For The Record- 07. June. 2025

Phil Hartman, Fugazi, appointment viewing, and Voivod

For my money, there has never been anyone funnier on SNL than Phil Hartman. A lot of the cast can make you chuckle. A few can make you do it consistently. But no one could make me laugh like he could. I'm talking about the kind of laugh where, about halfway through, you realize you can't breathe but also can't stop.

Later, the characters he voiced on The Simpsons became the stuff of years-long running jokes. I've still never been able to look at a can of Fresca the same way.

In high school, we would all gather at my friend Tim's house to watch. That was the designated spot for two reasons: his place was (more or less) centrally located in our friend circle, and more importantly, his parents were cool with having a roomful of teenagers in their home until the wee hours. Maybe they were just happy we weren't out in the streets. I dunno.

We were fans of comedy, of course, and each had our favorite players. The early 90s were the golden era for the show, and there was a long list to pick from. Adam Sandler was just hitting his stride. David Spade, too. Dennis Miller hadn't yet left the reservation (or showed up on Monday Night Football), still had big hair, and got big laughs as the weekend anchor. Rob Schneider's recurring characters hadn't yet become annoying, nor had he slipped into the primordial ooze of RW politics.

Did Miller lure him in? Who knows? I guess it doesn't much matter.

At any rate, on the nights we weren't trying to get into live shows, odds were good we would be in his living room, eyes glued to the TV. It was appointment viewing, and we rarely skipped one. We came for the laughs but stayed for the musical guests. We liked us some comedy, but we loved us some music - doubly so when it was one of our favorites. I can still clearly remember the giddy anticipation when waiting for bands like Faith No More, R.E.M., and Fishbone to come on. On those nights, it was all we could do to get through the skits (Hartman's included) while waiting.