Brian McConnachie, the comedy author greatest identified for his work on Saturday Night Live, SCTV and National Lampoon, has died at the age of 81.
McConnachie died Jan. 5 in Venice, Florida, following issues from Parkinson’s illness. The author’s loss of life was confirmed by Michael Gerber, editor and writer of The American Bystander, a humor journal McConnachie based.
“Every day, on every page, he has been our North Star,” Gerber stated in a press release (shared by way of the Hollywood Reporter). “From his days at National Lampoon, Brian was ‘every comedy writer’s favorite comedy writer,’ crafting an unmistakable one-of-a-kind laid-back eccentricity that inspired generations.
“He is the only person I know who wrote for the Holy Trinity of Seventies Comedy — National Lampoon, SNL and SCTV. This speaks to not only his writing talent, but his bonhomie and ability to be a good friend.”
McConnachie Contributed to ‘SNL”s Early Years
McConnachie initially made a reputation for himself within the ‘70s as one of the main writers for National Lampoon magazine. The publication became a hotbed of young comedic talent. Lorne Michaels recruited many of the writers – including Michael O’Donoghue and Anne Beatts – for his upstart sketch comedy show NBC’s Saturday Night, later renamed Saturday Night Live.
Many of the show’s early stars got here from the National Lampoon ranks, together with John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and (later) Bill Murray.
McConnachie wasn’t a part of Saturday Night Live’s preliminary writing workforce, however ended up becoming a member of the present in 1978 for its fourth season.
“There was a Lampoon piece I did — it was a cartoon of a police lineup of a duck, a refrigerator, a nun and a black man. And a woman is pointing to the black man: ‘He’s the one who did it,’” McConnachie recalled in 2017. “And they did it as a sketch on the show, with Richard Pryor playing the black man. How that played out was Lorne saying to me, ‘Well, we’ve been using your stuff. We might as well hire you.’ ”
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McConnachie solely remained a part of the workers for one yr, although he’d sporadically contribute to additional sketches even after he left. The author was additionally very shut pals with Belushi up till the actor’s loss of life in 1982.
“Belushi would tell me and everyone on the show, ‘If something happens to me, I want you to look after [my wife] Judy.’ And if you hear that enough times, it’s a matter of when,” McConnachie famous. “Toward the end I was getting more and more phone calls from him.”
Watch Brian McConnachie’s 1983 Interview With David Letterman
McConnachie garnered his first Emmy nomination whereas at SNL and later took house a trophy in 1982 for his work on Second City Television, higher referred to as SCTV. His additional writing credit included episodes of The Simpsons, Shining Time Station and Noddy.
McConnachie additionally dabbled in appearing, showing in movies reminiscent of The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew (1983), Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Caddyshack followers might keep in mind him as Drew Scott, one in all Al Czervik’s (Rodney Dangerfield) nation membership pals.
McConnachie additionally had a handful of small roles in Woody Allen movies, together with Husbands and Wives (1992), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Deconstructing Harry (1997), Celebrity (1998), Small Time Crooks (2000) and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001).
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