Water Cooler - Danny DeVito

🎙 The SNL Hall of Fame Water Cooler – Danny DeVito

Hey there, SNL fans! 👋 In this episode of The SNL Hall of Fame Water Cooler, Joe and Shari take a deep dive into the legendary career of none other than Danny DeVito. 🌟 From his first SNL appearance in 1982 to his iconic spot in the SNL five-timers club, we’re here to discuss it all—because who doesn’t love Danny?

Versatility is the name of the game with Danny. Whether he’s making us laugh in the Boston Teens sketch alongside Jimmy Fallon and Rachel Dratch, or playing a Goodfellas-esque gangster in a pre-Sopranos parody, Danny brings his A-game every time. Plus, we’ll chat about his other classic appearances in sketches like Simon and Delicious Dish—yes, the “sweaty balls” sketch, but not this time! 😆

We also get into his multigenerational appeal, from his early days on Taxi and his roles in Batman Returns and Matilda, to keeping things fresh on Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Can we just agree that Danny DeVito is forever relevant? 🔥

Join us for this fun-filled episode as we chat everything from the SNL five-timers club to Danny’s most memorable SNL sketches, including fan-favorites like Gap Girls and Stress Test. And don’t miss out on our takes for the latest SNL season—who’s making Hall of Fame-worthy moves, and who might be in the Hall of Shame? 👀

Stay tuned for next week’s episode, where we break down the career of legendary SNL writer Alan Zweibel. See you at the water cooler, SNL geeks! 💦💬

Listen and subscribe to “The SNL Hall of Fame Water Cooler” wherever you get your podcasts!

Transcript:

Track 2:

[0:00] Hello, everybody.

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[0:02] Hi, I'm Thomas Senna, co-host of the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. And I'm Deremy Dove.

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[0:07] Co-host of the Lady in the Game podcast.

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[0:09] Deremy and I have joined forces to create a new podcast called Pop Culture 5.

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[0:14] To ask the question, what are the five essential things about any given pop culture topic?

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[0:19] It could be five essential movies by an actor of our choice, or five essential songs by a musician of our choice. We're not making a list of our personal favorites. It's the essentials.

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[0:28] And we better do a good job of justifying our essentials because one of us all right all right all right we're having fun all right all right actually why don't we give everyone an out of context peek at what we've been up for a couple episodes right next to me um and we looked at each other and we were kind of like bobbing our heads he wasn't wearing his hat nobody really kind of wearing he was kind of incognito but i had to do a double take that's for real They pumped us up as they have said 20 years ago.

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[0:59] I was next to my man Pharrell. Oh, I never heard this, everyone.

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[1:03] And today, we're going to be discussing a candidate for the SNL Hall of Fame.

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[1:08] Listen and subscribe to Pop Culture 5 wherever you get your podcasts.

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[1:12] Someone who has been very important to modern entertainment for the last 40 years, if not 45. He's a very versatile actor, and it's Danny DeVito. And just to give you a recap of who it is hey it's time to gather around the water cooler to talk the SNL show of fame relevant to every generation popping up, every 5 to 10 years and every generation has a specific memory of, This person, just like Catherine O'Hara. So you either have a memory of him from Taxi or Jewel Denial or Batman Returns, Matilda, Death to Smoochie or Sunny in Philadelphia. He's a very versatile actor and they discussed him in the other podcast. And Shari, would you mind recapping that for us?

Track 1:

[2:12] Not at all. It was an awesome episode with Thomas, of course, our fabulous SNL Hall of Fame conversationalist. And he was conversing with one of my favorite Saturday Night Network correspondents, the fabulous Bill Kenney, the fabulous Bill Kenney, who is super knowledgeable about every season of SNL and is a big fan of Danny DeVito. Though, and he and Thomas break down Danny's six SNL appearances. Bill gets a little annoyed because Danny says he's only hosted five when it was six, and that is a peeve of Bill's. He had it with Martin Short, who was one of his last nominee, because Martin never says the number of ups he's actually done. So Bill ranted about that a little, but he and Thomas really beautifully touched on Danny's six episodes, as well as a little about Danny's career. Joe broke that down quite well, and Danny's still relevant now, as Bill and Thomas discussed in depth. They discussed.

