The Real Reason SNL Had No Choice But To Fire Adam Sandler

uh seriously you don't understand this is not for sale no no you don't understand canteen boy i want that canteen this is adam sandler and as far as saturday night live alumni go he is one of the most successful cast members of all time during his tenure at saturday night live sandler created some truly memorable and impactful characters like opera man the gap girls and of course the extremely questionable canteen boy you know the city's redoing the sidewalks over on river road well i leaned over the guardrails and i wrote in the wet cement cheryl teeth has big boobs audiences really connected with sandler's aggressive yet whimsical approach to sketch comedy and some of the songs he created during his tenure went on to become chart-topping singles however adam sandler quickly found himself serving as the canary in the coal mine for one of the most turbulent periods in the show's history despite his star seemingly being on the rise after his fifth season adam sandler was fired from snl saturday night live's hiring of adam sandler came largely at the request of dennis miller who was at the time serving as saturday night live's lead anchor for weekend update and also head writer of the show sandler was having some small successes with roles in the cosby show as theo huxtable's friend smitty and starring in the low budget feature film going overboard alongside billy zane and billy bob thornton sandler was really focusing on his career as a standard comedian at the time and after dennis miller caught one of his sets in los angeles he made the recommendation to lorne michaels to bring sandler on as a writer in the world of saturday night live there are a couple different pathways for comedians to take toward becoming a player on the show some performers get hired as cast members right out of the gate there are usually seasoned veterans from the nation's leading comedy theaters however some performers get brought in as writers first and eventually work their way into becoming a featured player sandler eventually made the cut and worked his way up to becoming a featured player and was able to instantly connect with home viewing audiences adam sandler's natural way of channeling testosterone-fueled aggression through a childlike silliness really seemed to click with people and within a year he became a full-fledged cast member sandler was definitely a unique presence on the show to say the least comedy in the 90s was predominantly narrative based there wasn't really any precedent set for adam sandler's childlike absurdity and this is how adam sandler was able to stand out from the show's primary cast of performers you did it how do you feel like i can fly senor however this irreverent style of comedy can be polarizing and a shift in ratings could be easy to pin on oddball cast members in 1995 saturday night live saw the largest ratings drop in the show's history they estimated it was about a 19 decrease in viewership and while a decrease in ratings is a very normal thing that happens on snl something this large demands immediate action from nbc's top brass that action is typically a turnover of key staff members and performers when saturday night live brings on new performers they typically begin trumpeting their arrival as loudly as possible across every conceivable media outlet and parading them around press conferences like horse shows this is largely because marketing an all-new cast to performers is an easy way to stir up public interest in the show adam sandler has gone on record to say that he believes that his firing was due to the people at the top of the nbc food chain just not liking the cast and wanting to take the show in a new direction while nbc has never really spoken out on the issue it's hard to look at what happened at saturday night live in 1995 without things seeming like there was some sort of personal vendetta going on toward the cast and crew adam sandler and chris farley weren't the only casualties of that season mike myers left the show mid-season presumably to focus on his film career after the success of wayne's world one and two janine garofalo left the show after just four episodes of being on the cast citing homophobia and sexism as her reasons for leaving after stuart saves his family flopped in the box office al franken left the show and went into politics and these are just the performers who left for definitive reasons 1995 also saw the dismissal and or resignation of the following performers kevin nealon ellen cleghorn michael mckean jay moore chris elliott more wayna banks and tim meadows however meadows would have his termination reversed and remained a cast member for seven more seasons never in the entirety of snl's history has a turnover of this magnitude taken place some of the cast knew that their time was up at snl but some were completely surprised by it sandler didn't find out about his termination through traditional means but rather through an awkward conversation with his manager during a meeting adam sandler was outlining his plans with his manager which included what he thought he was going to do on the show and his manager said something to the effect of what if you don't go back next year to which sandler remarked that he still had a lot to do on the show and that he wasn't quite done yet he also told his manager that he would think about it to which his manager responded i think you've thought about it when saturday night live dismisses performers it seldom explains itself they break things off fast and clean behind the security of what we can only assume is an ironclad non-disclosure agreement saturday night live was adam sandler's only gig at the time so he really didn't have an idea of what to do with himself however saturday night live has a way of giving even to the performers that it ends up terminating while getting let go from saturday night live undoubtedly stung it opened the doors for adam sandler to become one of the most successful cast members to date his breakout film billy madison was largely panned by critics but it achieved enough cult status to warrant sandler another leading role with happy gilmore which ended up becoming a colossal success after that the ball kept rolling for adam sandler it's a boat time hey it is about time i mean i just couldn't get the ball in the hole the wedding singer and the water boy were both released in 1998 just three years after sandler had left saturday night live and both became the number one movie in america to this day adam sandler's films have grossed a little over three billion dollars at the box office making him the highest earning saturday night live alumni in movie history if you don't count robert downey jr i'm the best it's hard to believe but that's more than steve martin bill murray will ferrell or kristen wiig sandler has also held roles to a high degree of critical acclaim his performance in paul thomas anderson's punch drunk love earned the actor a golden globe nomination and his performance in uncut gyms earned the actor an independent spirit award these are all things that adam sandler addressed when he returned to host saturday night live for the first time in 25 years back on may 4th 2019 when he played i was fired during his opening monologue adam sandler's firing from saturday night live may have come as a bit of a shock to him and his fans back in 1995 but as the saying goes sometimes when a door closes a window opens adam sandler was able to turn his firing into a career of making the movies he loves to make and hiring his best friends to work on them with him while the movies he produces all vary in quality there is something to be said about what adam sandler has accomplished for himself isn't this the goal for us all to be able to do the things we love to do with the people we care about the journey to get to snl is a long and arduous climb through this nation's varying proving grounds performers work and study tirelessly trying to develop characters bits and routines that will land them one of the few coveted spots on snl's cast and for many of them snl is often the goal getting fired from saturday night live could easily be interpreted as being the end of someone's career but it often isn't saturday night live granted adam sandler enough recognition for someone to take a chance on him by greenlighting billy madison now you're all in big big trouble and he never stopped pushing adam sandler's firing from saturday night live is a testament to the chaotic nature of how hollywood works you could be down on your luck in 1995 but in three years later you can go on to star in two of the most popular movies in america cementing yourself as a household name i am the smartest man alive and hey that's it for this one folks be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below and thanks for watching nostalgic [Music]

Channel: Nerdstalgic

Views: 380,050

Keywords: Adam Sandler, Adam Sandler SNL, Adam Sandler Saturday Night Live, Adam Sandler Fired, Adam Sandler Movies, Nerdstalgic, Adam Sandler Stand Up, Adam Sandler SNL40, Adam Sandler Lunch Lady Land, Adam Sandler Chanukah Song, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Fired, SNL, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, David Spade, Will Ferrel, Lorne Michaels, Kristin Wiig, Sketch Comedy, MadTV, Key and Peele, Chappelle's Show, New Rockstars, Corridor Crew, Screen Crush, IGN, Nerdist

Id: SfRzSpcO3XA

Length: 8min 25sec (505 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 01 2022