SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE has for years tried to have someone on their star line up to appease every group available. And after the success they landed with John Belushi, they’ve always managed to have a fat guy on the show. No, Belushi wasn’t fat, he was a bigger than standard fella though. So apparently those behind SNL figure it’s a formula best not tampered with.
The series began on a high note and then suddenly had some of the worst years possible. Of the bad years (which for some reason there seems to be no DVDs of or highlights of on cable stations showing reruns) only two members stood out and were kept for another few seasons (Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo). Then it got good again. Then bad. Then good again. Fortunately they had another break out star in the fat guy area. His name was Chris Farley. Unfortunately he followed the fate of former lead Belushi and died at a young age from overindulging in the wrong things.
For fans of Farley and of SNL though we have the release of THE BEST OF CHRIS FARLEY. Opening with Farley as the son of Rudolph Giuliani during his inauguration speech you can see he was an amazing physical comedian who got laughs from the get go. He was unafraid to take the leap and make fun of himself and his size and he got laughs in the process.
Perhaps the best things we as viewers got to see when Farley took the stage was that he was able to make fellow cast members laugh as well. It was those moments when they found themselves nearly unable to keep a straight face during a skit that you knew he was really THAT funny. As motivational speaker Matt Foley who lives “in a van down by the river” talking to teens David Spade and Christina Applegate, we watch as both of them nearly collapse trying to stop themselves from laughing.
Another example here of Farley’s fearlessness is when we witness him competing against Patrick Swayze to become the next Chippendales dancer. Swayze ripped abs and dancing ability are nothing compared to Farley’s jumps and falls and flab swaying with each gyration. The crowd can be heard here nearly drowning out the music that plays as they compete. And when their dance off finishes and you hear the owners talk about how they had a hard time deciding who to choose it just caps off the piece.
If you’ve ever conducted an interview with someone you admired or even met a celebrity for the first time you’ll know just how difficult it can be to get past that star struck feeling. Farley takes that to a whole new level as an interviewer who seems to talk more about the movie scenes and events of the people he’s interviewing and how they impressed him than in interviewing the person. This was a favorite skit of mine but got tiresome as the years wore on. But it still brings laughter.
Farley created a number of other characters on display here as well. The cafeteria lunch lady, one of the Gap girls and more, all show Farley at his best. To this day people will hold their fingers up to make quote marks as they speak, all because at one time or another they saw Farley do it.
In the extras there are Farley’s appearances on Conan and Leno. During both there are glimpses into the troubled soul that was Chris Farley. He used his weight to his advantage and to get a laugh, but there was a lot of pain behind the laughter. That’s not what’s on display here up front, but you can feel it in some of his answers.
Lionsgate has released a series of DVDs featuring the main players from different season of the show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Many are being re-released and one might think it was nothing more than the same old same old. The truth is they’ve added several more sequences to each disc and for fans of the stars it’s worth it to add to your collection. Here they include Dress Sketches (those done prior to show time but for one reason or another cut before the show aired), photos of Farley, two appearances on talk shows, a family album and several other sketches not included the first time around, including the now famous Scmitts Gay Beer.
Fans of Farley will want to add this to their collection. And for those who have yet to be exposed, there isn’t a better starting place than this DVD.
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