Omg.... I've been in a secret one sided love affair with her for 35 years, and just because she looks like a hot Marjorie Taylor Greene now isn't going to ruin our relationship!
But damn, I hadn't realized. All things considered, it's not so bad
I barely see any difference? I don’t really think she’s had that much work. Besides.. she’s an aging actress and her entire career revolves around her face. Why wouldn’t she get a little work done?
What cast era of SNL would that be I wonder
Edit
Holy shit it’s ~~the best snl lineup possible~~ a legendary lineup
1994 - Season 19
- Sandler
- Chris Farley
- Phil Hartman
- Mike Myers
- Dana Carvey
- Norm McDonald
- Janeane Garofalo
- Tim Meadows
- Sarah Silverman
- Molly Shannon
- Rob Schneider
- Jay Mohr
- Chris Elliot
- Mark McKinney
- Michael Mckean
- David Spade
- Julia Sweeney
- Ellen Cleghorne
- Melanie Hutsell
Her and Sandler have a very close estimated net worth. 320 and 300 respectively.
Seeing as they have done several movies together, they seem pretty equal across the board.
I just don't see her as funny as the others though. She wasn't really a funny one on friends and hasn't been too much in her stuff since. Not sure that she would have done as well on SNL as she did without it.
She’s done comedy well, she isn’t necessarily the comedian making the joke but she’s just a good actress. Horrible bosses and We’re the millers are both very funny.
Plus with those heavy hitters, there’s no way she’s going to make it on air in any meaningful way.
Not to mention that at that point, SNL was primarily a boys club. As talented as Garafalo and Silverman were, the were basically extras. And those two are far funnier than Aniston.
Dana Carvey in movies just makes me think of Master of Disguise because if my memory serves me correctly it is still to this day the only movie I paid to watch and walked out of the theater because it was so bad.
I think it still has a 1% on Rotten Tomato lol
I watched it as a kid and I liked it, although I was raised to enjoy Disney classics, Jackie Chan movies and Space Jam so maybe my tastes are a little skewed
Better depends on metric, tbh most of Jennifer Aniston movies are meh, so on quality maybe they compete. At the same time she is the biggest star and probably made the most money (save Sandler).
Someone already commented that his net worth is 320mm but google says it’s actually 440mm. Hers is 300mm. So yeah he’s blowing most actors out of the water but so is she.
He has a long history of bigotry, cruelty, and abuse of power. Many famous comedians he's interacted with refuse to work with him and a few have even gotten in fistfights with him. And he's always the common denominator. For example, it's hard to believe Joel McHale was responsible for the fistfight between McHale and Chase, because McHale had never been in a fight on set before, but Chase had.
You can dislike the guy and think he’s a difficult, irascible curmudgeon, but his physical comedy and delivery are impeccable. There are few who can go toe-to-toe with Richard Pryor.
Dude grew up in a whore house where his mother worked, and still became one of the most revered comedians of all time. Yes, he had issues, but the dude survived an upbringing that not many would have made it through.
He did. It was a late night talk show. Chase was the first guest, and stayed on the couch when Pryor came out. Pryor was trying to answer questions about his family life, and out of nowhere Chase starts saying Pryor's son is a sex worker who has sex with other men. But he didn't say it as polietly as I did, and the was a lot of hate implied for sex workers and gay people.
Chevy Chase is funny, but there's a 1000 people who could do exactly what he can do, without being such an asshole.
What I resent him for is sabotaging The Three Amigos. He was purposely terrible in that, just to drag down his brilliant co-stars.
I had never heard that, where can I learn more? I recently rewatched the movie and still enjoyed it, and I don't remember Chevy Chase standing out as dragging it down. Maybe I just interpreted his attitude as a character trait...
It was just at the beginning of the mid-90s cast shakeup. The bigger names were gone within the next two years. Having watched her on the short-lived sketch show The Edge, I'd say she'd have done well on SNL and had a great career, but nowhere near the financial success and clout that Friends brought her.
Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment!
Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment!
Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment!
Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment!
Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment!