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[3:28] Danny's time in the 80s and 90s, his last appearance being in 99, his first being in 82, the fact that he brought new material to the game, as well as being on reoccurring sketches such as Delicious Dish, which is one I didn't get to watch, but I'm going to try and look up. And of course, one of my personal favorites, Simon. So Danny really has a breadth and depth of material, don't you agree, Joe?

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[4:00] Yeah. I mean, I agree. He's worked with multiple casts. He's been in multiple reoccurring sketches. Everything from the Winers to the Boston teens with Jimmy Fallon and Rachel Dratch.

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[4:25] And And he's, like I said, he is kind of like John Goodman or Alec Baldwin in the sense that both in movies and on Saturday Night Live, he could do whatever he wants. He could be sympathetic. He could be threatening.

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[4:41] He could be, you know, childish. He could be, you know, he played a gangster. There so he like i think in the same episode he played a child in your favorite sketch simon and then uh he also yes yes it's very it's a very charming sketch uh but it really is so he played like a child in that and then uh then he played a very good fellas um it's like a pre-sopranos sketch and it's something that's stuck in my memory even before internet or youtube where uh he's playing a guy who obviously is a gangster and he gets a call to do a hit and bury the body and um he doesn't want to say that to his wife and he keeps telling her you know you mind your business i mind my business my business is my business and he keeps asking her for advice and you know she's like your guns in the sock drawer and he's like mind your business and he leaves the room and she's like your bullets are in there you know mind your and then he would ask for advice like or directions to like where to bury the body and one of my favorite moments of the whole this is uh she tells her mind your business and she's like well i need to know so i could give you directions i need to know and then he just kind of gives her a look like.

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[6:06] All right, fine. You know, you just kind of think, and to me, it's almost like a, like they did the sketch, uh, like I would say early nineties and that's like eight, 10 years before Sopranos. And it's almost a parody of like Sopranos, um, you know, like Tony asking Carmela for advice and telling her at the same time, mind your business, you know? Um, but yeah, he was very versatile where he's able to play a child. He's able to like gangster he's able um there's a couple a bunch in the 80s uh where he um in the early 80s where he's the straight man you know and then uh both two other characters and just to the gimmick of the you know the plot or the sketch um and like for instance uh there's one that they mentioned in the podcast where, he's getting promoted and all these bad things are happening to him where he thinks his wife's having an affair or drug dealer.

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[7:05] The stress test.

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[7:05] Yeah, the stress test. And it's that where he's just an innocent man to all of this. And then he's also a victim to the whiners. Yeah, being a great actor just helps him be a great host and very versatile. That's just the keyword I'm going to keep coming back to is versatile. Just able to adapt.

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[7:28] I, I totally, totally agree. He is totally an adaptable presence. And you already mentioned working with Lovitz. Thomas and Bill mentioned all the work he did with Hartman and Carvey. And you talked about that wonderful sketch with Julia Sweeney. And, of course, the great Jan Hooks. I mean, he really, and you talked about that, Joe, He really touched on so many eras just in that 80s and 90s span that he did. I know that Thomas and Bill talked about Danny hopefully returning. Do you think there's any chance that he might return in season?

Track 2:

[8:14] I'm going to say actually, yes, based on the hosts they've announced so far. It looks like they're kind of going all over the place. They're not just going for hosts to attract millennials. They're going for hosts that attract older viewers as well. And to me, Danny goes right in the middle of that, where older people might know him from older stuff. And then there's people a little bit younger, but still older, people my age, you know, in the 40s, who might know him from Matilda and Batman Returns. And then younger people who might know him from Sunny in Philadelphia. So, you know, the fact that they're going with all these different, you know, hosts like Michael Keaton and Ariana Grande, you know, who there is no rhythm, you know, and Danny fits right in the middle of that. You know, he worked with Michael Keaton twice.

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[9:12] He's multiple. Right. He's he's multigenerational in his appeal. That is so true. And speaking of comparisons that there may be, and you talked about that. Is there anybody I know you sort of mentioned it. Is there anybody who's made it into the Hall of Fame that kind of had a similar path to Danny, do you think? I know you mentioned it already, but did you want to expand a little on that?

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[9:39] Well, I want to see what you think. I want you to go first because I have a name in mind, but I want to see what you think first. I want to see if we agree.

