Bob Tischler, former 'SNL' head writer, dies at 78 after losing battle to pancreatic cancer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The world of comedy is grieving for one of its own. Bob Tischler, a former 'Saturday Night Live' head writer, died at the age of 78.
Tischler’s son Zeke confirmed his father’s death to the New York Times on Monday, August 12. He informed the publication that the writer of the popular sketch comedy show lost his fight with pancreatic cancer on July 13 at his Bodega Bay, California, home.
Bob Tischler played a pivotal role to help revive late-night series
Bob Tischler received much of the credit for his efforts to bring the late-night program back to life following its 1980–1981 season. After 'Saturday Night Live' founder Lorne Michaels gave the reins to Jean Doumanian for Season 6, the program struggled until Dick Ebersol took control and hired Tischler as a supervising producer.
A year later, Tischler was elevated to head writer, a post he kept until his departure in 1985.
Dick Ebersol detailed on working with Bob Tischler
Dick Ebersol touched on working with Bob Tischler in his 2022 autobiography, 'From Saturday Night to Sunday Night: My Forty Years of Laughter, Tears, and Touchdowns in TV.' The 77-year-old wrote that Tischler “wanted the show to succeed,” noting, “But more than that, he was exactly the leader the writers’ room needed — steady, calm and respected.”
The comic writer wrote for other celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Martin Short in addition to collaborating closely with cast member Eddie Murphy to help bring back the NBC program.
Bob Tischler previously spoke about his time at 'SNL'
“We had this thing for Eddie, because Eddie would take what we wrote and make it better every single time,” Tischler was quoted explaining in James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales’ 2002 book 'Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live.' He added about his time on 'SNL', “I produced a lot of comedy and I did writing, but I wasn’t a member of the union or anything.”
A brief insight into Bob Tischler's illustrious career
On June 12, 1946, Tischler was born in Englewood, New Jersey, to Leonard and Florence (Parets) Tischler. He attended institutions in Ithaca and Franconia in the 1960s before getting a job as a sound engineer for radio and television.
In the 1970s, Guest recommended Tischler to 'National Lampoon' after the pair worked on a radio ad together. From there, he produced 'The National Lampoon Radio Hour' in 1973. Tischler also produced multiple albums, including 'Radio Dinner' in 1972, 'Gold Turkey' in 1975 and 'That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick' in 1977.
He also worked on various albums for his friend John Belushi, one of the original 'SNL' cast members and a 'National Lampoon' alum. Tischler produced four albums for Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's musical comedy group, the Blues Brothers. Later, the song was played on 'Saturday Night Live.'
Tischler wrote for such shows as 'Something So Right,' 'Empty Nest' and 'Boy Meets World' later in his career. According to the outlet, Tischler is survived by his brother Jim, wife Judith Tischler, and son.