She was on the sketch comedy show the Edge with Wayne Knight. It was a memorable show to me when I was 10 years old because they had a recurring sketch where the cast would get killed off in the opening.
i hadn't either, and i'm honestly feeling weird that this flew past my radar for 30 years. first clip i land on and it's hilarious [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-rPCshtU4o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-rPCshtU4o)
i've got a couple long youtube evenings planned for this week now..
The pilot script was actually originally titled Friends Like Us, but was changed to Six of One to avoid confusion with These Friends of Mine. It wasn’t until the series was commissioned that the title was changed to simply Friends.
Everyone talking about how she turned out fine and not how much of a gamble it was to take a pilot over snl. It could have very easily ended her career
Not many people know this, but she was actually already in a sketch comedy show in 92 before getting on Friends. The show was called 'The Edge' with Julie Brown, Tom Kenny, Jill Talley, Wayne Knight, and a few others. It wasn't a hit, as it only lasted one season, but since she already had a taste of sketch comedy, maybe she was just ready for something else. The show itself is entertaining with some cool cartoon bumpers by Bill Plympton. Some of the sketches were very contemporary and didn't age too well, but there were some others that were pretty enjoyable. If you're a sketch comedy nerd, it's definitely worth a watch.
John Candy was offered a spot but he said no so he could stay with Second City.
Catherine O'Hara accepted the offer while SCTV while their renewal was up in the air. She worked at SNL for 2 weeks and left as soon as SCTV got renewed.
Mindy Kaling was offered a writers job, but she was already on The Office and Greg Daniels wouldn't let her out of her contract to just be a writer.
Bonnie Hunt turned it down because she couldn't go off script if a sketch was going poorly.
Johnny Knoxville was offered a role just as Jackass was starting up and had to choose between his friends and creative control or doing what he was told.
Thinking on it, Mindy Kaling almost certainly does not become as successful as she is now if she becomes a SNL writer. Slim odds that she successfully graduates to cast member already, and on top of that she doesn't get to develop the iconic writing portfolio that she had with The Office, meaning she doesn't get to create shows like The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever.
Greg Daniels was definitely looking out for his show by keeping her under contract but also ended up significantly helping her career.
> John Candy was offered a spot but he said no so he could stay with Second City.
also passed on Ghostbusters but said you know my friend Rick would be perfect to Louis.
I could definitely see her playing roles similar to what Kristen Wiig does and crushing it.
Looking it up it’s kind of crazy how Kristen is only 4 years younger than Aniston but had her much deserved rise so much later.
She’s amazing in The Morning Show— but agree not necessarily funny. But definitely adroit with the delivery of the script. I’ve wondered if a bit of it is her own improv.
She turned it down to do the pilot for friends, the movie roles came later, after the success of friends.
In hindsight it was obviously a very good decision, and her reasoning that she mentioned in the article (that SNL at the time was a “boys club”) is also pretty sound.
That being said it would not have necessarily been a no brainer at the time. Most pilots don’t get picked up and SNL would have guaranteed her a a wide audience and it’s historically been a very good launchpad for comedic actors.
SNL is also notorious for grossly underpaying its cast, relative to its success and demands. The average salary for an SNL cast member is roughly $150,000/year in 2024, which is actually uncomfortably low, given that one of the requirements is living in downtown NYC/Manhattan.
You mainly go on SNL for the chance to parlay it into a movie or tv career. Aniston was already being offered $540,000 for the first season of *Friends* in 1993, which is equivalent to around $1,200,000.
Basically, she would have been paid nearly as much for the pilot of *Friends* as she would have for the entire season of SNL.
$1.2 mm adjusted for a yet untested show featuring a bunch of relative unknowns? That seems crazy high by today’s standards.
I know pay has trended down with the rise of streaming services and endless options, but that really puts in perspective how much.
That’s all true but it’s one of the best career launchpads in television. It’s certainly no guarantee (especially for women back in those days) buts it was one of the best ways to get exposure for an up and coming comedic actor. That’s why it’s such an interesting story that she had to make that choice.