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[9:50] Well, I think we do because you kind of already mentioned John Goodman. And that's the host. And it took him, I believe, two or three ballots to get in. That's the host that I see Danny comparing to the most. but I think he has a little edge on John because John really didn't work with a vast array of eras the way that Danny did but John had a few more appearances so it's kind of he loses points in one area but he gains points in the other. What were you thinking?

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[10:23] He comes back he could you know it doesn't and he worked with multiple cast before, so there's no reason why he shouldn't come back and so you know the same way that Tom Hanks, John Goodman, and, you know, anyone else could come back. You know, I mean, Michael Keaton's coming back. Why not, you know, Danny DeVito?

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[10:42] Why not Danny DeVito? I completely, completely agree. So I know that we had started a new segment where we respond to the final plea of the guest, who was Bill Kenney.

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[10:58] So Bill, now's the time. You're talking to voters, fans, the folks at the water cooler. Why should they appreciate Danny's work as an SNL host? Well, there's so many good reasons, much of which we've talked about over the last 90 minutes. He covers multiple eras. We've seen him work with people all the way back to 1982. He always elevates his game. There's something about a Danny DeVito episode that is special. And he's only the eighth person to join the five-timers club that today it's almost again going back to the sports metaphor things that get watered down over the course of time and they're handing out five-timers jackets to everyone these days i'm looking at you woody and jonah but um yeah i mean this is he got his five-timers jacket before baldwin before goodman before bill murray before walking so he was established in the show before most of these people were and the fact that we haven't had him back should not be held against him because his six episodes still hold up to this day. Some of them over 40 years ago were made and they're still very funny. There's still something to see about Danny DeVito at every turn. Just to see him again would be fantastic. If you see him on Always Sunny on a weekly basis, you'd know that he could still do something like this. He elevates that show. He elevated SNL.

Track 1:

[12:24] He was on six times. He got the five timers. Well, he didn't get the jacket. He got Mr. Peepers. But he was in the five timers club before Alec Baldwin, before John Goodman. And I think that's a really excellent point. So that's that's my reaction is I totally agree with Bill. It's like, yeah, the guy is he's been around. He's done it all. He's still relevant. Like you said, Joe, he appeals to so many generations. So, you know, I guess I guess it's in the hands of the voters. How do you feel about Bill's final thoughts?

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[13:07] I mean, I agree. I mean, it's yeah, it's just. Up to the vote, I mean, and they know who, and I feel like multiple people, generations, know who he is, and I'm sure they each have a memory of his connection to Saturday Night Live. You know, so, you know, he was in Gap Girls, he was in the Boston Teens. He wasn't in anything current. He hasn't hosted. He literally hosted, the last time he hosted was at the end of 99. So it's been almost 25 years since he's hosted. So that might hurt him a bit, I feel, you know, considering the competition. But I feel like they have memories of him.

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[13:58] I agree. And I need to apologize to Mr. DeVito. Because when we were talking about Charles Barkley a couple episodes ago, I talked about Charles', competition, and I mentioned Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and I mentioned Adam Driver, and I forgot about Danny, and I think he falls right in between those two. I definitely think he's going to edge out Charles, which brings me to the next question, Joe.

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[14:30] Mm-hmm.

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[14:31] Where are you putting Mr. DeVito in? In that lineup of Charles Barkley, U2, Sherry O'Terry, Garrett Morris, Adam Driver, Bob Odenkirk, and Beck Bennett. Where is Danny falling in there?

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[14:49] Okay, so I'm going to do what I did last week. Bottom up from eight to one.

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[14:54] Okay, Joe, so go ahead. Tell us your list.

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[14:59] List but number eight at the bottom is you two who one of the best bands ever but never really interacted with the cast or the show you know like the way arrow smith or sting has um so you know they're number eight above them charles barkley great cast member uh however snl isn't really his forte he's a better basketball player you know tv personality than he is okay it's more fun seeing him as someone as a non-actor being a host you know than it is him actually being a good host above him is danny devito who is a great host but hasn't any hasn't really done anything in the past 25 years. If he kept it going, he would have been just as good as.

