Adam Sandler Saturday Night Live: The Best Of Adam Sandler
DVD, 2001, Best-Of, Re-Release

1999: NBC Home Video
"Sandler CelebraSHON!"
incl. guests Alec Baldwin, David Duchovny, Courtney Cox, Shannon Doherty, Glenn Close, Kirstie Alley and Michael Keaton - and SNL regulars Chris Farley, David Spade and Rob Schneider



Adam Sandler: [singing Christmas Song] Rock'em Sock'em Robots is what I was hopin' for, But then I made a death threat to vice president Gore, Oh Santa won't be knockin' on my door, 'Cause he's a big fat whore. What made me say that?
Adam Sandler: [singing Hanukkah song] So tell your friend Veronica, it's time to celebrate Hanukkah, I hope I get a harmonica, on this lovely, lovely Hanukkah, So drink your gin and tonica, but don't smoke marijuanica, If you really, really, wannaca, have a happy, happy, happy Hanukkah.
Kevin Nealon: Now someone told me you guzzled 32 beers in some beer guzzling contest. What happened after that?
Cajun Man: HallucinaSHON.
Kevin Nealon: Who did you see?
Cajun Man: SaTON.
Kevin Nealon: Anyone with him?
Cajun Man: Jim MorriSON.
Kevin Nealon: Wow. How'd you deal with that?
Cajun Man: DefficaSHON.
Herlihy Boy: Let me move in with you. Please. When you get back, don't make me leave. I'll push all my things into the corner. You won't even notice me. Please? Let me move in with you?
Father: [shouting] Can we stop this cruel game? And allow the boy to keep one shred of dignity? For God's sake! I can't stand to see him in all this pain! You vicious bastards! Let him move in with you! Is it so bad to see somebody happy? So just let him move in! For the love of god! Let the boy move in with you!
Kevin Nealon: Now, you also judge a wet T-shirt contest. What made you decide on the winner?
Cajun Man: MelON.
Kevin Nealon: Did you have any luck with her?
Cajun Man: RejectSHON.
Kevin Nealon: That's too bad.
Cajun Man: LesbiON.
Kevin Nealon: How did you know that?
Cajun Man: IntuiSHON.
Kevin Nealon: Cajun Man, what's the matter?
Cajun Man: DepresSHON.
Kevin Nealon: Don't worry, Cajun Man, there's plenty of other women out there. You'll find someone.
Cajun Man: The Love ConnecSHON?
Kevin Nealon: Well thanks for coming, Cajun Man, you want to say hello to someone?
Cajun Man: John GoodMON.
Kevin Nealon: Now Cajun Man, when you're down on Daytona Beach alot, how's your body looking?
Cajun Man: DefiniSHON.
Kevin Nealon: How do you stay thin?
Cajun Man: MetaboliSOM.
Kevin Nealon: Cajun Man!
Cajun Man: LibosucSHON.
Adam Sandler: [singing Christmas song] Ganib, ganob and Lego blocks are what I desire, So why'd I have to set the pizza guy's hair on fire? I told him I was sorry, I'm a liar.
Opera Man: [on George Bush] Shh el doze-o. Shh, el doze-o. El inferno, violencia, armageddon! Shh, el doze-o. No disturbe presidante.
Opera Man: La Cheifa policia, no dispatcha gandam, morondo, no respondo, no excusa, bagga doucca!
Opera Man: Amy Fisher. Buddafuco. El narc-o, el shoot-o, In jail-o. No bail-o. Senora, you're a whor-a!
Opera Man: [on Bill and Hillary Clinton] Hillary, la advisor, Hillary, la aggressiva, Hillary power trip-a, Presidente pusso-whipa.
Opera Man: [On Demi Moore] Demi Moore-o, me adore-a, For one million dollars in Redford Scor-o, Opera Man no Donald Trump-ah, How about thirty dollars for dry hump-ah?
Opera Man: [On Tom Hanks] Tom Hanks-o, nominat-o, second time-o, you're a-great-o. Next year, vacation, go to France-o, Give someone else a freakin' chance-o!
Opera Man: Mascara, Mascara, La Donne Mobile Home, La Donne Mobile Home, D-I-V-O-R-C-E!
Opera Man: Fergia, Fergia, Nippola, Nippola, Nippola, Nippola, Cantalopes, el petrudo, Opera Man grande stiffo, Bye Bye!
Canteen Boy's Nemesis: Hey Canteen Boy, I got a real scary ghost story. Once upon a time there was a moron, who always had a stupid canteen wrapped around his neck.
Canteen Boy: I think I've heard this tale before.
Canteen Boy's Nemesis: It was a dark and stormy night, and this moron went into the woods, and a huge bear came up and ripped his head off, just because he looked so stupid! The End!
[owl hoots]
Canteen Boy: Hoo, Hoo to you. He, Owl, if you're so wise, why don't you go to sleep, it's the middle of the night!
[on The Denise Show]
Denise: Why can't you get it? It's over! You and me are over. Face reality! We're not a couple! Move on with your life!
Brian: Will you go back out with me?
Denise: No!
Brian: Then the show must go on.




