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The Chris Farley Show - Page 2

post #51 of 80
5/13/08 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Elvis View Post
The funny thing about 94-95, as bad as it was, there were some real highlights. The Clooney & Travolta episodes stand out as being funny. Even though she was miserable, I thought Garofalo was good on it. And, oh, to waste Chris Elliott! Shame on Michaels!
When I first heard Elliott was going to be on I was stoked. It's a shame he didn't pan out better. That year was a real jumble but like you said there were some good eps, mainly the Travolta one. I love the RESERVOIR DOGS/Mr. Kotter sketch. But it was also a year of a lot of Farley screaming while Sandler talked funny.
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post #52 of 80
5/13/08 at 3:02pm
I'll second the Nealon love, but I don't know about picking up his book. I love how this thread has turned into an Interview the Reader Q&A. Speaking of SNL books, I'm reading Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue. Zooey would dig because the title has a colon. Anyway, thing is thick.
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post #53 of 80
5/13/08 at 3:03pm
i think I'd take that over this year!
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post #54 of 80
5/13/08 at 3:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Matchstick View Post
I'll second the Nealon love, but I don't know about picking up his book. I love how this thread has turned into an Interview the Reader Q&A. Speaking of SNL books, I'm reading Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue. Zooey would dig because the title has a colon. Anyway, thing is thick.
I'll have to pick that one up.

I'm surprised Al Franken hasn't written a book about "SNL." It would be interesting since he was there both during the early crazy days and came back again during the late 80's and 90's.
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post #55 of 80
5/13/08 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post
I was thinking David Koechner for Thurston Howell III.
You're both wrong. Two words- Bob Barker.
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post #56 of 80
5/13/08 at 3:49pm
The O' Donoghue book is fantastic. SNL is covered, of course, but it also has lots of O' Donoghue's writing from the National Lampoon days, all the way back to plays O' Donoghue wrote in college. it also includes a later picture with M O'D, Julia Sweeney, and Quentin Tarantino. Apparently, Sweeney and QT dated?

As I recall, Mohr tells a story in his book about stealing someone else's sketch idea because he was so desperate to get stuff on air.
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post #57 of 80
5/13/08 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Elvis View Post
Maybe he'd have been the Belushi substitute in BLUES BROTHERS 2000?
No, that was written for Jim B. but his TV show got in the way.
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post #58 of 80
5/13/08 at 6:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Matchstick View Post
I'll second the Nealon love, but I don't know about picking up his book. I love how this thread has turned into an Interview the Reader Q&A. Speaking of SNL books, I'm reading Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O'Donoghue. Zooey would dig because the title has a colon. Anyway, thing is thick.
I love the story of the fall out at the funeral. With the anti-Chevy Chase/Lorne Michaels factions going off. It's sad how the us-against-the-world spirit of the not ready for prime time gang splintered into petty bitterness, jealousy, & infighting. Isn't that always how it is though.
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post #59 of 80
5/14/08 at 10:53am
Finished the book last night . . . I found it deeply depressing. At one point, Farley told an associate, "Do you ever feel sometimes that you're doomed?" It seems that Farley was on that path as well. The stories of his father's denial were sad.
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post #60 of 80
5/14/08 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
The stuff about his father was heartbreaking. 95% of him seemed like an ideal dad, but that 5% that wouldn't acknowledge his son's (or his own) problem was devastating.
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post #61 of 80
5/15/08 at 12:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
Related to this: It's been over ten years. Is it now safe to call Tommy Boy a classic?
Why wouldn't it be?
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post #62 of 80
5/15/08 at 3:06am
It's not a "classic" in the sense of the term, but it is a movie that I can watch at any time, although some of the stuff in the book might make me look at it in a different light. The laughs will still be there, but there's an added poignancy to the story after reading the book.

Another quick thought to Moltisanti: Did Jim Downey's stuff bother you? After reading the reactions to the Chippendale's sketch and the prank he pulled later on, I had a lesser opinion of him.
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post #63 of 80
5/15/08 at 3:26am
Thread Starter 
That prank definitely went a little too far.

But I tend to side more With Downey in terms of the "Chippendales" sketch than I do Chris Rock and Bob Odenkirk. It's a funny sketch and not just because Farley dances around shirtless but because of how he reacts to Swayze getting the gig over him. Odds are if that sketch hadn't gone over so big it would have been some other one which made light of his weight. His size was always going to be a factor in a lot of the sketches he did.
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post #64 of 80
5/15/08 at 3:52am
I feel like I'm giving away the book by talking about it this much, so this is a spoiler warning, just in case.

I see your point Moltisanti, but I was surprised how much drug and alcohol abuse was a part of his life before his comedy career even started . . . I think that Rock and Odenkirk are coming from a place where they saw exactly how messed up he was (especially Odenkirk), and they realized how much that sketch hurt him personally, based on the esteem problems that they had witnessed. Smigel's anecdote about the ending of the Matt Foley sketch ties into that as well. Farley was so eager to please that it was easier to dump on him.

