Show creator Lorne Michaels resigned as producer of "Saturday Night Live" at the end of its fifth season and the entire cast and writing staff followed, with the exception of writer Brian Doyle-Murray. Doumanian, who had been an associate producer during the first five seasons of the show and produced a special for Michaels in 1978, was one of the few who remained. She was offered Michaels' job running "SNL", much to Michaels' surprise, and took over the show for the 1980 season, hiring a completely new cast and new writers.