Franken’s comic stint began way back in high school when he and his childhood friend, Tom Davis, were known for their hilarious performances before classmates. They both had their first stage performance (in political satire) at Minneapolis’s Brave New Workshop theatre and fast forward to 1975 through 1995, Al Franken and Tom Davis were recruited as writers and occasional performers on Saturday Night Live (SNL). In the first season of the show, the two apprentice writers shared a take-home of $350 per week.
Close to the end of Season 5 of Weekend Update, Franken reeled out a ridiculous commentary, A Limo for a Lame-O, about controversial NBC chief, Fred Silverman; calling him a “total unequivocal failure.” Consequently, Silverman declined several recommendations to have Franken as his successor at NBC. Although Franken left Weekend Update in 1980, he later returned to the show five years later as a writer and occasional performer. He finally left the show in 1995 when Norm MacDonald was made anchor instead of him (Franken).
Throughout his career outside politics, Al Franken bagged seven Emmy nominations and three awards for his television writing and production; creating incredible characters such as self-help guru Stuart Smalley.
Al Franken’s career after SNL has seen him write and star in several movies and authored four books that all made the New York Times bestseller list. Back in 2003, Franken became a Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. He has been a contributing writer to The Huffington Post Since 2005.
Franken’s political career began in 2008 when he was first elected to the United States Senate as the nominee of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL, an affiliate of the Democratic Party). He defeated then-incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman by a slight margin of 312 votes; out of about three million votes cast. In 2014, Franken was reelected with 53.2% of the vote over Republican opponent Mike McFadden. However, his once-blossoming political career was halted when he resigned on January 2, 2018, following serious allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by radio station owner, Leeann Tweeden.
