Wikipedia's first sentence called it “producer and writer on such productions as saturday night live”. Today it says “american writer”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American author, playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and comedian”. It now reads “American author, screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and comedian (born 1950)”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025
American author, screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and comedian (born 1950) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is an American writer, producer, director, comedian and actor whom The New York Times says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture." An original Saturday Night Live writer, Zweibel has won five Emmy Awards and two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work in television, which includes It's Garry Shandling's Show (co-creator and producer) and Curb Your Enthusiasm . Among his eclectic body of work, Zweibel collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award-winning production of 700 Sundays , and most recently co-wrote and produced the feature film, Here Today with Billy Crystal. He has written 11 books—his latest, a cultural memoir Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier was published by Abrams Books in 2020. Other books include The Other Shulman: A Novel , which won the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor ; and Lunatics with Dave Barry . Where and when were you born?
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1286083859.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is a producer and writer on such productions as Saturday Night Live , PBS' Great Performances , and It's Garry Shandling's Show .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 359958325.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is an American producer and writer who has worked on such productions as Saturday Night Live , PBS' Great Performances , and It's Garry Shandling's Show .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668575701.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is an American television writer, author, playwright, and screenwriter who was one of the original Saturday Night Live writers, a co-creator of It's Garry Shandling's Show , and consulting producer on Curb Your Enthusiasm .Where and when were you born?
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 952512550.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
American author, playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and comedian Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is an American television writer, author, playwright, and screenwriter whom The New York Times says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture." An original Saturday Night Live writer, Zweibel has won five Emmy Awards and two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work in television, which includes It's Garry Shandling's Show (co-creator and producer) and Curb Your Enthusiasm .Among his eclectic body of work, Zweibel collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award-winning production of 700 Sundays , and most recently co-wrote and produced the feature film, "Here Today" with Billy Crystal.He has written 11 books—his latest, a cultural memoir Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier was published by Abrams Books in 2020.Other books include The Other Shulman: A Novel , which won the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor ; and Lunatics with Dave Barry . Where and when were you born?
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176245836.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “producer and writer on such productions as saturday night live”. Today it says “american writer”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American author, playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and comedian”. It now reads “American author, screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and comedian (born 1950)”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
producer and writer on such productions as saturday night live
Now
american writer
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
