Posted in: American Gods, NBC, Starz, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: american gods, bleeding cool, bob odenkirk, cable, chris farley, christina applegate, David Spade, Groundlings, Julia Sweeney, matt foley, motivational speaker, Phil Hartman, saturday night live, season 3, snl, starz, streaming, television, tv, Women of SNL

Saturday Night Live: Julia Sweeney Reflects on Matt Foley Debut Sketch

In what many regards as Chris Farley's greatest character on Saturday Night Live, Matt Foley, the over-the-top motivational speaker who "lives in a van down by the river," is still fondly remembered by those who were apart of his debut in May 1993. In the "Women of SNL" panel, American Gods star Julia Sweeney played the mother of a family who found a stash of marijuana among their children's possessions. The father was played by the late Phil Hartman, the daughter by host Christina Applegate, and the son by David Spade.

A Watershed Moment in "Saturday Night Live' History

The SNL sketch called "Matt Foley: Van Down by the River", created by Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), had the family hire Farley's character who spent hours getting pepped up. The late actor and comedian's intense presence getting into the faces of Applegate and Spade made Spade break character several times covering his face in laughter along with extreme hand gesturing and eventual collapse of the coffee table. Sweeney admitted the cameras had to cut away from her doing the same. "I break all the time and I hate it about myself," she reflected 27 years later sharing her time with co-panelists Cheri Oteri, Laraine Newman, and moderator Wil Forte during the virtual Groundlings Diversity Festival Sunday panel.

"I'm not laughing at me. I'm laughing at this person who's committing so much who's two feet away from me," Sweeney continued. "When Chris Farley did the 'down by the river' Matt Foley, I was in that. They had to cut around me because I was laughing. Because it was like I had the best seat in the house for the funniest friggin' thing that was happening on the planet." When Oteri added about Spade also breaking character laughing, Sweeney responded scolding herself. "Yeah, Spade was laughing too. But they were mad at me. They had to change camera angles and that's terrible. That is terrible. I just feel awful about it actually." Forte closed by saying, "What an amazing thing to have been apart of." Farley made seven more appearances as the character with his final in the October 25th, 1997 SNL episode he hosted shortly before his death.

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