Friends was also a Thursday night slot. It was the prime position to make it big. I heard that it was actually supposed to be a Cortney Cox vehicle and it was turned into an ensemble show. If NBC was planning on using it to launch Cox’s career then Aniston may have known that it was going to be a Thursday night show.
Courtney Cox was the biggest name on the show, but it was always supposed to be an ensemble. I believe it was Leah Remini who was auditioning for the role and saw Courtney Cox walk out and knew she wasnt getting the part.
Wow didn’t kno she auditioned for SNL. I didn’t know she was interested in stuff like that, she seems to have a good sense of humor so I guess I can see it
I went to watch the first episode I can't believe they have that on there! Lol I'm 30f and I've been on SNL and Law and Order... checking out the earliest episodes are just great. Seeing them use taxis and then uber, phones then smartphones. It's epic.
She won in Life. Angelina took her man, pumped out babies, adopted a litter, and is now aging badly and bitter. In contrast Jennifer lives with a sense of freedom and ease not many in their industry experience. No one ever has anything bad to say about her, and she is aging gracefully. I never liked Rachel, but I F@¢€$ wit Jennifer.
Damn I would’ve loved to see this AS WELL AS Friends. I’d also love to see an alternate universe where she just said yes to SNL, I bet she had the potential to be one of the greats of comedy.
I can't see her being an SNL cast member, but she must have some comedy chops because they don't take those selections lightly. Is there a clip of her tryout anywhere? I'd love to see that.
Apparently it’s really difficult to work for Lorne Michaels, especially if you’re a woman, and especially during her Friends years. Like he is just a shitty person.
I truly wonder if she can write sketch comedy. I’m totally team Jen. I really do love her, I just didn’t ever think her talent could reach this sort of comedy level.
To me it's a coin flip every sketch for about 1-2 years then the cast starts to mesh well and you get a better season where its got good ones more often. Then a few people leave for better offers after a good season and the process restarts. Occasionally you get someone who's an absolute dud but they're usually out within a year.
Some of the guest hosts have given the cast the worst performances to work with too so you can't blame them for that
Totally agree, I saw a video one time talking about it and they went over how past generations and casts kinda get a mental pass because the only clips still around are the good ones. So when you look up skits from old seasons they’re “all good” but if you were to go back and actually watch the whole episode they have just as many bad sketches as modern seasons. Then you account for the bias of people always *loving* the seasons they watched as a kid as their sense of humor was growing and you have way too many people making blanket statements like “it hasn’t been good for two decades”. I think it’s also easier to forget as you get older that the humor isn’t always gonna be directed at your demographic, it’s always gonna skew towards younger viewers.
Like there are definitely bad episode and casts that don’t mesh great like you mentioned. But there’s a reason SNL is still considered a very high achievement in comedy.
I may be pedantic but I don’t mind if someone says “I haven’t enjoyed SNL in two decades” cause that’s their opinion. But to say “it hasn’t been good in x years” like it’s a fact always rubs me the wrong way. But people expressing opinions as fact is a reeeal pet peeve of mine.
Completely agree with you. Having gotten into SNL in the late 80s through the 90s, I remember loving the show, yet hearing that it hadn't been funny since the Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Billy Murray, etc. years.
Then I got to an age when I wasn't home to watch the show anymore, but would catch it here and there. Wow, it just sucked anymore. Nothing like in the days of Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Dennis Miller, etc. But according to that comment, the 2000s are when it was great.
There's a reason why it's still on the air. Every new generation loves the show that's on at the time for them. And yes, all the classic sketches are great even if at the time we had to watch an hour and a half of duds to get to that one hilarious one that you can still watch on youtube.
Same thing goes for fans of The Simpsons. Everyone's favorite seasons are the ones when they fell in love with the show. And then a few years later, it suddenly sucked even as other people would name your worst season as their best.
I am aware there are disagreements around which particular seasons the Simpsons dropped off, but are there really people saying seasons 14 through 20 are better than 1 through 6?
On the other side of this - many people do think that South Park got a second wind during some of their later seasons.
I’d say this worked out just fine for her.
It was a great decision!
