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When Did Chris Farley and Adam Sandler Join SNL? All about Season 16 Cast

Chris Farley, Chris Rock, and Adam Sandler were just a few of the newcomers to join SNL's lineup.

By Jax Miller

One of the great things about Saturday Night Live is that if you asked 10 fans to name their favorite cast, you could very easily get 10 different answers. Every generation and micro-generation seem to forge unique connections with particular SNL performers. For fans who came of age in the early '90s, for example, names like Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and David Spade probably hold a special place in their memories.

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Those performers' first taste of life in the show's cast came in 1990 in SNL's 16th season, a year that would have a lasting impact in the comedy institution's trajectory.

To celebrate the sketch show’s 50th anniversary, let's take a look back at that pivotal collection of talent.

RELATED: SNL Shares Famous Cast Alumni Auditions in New 50th Anniversary Special Promo: Watch

Who was in the Season 16 Cast?

Chris Farley

Tom Arnold (Chris Farley) holds out his hands in ridicule next to Roseanne (Victoria Jackson) during a SNL sketch,

Chris Farley made a name for himself with Chicago’s Second City before joining SNL from 1990 to 1995. Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, he became known for his over-the-top, fearless brand of physical comedy, often crashing into furniture or cartwheeling around the stage.

He famously brought to life motivational speaker Matt Foley, who tried to warn kids away from decisions that would have them living "in a van, down by the river!" 

Matt Foley: Van Down By The River

Farley’s high-energy delivery as the dancing lunch lady (Season 19, air date: January 15, 1994), one of the "Gap Girls" (Season 19, air date January 15, 1994), as well as his unforgettable turn as an aspiring Chippendales dancer opposite Patrick Swayze (Season 16, air date: October 7, 1990), showcased what The New York Times called his “edgy physicality” that was comparable to the late John Belushi. 

Chippendales

Outside his time on SNL, Farley had many film credits to his name, including Airheads, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and Beverly Hills Ninja.

Farley died in 1997 at age 33. 

Chris Rock

Colin Powell (Tim Meadows) and Nat X (Chris Rock) speak over a desk during an SNL sketch.

Another SNL newcomer for Season 16 was Chris Rock, a rising stand-up comic who stayed on the show until 1993. Raised in Brooklyn, he was spotted during one of his New York City gigs by performer and actor Eddie Murphy (an SNL cast member from 1980 to 1984) who got Rock a role in the 1987 film Beverly Hills Cop II.

In a 2021 interview on LIVE with Kelly and Ryan, Rock reflected on joining the cast in his early twenties, hired on the same day as Chris Farley.

“It was an amazing time in my life,” said the four-time Emmy Award-winning actor. “I’m still friends with all those guys.”

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him one of the greatest comics of all time, writing, “Onstage, Chris Rock comes across like a boxer, a preacher and a poet all in one. When he paces the stage, whipping the mic cable and grinning maniacally, audiences now know what’s coming: This is a comic who knows how to punch premises for rhythm as much as substance and drop punchlines that provoke unconventional thinking.”

Frequently tackling weighty issues such race and politics with his own comedic spin, some of his most-remembered SNL sketches were Nat X, and his contributions on "Weekend Update." Since departing from the show, he has returned four times to host.

The Dark Side

Rock’s non-SNL ventures consisted of numerous stand-up specials, creating the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005-2009), and dozens of other film and television credits. He was inducted into Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2003.

Tim Meadows

Cyndi Lauper (Victoria Jackson), Lenny Kravitz (Tim Meadows), and Axl Rose (Adam Sandler) sing together during an SNL Sketch.

Joining the show midway through Season 16, Tim Meadows became one of SNL’s longest-running cast members, performing from 1991 to 2000. He grew up around Detroit, Michigan, and began honing his improv skills in the area’s Soup Kitchen Saloon. He later enrolled in Chicago’s Second City, in the same class as his costar Chris Farley.

When asked to join SNL, he was “under the impression that it was a writing job,” he once told Minneapolis news station WUCW. He said he was “stunned and delighted” to learn he'd also be joining the Season 16 lineup as a performer.

“Four or five years before, I was an office manager in Detroit and going to college,” said Meadows. “I still felt like that’s who I was. I didn’t feel like, ‘I’m an actor, writer, comedian, now.’”

