September in Studio 8H is a lot like an airport terminal. It’s typical to get a rash of departures and arrivals. One departure has been confirmed: writer Martin Herlihy‘s tenure with Saturday Night Live is coming to an end.
Herlihy spent five years as a writer on SNL, four of them as one-third of the Please Don’t Destroy video production team with Ben Marshall and John Higgins. With PDD, Herlihy helped shepherd dozens of video shorts to SNL episodes from 2021 to the end of Season 50 in 2025. Last season he was a writer following Higgins’ exit, while Marshall transitioned to being a cast member.
Herlihy is a second-generation SNL employee. His father Tim Herlihy spent five seasons as a writer on SNL in the 1990s. The elder Herlihy rose to the level of head writer and also served as a producer on SNL. He was famous for collaborating with Adam Sandler.
With Herlihy’s departure, Marshall is the lone member of PDD still attached to the long-running NBC late night program. It’s still not certain that Marshall will return for Season 52, which will debut on September 26.
Herlihy’s credits also include a film, Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, which was released in theaters in 2023. He served as co-writer, co-producer, and also co-starred with Higgins and Marshall in the movie. He had a role in The Running Man (2025), and has toured with Please Don’t Destroy for the trio’s live shows.