Adam Sandler has always been a real hit-or-miss comedian for me. I find a lot of his shticky characters, which are little more than bad posture and a half-assed "funny" voice, to be annoying, and I am not a big fan of novelty songs--arguably, the elements that have brought him his biggest success. I think Sandler is at his best when he's being forceful and/or creepy. He plays a really good jerk. He also has the capability to be really sweet. My favorite work from him is when he is challenging his own image, particularly in two of his most underrated movies, Punch-Drunk Love and Funny People.

Nowhere is the mixed bag that is the Adam Sandler comic style more evident than on Saturday Night Live - The Best of Adam Sandler, a greatest hits package of the performer's well-known skits from the early 1990s. It's clear how out of sync I must be with the most popular aspects of Sandler's career right from the start: the DVD opens with his "Christmas Song," which is different than the "Hanukkah Song," which shows up not long after as a clip from what I think was his first performance of that hit as part of a "Weekend Update" segment. We also get the music video for the "Lunch Lady Song." C'mon, SNL, what are you doing to me? Novelty numbers like this date faster than an open milk carton under a heat lamp, and they make about as much sense.

Also dated are his other "Weekend Update" skits. Opera Man, Cajun Man, the guy who made up lame Halloween costumes--they were funny once upon a time, but they seem cheap now. We get no less than four montages of Opera Man's top punch lines. Between them and the "Hanukkah Song," you will never be stuck for what to rhyme with the word "whore" ever again. Sandler's humor tends to skew toward the frat house, and as with everything he does, he creates a conflict between one side of himself that jokes in ways that are homophobic or misogynist and the other side of himself that is obviously neither of those things. If he really was, he'd never have made the fantastic "Schmitts Gay" parody commercial, where the standard bikini-draped beer ad is turned into a homoerotic parody. The bit still works, it's still quite funny.

Surprisingly, so does "Iraq Pete," a ham-fisted send-up of propaganda and stereotyping from the first Gulf War. Timeless comedy, alas, seems to get at our most terrible traits, things that will never change. Thank goodness Sandler hasn't pulled a Dennis Miller and changed his politics, or Iraq Pete could be making regular appearances at Tea Party rallies and on Fox News. Also still effective are Sandler's more skin-crawling concepts. The Canteen Boy skit with Alec Baldwin as a scout-master pederast is even more relevant and more uncomfortably funny, what with the real-life Boy Scout scandals of the past few years, and "The Denise Show," where Sandler hosts a cable access show to highlight his obsession with his ex-girlfriend (played by Shannon Doherty), is so close to the edge of actual stalker psychoses, it wouldn't take much to turn it into a suspense movie. Just cut the laughs--of which there are plenty.

My favorite skit in here has to be the "Zagat" selection, featuring Adam Sandler and Chris Farley as an elderly couple. Sandler plays the old man driven crazy by his wife reading from the Zagat guide. It should be said, however, that this skit isn't funny because of Sandler, it's funny because Farley is so wonderful as the enthusiastic old woman, so well meaning and pleased with herself. (David Duchovny also appears in drag as her Zagat-loving friend.) On the emotional flipside, Farley's comedic rage completely overshadows Sandler's tepid performance as the skeevy teen in "The Herlihy Boy." Not surprisingly, Sandler nearly loses his cool and laughs in both skits. A lot of this DVD showcases just how great Farley was. He is also hysterical in the "Gap Girls" sketch, "Grandma," and "Schmitts Gay," and it's marvelous to see how good he was at making his friends look better. Sandler and David Spade really shine in tandem with the late funnyman.



The full list of material on Saturday Night Live - The Best of Adam Sandler is as follows:

* "Christmas Song Cold Open"
* "Gap Girls" - with guest Alec Baldwin
* "Schmitts Gay"
* "Opera Man #1"
* "Canteen Boy"
* "Hanukkah Song"
* "The Denise Show"
* "Springsteen" - Sandler does a fairly good Bruce Springsteen impression for guest host Courtney Cox
* "Room Service" - Sandler, Rob Schneider, Chris Farley, and Mike Meyers play grabby Italian hotel staff making the moves on Kirstie Alley, much to the consternation of her husband (Kevin Nealon)
* "Opera Man #2"
* "Zagat"
* "Cajun Man"
* "Lunch Lady Song" - Look close and you might spot Sarah Silverman!
* "Opera Man #3"
* "Grandma" - Sandler as a finicky old lady who prefers her older grandson (Michael Keaton) to her anxious younger grandson (Farley)
* "Halloween Costumes"
* "The Herlihy Boy" - An infomercial for a kid that really wants to be your housesitter.
* "Iraq Pete"
* "Opera Man #4"
* "Closing Credits" - Not sure why this is listed on the back of the DVD like it's a skit. It's literally just the closing credits.