A job at Saturday Night Live is a coveted position in the comedy industry. Many of the show's writers and performers have graduated from the show into lucrative careers. People like Conan O'Brien, John Mulaney, Bill Hader, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Pohler, and the legendary Bill Murray, all started on Saturday Night Live.
Yet, like any graduation, not everyone leaves on the same terms. Some did not graduate from SNL so much as they got expelled. Some who SNL has spurned, for whatever reason, have gone on to enjoy careers more accomplished than could ever have dreamed of as NBC employees, and some of their careers ended before they started. Here is what happened to some of the most notorious recipients of a Lorne Michaels pink slip.
10 Norm Macdonald
Macdonald claimed he got fired for joking too much about O.J. Simpson. He went on to have a lucrative stand-up career, eventually landing his own sitcom that aired for three seasons. He had supporting roles in multiple Adam Sandler films, like Billy Madison, and he later co-starred in the film Dirty Work with his friend and fellow comic Artie Lange (who also got fired from a different sketch comedy show, Mad TV). By the end of his career, he became a voice actor, interviewer, and author with a best-selling memoir. Macdonald died earlier this year.
9 Chris Rock
After Rock was dismissed from the show, he immediately got hired to join In Living Color, a sketch comedy show on Fox created by the Wayans brothers that featured mostly black performers. He joined the cast for the show’s final season. He soon got his own HBO show, The Chris Rock Show, and multiple stand-up specials. He later created a sitcom based on his childhood called Everybody Hates Chris. He has also starred in several feature films and is the voice of Marty the Zebra in the Madagascar movies. He continues to write, act, produce, and direct.
8 Chris Farley
After leaving SNL, Farley went on to Hollywood along with fellow cast member David Spade and played a lovable oaf in multiple films like Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and Almost Heroes. As he did with Norm Macdonald, Adam Sandler cast Farley in his projects, like in Billy Madison where he played the deranged bus driver. Farley died tragically in 1998. When Sandler returned to SNL last year to host for the first time since being fired, he honored Farley’s memory with an original song.
7 Adam Sandler
Farley and Sandler got fired at the same time, and neither received an explanation from producers. Sandler created a production company, Happy Madison, where he writes and produces his films. He also used his new company to give work to his other fired castmates, like Macdonald and Farley. Products of Happy Madison include Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, Big Daddy, and The Waterboy. Sandler has also done some dramatic roles, like Punch Drunk Love, and his latest movie Uncut Gems, which opened to critical acclaim. Sandler has a net worth of $420 million.
6 Shane Gillis
Shane Gillis got fired before he ever started performing on the show. After news broke that he would be joining the show, a video of him making extremely racist remarks surfaced online and social media erupted. SNL promptly released a statement that Gillis would no longer be joining the cast in the 2019 season. Gillis is still working in the same comedy circuit he was before the controversy, but it is unlikely that he will break back into the big leagues of show business any time soon.
5 Sarah Silverman
Silverman admits being fired from SNL in 1994 was a blow to her confidence and caused her to go through a deep depression, but she managed to bounce back with a thriving career in stand-up comedy. She returned to television and sketch comedy when former SNL writer Bob Odenkirk and his comedy partner David Cross hired her to write for Mr. Show with Bob and David. Silverman then got a Comedy Central show, The Sarah Silverman Program, which aired for three seasons, and she landed a few film roles, like School of Rock with Jack Black. She also gets regular work voice acting for shows like Bob's Burgers and Family Guy.
4 Robert Downey Jr.
Iron Man was a cast member on SNL in the 1985-1986 season. He is considered by fans to be one of the worst cast members in the show’s history because he never had a good dynamic or any chemistry with his fellow cast members. Downey would go through some turmoil after leaving the show thanks to drug and alcohol addiction, including a brief jail sentence. A few years after his release, he made his comeback as the Marvel superhero he is loved as today. He also boasts a net worth of $300 million, just $200 million shy of his old boss Lorne Michaels.
3 Jenny Slate
After being dismissed from the show, Slate found regular work in multiple TV shows and films, even starring in her own independent film Obvious Child. She has been working regularly as a voice actor and plays Tammy, the teenage bully, on Bob’s Burgers. Despite being dismissed from SNL, she has still played important characters on several NBC shows, like Parks and Recreation.
2 Rob Riggle
After failing to move up the ranks from featured to repertory SNL performer, Riggle ended up as correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Much like SNL, working under Jon Stewart is a road to stardom because many of the correspondents from Stewart’s tenure as the host have branched off into lucrative careers. Riggle has been in multiple films and television shows, like Modern Family and The Hangover. Though he mostly finds himself in supporting roles or cameos, he has become an incredibly well-known comedy character actor.
1 Damon Wayans
Lorne Michaels has a strict “no improv” rule on SNL. Wayans famously broke this rule during his 11-episode tenure on the show in 1986. He was fired before the season was over. Wayans went on to co-create another sketch show, In Living Color, with his siblings. The show aired on Fox for five seasons and launched the careers of actors like Jim Carrey and Marlon Wayans. His show would later employ another SNL reject, Chris Rock, in its final season. With the success of In Living Color and several other sitcoms and films to follow, Damon and the whole Wayans family have become comedy icons.
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