Not sure how I ever missed that Adam Sandler and Chris Farley were fired from Saturday Night Live (SNL). Retrospectively, it defies logic.
The advantage of him leaving is all the movies he made in the future. Whether or not he would have been that productive had he remained on SNL we’ll never know.
Two of arguably the greatest comedic talents during my life fired from a TV show celebrating great comedians and comedy? How? Why?
There are countless examples of why Chris Farley was a genius and, sadly, he didn’t live much longer after that (two more years or so), but for the purpose of keeping this post from being too all over the place, let’s just focus on Adam Sandler.
Check out the end of this article about Howard Stern’s interview with Sandler over the SNL firing where he makes a very funny joke about his dramatic role in Uncut Gems [PREVIEW]:
Regarding the film, the mastermind behind “The Ridiculous 6” joked if he’s not nominated for an Oscar for his role in the drama, “I’m going to f–king come back and do one again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay. That’s how I get them.”
Adam Sandler Talks Who Fired Him From SNL | toofab.com
That’s Sandler cleverly pointing out that he deserves an Oscar. I haven’t seen Uncut Gems yet, but it looks really interesting and the same critics who repeatedly bash him for his comedy, with minor exceptions, have so far by and large fawned over his performance in this film, so once the film opens and if the audience praise is the same, perhaps his dream will finally come true?
But let’s go back to the SNL firing. Best as I can tell from researching this topic and from Sandler’s own confusion on the topic, it had something to do with SNL poor ratings in the 1994 and 1995 seasons and the fact there were executives that didn’t like their “gang” which consisted primarily of Sandler, Farley and David Spade.
SNL has had a well known revolving door of comedic talent. They come and go, giving way to a new crop of comics. I’m not a huge fan of SNL and never really have watched, even when Sandler and Farley were there. I have watched many episodes as reruns and a small few episodes of the show live. Of course with YouTube I’ve enjoyed many clips and sketches.
I think SNL is, and has been, funniest when they skewer politics and just generally lampoon everything that’s currently happening in/around us. That’s been the main draw of the show and what continues to keep it relevant. For me, it’s the TV version of Mad Magazine (yes, they had a TV show at one time).
Uncut Gems opens wide in theaters December 13, 2019.
Movies, Movies, Movies 