24 years after getting canned from the show that helped propel him to superstardom, Adam Sandler returned to Saturday Night Live to host the long-running sketch comedy program for the first time ever.
And he poked fun at the way he departed the show back in 1995, with a little help from an old castmate.
Following a cold open that featured the casts of current pop culture phenomenons The Avengers and Game of Thrones facing off on Family Feud, Sandler took the SNL stage for his opening monologue. Reminiscing about the old days, the Happy Gilmore star joked that he lost his virginity in “this very studio.”
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“I don’t kiss and tell, but it was the church lady, she said I was special,” Sandler quipped.
Noting that he’s told everyone his SNL tenure was the “greatest time in my life,” the 52-year-old funnyman said his daughter asked him why he ever left, prompting him to break out into song to give the reason.
“I was fired, I was fired, I was fired so sad to tell,” Sandler sang. “I never saw it coming I got fired by SNL. Between seasons I heard a nasty rumor that I was getting the sack, I tried to call Lorne Michaels but he never called me back.”
He interjected, “I’m joking. I’m joking. He called, he called.”
Going back to his little ditty, Sandler crooned that NBC may have had enough of his trademark characters such as Canteen Boy before the Jewish comedian added: “But I think they just hate the Jews.”
After impersonating the late Chris Farley telling him SNL “fired my ass too,” Sandler welcomed on former castmate and Grown Ups co-star Chris Rock -- who also recounted his time getting fired from the show.
“I was fired by NBC then I went on In Living Color, three weeks later they took it off TV,” Rock sang.
Current SNL cast member Pete Davidson then jumped onstage to sing about being fired, causing Sandler to interrupt and tell him he wasn’t.
“I wasn’t, how’s that even possible?” Davidson wondered.
“I don’t know, man,” Sandler answered. “You just be patient ‘cause it’s coming soon.”
Sandler wrapped up his comedic song by noting he got the last laugh.
“I was fired, I was fired, NBC said that I was done,” he concluded. “Then I made over $4 billion at the box office so I guess you could say I won.”
