Saturday Night Live has featured some very memorable sketches in its 48 seasons, with endless amounts of comedic talent gracing its stage. Dana Carvey was among some of the best single-season casts in SNL history, and he particularly made a name for himself with his recurring Church Lady sketches, interviewing guests like Rob Lowe, Sean Penn and a number of celebrities as portrayed by his fellow cast members. One comedy legend who never appeared, however, was Robin Williams, and Carvey opened up about why he denied the late comedian’s request to be in a segment.
Dana Carvey and David Spade are known to regale fans of stories from their Saturday Night Live days on their podcast Fly on the Wall, and while they and their guests often (and unsurprisingly) have a good laugh about the happenings at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Carvey reflected on a recent episode about once having to reject Robin Williams’ request to appear in one of his famous Church Lady sketches and he explained why (via Fly on the Wall’s YouTube page), saying:
He really wanted to do Church Chat, and this is in the early days. This was my golden ticket, and I was very careful. And I thought if Robin got so excited, it would be like, ‘Oh look, no tits,’ you know that kind of stuff? I was just afraid of it, and he even called me Saturday morning at like 10 a.m. to be in it — ‘I’d really like to play…’ you know. It was heartbreaking, but, you know, we got past that. In those days, your thing was very precious. I wanted to keep it quasi-real in a sense.
Those familiar with Robin Williams' comedy can see where Dana Carvey is coming from. The Mrs. Doubtfire star could be unpredictable to act with at times, and it sounds like there were directions the SNL cast member wanted to avoid when it came to his portrayal of Enid Strict.
It’s a shame, though, because it sounds like Robin Williams really wanted to be a part of the sketch, even calling up the Wayne’s World actor the morning of the live taping to tell him how badly he wanted to participate. The fictional talk show host recurred in sketches from 1986 to 1990 — a good chunk of Dana Carvey’s seven years on the show. He also reprised the Church Lady character a handful of times in the years after he left, most recently amid the 2016 presidential election.
Robin Williams served as the guest host of Saturday Night Live three times — 1984, 1986 and 1988 — and made a few cameos as well. The Oscar winner died by suicide in 2014 after a long battle with depression and anxiety, and he continues to be remembered fondly by former co-stars and his many fans for his multiple roles that we’ll never forget.
With Saturday Night Live being one of the shows that was shut down due to the WGA writer’s strike, fans could take the opportunity to revisit some classic Robin Williams movies via streaming, and stay tuned to our 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are still headed our way.
