Saturday Night Live has a long history on the comedy scene and with that comes a long catalog of famous writers and actors who have worked on the show at one point or another. From actors like Bill Murray and Gilda Radner all the way through to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, the show has given us some of the greatest comedic minds out there and a large part of its success comes down to Jim Downey.
The longtime writer of the show has been working with Saturday Night Live for over 30 seasons and now, Peacock has acquired a documentary titled Downey Wrote That, which will explore Downey's history with the show as well as the sketches that have been woven into our comedy zeitgeist.
According to the press release, the documentary will explore the legacy that Downey left on the show: “Through the 30 Rock corridors and down the staircase to Studio 8H, DOWNEY WROTE THAT is a documentary that will explore the sketches, contributions, and enduring influence of Jim Downey, one of the most impactful comedy writers in the history of Saturday Night Live."
Downey Wrote That is produced by Network Entertainment in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio and executive produced by Lorne Michaels, Erin David, Howard Klein, Osmany Rodriguez, Andy Breckman and Susan Morrison.
Downey is also, notably, the uncle of Robert Downey Jr. — which is maybe how the Iron Man actor ended up on one very short-lived season of the sketch comedy show back in 1985. Meanwhile, Downey's tenure on SNL makes him the longest-running writer in the show’s long history on air. He wrote for the show from 1977-1980, 1984-1998, and came back from 2000 until 2013.
What this documentary shows for the future of Peacock is their planned exploration into the world of comedies that NBC possesses. Looking at the long history of Saturday Night Live is going to be exciting and getting to see the show in its entirety is another perk of the streaming service. There's no streaming release date confirmed yet for Downey Wrote That, but stay tuned to Collider where we'll have more reporting on this upcoming documentary in the future.