Dana Carvey Opens Up About Missing Out on ‘SNL50’
The ‘SNL’ alum said he “felt bad” about bailing on the big special after getting the flu.
Dana Carvey would have reprised one of his most beloved characters if he made it to SNL50 this year, he revealed on the Superfly podcast.
Carvey and his co-host, fellow SNL alum David Spade, dished about the special on Friday’s episode. “I felt bad that I couldn’t go,” Carvey said, as he’d come down with the flu and couldn’t travel to New York for the big night. “I think that Mike [Myers] and I were supposed to do ‘Wayne’s World.’”
Myers still appeared in a sketch during the special however, when he reprised his Linda Richman character alongside Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph’s “Bronx Beat” hosts. Carvey said he doesn’t regret missing out since doing “Wayne’s World” with Myers might have meant that sketch wouldn’t have made the cut.
“I was glad,” Carvey said Friday, “And I thought that Linda Richman, the ‘Coffee Talk’ woman, came out and really scored.” He then added, as his character Garth, “‘Wayne’s World’ would’ve done great. I would’ve been really happy to do it. But I couldn’t make it.”
Carvey and Spade also discussed things they didn’t like about the special. “I would have lifted the Belushi at the end,” Spade said, referring to 1978 “Don’t Look Back In Anger” sketch that aired toward the end of the special. In the black-and-white clip, Belushi plays an older version of himself as he walks through a graveyard eulogizing the other SNL cast members in funny ways.
The sketch hits different now, as Spade points it, since many of those eulogized in the sketch have actually died, including Belushi himself. “It made me sad and Paul McCartney had to follow it,” Spade said. Carvey agreed, adding that the graveyard sketch was “sort of a left turn” after Eddie Murphy, Kenan Thompson, Will Ferrell brought the house down with “Scared Straight.”
“First of all, Bill Murray’s there. He’s watching all his friends,” Spade added. “If we were there and we see people that we were super tight with and they’re all passed away… It’s heavy for me and I’m not, I didn’t know them all. And then it just makes the whole place go, ‘Holy s--t.’”
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.