50 am to
Hahaha I didn't know he wrote that. I still use that gif today.
Posted by Choupique19
The cheap seats
Member since Sep 2005
64452 posts
Posted on 10/22/25 at 11:28 am to
quote:

Hahaha I didn't know he wrote that. I still use that gif today.


That’s him speaking the line.
Posted by Jack Ruby
Member since Apr 2014
26300 posts
Posted on 10/22/25 at 12:28 pm to
quote:

Wow that guy was in There Will Be Blood. Great writer.


SNL connection with PTA via Mia Rudolph. Downey plays a great erudite, and especially impactful in 19th or early 20th century settings
Posted by SammyTiger
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Feb 2009
77954 posts
Posted on 10/22/25 at 3:11 pm to
insane that I only know him as the principal in Billy Madison and from the “Jeff Epstein the financier?” bit in Conan’s podcast
Posted by Mister Completely
Marital Bliss
Member since Nov 2007
3150 posts
Posted on 10/22/25 at 4:22 pm to
The interview Conan had with Downey was fricking hilarious. All of the stories about him and Norm Macdonald and what an evil genius team they were.

LINK

The alien autopsy Penthouse joke
Posted by 610man
Louisiana
Member since Jun 2005
8127 posts
Posted on 10/22/25 at 4:49 pm to
Classic
Posted by PowerTool
The dark side of the road
Member since Dec 2009
22786 posts
Posted on 10/23/25 at 2:56 am to
The amazing part of that episode was a story I hadn't heard before, that NBC would've let Norm stay if he would get rid of Jim Downey, and Norm refused. Downey found that out much later from execs.

LINK
Posted by CocomoLSU
Inside your dome.
Member since Feb 2004
155208 posts
Posted on 10/23/25 at 7:02 am to
I finished this last night, and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Sometimes you can just tell when someone is truly funny, and you can see it all over JD. I also liked how as soon as that NBC exec left the company, Lorne called Jim immediately to hire him back.
Posted by Fewer Kilometers
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2007
37829 posts
Posted on 10/23/25 at 10:48 am to
Until seeing this I didn't realize that Downey was the President of the Harvard Lampoon (as was Conan). Doug Kenney and Henry Beard were members around Downey's time before starting the National Lampoon. Modern comedy was shaped by those guys and the staff of the National Lampoon that Lorne Michaels sniped to start SNL.
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