From unexpected firings to triumphant returns, these Saturday Night Live alumni proved success is the best revenge! Join us as we look at cast members who went from getting the boot to achieving incredible success in Hollywood. Some even came back to host the very show that let them go!
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00:00I was fucked! But tonight, I'm re-hacked!
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the SNL cast members who
00:12were fired, but got the last laugh as hosts, or simply for going on to bigger and better things.
00:17I don't know if you remember this, but I used to actually be on this show.
00:23Number 10. Laurie Metcalf
00:25If you didn't know this actress was on SNL, don't worry. It was barely a blip in her career.
00:31Even she said she'd think it was a dream if there weren't proof.
00:34They put me in that oversized suit with a small little crew and threw me out onto the street
00:43to say, would you take a bullet for the president? And pretty soon there was a little crowd around
00:48us. I didn't know what I was doing. I'd never been to New York. I didn't know where I was,
00:53what I was doing. Laurie Metcalf was a featured player in the show's disastrous sixth season,
00:58which was plagued by a writer's strike and new management struggles. The series went
01:02on hiatus, and when it returned, Metcalf wasn't invited back.
01:06So Randy was a boy who needed some food in him if he was going to drive that Winnebago.
01:11But when the waiter came, Randy said,
01:13Oh, nothing for me, thanks. Just bring me another margarita.
01:16Probably for the best, if she had stayed, she might have missed out on her three primetime
01:21Emmy-winning role as Jackie on Roseanne, countless film roles, and a celebrated theater career,
01:27not to mention Lady Bird, which earned her an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.
01:31You should just go to City College. You know, with your work ethic, just go to City College,
01:35and then to jail, and then back to City College, and then maybe you'd learn to pull yourself up,
01:39and not expect everybody to do everything.
01:42Number 9. Gilbert Gottfried.
01:43Gottfried was another comedic actor caught in the chaos of SNL's Gene Dumanian era.
01:48I don't know how anything gets in and out of that pathetic little hole.
01:54Really? If they work so well, why do you need two?
01:58By then, the original not-ready-for-primetime players were gone, and the show was undergoing
02:03a full rebrand. Unfortunately, Gottfried's run suffered from bad timing, a disillusioned
02:09audience, and a comedy style that didn't quite click.
02:12I didn't like the writers, and the writers hated me. And so one time, to prove it, how
02:19much they hated me, they wrote a funeral sketch where I was the dead body. So I just had to
02:26lie there in the coffin.
02:28When Dumanian was out, so was he. But luckily, his career didn't seem to take much of a hit.
02:33He kept performing stand-up, made frequent guest appearances on hit shows throughout the 90s,
02:38and became a prolific voice actor. With that unmistakable voice, it's fair to say he made
02:43his mark far beyond SNL.
02:45I still, when I look at my career, and I look at that, and I go, okay, that one, I know for
02:52a fact, there's a quality work.
02:55Number 8. Robert Downey Jr.
02:57This actor joined SNL's ill-fated 11th season alongside Anthony Michael Hall, Randy Quaid,
03:03and Joan Cusack.
03:04Don't you think it is just a little bit queer that at that same moment, Joan Cusack has
03:10the wonderful, marvelous idea to perform the exact, self-same, identical act in precisely
03:15the same place. Oh, wait, excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, 20 inches to the left.
03:19Anyone who's seen his work, or even just an interview, knows he's a funny guy. Yet his
03:24stint was so forgettable that Rolling Stone ranked him dead last among all cast members.
03:30Perhaps his greatest legacies from that time are a bizarre Suitcase Boy sketch and a noisy
03:36Weekend Update segment.
03:37I have to beg to differ with you here because I feel that the pfft to which you obviously
03:42refer, that simply represents a dramatic synthesis of the pfft.
03:49Fortunately, he found his footing in more serious roles, from Iron Man to Sherlock Holmes to his
03:55Oscar-winning turn in Oppenheimer. But comedy wasn't entirely in his rearview.
