Tonight’s Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special has seen a lot of reuniting of past and present cast members, musical guests, hosts, and more, as well as tributes to alumni who have passed on.
In one said tribute of the night, actress and three-time SNL host Melissa McCarthy revived the Matt Foley character, made popular by the late Chris Farley. McCarthy made an appearance during a Weekend Update segment hosted by Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Jane Curtin (all past Weekend Update hosts), coming out dressed in the motivational speaker’s classic duds — thick black glasses, plaid jacket, green necktie, and pants that constantly need adjusting.
Watch the video here below from the SNL 40 special of the entire Weekend Update segment, which includes the McCarthy as Matt Foley bit, as well as Emma Stone doing the late Gilda Radner’s Roseanne Roseannadanna character. Also embedded below is the original Chris Farley skit which featured Chris Spade and guest Christina Applegate.
For SNL writer Bob Odenkirk, Saul of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame, created the Matt Foley character, which made its debut on the live comedy show on the May 8, 1993 episode. Chris Farley brought to life the motivational speaker who lives in a van by the river in an unforgettable sketch that saw Spade and Applegate as pot-smoking teenagers he was hired to try to discourage from using drugs. Farley’s physical comedy was hilarious as it was, with his delivery of the word “doobie” and yelling in the faces of the other characters proclaiming “Whoop-dee-frickin-doo” and the like, causing Spade and Applegate to break, having to cover their laughing faces. But it was at the end, when Farley smashes through the coffee table — an accident, not part of the script — that really sent the act over the top and helped it become one of the greatest skits in the show’s 40-year history. It’s still one of my very favorite SNL skits, and McCarthy did a great job bringing the character back to life.
Along with McCarthy and Stone’s tributes, this Weekend Update segment also included the return of the Land Shark.
Video
[Video Source: Vulture]
Original Matt Foley sketch:
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wow, that actually was painful to watch….
Comment by Colonel_Neville_Wraithchild — February 15, 2015 @ 11:37 pm
WORST PART OF THE SHOW! I can’t stand melissa mcarthy. What she did was borderline sacrilege. Farley was great. Mccarthy is not.
Comment by UNCARING1 — February 17, 2015 @ 1:07 pm