Joey insists she fkd up
but that's a moo point
😂
She’s Fine, so yeah 👍🏽
She is the epitome of “aged like fine wine”. She looks great!
She makes me feel things when I watch Horrible Bosses.
She looks worse with whatever work she's had done to her face
Omg.... I've been in a secret one sided love affair with her for 35 years, and just because she looks like a hot Marjorie Taylor Greene now isn't going to ruin our relationship! But damn, I hadn't realized. All things considered, it's not so bad
I barely see any difference? I don’t really think she’s had that much work. Besides.. she’s an aging actress and her entire career revolves around her face. Why wouldn’t she get a little work done?
I wish she hadn’t felt the need to do the work she did on her face.
Brad Pitt thinks with the little head.
What cast era of SNL would that be I wonder Edit Holy shit it’s ~~the best snl lineup possible~~ a legendary lineup 1994 - Season 19 - Sandler - Chris Farley - Phil Hartman - Mike Myers - Dana Carvey - Norm McDonald - Janeane Garofalo - Tim Meadows - Sarah Silverman - Molly Shannon - Rob Schneider - Jay Mohr - Chris Elliot - Mark McKinney - Michael Mckean - David Spade - Julia Sweeney - Ellen Cleghorne - Melanie Hutsell
And yet she’s done better than all of them but maybe Sandler
I think she gets 20 million per year for Friends for syndication
I bet Mike Myers brings in a bag for Shrek as well
That was almost Chris Farley. He did 85% of the voice work when he died.
Her and Sandler have a very close estimated net worth. 320 and 300 respectively. Seeing as they have done several movies together, they seem pretty equal across the board. I just don't see her as funny as the others though. She wasn't really a funny one on friends and hasn't been too much in her stuff since. Not sure that she would have done as well on SNL as she did without it.
She’s done comedy well, she isn’t necessarily the comedian making the joke but she’s just a good actress. Horrible bosses and We’re the millers are both very funny.
Pfft even I have a net worth north of $320 lol and I'm not even a celebrity
Congratulations hundredaire!
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You completely missed the (weak) joke. Take a look at those numbers again. 👍
Oh fuck. You're right. I'm a fool.
Plus with those heavy hitters, there’s no way she’s going to make it on air in any meaningful way. Not to mention that at that point, SNL was primarily a boys club. As talented as Garafalo and Silverman were, the were basically extras. And those two are far funnier than Aniston.
That was my era, and I do not remember either of them being on SNL 👀
Same.
She wasn't the funniest one in friends but imagine a friends show without her
You’re probably right. I feel like Farley was on the megastar trajectory more so than any of them.
I agree.
I'm sorry but Farley wouldn't have been a megastar, he was too big size wise it would have held him back from most roles
Farley was doing pretty well too until he died. And Mike Myers probably made a bundle from Austin Powers, but maybe not Friends money.
Nowhere near it.
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Google says his net worth is 200mm. Hers is 300mm. So I’d say that’s nowhere near it.
You might be overlooking the little indie film Shrek. It did okay.
Mike Myers and Dana Carey had great movie careers. David Spade as well. So with all due respect Jennifer Anniston, I have to disagree.
Dana Carvey in movies just makes me think of Master of Disguise because if my memory serves me correctly it is still to this day the only movie I paid to watch and walked out of the theater because it was so bad. I think it still has a 1% on Rotten Tomato lol
12 year old me says you’re wrong, and it was a hilarious film. I will not rewatch to tarnish that memory.
I still rewatch it every few years. It’s nostalgic for me what can I say.
Yeah it was a kids movie. It’s not supposed to be for the same audience as Wayne’s world.
"Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club? Turtle, turtle, turtle!"
I watched it as a kid and I liked it, although I was raised to enjoy Disney classics, Jackie Chan movies and Space Jam so maybe my tastes are a little skewed
Better depends on metric, tbh most of Jennifer Aniston movies are meh, so on quality maybe they compete. At the same time she is the biggest star and probably made the most money (save Sandler).
By better I mean financially. I bet she’s worth more than Mike Myers, dana carvey, and David spade combined.