03:59He even returned to host in season 22. So he was clearly deemed funny enough for a comeback.
04:05Wow, it's great to be back here on Saturday Night Live. I was actually a cast member on the show
04:1010 years ago. And in case you're wondering why I'm hosting, well, actually, I've been invited back
04:14as part of their Distinguished Alumni series.
04:17Number 7. Martin Short
04:18Short starred on Second City Television before joining SNL in season 10 alongside Billy Crystal
04:24and Christopher Guest.
04:25I think David is catching on to us.
04:27You think that?
04:28Yes, I do.
04:29No, he isn't.
04:29Yes, he is.
04:30I know that.
04:31You don't think I know that?
04:33Do you think that just because I wear these thick glasses that I'm blind to David's feelings?
04:36I don't need these glasses. I just wear them for a fact.
04:40Despite the season being called an all-star year, and despite creating characters like Nathan
04:44Thurm and Ed Grimley, Short lasted just one season. As he told Seth Meyers, this was the Dick
04:50Ebersole era, right after Eddie Murphy left, and he and other comedians were brought in
04:54to save the show.
04:55I treated it like final exams every week. I think if I'd known I was going to be there
05:00for five years, I would have taken it easy. But every, you know, and I was a writer too.
05:05His contract wasn't renewed after that one season, but it's safe to say things worked
05:09out. He's racked up an Emmy, Tony, Golden Globe, and SAG wins and nominations. And he's
05:14since joined SNL's exclusive five-timers club. Sounds like a win to us.
05:19Thank you all for being here. This is such a special night. And from the bottom of my
05:24heart, I just want to say I love most of you so much.
05:28Number 6. Julia Louis-Dreyfus
05:30The Seinfeld actress was just 21 when she joined SNL in season 8.
05:35Here. No. Francisca en Español. Presente. Presente.
05:41She left after season 10, later admitting her struggle stemmed from being so green about
05:46the industry. Still, she learned a lot, like how she only wanted jobs she actually found
05:51fun. That mindset paid off when she landed Seinfeld, earning her first primetime Emmy
05:56as Elaine.
05:57The question is, are you still master of your domain?
06:03I'm queen of the cast.
06:04She later won six more for Veep. And in 2017, she tied the record for most primetime Emmys for
06:10a single role. She eventually returned to host SNL, which she found a much more enjoyable
06:15experience and was rightfully recognized in the real women of SNL. Not bad for someone
06:20who once felt out of place there.
06:22It's so nice to be back. I had a blast hosting last year. And wow, things have been going
06:28really, really well for me.
06:30Number 5. Chris Rock
06:31Not long after getting his big break thanks to Eddie Murphy, Rock joined SNL in season 16,
06:36accompanied by a lineup dubbed as the show's bad boys. But frustration set in fast.
06:42I'm your host on ski to the highest degree to the T.O.P. Yo, it's all about money.
06:48Rock grew tired of being cast in racist stereotypes. And by the time he was fired, he already had
06:53one foot out the door. He quickly moved to In Living Color until that got canceled.
06:58I was fired by NBC. Then I went on In Living Color. Three weeks later, they took it off TV.
07:12Not that it slowed him down. From the 2000s onward, he built a powerhouse career, creating Everybody
07:17Hates Chris, releasing his stand-up specials, and starring in countless movies. And with four
07:22Emmys and three Grammys, it's safe to say SNL wasn't his peak.
07:26My alma mater, where I started, SNL. I've been doing a lot of things, man, the last couple
07:32of years. Doing commercials, Little Penny, and what am I doing? Stand-up. But the thing
07:39that makes me the most happy is doing stand-up. Just been on the road, on tour.
07:43Number 4. Shane Gillis
07:44Shane Gillis was set to join SNL in 2019 alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman.
07:49But before the season even began, resurfaced podcast clips of him using offensive language
07:55led to his firing.