EDIT: Also, Downey mentions the "fat, flabby" description that Kevin Nealon does in the sketch, and for me, that was the point where the sketch got sort of mean-spirited. Since Farley died, that portion of the sketch always made me cringe a little bit, and I don't feel better after reading the bio.
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post #65 of 80
5/19/08 at 3:45pm
I didn't even know this book existed, so thanks for bringing it to my attention.

I got to meet Farley briefly during his press junketing for Beverly Hills Ninja. It was my senior year in high school during finals week and the administrators decided that students were not allowed to leave when they completed their morning finals until lunchtime. My mother agreed to write a note so that I could leave for a "doctor's appointment" in Atlanta, as Farley and Nicolette Sheridan came to the now-closed Planet Hollywood downtown. See here for photos.

Farley's brother popped up as an exterminator in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm last season and it was great, as his performance reminded me so much of Chris' crazy antics.
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post #66 of 80
5/19/08 at 4:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moovyphreak View Post
I didn't even know this book existed, so thanks for bringing it to my attention.

I got to meet Farley briefly during his press junketing for Beverly Hills Ninja. It was my senior year in high school during finals week and the administrators decided that students were not allowed to leave when they completed their morning finals until lunchtime. My mother agreed to write a note so that I could leave for a "doctor's appointment" in Atlanta, as Farley and Nicolette Sheridan came to the now-closed Planet Hollywood downtown. See here for photos.

Farley's brother popped up as an exterminator in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm last season and it was great, as his performance reminded me so much of Chris' crazy antics.
I saw that episode, and you're right, it was a bit eery. Hilarious, but eery. I couldn't tell if he was aping his brothers old mannerisms, or if acting that way just came naturally, but it was still hilarious.
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post #67 of 80
5/19/08 at 4:06pm
Thread Starter 
There's also an add with his brother (Kevin Farley) for either Hertz or Avis where he falls down a lot. Wasn't too keen on that because he's really just aping Chris but he was fantastic on that episode of "Curb" for both the physical and non-physical aspects to his role.
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post #68 of 80
5/20/08 at 10:42pm
I'm finding this book really sad, although I liked the opening line about Irish brothers in the introduction. Starting the book with Farley's testimonial at Promises was pretty touching, but I think it was the right way to start things off. But some of it is just like, "Damn, man." And I thought the Warren Zevon book was bad.

Also, Penelope Spheeris, waddabitch.
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post #69 of 80
5/20/08 at 10:52pm
Thread Starter 
It only started to bum me out toward the end, about the time he left "SNL." Sure there is a lot of troubling stuff all through his life but at least its balanced with showing what a seemingly kind and fun guy he was. Not so much at the end.

Spheeris doesn't come off too hot, but the whole circumstance under which BLACK SHEEP was made was a mess even before she got on board.
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post #70 of 80
5/21/08 at 12:22am
Read about this in NY Mag, hopefully it's as balanced as I think it is.
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post #71 of 80
5/21/08 at 12:51am
Moltisanti,

Can I ask what the prank was?
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post #72 of 80
5/21/08 at 1:00am
It's really horrible.
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post #73 of 80
5/21/08 at 1:10am
Just say what it is man, I ain't buyin this book!
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post #74 of 80
5/21/08 at 1:16am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SneakyPete View Post
Moltisanti,

Can I ask what the prank was?
Without going into the back story, essentially a large chunk of the show's staff made Chris believe he was being sued for sexual harassment. They were very convincing about it and it freaked Farley out for a few hours.

The roughest part of the book, even worse than the final days, was detailing the last time he hosted the show a couple months before dying. I remember watching that episode and enjoying the fact that he was there doing his thing, but also knowing full well at that point that he was a total wreck.
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post #75 of 80
5/21/08 at 1:19am
Thanks for answering...I can go to bed now.
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post #76 of 80
5/21/08 at 1:32am
It's actually a lot meaner than that. But read the book. You too, Gruber.
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post #77 of 80
5/21/08 at 11:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post
There's also an add with his brother (Kevin Farley) for either Hertz or Avis where he falls down a lot. Wasn't too keen on that because he's really just aping Chris but he was fantastic on that episode of "Curb" for both the physical and non-physical aspects to his role.
Don't forget the scene in The Straight Story where Alvin meets two mechanic brothers played by both of Farley's brothers, and gives an absolutely heartbreaking speech about the importance of brotherhood. You can see it affect the Farleys in a real way.
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post #78 of 80
2/26/09 at 11:37am
I kind of agree with Rock and Odenkirk in that the Chippendales sketch was cheap and easy. But it was also exactly where Farley's act was at the time. It was what he needed to break through. Fatty Falls Down may have been tough to shake, but he could have done it.

This was good, but I really wanted it to go deeper. It only scratches the surface of his family life, which everyone acknowledges was a major part of his problems. Also, a lot of the professional anecdotes get redundant.
After reading this I'd like to see a similar book about David Spade, boy is that guy a train wreck. Told entirely by Norm MacDonald.
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post #79 of 80
2/26/09 at 12:31pm
Thread Starter 
I'd like a whole book about Spade being beat up and tasered by his assistant.
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post #80 of 80
2/26/09 at 1:25pm
Told entirely by Norm MacDonald.
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