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[15:54] Uh hanks or goodman or baldwin or walk-in he you know he just kind of did his whatever five six, questionable times you know five with an asterisk five six with an asterisk times and then you know yeah um uh and then you know stop i mean sammy sosa and mark reguire are gonna have asterisks you know so is danny devito uh and i always and and to be honest if they're gonna do this whole thing with Rhea Perlman, let's do the same thing with Martin short and Steve Martin. Cause, uh, Martin short hosted it twice by himself. And then two other times with Steve and or Chevy chase. Uh, so, you know, let's, if we're going to be fair, let's be fair. You know, same thing with Al Claude one, one time with Ken Basinger, same thing with Roseanne. So, you know, if we're going to do this whole thing with Danny DeVito, Let's go across the board and put Asterix next to all the other all-time great names. Just saying.

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[16:58] So then above him is Adam Driver, who is in the middle of a good run. And it's just kind of cool to have this anticipation to see if it'll keep going. I think it really will. still uh he because uh let's say because they announced who's hosting all the way to november uh he you know so like the earliest he could host would be in november december anyway the point i'm getting at is he just had a movie that infamously bopped you know it was directed by francis ford coppola i almost said francis ford's per se which.

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[17:37] You know, it's the same. I mean, you know, the one that hosted, you know, the one that directed gangster movies with Robert De Niro, you know, that one. But no, he just had a movie that it would be so cool to have him reference that, you know, have a sense of humor about that. So anyway, so you two, Barkley, DeVito, Driver, and then above that, Sherry O'Terry, great cast member. But like you pointed out came and went above her Beck Bennett who had a longer run you know both being a great fall guy cast member game show host he did all the you know filled all the roles and then above him is my personal fave Bob Odenkirk legit great solid writer from a great age I mean he just it's, You know, like, yeah, I don't know. Just listen to that episode. And I just want to point out, I had a lot to say and I had even more to say. Let's just put it that way.

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[18:43] So that's a little inside baseball on the podcast where we talk about the inside of a show. So it's inside, inside, you know, kind of an inception of trivia. Just so and then above him is Garrett Morris and that's because, you know he's done he deserves so much more than what he got I'm just going to keep saying that over and over again he's a you know he was there at the beginning which taking it from nothing to something and then he contributed what he could, and you know and you know they have great memorable sketches from the little that he did says a lot, And, yeah, so that's my topic. That's who I would pick. Now, Shari, so who do you think is going to get the vote?

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[19:37] All right, yes. I talk about it from the voters' perspective, the patterns I've been watching over the years that I've been listening. And I agree, Joe, and my predictions of the voters kind of line up at the bottom there. You two, if they get over 10% and can hang around for another season, I'll be amazed. Above them, Barkley, and I think he's going to just eke out maybe 15% to 20%. Morris, I know you love him, Joe, but I just think the typical voter, the casual voter, not going to be familiar. And Oteri, same reason. She's just going to be a bit above him. I think Danny is going to be right with Sherry, but he does have that little bit of a push because he's still in the zeitgeist where she's really not.

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[20:32] Above DeVito, I have Driver because, as you said, Joe, he's happening right now. And for all we know, he's going to come back, a la Nate Bergazzi, and do a back-to-back.

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[20:48] We just saw it. So it could happen again. and he is very beloved. Right above Driver, I have Beck Bennett, and I think he's just going to be a bit ahead of Driver. Again, people remember him. He's very current. And finally, because of his huge contributions as a writer and the fact that he's so much still in the zeitgeist, I have Bob Odenkirk in the top slot, but this is going to start moving around as we are getting more and more into our nominee list. We're over halfway now, about halfway.

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[21:30] So, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how it all shakes out. But now we're going to switch gears and we're going to go from the past to the present. We just had episode number two of season 50 with, as I mentioned, Nate Bregazzi. And we're going to talk about our Hall of Fame and Hall of Shame moments. Joe, do you want to kick us off? What do you think was a Hall of Fame moment on this past Nate Bregazzi episode? What moment do you think, like, could get this person, whether it's a cast member, host, writer of one of the sketches, where do you see some Hall of Fame potential?

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[22:19] I think... I'm going to say the golf sketch where Nate played an unlucky golfer. Now, here's why.

