In the summer of 1980, Piscopo was hired as a contract player for Saturday Night Live. The show had gone through a major upheaval when all the writers, major producers, and cast members left that spring. The all-new cast bombed with critics and fans, with the exception of Piscopo and Eddie Murphy; thus they were the only two cast members to be kept when Dick Ebersol took over the show the following spring. With the success of SNL, Piscopo moved to the wealthy borough of Alpine, New Jersey. Piscopo was best known for his impressions of celebrities such as Frank Sinatra. Piscopo rewrote the lyrics for a Sinatra sketch with the help of Sinatra lyricist Sammy Cahn, and recalled that "by the grace of God, the old man loved it." Piscopo and Robin Duke also played Doug and Wendy Whiner.
Post–''Saturday Night Live'' career
Piscopo left Saturday Night Live at the end of the 1983–1984 season. In 1984, he starred in a special for HBO and released a book for Pocket Books called The Piscopo Tapes. An album, New Jersey, for Columbia Records followed in 1985 and an ABC special called The Joe Piscopo New Jersey Special in May 1986. In 1987, Piscopo was mentioned in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' No. 1 rock single "Jammin' Me". In the mid-to-late 80s, Piscopo was known for his interest in bodybuilding. He first got involved with the sport when he was doing impressions of Bruce Springsteen on Saturday Night Live, and then became a muscle-building enthusiast. He appeared on the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine in April 1988 and June 1990. In the latter issue, he said, "Some people in Hollywood think I'm nuts with this bodybuilding stuff. They'll say, 'You're getting too big. You'll hurt your career.' But they don't understand that high that comes from a workout, the challenge, and the personal victory." Since January 2014 he has hosted Piscopo in the Morning with Al Gattullo, Frank Morano, Joe Sibilia, and Debbie DuHaime from 6:00 to 10:00 am, Monday through Friday on AM 970The Answer in New York City. By February 2017, Piscopo, a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, was considering running as an independent for Governor of New Jersey in the 2017 gubernatorial election. However, in April he decided not to do so.
Personal life
Piscopo married former Wheel of Fortune producer Nancy Jones in 1973. They had one child and divorced in 1988. In 1997, he married Kimberly Driscoll, his son's nanny when Piscopo had been married to Jones. They had three children and divorced in 2006. Piscopo is a resident of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, and has lived in Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.
