Conan O’Brien said that Adam Sandler brought fun back to Saturday Night Live as soon as he joined the show.
On a recent episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, fellow SNL alum Andy Samberg said O’Brien was part of the last “intense and gritty” era of the show. He then asked the former talk show host if he thought the show’s atmosphere was competitive.
I was in that state of mind, and I think, you know, [Robert] Smigel and [Bob] Odenkirk and Greg Daniels were like, ‘It’s life or death,’. And it feels like that’s kind of how everyone feels.
O’Brien said
O’Brien was a writer on SNL from 1988 to 1991. He gives credit to Sandler, who joined as a writer in 1990, for bringing the fun back to the show.
The Happy Gilmore 2 actor became a cast member in 1991 and stayed until 1995.
The former Late Night host said Sandler would rush into the writers’ room full of wild energy and tons of character ideas — and often suggested getting milkshakes. O’Brien also said the Uncut Gems star clearly showed how much he loved being part of the show.
He was like, ‘This is so much fun to be at SNL. Oh, I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. Yippee!’ And he had that, ‘I’m going to do Opera Man. I’m going to do this. I’m going to do that. This is great, guys!’ This is a possibility? You can like this?
recalled O’Brien, who remembered thinking at the time
O’Brien has previously said he regretted being “too intense” during his time at SNL. He shared on his podcast that he left the show after feeling burnt out.
I think I robbed myself of some fun that I could have had. I did have a lot of fun, but I think I could have had more fun. And I think I could have maybe written there a little longer if I didn’t make it such a grind for myself.
he said
His colleague, Bob Odenkirk, who was a writer on SNL from 1987 to 1991, recently looked back on his time on the show.
I was too hard on the show. I had a lot of attitude when I got hired there, like, ‘This show could be better, this show could be Monty Python, this should be more cutting edge, this should be more dangerous.’ And I was frustrated by it not representing purely my point of view. I wanted it to be me, my show.
he said
Source: EW