 He spent two years with that show and performed regularly with improvisational groups, including the Groundlings.In January 1988, "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) executive producer Lorne Michaels, hired O'Brien as a writer.During his three years on "SNL", he wrote such recurring sketches as "Mr. Short-Term memory" and "The Girl Watchers"; the latter was first performed by Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz.