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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Wow, that George Carlin post was nothing but flamebait, and you guys know it. I mean, christ, I'm posting about it now. If you got him on the list for "complaining", then you might as well throw Bill Hicks up there too. I don't understand the whole riding the 7 dirty words thing…I hadn't heard it in any of his later performances (including his last HBO performance). Seriously, you could have just as easily subbed in Dennis Miller.
Man, knocking George Carlin must be the cool thing to do now.
Gonna have to concur that you guys are fucking idiots for putting Carlin on there. And your example was Bill and Ted's? Fuck off.
Yeah your gonna get it.You picked the ONE thing Carlin did that as not awesome (Bill and Ted) and even he admitted he wasn't an actor.
Watch his last HBO specials their freakin hilarious.Carlin has no business being on this list with Sandler and Dice.Where the hell is Pauly Shore? that guy was NEVER funny.
Could you do us Canadians a favoUr and stop using that Hulu shit that we can't get? Thanks.
Editor – No, it's a list of "Comedians Who Should’ve Bought the Farm Before Their Careers Did". Not the same thing as ". . . comedians who absolutely owned their game at a specific time and were unable to produce and/or evolve from the period they were relevant . . ." That's a different list. Carlin is the only fucking guy on the list who actually did "buy the farm". Which makes for a pretty unfortunate list name, in my estimation. Booo.
re:maxwerm – points well taken. again, we are big fans of george carlin, just don't believe his comedy was relevant after his hey day. We are not haters. Evolution is the key to continued success in any field. Like everyone on this list, Carlin's comedy style did not evolve… atleast in the opinion of this editor.
Why isn't Bernie Mac on this list?
The author should eat some shit
Carlin was always great, Andrew Dice Clay was ALWAYS shit.
Carlin did an act that covered the one subject that doesn't evolve over time. Life! He told it like it was, on government, people, society and religion. Those issues never change and never evolve. I never heard him do 7 words, but you know what, to this day, you cannot say them on regular TV. So, what part of 7 words isn't valid today? Carlin was an observer of life and he developed a style of stating the truth thru comedy. What did you expect hime to do dumbasses, start throwing pies at people? Maybe he should have evolved into a game show host, like Howie Mandell? Pull his name from your list, it shows you don't know what the hell you're talking about. His bit on death on his last HBO special was ironic, don't ya think?
Where the fuck is dane cook in all of this ?
He should have died before his career even started.
carlin crossed from funny to bitter about 10-15 years before before he died, he belongs on the list.
Heres an idea: If you want anyone to read this outside of your own little center of the world try to use media we can actually watch.
Could be a good article, but I don't see anyone giving this a thumbs up outside of America.
George Carlin’s “It’s Bad For You” (2008) was pure genius, and you show a crappy clip of him in a movie made 1989
Shame on you! you pulled the same crap with Jerry, I didnt
see “Bee Movie” but you could’t consider that a comedy performance
To say Chevy Chase and Adam Sandler were ever funny is a stretch,
and Robin Williams is the most overrated performer ever
this is a really stupid and insulting list
Martin Lawrence and Jerry Seinfeld were never funny. NEVER.
George Carlin was funny until he died, even if the Bill & Ted movies were stupid. I notice you didn't include clips of any of the movie roles he had where he was, you know, supposed to be funny.
Basically it's clear your sense of humor sucks. For chrissake you use an "omg new jersey" joke in this article, you're clearly retarded. Please stop writing, accept your fate and get back behind the counter at Burger King – if they'll take you back that is.
I saw Carlin live a few years before he died. Half his show was hilarious, half was just bitter spew. I understand why he is on the list.
You guys are all fags. So what if he put Carlin on the list? Nobody is untouchable and nobody said this list set in stone. Get over it.
At one time or another, besides Dice Clay, these guys were at the top doing what they did. I don't recall any of y'all haters ever being as funny.
~
As much as I like, admire & respect geo. carlin I'd have to agree.
Although his body of quality work is huge and goes way beyond the 7 Words bit. I'm tired of hearing people reference only that when they write/speak about him.
Robert Anton Wilson and he shared the same kind of mindset. But RAW was able to keep his humour right up to the end. Carlin's bitterness and anger went on and on. That became kind of a turn off for me.
But of course, that's just my opinion.
Dice Clay was never ever funny as far as I'm concerned. Never understood his appeal.
Dennis Miller for sure, like others said he could have easily taken Carlin's spot on the list. His good to suckage devolution is so very clear and pronounced.
He ended up bum kissing the Bush43 administration.
Even calling W. a genius!
I shit youse not.
they are one of the greatest comedians in hollywood industry.
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