SKETCHY BEHAVIOUR
Saturday Night Live has fired plenty of talent for a variety of reasons
Saturday Night Live delights audiences with side-splitting sketches, amusing monologues and masterful musical performances. The show — which enters its 45th season on Saturday, with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish — has launched the careers of dozens of comedians, but the road to superstardom is full of potholes.
A number of stars have been fired from the show, including some of the biggest names to ever grace Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center in New York, including Chris Farley and Adam Sandler, along with some lesser-knows, such as Shane Gillis, who was fired earlier this month (before he ever appeared on screen) because of racist comments he’d made on a podcast. Following are a few of SNL’s notable firings.
ADAM SANDLER AND CHRIS FARLEY (1990-1995)
The two legendary comedians were staples of SNL for five seasons. There were a number of changes in the back offices of SNL in the mid ’90s that led to much of the cast being fired, though Sandler says the two quit. Bad ratings and reviews forced series creator Lorne Michaels to make tough decisions, including firing two of the best cast members of the decade. With those two gone, there was room for Will Ferrell, who joined the next season. Sandler and Farley became two of the biggest comedy stars in Hollywood with films such as Happy Gilmore and Tommy Boy until Farley’s death in 1997. Sandler continues to score Netflix hits.
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS (1982-1985)
Louis-Dreyfus appeared on SNL in what she called a “pretty miserable” tenure. The then 21-yearold was working with stars such as Eddie Murphy and Jim Belushi, but she never broke out during her three-year stint on the show. She met Larry David, who worked at SNL for one year as a writer, but he eventually got her the role of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. (1985-1986)
Long before he was Iron Man, Downey Jr. was a member of the much-hated 11th season of SNL. Rolling Stone even listed him as the worst cast member of that season — harsh words for someone who’s now generated nearly US$6 billion at the global box office. After leaving the show, he was nominated for the best actor Oscar for 1992’s Chaplin and starred in the highest grossing movie of all time, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
CHRIS ROCK (1990-1993)
Rock was on SNL for three seasons but was fired for expressing interest in moving to the sketch comedy series In Living Color. This past May, Rock appeared alongside host Sandler in a song to joke about his firing. “I was fired by NBC,” Rock sings. “Then I went on In Living Color / three weeks later they took it off TV.” Rock has since become one of comedy’s most successful standups and created the popular TV comedy Everybody Hates Chris.
NORM MACDONALD (1993-1998)
Macdonald was the host of Weekend Update, SNL’s satirical news program, for years until an NBC executive, Don Ohlmeyer, had him removed. A loss in viewers and a drop in quality were blamed for his removal, according to Ohlmeyer. Macdonald has always said he doesn’t think that’s why he was kicked out, instead blaming it on his ongoing O.J. Simpson jokes. (Ohlmeyer was a friend of the disgraced NFL player.)
SARAH SILVERMAN (1993-1994)
Silverman joined the SNL cast of 1993 as a writer and performer, but admits she contributed “not a single funny sketch.” She claims she found out she was let go via fax. “It wasn’t like I did something wrong. I was hired and the following season … they started anew.” From 2007 to 2010, Silverman starred in and produced The Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central. Her Hulu talk show I Love You, America was nominated for two Emmys before it was cancelled in 2018.
JENNY SLATE (2009-2010)
One of the most recent firings on the list, Slate credits accidentally swearing on air in her very first episode as the reason she was cut from the cast. “Lorne and I never talked when I was fired at the end of the season. I got the news online. I’ve still never watched the clip,” Slate told Glamour magazine. “That’d be like watching yourself fall down the aisle at your wedding!”
JOAN CUSACK (1985-1986)
The 1985-86 season was Cusack’s first and last. In 1985, Michaels wanted an all-new cast after being rehired to produce the show. That season would go on to have unprecedented low ratings and receive harsh criticism. Most of the cast was replaced, including Cusack, as a condition for the show’s renewal the next fall. Just two years after her dismissal from SNL, Cusack was nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in the 1988 film Working Girl. Recently, she received five consecutive Emmy Award nominations for playing Sheila Jackson in Shameless, finally winning in 2015.
DAMON WAYANS (1985-1986)
Damon Wayans was hired in 1985, but lasted only one season before being fired for changing a character last minute. Wayans turned a straight male police officer into a flamboyant gay man without asking producers first, and was fired by Michaels for insubordination. Wayans went on to become a writer and performer in the series In Living Color, and recently starred in the Lethal Weapon reboot.
GILBERT GOTTFRIED (1980-1981)
Gottfried is known for two things: his distinct voice and his offensive standup sets. He joined the show during one of its worst eras, directly after the original cast left. “Back then, it was like, if in the middle of Beatle-mania you said, ‘We’re continuing The Beatles but with four other guys,’” he told Boston.com. “That’s what Saturday Night Live was when I was on it. I kind of always felt like that, it was the sacrificial lamb. It was like the next James Bond after Sean Connery left was the sacrificial lamb, everyone hated him.”