10 Comedians Who Should’ve Bought the Farm Before Their Careers Did
February 19, 2009 Posted in Features
Too often in the entertainment industry, great talents are taken from this world before they have a chance for their careers to fully flourish. Unfortunately for others, the exact opposite happens – their careers got so big, they didn’t know when to quit. Not that they weren’t great in their day, but somewhere along the way, things took a turn for the worst. So instead of letting them continue to pollute the airwaves with over-confident garbage, we thought we’d give these 10 comedians a heads-up with The 10 Comedians Who Should’ve Bought the Farm Before Their Careers Did.
Chevy Chase
Rising to fame with his classic Weekend Update skit on Saturday Night Live, Chevy Chase quickly became one of the most successful comedians of the 80′s. His role as Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Vacation is still f**king hilarious and Fletch and ¡Three Amigos! are about as awesomely funny as movies get. But then came a long string of complete failures, like Nothing But Trouble, Cops and Robbersons, The Chevy Chase Show and a ton of other piles of crap that nobody remembers. It’s like he was sucking on purpose.
Chevy Chase in his prime
Chevy Chase past his time
Jerry Seinfeld
While many of the 80′s greats fell to the wayside in the booming days of the 1990s, Jerry Seinfeld’s brand of yuppie, turtleneck-wearing, “did ya’ ever notice how…” comedy made the way for the most popular comedic sitcom on television. Don’t get us wrong, we were laughing right there along with you. But once you’re career is reduced to doing sh*tty American Express commercials you just need to just go away.
Jerry Seinfeld in his prime
Jerry Seinfeld past his time
Adam Sandler
Even in his best days, Sandler was never a match for some of the comic geniuses on this list. But if you were a kid in the mid 90′s, chances are you accidentally crapped your pants laughing at Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. And the “Hanukkah Song” is still fun to throw on when you’re smoking weed at 3am. But from Little Nicky on, Sandler’s comedy crashed harder than Amy Winehouse in detox.
Adam Sandler in his prime
Adam Sandler in his prime
Adam Sandler past his time
Steve Martin
At the start of his career, Steve Martin revolutionized the way people did stand-up. His peculiar brand of comedy landed him on Saturday Night Live, back when every week delivered a must-watch episode. And classic flicks like Planes, Trains and Automobiles and The Jerk seemed to place Martin into the category of “Greatest of All-Time.” And then came the 1990′s. Basically everything he’s made since the beginning of that decade is about as funny as being permanently trapped in New Jersey. Cheaper By the Dozen?! C’mon, Steve – I don’t know how you look yourself in the mirror anymore.
Steve Martin in his prime
Steve Martin past his time
Eddie Murphy
If we were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one stand-up act with us, it just might have to be Eddy Murphy’s 1983 classic, “Delirious,” which has the 22-year-old Murphy killing it from the first joke, leaving anyone within earshot paralyzed from laughter. And box office hits like Trading Place and Coming to America are still better than most comedies released today. But after the successes of the Beverly Hills Cop series, Murphy just turned into a raging asshole who’s ego killed every cell of funny in his body. Sure, Shrek and The Nutty Professor aren’t the worst pieces of crap in history, but The Adventures of Pluto Nash is…
Eddie Murphy in his prime
Eddie Murphy past his time
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great list, but George Carlin, c'mon
I wish sandler and lawrence both were stillborn
George Carlin is infallible. I don't care what anyone says, he's off limits. One of the greatest of all time and is much, much more than "Seven words". Everyone else on the list is absolutely deserving.
You must have just wanted to piss people off by adding Carlin. In the world of stand-ups he is undeniably one of the greatest of all time. You might as well had put Richard Pryor on there and said that all he did after 1990 was have multiple sclerosis. I can think of at least a dozen comedians who should've taken that 10th spot. 9/10 ain't bad in most cases, but the one you missed was way the hell off.
The list was great until Carlin. His late stuff was more nuanced and important than the seven dirty words bit, and even more funny.
I was a Carlin fan for years before I even saw the old "seven dirty words" stuff. I agree with the guy above, adding Carlin to this list must be for hits. His later stuff, especially his last HBO special, were some of the best on stage performances I have ever seen. You have to look deeper than the pessimism.
Carlin did lose it after about…2001. After that he might as well have been Alex Jones sidekick.
It is understandable that the author(s) of such a piece of shit list can't even identify themselves. Shitty article, shitty website, shitty shitty shitty.
Wrong on all accounts. Please revise. Chris Tucker, Eddie Griffin, Chris Elliot, etc. etc. Dumb.
Thank you for saying it. Yes, Carlin was funny, but with the exception of the priest in Dogma, his movies, not so much. And telling people exactly how unrelevant he became is like telling people how irrelevant Dane Cook has always been. It's true, but you're only going to catch crap for it.
Carlin are you an idiot yeah he took a payday for bill and ted but he never lost his comedic edge his modern man rant during his last HBO special was great.
all of these guys except dice clay are part of the richest dudes on the planet
Carlin was one of the best comedians ever…he had a career of what, 40 plus years? That's more that can be said about the jackasses that run this dime-a-dozen "humor" website. Let's see what you guys have to say when you're selling used cars when you turn fifty because the whole "lets make a list" website fad fades away. It's a lot easier to criticize than it is to create.
Excellent list, and there were a lot of laughs that these guys gave us, but in the end it all went down the tubes. I can understand seeing Carlin as almost unassailable, but in the end he just got old. His act changed, but there wasn't enough to keep me laughing like his earlier stuff did when I first saw it back in the late 70s and early 80s. I don't even think it was his fault. The perception of comedy changed, and I am happy that Carlin at least didn't screw up by trying to change with it like Murphy, Martin and Chase did. Carlin did stay true to his own mind, and I respect that and I always will, but the audience went in a different direction. That always happens.
fuckssake, carlin? never fell off. for shame.
There is no question to Carlin's place in comedic history. In fact, Carlin would most definitely be top 10 in our greatest comedians of all-time list, if there was such a post- however, this list is specifically about comedians who absolutely owned their game at a specific time and were unable to produce and/or evolve from the period they were relevant. We love George Carlin and most of the comedians on this list, albeit, using this criteria, we believe this list to be solid.
George Carlin was a misanthropic idiot who managed to ride one good bit — the 7 words thing–for a whole career. His self rightous, better than everyone personnae was more irritating than Mike Meyers in the bathtub doing Simon. What a complete douchbag.
Mrs. Doubtfire was hilarious.
Remember Dennis Miller? He used to have a comedy career, right?
Carlin? No way. The rest I can see.