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[22:29] It seems like it was written by a new writer. It seemed like a new voice. Now, what I personally really liked about it, now, it was a pre-tape sketch, and they went the extra mile to make it look like a real, like this was really happening, like a real golf tournament, and a guy, I don't want to give it away, uh oh how about this spoilers i mean if you're listening to an snl podcast you probably watched saturday night live you're probably caught up um if not pause come back and then hit like and then listen to the other episodes and then listen to this again and then hit subscribe and then listen again anyway so but no in the golf sketch this is an uh unlucky golfer who accidentally hits a bird and then he accidentally hits a bird and he just it keeps going and it doesn't overstay its welcome and you know and because it doesn't overstay its welcome it feels like something that happened a couple times you know like it he was like this real unfortunate thing that happened and it was filmed like not from close-ups not from like as if it was a movie it was like filmed like almost like how you would film a real golf tournament from the distance. And, you know, the camera guy is just lucky to get these events, you know, on camera and such.

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[23:54] And they're going back and forth between him and another golfer. It just felt so real. And I'm like, this felt new and different. And I'm like, OK, you know, hopefully we get more of this, more of this, you know, type of filming and, you know, subtle. And yeah, so that really stood out to me as something that could be Hall of Fame worthy. Shari?

Track 1:

[24:20] Yes. Okay. I got to give it to, I know she's a Bill Kenny favorite and she's a Shari Fesco favorite. She, she's eked her way into my heart little by little. This episode, I just, Heidi Gardner. I mean eating that hamburger in that mile high sketch, mayonnaise all over her face and she's delivering the lines I'm not saying this was the best written sketch I personally just thought it was an okay sketch but Heidi is a hall of famer I do think that she's going to get in if we're still on the air and she's been gone a couple seasons I mean I don't know how long she's going to stay but, The woman is amazing. I can't believe how she got through the sketch. Everybody's cracking up around her. She's delivering lines with sandwich in her mouth. I mean, a total pro, a total pro. So definitely Hall of Fame bound to me. Now, we're going to talk about the Hall of Shame. What moment do you think just makes you shake your head and go, oh my goodness, SNL.

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[25:37] Okay, but the shame. Now, I feel bad for saying this, but I just want to say it at this point in time so that in the future, hopefully, I look stupid. It anyway jane wickline uh this was her first episode that she was really featured on she was in a um sketch about a water slide where she was just playing a character kind of like a straight person character then she was featured on weekend update now here's what breaks my heart is she's seeing in both where she's playing a character and playing and then when she's on update playing herself either way she's felt very stiff and nervous you know when she was singing her song she wasn't looking at the camera she was looking at her hands you know she it's just very rookie stuff now i'm not saying that you know rubber stamp rejects back to the minors uh because conor o'brien when he first hosted late night had the same exact problems so i'm just saying If I had to pick a weak moment from last night's show, it's that. Now, she could change. I mean, you know, that could be her charm. That could be part of her brand. You know, and Sandler also had that very unassuming guy who is hilarious.

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[26:59] So I just want to mention it, you know, because that's the answer to the question. And hopefully, you know, she'll change and get comfortable. So how about you.

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[27:11] Sherry? I see where you're coming from, Joe. She was a big, I tuned into the, I stayed up like a wacky person till like three in the morning and did the live chat on the hot take show with John Schneider over at the Saturday Night Network. And they were talking a lot about Jane. And it was very much what you're saying, Joe, that the jury was still out. She's brand new. So very good point. I know I'm going to get backlash here because this is the new golden boy and I like him I do like him but, I don't know that that Spanish game show sketch. I just Thomas was on last night, too. And he said, well, Shari, you kind of got to watch the show. It is like that. I kind of felt I love Nate in there. Nate did a great job, but I just felt like.

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[28:11] I don't know, Marcelo was just a little bit too much, but I still adore him. I think he's great. But yeah, not my favorite of his outings so I guess again, time will tell Marcello's had some really strong.

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[28:30] Material since he started that sketch just didn't hip for me, I know it hip for a lot of people, but it just didn't hip for me so that would be my Hall of Shame moment, so I'm very excited for next week's episode 3, which will have Ariana Rihanna Grande and Stevie Nicks, who I love. So looking forward to that. Also looking forward to next week's Hall of Fame episode. Thomas will be joined by Gary Seeth. They'll be talking about classic writer Ellen Zweibel. And we'll be right back here at the water cooler to break it all down for you. I know Thomas is going to do a great job. Looking forward to being introduced to Gary. Really looking forward to that. Looking forward to talking to you as always, Joe. And as J.D. always says, stay thirsty.

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