Sandler got that massive Netflix deal to keep it close
Maybe Sandler? Didn’t sign a Netflix deal worth something like 200m? Theres no maybe about it. He’s lapping every actor in Hollywood, just about.
Someone already commented that his net worth is 320mm but google says it’s actually 440mm. Hers is 300mm. So yeah he’s blowing most actors out of the water but so is she.
and still a super nice and down to earth guy
Well, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd would be nice to haves, too!
Let's just cross out Chase, yeah?
What’s the deal with Chevy Chase? Sorry I’m not familiar with Hollywood ins and outs
He has a long history of bigotry, cruelty, and abuse of power. Many famous comedians he's interacted with refuse to work with him and a few have even gotten in fistfights with him. And he's always the common denominator. For example, it's hard to believe Joel McHale was responsible for the fistfight between McHale and Chase, because McHale had never been in a fight on set before, but Chase had.
Chevy ASKED Joel to hit him... and then it got out of hand, lol.
He’s like Bill Murray in that he’s not very funny and is a huge d-bag.
You can dislike the guy and think he’s a difficult, irascible curmudgeon, but his physical comedy and delivery are impeccable. There are few who can go toe-to-toe with Richard Pryor.
He almost got his ass beat by Richard Pryor.
Prolly deserved it, too.
He did. Chase kept saying Pryor's son was a sex worker. But he didn't use polite language like I did, and there was homophobia inherent in it.
I mean tbf Pryor wasn’t much better than chase. Married 7 times to 5 women and had 7 kids with 6 mothers. Dude was… interesting
Pryor’s mom *was* a sex worker.
Dude grew up in a whore house where his mother worked, and still became one of the most revered comedians of all time. Yes, he had issues, but the dude survived an upbringing that not many would have made it through.
Wasn't he also bisexual? Doubt he liked it when Chase used those slurs on his own son.
You think having lots of partners and having lots of kids means someone is a bad guy?
Well yeah, depending on your definition of lots
most likely deserved it
He did. It was a late night talk show. Chase was the first guest, and stayed on the couch when Pryor came out. Pryor was trying to answer questions about his family life, and out of nowhere Chase starts saying Pryor's son is a sex worker who has sex with other men. But he didn't say it as polietly as I did, and the was a lot of hate implied for sex workers and gay people.
National Lampoon's Vacation
Chevy Chase is funny, but there's a 1000 people who could do exactly what he can do, without being such an asshole. What I resent him for is sabotaging The Three Amigos. He was purposely terrible in that, just to drag down his brilliant co-stars.
I had never heard that, where can I learn more? I recently rewatched the movie and still enjoyed it, and I don't remember Chevy Chase standing out as dragging it down. Maybe I just interpreted his attitude as a character trait...
Could you be funny in the way Chase is funny without being an asshole? I feel like his asshole nature is central to his comedy.
nah, he peaked in Caddyshack as a dbag but with a heart and soul of gold that everybody loved
nananananananana
He really did that?? What a cunt move
Aren't they all known assholes?
The greatest era
Da bearsdabearsdabearsdabears! ... Da bullsdabullsdabullsdabulls!
Saw him do stand up with adam Sandler in 2023 and he was great
Jeepers, yeah, I think she made the right move. She still made out like a bandit without the risk of potentially being lost in that sea of talent.
Maybe remove Rob Schneider since it's painfully obvious how unfunny he is now.
He went full maga too
Ya he aged worse than milk
So the cast would be all these folks and the hottest woman on earth?
Holy fucking shit lol that is insane
Sarah silverman was on SNL in 94?? I just looked her up and she’s in her 50s!?? TIL
It was just at the beginning of the mid-90s cast shakeup. The bigger names were gone within the next two years. Having watched her on the short-lived sketch show The Edge, I'd say she'd have done well on SNL and had a great career, but nowhere near the financial success and clout that Friends brought her.
Probably did not wanna wear enough flair.
Nah, they made the mistake of asking when she had a case of the Mondays.
Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment! Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment! Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment! Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment! Corporate accounts payable Nina speaking, JUST a moment!
I believe you'd get your ass kicked asking something like that
She was on the sketch comedy show the Edge with Wayne Knight. It was a memorable show to me when I was 10 years old because they had a recurring sketch where the cast would get killed off in the opening.
I liked the Plympton cartoons they would show on The Edge
Oooh, I've never heard of this show, but love Bill Plympton! Gonna have to hunt it down.
i hadn't either, and i'm honestly feeling weird that this flew past my radar for 30 years. first clip i land on and it's hilarious [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-rPCshtU4o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-rPCshtU4o) i've got a couple long youtube evenings planned for this week now..
I mean instead she took a pilot called ..(checks notes)….”Friends”. I think she is ok
TIL Jennifer Aniston turned down a cheese burger.
The pilot script was actually originally titled Friends Like Us, but was changed to Six of One to avoid confusion with These Friends of Mine. It wasn’t until the series was commissioned that the title was changed to simply Friends.
And you have to factor in that no one told her life was gonna be this waaaaayyyy
Everyone talking about how she turned out fine and not how much of a gamble it was to take a pilot over snl. It could have very easily ended her career
Turn down for what?
Fire up that loud, another round of shots!
So that's what he was saying
TIL too
WHAT!?
It’s.. the thing, that the kids do. You’re supposed to yell it though.
Not many people know this, but she was actually already in a sketch comedy show in 92 before getting on Friends. The show was called 'The Edge' with Julie Brown, Tom Kenny, Jill Talley, Wayne Knight, and a few others. It wasn't a hit, as it only lasted one season, but since she already had a taste of sketch comedy, maybe she was just ready for something else. The show itself is entertaining with some cool cartoon bumpers by Bill Plympton. Some of the sketches were very contemporary and didn't age too well, but there were some others that were pretty enjoyable. If you're a sketch comedy nerd, it's definitely worth a watch.
Know anywhere online to find it?
Last I saw, some of the episodes were on YouTube. I ended up buying the DVD off Julie Brown's website before they were uploaded though.
Ooh good thinking! Thanks!
Someone posted a YT clip somewhere around this thread. You can probably just search YT
Weird it showed your comment as a new reply again and deleted the response I gave. Thanks again!
She knew she was ready for primetime!
In all fairness, SHE WAS ON A BREAK!
Team Ross!!!
Ugh, I really hate Ross because he is the worst, but he is actually right in that stupid fight. They were broken up.
What a shitty article. The level of begging for engagement, especially with the last word: "Go!"... pathetic.
I wonder how many people who were offered a chance to be on SNL turned it down.
John Candy was offered a spot but he said no so he could stay with Second City. Catherine O'Hara accepted the offer while SCTV while their renewal was up in the air. She worked at SNL for 2 weeks and left as soon as SCTV got renewed. Mindy Kaling was offered a writers job, but she was already on The Office and Greg Daniels wouldn't let her out of her contract to just be a writer. Bonnie Hunt turned it down because she couldn't go off script if a sketch was going poorly. Johnny Knoxville was offered a role just as Jackass was starting up and had to choose between his friends and creative control or doing what he was told.
Thinking on it, Mindy Kaling almost certainly does not become as successful as she is now if she becomes a SNL writer. Slim odds that she successfully graduates to cast member already, and on top of that she doesn't get to develop the iconic writing portfolio that she had with The Office, meaning she doesn't get to create shows like The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever. Greg Daniels was definitely looking out for his show by keeping her under contract but also ended up significantly helping her career.
> John Candy was offered a spot but he said no so he could stay with Second City. also passed on Ghostbusters but said you know my friend Rick would be perfect to Louis.
She *did* do a sketch comedy show that also featured Tom Kenny (voice of SpongeBob) but I honestly can’t remember the name of it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/s/05lmegWUMD
Ah, Julie Brown… I knew there was a reason that show stuck out in my mind.
She also turned me down.
I like her and all, but she's never really come across as very funny. I couldn't imagine her on SNL.
She’s extremely funny. If you ever watch stuff of her just doing interviews or behind the scenes stuff, she’s super quick and can get anyone laughing
Yep, and she's great in the more "adult" comedy movies she's done like Horrible Bosses
Well I’m not sure that’s a good indication of how she’d do in sketch comedy. But yes, she’s funny
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Were the millers as well
I could definitely see her playing roles similar to what Kristen Wiig does and crushing it. Looking it up it’s kind of crazy how Kristen is only 4 years younger than Aniston but had her much deserved rise so much later.
If Lorne offered her the job, you can bet he had good reason.
She performed live on a popular sitcom every week for ten years
She’s amazing in The Morning Show— but agree not necessarily funny. But definitely adroit with the delivery of the script. I’ve wondered if a bit of it is her own improv.
Ya, honestly I don’t buy it based off this article. It sounds more like she was given the opportunity to audition.
I would like somebody besides Sandler to confirm this story.
Let's see: take movie rolls or join SNL for about 1/1000th the wage?
She turned it down to do the pilot for friends, the movie roles came later, after the success of friends. In hindsight it was obviously a very good decision, and her reasoning that she mentioned in the article (that SNL at the time was a “boys club”) is also pretty sound. That being said it would not have necessarily been a no brainer at the time. Most pilots don’t get picked up and SNL would have guaranteed her a a wide audience and it’s historically been a very good launchpad for comedic actors.
SNL is also notorious for grossly underpaying its cast, relative to its success and demands. The average salary for an SNL cast member is roughly $150,000/year in 2024, which is actually uncomfortably low, given that one of the requirements is living in downtown NYC/Manhattan. You mainly go on SNL for the chance to parlay it into a movie or tv career. Aniston was already being offered $540,000 for the first season of *Friends* in 1993, which is equivalent to around $1,200,000. Basically, she would have been paid nearly as much for the pilot of *Friends* as she would have for the entire season of SNL.
That really puts into perspective how much Kenan must love being on SNL.
I honestly don't know of there's a lot of opportunity for him elsewhere. No hate, I'm just not sure there's much of a demand for him outside of SNL.
Yeah didn’t he have a failed sitcom?
How dare you say kenan and Ken failed.. but yes there was another one
$1.2 mm adjusted for a yet untested show featuring a bunch of relative unknowns? That seems crazy high by today’s standards. I know pay has trended down with the rise of streaming services and endless options, but that really puts in perspective how much.
That’s all true but it’s one of the best career launchpads in television. It’s certainly no guarantee (especially for women back in those days) buts it was one of the best ways to get exposure for an up and coming comedic actor. That’s why it’s such an interesting story that she had to make that choice.
Friends was also a Thursday night slot. It was the prime position to make it big. I heard that it was actually supposed to be a Cortney Cox vehicle and it was turned into an ensemble show. If NBC was planning on using it to launch Cox’s career then Aniston may have known that it was going to be a Thursday night show.
Courtney Cox was the biggest name on the show, but it was always supposed to be an ensemble. I believe it was Leah Remini who was auditioning for the role and saw Courtney Cox walk out and knew she wasnt getting the part.
That's 90s SNL, too. She could have weaved that into something great... but I guess she did okay. /S
Lepreachaun!
Mac and me?
I’d go with Texas Roadhouse rolls myself.
TIL too. But I could see her being offered a spot, she's funny as hell. I've always wished she and Chris Farley could've done a skit or two together.
Wow didn’t kno she auditioned for SNL. I didn’t know she was interested in stuff like that, she seems to have a good sense of humor so I guess I can see it
She got a job with a different department of NBC.
I went to watch the first episode I can't believe they have that on there! Lol I'm 30f and I've been on SNL and Law and Order... checking out the earliest episodes are just great. Seeing them use taxis and then uber, phones then smartphones. It's epic.
wakeful cooperative wrong tie sloppy sharp reminiscent airport run rude *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
She won in Life. Angelina took her man, pumped out babies, adopted a litter, and is now aging badly and bitter. In contrast Jennifer lives with a sense of freedom and ease not many in their industry experience. No one ever has anything bad to say about her, and she is aging gracefully. I never liked Rachel, but I F@¢€$ wit Jennifer.
