Why Adam Sandler Was Fired From SNL

Why Adam Sandler Was Fired From SNL

After five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live beginning in 1990, Adam Sandler was fired by NBC executives in 1995 – here’s why.

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Why Adam Sandler Was Fired From SNL

Although now regarded as a comedy icon whose career transcends the few years he was a main cast member on Saturday Night Live, Adam Sandler was actually fired from the show following the 1994-1995 season – here’s why. Saturday Night Live has produced some of the greatest comedy names of all time since its premiere season in 1975, including names like Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, and Tina Fey, though most SNL cast members exit on their own accord. As the cast enjoys a significant level of fame from being the center of television once a week for a few years, the bigger stars tend to branch out on their own and begin successful movie careers.

Adam Sandler began his stint on SNL in 1990 after mostly taking small roles in TV shows and movies as well as performing stand-up in comedy clubs. Sandler was originally hired as a writer, but was brought on as a featured cast member the next season. Sandler was notable on SNL for his original musical skits, memorably his Thanksgiving and Hannakuh songs. He also enjoyed starring as the recurring Weekend Update character, Opera Man.

While most fans believed Sandler left simply to begin his movie career with Billy Madison in 1995, in reality, he was fired from Saturday Night Live by NBC. Sandler claimed that the NBC executives didn’t like him and his crew of guys, particularly for some of the distracting antics he would pull behind-the-scenes to the behest of the writers. Sandler kept a good working relationship with showrunner Lorne Michaels, who likely couldn’t save him and fellow cast-member Chris Farley because he was already in hot water himself. SNL had extremely poor ratings the past couple of seasons, so NBC was ready to go into a new direction to revamp viewership, which meant shuffling in new talent and kicking out old names like Sandler and possibly even Michaels himself.

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Following Sandler and Farley’s departures, SNL enjoyed a new era of comedy in the late 1990s with fresh talent from Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Chris Kattan, and Tracy Morgan. SNL is notable for several dips and peaks of viewership, which means many cast members who don’t get much recognition or have outstayed their welcome are let go. Most of the alumni that went on to enjoy significant film careers left by their own choice, which makes Sandler and Farley’s firing an outlier considering they remain two of the biggest names in comedy. Farley tragically died of an overdose in 1997 after the release of his cult-classic film Tommy Boy, while today Sandler continually brings in audiences to his newer films like Grown Ups, Hotel Transylvania, Murder Mystery, and more recently Uncut Gems.

While obviously a tough pill for him to swallow at the time, Sandler being let go from Saturday Night Live may have been the best path for his career in the long run. Following the acclaim of his first post-SNL films Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, Sandler’s success in movies under his own production company Happy Madison has gained him one of the most celebrated comedy careers of the last 30 years. Sandler seems to now be in good spirits about the way he left SNL considering he continually casts his former cast-mates Chris Rock, David Spade, Tim Meadows, and Rob Schneider. Adam Sandler also made a triumphant return to Saturday Night Live as a host in 2019, reviving his songwriting skills as he recalls being fired from the show in the opening monologue.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/adam-sandler-fired-saturday-night-live-snl-why/

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