The political gap irritated Michaels and a cast member, Seth Meyers, also the show's lead writer. The show prides itself on political parody and here, during one of the most exciting nomination contests in generations, the writers have been sidelined. Mitt Romney's Republican candidacy was gone before they returned. "I was in a rage for three of the four months," Michaels said, "then I sort of calmed down."

Even though some talk shows returned without writers until the strike was settled, Michaels said it was never an option at "SNL." NBC placed no pressure on him to do so, either. Returning before the strike ended would have been a breach of faith with the writers guild, but also in the collaborations between writers and cast members on the show, he said.

Meyers - who joined with O'Brien and David Letterman in growing a "strike beard" - shaved his off before going back to work. Some of his creative energies were burned off doing a weekly theater show with a fellow cast member, Amy Poehler, and "a lot of wisecracks in bars," he said. "I did that a lot. It pays almost nothing. You have to do it for hours to get people to pay for a drink."