Two months before he died, Chris Farley returned to host the show that made him famous.
It was hard to watch for all the wrong reasons.
In 1995, two years before Farley's final "Saturday Night Live" appearance, New York
Magazine published an article titled "Comedy Isn't Funny," detailing the show's dysfunction behind
the scenes. To make matters worse, Farley graced the magazine's cover, seemingly branding him as
the cause of the show's plummeting ratings. The show was facing a PR nightmare, and the
only solution was to clean house. "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, whose
reputation was tarnished following the article, had no choice but to completely revamp the show.
Between 1994 and 1995, the show dropped almost its entire cast,
including some of its biggest stars like Phil Hartman and Mike Myers.
Some cast members, like Chris Farley and Adam Sandler, were fired at the end of the season.
The firing of Farley and Sandler came as a shock, particularly to the actors themselves,
Sandler told The Daily Beast. He also detailed how the two used
each other for emotional support during this time.
"We got mad together, pretended- pretended we weren't sad and pretended this was for the best."
However, Farley's time away from the show wouldn't
be that long — although his return would come with quite the price.
Farley's time following "Saturday Night Live" was the start of a burgeoning movie career.
In '95 and '96, he and "Saturday Night Live" castmate David Spade
starred in the comedy films "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep," both of which were beloved by audiences.
However, not all of this success was appealing to Farley, who for years had struggled with his
public image and drug abuse as a result of his fame. According to the New York Post,
Farley was disappointed with "Black Sheep" but nevertheless agreed to it.
At a screening of the film in New Jersey, Farley relapsed on alcohol
after three years of sobriety. He returned to rehab prior to filming "Beverly Hills Ninja,"
a movie his close friends and family tried to convince him not to make.
Farley returned to "Saturday Night Live" in 1996 alongside David Spade
to promote "Black Sheep." Over a year later, on October 25, 1997,
Farley was invited to host the show. Unbeknownst to the cast, crew, and audience at the time,
this hosting gig would be Farley's last appearance on TV before he died in December 1997.
The opening of Chris's "Saturday Night Live" hosting debut wasted no time in addressing his
struggles with substance abuse. The cold open features Tim Meadows in Lorne Michaels' office
trying to convince the producer to let Farley host. Michaels is apprehensive about letting
Farley back, but Meadows reassures him that post-rehab Farley is clean.
The trio is also visited by Farley's sponsor, Chevy Chase, who backs up Farley's claim.
Unfortunately, Farley's promise to Lorne doesn't last long,
as the comedian doesn't show up for his monologue only moments later. Instead,
he's in his old dressing room, flirting with cast member Ana Gasteyer. Tim Meadows
tries to come to the rescue as a replacement host until Michaels forces him off the stage
in place of Chris Rock. Together, Meadows and Rock introduce Farley, and they start the show.
For his first real sketch back since being fired in 1995, Farley plays the producer of a morning
talk show called "Morning Latte." In this sketch, Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri's talk show hosts are
hysterical over an anecdote of Farley's character involving an embarrassing CD purchase he made.
The sketch grows increasingly awkward as Farley's producer, Ted, tries to match the energy of
Ferrell and Oteri's characters, and chimes in that he also met Will Smith over the weekend.
They seem unfazed by this news, still cracking jokes about his humiliating CD story. The sketch
also contains an iconic Cheri Oteri moment as she emphasizes Ferrell's Italian translations:
"Which uh, of course in Italian means-
"Affection!"
"No, actually it's abundance."
"Abundance!"
What really makes the sketch, however, is Farley's somewhat subdued performance.
It's refreshing to see the comedian playing a character who seems almost frustrated with how
over-the-top he has to be to earn the affections of these naive daytime talk show personalities.
Molly Shannon and Farley were only ever on the cast together for half of one season,
but fortunately, the two got their chance to shine together when Farley returned to host.
In the second sketch of the night, Shannon reprises her iconic character
Mary Katherine Gallagher, an unpopular Catholic school girl.
The sketch takes place during a dance at St. Monica's Catholic School.
Farley, playing a student named Mickey, asks the school's nuns to dance with him,
as he doesn't have a date. Mary Katherine Gallagher, on the other hand, fawns over another
student, but when Mary's crush rejects her, she finds herself being asked to dance by Mickey.
This is certainly one of the cuter sketches of the night and an
excellent showcase for both Farley and Shannon.
It wouldn't be an episode of "Saturday Night Live" hosted by Chris Farley without
an appearance by the motivational speaker Matt Foley. The character originated at Second City
and was developed by Bob Odenkirk based on an improvisation by Farley. The original sketch
is often regarded as one of the greatest sketches in "Saturday Night Live" history,
and the character of Matt Foley is easily one of the most famous ever featured on the show.
Farley reprised the character many times while he was on the show, although this appearance would
be his last time donning the iconic glasses and checkered jacket. In this iteration,
Foley is hired as a motivational speaker for a spin cycle class, screaming at the participants as
he rips his pants and rants about living in a van down by the river in an attempt to motivate them.
The biggest laugh from the audience in this sketch comes when Matt Foley needs to take a
break to hydrate. He pulls out a coffee pot from his duffel bag and douses himself in coffee.
"Can we continue pedaling because we're all paying for this class OK?"
"SHUT YOUR PIPEHOLE MISSY!"