07:56While it happened, I was like, oh, I'm fired, for sure. And then it just got drawn out.
08:00Like, I knew I was f***ed.
08:01Yeah.
08:02Because if they were mad about that, there's...
08:04There's other stuff.
08:05There's a lot.
08:06Lorne Michaels later admitted the decision wasn't his, and he wasn't happy about it.
08:10I understand being liberal, dude. It feels good. It's powerful. It's too powerful,
08:14dude. It's like the SIF. You're like, lose yourself, dude. Somebody says something you
08:19don't like at work.
08:21Gillis explained that as a comedian, he pushes boundaries, but acknowledged he may have gone
08:26too far and apologized. Still, he pointed out that no one could take away the fact that
08:31he was, quote, funny enough to get SNL. While he never became a cast member, he got the last
08:36laugh going on to host twice, even joking about the controversy during his season 49 debut.
08:41I was actually... I was fired from this show a while ago, but if, you know, don't look
08:48that up, please. If you don't know who I am, please don't Google that. It's fine. Don't
08:53even worry about it.
08:54Number three, Damon Wayans Sr.
08:56This story is a bit different from what we've covered so far. This SNL alum had his last laugh
09:01while still on the show. Wayne's joined after Murphy left, but some thought he was hired
09:16more as a token than for his talent. Michaels was aware of the optics and might have pushed
09:21too hard to prove otherwise, meaning Wayans often got limited screen time. He was often
09:30stuck in the background or playing stereotypical roles, which frustrated him. Things came
09:34to a head during a sketch called Mr. Monopoly, where he made some last-minute changes to his
09:39character.
09:39If the Parker brothers could see you now, they puke. Why you ain't in jail, Miss... Oh, that's
09:44right. You're Mr. Monopoly.
09:45He got fired immediately, just as he had hoped. Didn't stop him from hosting in season 20, though.
09:51Number two, Adam Sandler. Another of SNL's bad boys, Sandler joined in season 16, but was
09:57shown the door after season 20. I was fired. I was fired. I was fired. So sad to tell. Well,
10:07I never saw it coming. I got fired from SNL. Apparently, a new NBC exec wasn't a fan of the
10:16group, and both Sandler and Chris Farley were let go. According to Sandler, the writing was already
10:21on the wall. And rather than outright firing them, the network gave them the chance to quit
10:26first.
10:26I told my boy Chris Farley I got fired, and he said,
10:32Sandman, they fired my ass too!
10:36No matter, though, because his wildly successful comedy career speaks for itself. He also got the
10:41last laugh during his musical monologue as host in season 44. Sandler has nothing but love for the
10:47series, but he still couldn't help but bring up all his success since those days.
10:51NBC said that I was done. Then I made over $4 billion at the box office.
10:59So I guess you could say I won.
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11:21Number 1. Norm Macdonald
11:23When Macdonald was fired, he initially thought it was because of his relentless O.J. Simpson jokes.
11:28Then, NBC president Don Ohlmeyer later claimed it was due to declining weekend update viewership
11:33and their failed attempts to make him more crowd-pleasing.
11:35I had a sort of a disagreement with the management at the NBC. I wanted to keep my job.
11:48And they felt the exact opposite.
11:51He was removed from update but stayed in sketches until they let him go entirely. But not long after,
11:57he was invited back to host and used his entire monologue to roast the show,
12:02joking about his firing and SNL's declining ratings.
12:04How did I go in a year and a half from being not funny enough to be even allowed in the building
12:12to being so funny that I'm now hosting the show?
12:19Honestly, is there a better way to get the last word than hosting the show
12:22just to point out they threw you off the ship right before it started sinking?
12:26Then it occurred to me, I haven't gotten funnier.
12:30The show has gotten really bad.
12:34So yeah, I'm funny compared to, you know, well, you'll see later.
12:44Which former SNL cast member do you think got the biggest last laugh? Let us know in the comments.
12:49Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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