Well, isn’t it special?
Too special for Robin Williams, apparently! On the last episode of Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade, Dana Carvey has revealed he once blocked the legendary Oscar-winning comedian and actor from appearing in his ‘Church Chat’ skit on Saturday Night Live.
Carvey, who broke out with the character of Church Lady on the long-running NBC comedy show, was worried that Williams and her wacky energy would distract from her own character. “He was a really good friend, but he really wanted to do ‘Church Chat,'” Carvey said. “At first it was my golden ticket and I was very cautious. I thought if Robin was that excited…I was just scared of it.”
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty; Stephen Shugerman/Getty Dana Carvey and Robin Williams
The Church Lady, officially named Enid Strict, debuted on Carvey’s first season on SNL. On his own talk show, Strict would welcome celebrity guests (often this week’s host) to his couch as an excuse to call them out and chastise them for their alleged sins. It has become one of Carvey’s most recognizable and recurring sketches.
Carvey also shared that Williams even personally asked to appear in the skit while hosting an episode and Carvey declined. “He even called me Saturday morning around 10 a.m. [wanting to be a guest in the sketch]”, Carvey said, impersonating Williams, saying, “Oh, I would really like to play. “”
It was hard for Carvey to deny his friend, but he says he was hyper-protective of the sketch and the more realistic, natural space he was trying to play with the character of Enid Strict. “It was heartbreaking, but you know, we got past that and we were [friends]”, he says to him. “But at that time, your thing was very valuable. I wanted it to stay almost real, in a way.”
Carvey touched on the story while chatting with co-host David Spade and guest Jason Sudeikis about the thorny politics of trying to break out Saturday Night Live.
Carvey was a cast member on SNL from 1986 to 1993, and in the years that followed, he repeatedly reprized some of his most famous characters, including the Lady of the Church.
Williams, who hosted SNL in 1986 and 1988 during Carvey’s tenure, was already a household name thanks to Mork and Mindy and its stand-up comedy. When he hosted SNLhe was also beginning to attract attention as a dramatic actor in film.
Listen to the full episode below.
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