Though this sketch isn't as iconic as Farley's first foray with the motivational speaker,
it's enough of a crowd pleaser for the audience.
Following the sketch is a "Weekend Update" segment of the show, hosted by Norm Macdonald.
Norm's tenure on "Saturday Night Live" was no stranger to controversy,
particularly following the highly-publicized O.J. Simpson murder trial. Unbeknownst to Norm,
the Farley-hosted episode would be one of his last appearances on "Weekend Update"
before he was fired, though he'd later return to host in 1999.
As usual, Norm's jokes during this episode were divisive,
but he was prepared when one didn't go well.
"That one wasn't very good, but try to laugh anyway,
because it helps Farley have a little rest."
Sadly, Norm's firing would come to pass only a few months after this episode.
According to "Live From New York," a book about the oral history of "Saturday Night Live,"
Lorne Michaels was told to fire the "Weekend Update" anchor by NBC president Don Ohlmeyer
at a dinner that took place the same night as Farley's funeral. Norm remained an iconic
stand-up comedian following "Saturday Night Live" up until his recent passing in September 2021.
One of Farley's sketches later in the show would come to be a historic
moment for "Saturday Night Live," though audiences wouldn't know it at the time.
The sketch centers on a daytime talk show hosted by Ana Gasteyer, with her guest,
played by Cheri Oteri, complaining about her problems raising her baby.
The baby in question is predictably played by Farley, who serves as a force of chaos
on the show and its audience. It only gets more absurd when Tim Meadows enters as a child doctor,
only to have both of his arms ripped off by a manic Farley-baby.
What makes this sketch such an important moment for "Saturday Night Live" is that,
according to Newsweek, it was the first sketch written by Tina Fey to get on the air.
The future "30 Rock" star was a newly-hired writer in the 23rd Season and would go on
to make history on the show as head writer, "Weekend Update" anchor, and six-time host.
One of Chris Farley's most popular recurring sketches during his time on the show was as a
member of the Chicago Super Fans. The characters were often seen in some kind of pub or sports bar,
conversing about their favorite football team, "Da Bears," and their head coach, Mike Ditka.
When Farley hosted in 1997, the Super Fans returned for a pre-taped sketch revolving
around Mike Ditka's real-life departure from the Chicago Bears to join the New Orleans Saints,
and the Super Fans grip with their crumbling lives following the loss of their beloved Ditka.
Farley's character, Todd, has chosen to reject reality and believes that it's 1986. Fortunately,
Todd is finally able to accept reality after receiving a phone call from the real Mike Ditka.
It's a great final showcase for one of Farley's most memorable recurring sketches. At the same
time, a bit where Farley's character suffers a heart attack does come across as hard to watch.
Despite Chris Farley's episode being a welcome return for the "Saturday Night Live" legend,
audiences could tell that the comedian was in a worsening condition. His voice throughout
the episode was noticeably hoarse after dress rehearsal, which wasn't helped by his appearance
as characters like Matt Foley which required him to strain his vocal cords even harder.
In several books detailing Farley's life, like "Live From New York" and "The Chris Farley Show,"
Farley's condition backstage was delved into. Norm Macdonald criticized the decision to put
Farley on an exercise bike in the Matt Foley sketch and claimed he tried to
stretch out that episode's "Weekend Update" to give him time to rest.
In future reruns of the episode, the cold open and monologue were cut out of respect for Farley.
Understandably, the episode is not easy to swallow anymore,
especially for those who knew Farley well. In the hours after Farley's death, "Saturday Night
Live" writer Al Franken stated that he had found elements of the episode, quote, "disturbing."
On December 18, 1997, Chris Farley was found dead in his Chicago apartment after overdosing on drugs
and alcohol. Farley was only 33 at the time, and yet his death wasn't a shock to his close
friends and family. in "Live From New York," Bob Odenkirk and Chris Rock describe the last
times they saw Farley, feeling like his fate was inevitable. Others, like Robert Smigel, described
the immense guilt they felt over not being able to help their friend through his struggles.
In retrospect, many of Farley's collaborators have expressed their distaste for Farley's
career trajectory. One of Farley's most famous sketches, "Chippendale's,"
has been criticized by former "Saturday Night Live" writers and cast members for
psychologically damaging Farley's self-image. In an interview with The New Yorker, Robert Smigel
regretted adding the coffee table-smashing at the end of the original Matt Foley sketch.
One person who has continued to spread the good word about Chris Farley is
Adam Sandler. The two were close-knit on the cast of "Saturday Night Live,"
appearing together in sketches like "Herlihy Boy" and "Lunch Lady Land." However, unlike Farley,
Sandler waited a long time to return to host the iconic late-night sketch show. He finally made
his hosting debut in 2019, reprising some of his iconic characters like Opera Man. The real
big moment of the night came at the very end of the show, right before the cast said good night.
In the late 2010s, Sandler filmed his first comedy special in years, "100%
Fresh," which ends with a song Sandler sings as a tribute to Farley. Sandler reprised the
song on the very stage where he and Farley made some of the best comedy of the 1990s,
despite the criticism they received from NBC higher-ups.
The song is equal parts hilarious and heart-warming,
and the moment was described by the cast and crew on the episode as a tearjerker
for the audience and Sandler. Still, it's a touching moment to remind audiences just how
powerful of a presence Chris Farley was and how underappreciated he may have been at the time.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).