During Meadows’ 10 seasons on SNL, he impersonated many famous figures, including (in multiple episodes) O.J. Simpson, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jackson. One of his more renowned sketches was that of "The Ladies’ Man," the groovy, sex-obsessed talk show host, the success of which was translated into 2000 feature film.

The Ladies Man

Meadows’ acting continued on the big screen, with major roles in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Grown Ups, and Mean Girls, plus dozens of TV credits.

RELATED: Martin Short Opens Up About His 1 Year as an SNL Cast Member

Adam Sandler

Hector Camacho (Adam Sandler) flexes in a speedo during an SNL sketch.

Adam Sandler initially joined SNL as a writer in 1990, but became a featured player in February 1991, midway through Season 16. He'd stay on the show until 1995.

His penchant for musical comedy, which included "The Hanukkah Song" (Season 20, air date: Dec. 3, 1994), plus his indelible, recurring roles as "Opera Man" and as one of the "Gap Girls," were just a few timeless sketches from his SNL tenure.

Weekend Update: Adam Sandler on Hanukkah

When Sandler receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2023, Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter celebrated him for creating “characters that have made us laugh, cry, and cry from laughing,” according to CNN.

Sandler saw major commercial success outside SNL with films such as Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Wedding Singer.

Rob Schneider

Richard Laymer (Rob Schneider) smiles behind a desk in a button down and tie during an SNL sketch.

Rob Schneider premiered as a featured SNL cast member in Season 16 and later became a main cast member before leaving after Season 19. According to his bio with The Kennedy Center, where Schneider helped present Sandler with the Mark Twain prize, Schneider performed comedy around his native San Francisco, getting his big break in 1987 when appearing on an HBO special hosted by Dennis Miller.

He began writing for SNL in 1988, two years before joining the cast, and earned two Emmy nominations during his time on the show. One of his most popular recurring sketches involved the character Richard Laymer, or "Richmeister," whose habit of giving his co-workers nicknames never failed to delight.

Richmeister's Rival

He starred in several feature films outside SNL’s Studio 8H, including The Benchwarmers, The Hot Chick, and Grown Ups, to name just a few.

David Spade

David Spade as steward, Adam Sandler as passenger, and Ellen Cleghorne as flight attendant all talk to each other on SNL.

David Spade was also originally hired as a writer for Season 16, but eventually moved into the cast as a featured player midway through the season. He remained on the show until 1996. Known for his snarky and self-deprecating humor, he got his SNL break after being spotted at the L.A.-based Improv comedy club, with an assist from Dennis Miller.

“Dennis Miller told me: 'You don’t want to kill too hard, Spudley. It throws up a red flag. You don’t want to be a polished road act,'” Spade told The New York Times in 2013. “And I go, ‘Well, I’m certainly not that. There’s no danger.’”

Spade was memorably one of the flight attendants for "Total Bastard Airlines" in the Season 19 sketch, whose dismissive catch phrase "Buh-Bye" simultaneously flummoxed passengers and entertained viewers. He also portrayed the "Gap Girls" with Farley and Sandler. Spade and Farley grew close on SNL, and outside the series, the duo costarred in the popular blockbusters Tommy Boy and Black Sheep.

Total Bastard Airlines

He went on to appear in a host of comedy specials, films, and TV shows, most notably as the star of NBC’s Just Shoot Me! which ran from 1997 to 2003.

Julia Sweeney

Sue (Roseanne Barr) looks at a nerdily dressed Pat (Julia Sweeney) during an SNL sketch.

Julia Sweeney also joined the SNL cast mid-Season 16, staying until 1994. Growing up, she went to prep school in Spokane, Washington, later attending the University of Washington because she “wanted to be part of the big city,” she said in a January 31, 1993 interview with The Seattle Times. There, she earned degrees in economics and European history.

Sweeney later took a position as an accountant at Columbia Pictures in L.A., and in 1987, she joined The Groundlings as a mentee of Phil Hartman. It wasn’t long before she was noticed as a strong candidate for SNL.

Of her many roles, she's perhaps best known for "It’s Pat," where she starred as the ambiguously gendered title character. Speaking to Dennis Miller in a 2019 episode of Larry King Now, the alums discussed the recurring sketch, noting that the character of Pat wasn’t trying to be androgynous; instead, “Pat definitely felt either female or male, we just didn’t know which one that was.”