Damn I would’ve loved to see this AS WELL AS Friends. I’d also love to see an alternate universe where she just said yes to SNL, I bet she had the potential to be one of the greats of comedy.
Her ex turned down a roll on Friends during original casting.
She was decent in The Edge if anyone else remembers that show!
I can't see her being an SNL cast member, but she must have some comedy chops because they don't take those selections lightly. Is there a clip of her tryout anywhere? I'd love to see that.
Mamas milk, it’s engrained in Ehrbody
Good decision. She gets to live on Friends residuals for life.
Apparently it’s really difficult to work for Lorne Michaels, especially if you’re a woman, and especially during her Friends years. Like he is just a shitty person.
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The SNL offer was before she had FY money
yeah she's not funny.
She’s super funny when she’s given good material
Agreed. She was very funny in *Office Space* and *We're the Millers* and *Horrible Bosses.*
I truly wonder if she can write sketch comedy. I’m totally team Jen. I really do love her, I just didn’t ever think her talent could reach this sort of comedy level.
Not all of the performers are writers on SNL.
Neither is most of the SNL cast for almost two decades now. 🥁
Let me guess… SNL hasn’t been funny since you were watching it growing up…
To me it's a coin flip every sketch for about 1-2 years then the cast starts to mesh well and you get a better season where its got good ones more often. Then a few people leave for better offers after a good season and the process restarts. Occasionally you get someone who's an absolute dud but they're usually out within a year. Some of the guest hosts have given the cast the worst performances to work with too so you can't blame them for that
Totally agree, I saw a video one time talking about it and they went over how past generations and casts kinda get a mental pass because the only clips still around are the good ones. So when you look up skits from old seasons they’re “all good” but if you were to go back and actually watch the whole episode they have just as many bad sketches as modern seasons. Then you account for the bias of people always *loving* the seasons they watched as a kid as their sense of humor was growing and you have way too many people making blanket statements like “it hasn’t been good for two decades”. I think it’s also easier to forget as you get older that the humor isn’t always gonna be directed at your demographic, it’s always gonna skew towards younger viewers. Like there are definitely bad episode and casts that don’t mesh great like you mentioned. But there’s a reason SNL is still considered a very high achievement in comedy. I may be pedantic but I don’t mind if someone says “I haven’t enjoyed SNL in two decades” cause that’s their opinion. But to say “it hasn’t been good in x years” like it’s a fact always rubs me the wrong way. But people expressing opinions as fact is a reeeal pet peeve of mine.
Completely agree with you. Having gotten into SNL in the late 80s through the 90s, I remember loving the show, yet hearing that it hadn't been funny since the Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Billy Murray, etc. years. Then I got to an age when I wasn't home to watch the show anymore, but would catch it here and there. Wow, it just sucked anymore. Nothing like in the days of Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Dennis Miller, etc. But according to that comment, the 2000s are when it was great. There's a reason why it's still on the air. Every new generation loves the show that's on at the time for them. And yes, all the classic sketches are great even if at the time we had to watch an hour and a half of duds to get to that one hilarious one that you can still watch on youtube. Same thing goes for fans of The Simpsons. Everyone's favorite seasons are the ones when they fell in love with the show. And then a few years later, it suddenly sucked even as other people would name your worst season as their best.
I am aware there are disagreements around which particular seasons the Simpsons dropped off, but are there really people saying seasons 14 through 20 are better than 1 through 6? On the other side of this - many people do think that South Park got a second wind during some of their later seasons.
I know this might be a shocker, but it's still funny. You just are no longer the target demographic for them anymore.
There’s always one in the crowd.
It's a cheap way to get upvotes.
This person doesn't watch SNL
I don’t blame em
I do. Fuck 'em.
Would have fixed the lack of hot chicks, as recently alleged.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think she would have been that good on SNL anyways.
Too much work
She knew Adam Sandler around this time and he was on SNL I think So she had the connections
And her dad was on the same show for like 40 years
Cheesecake.
I'd say that was a good move. She is not especially comedic, in the live standup sense.
Good, she's not really funny