Dave Chappelle’s Lengthy Monologue Bumped ‘SNL’s Tribute to David Lynch

As the world continues to mourn the recent passing of David Lynch, this past weekend, the legendary artist and filmmaker received a shout-out from an unlikely source: Saturday Night Live.

Despite the fact that Lynch never hosted SNL and was never a cast member (at least not on this plane of reality), before the closing goodnights of the Dave Chappelle-hosted episode, the show aired a still photo of Lynch, as they did with Dabney Coleman after the former host died last year. 

But, originally, the plan was to air a more substantial tribute to the late director — that is, until the show started running behind schedule. 

Instead of just sticking a JPEG of Lynch into the end of the show, according to LateNighter, during the episode’s dress rehearsal, the brief memorial would have been prefaced with a vintage clip of Roy Orbison singing “In Dreams” on SNL back in 1987, introduced by host Dennis Hopper.

This would have been a very fitting clip considering Lynch’s affinity for Orbison; “In Dreams” was featured in one of Blue Velvet’s most memorable scenes. And though Orbison was initially reluctant for the intensely personal song to be used in such an unusual context, he eventually changed his mind. Lynch later co-produced Orbison’s ‘80s recording of “In Dreams” (owing to the original’s legal entanglements) and the two even became meditation buddies. 

SNL’s pairing of Hopper and Orbison was clearly meant to capitalize on the popularity of Blue Velvet, which had been released the previous fall. There was even a whole sketch based on Lynch’s depraved masterpiece, in which Hopper’s villainous Frank Booth hosts the game show What’s That Smell?

Hopper also played himself during an installment of “Church Chat,” in which the Church Lady suggests that Blue Velvet was really directed by… Satan!

And the Hopper episode wasn’t the only time that Saturday Night Live referenced the work of David Lynch. When Kyle MacLachlan hosted the show in 1990, he jokingly spoiled Twin Peaks by revealing that Laura Palmer’s killer was really Shelly Johnson — only to be called into the control room and chewed out by an off-screen “David Lynch.”

Later in the same episode, MacLachlan reprised the role of Agent Cooper for a Twin Peaks-themed sketch, which, interestingly enough, marked Chris Farley’s SNL debut, and accidentally gave away a key Season Two plot point. 

Given all of this, it’s entirely fitting that SNL would choose to mark Lynch’s passing. Unfortunately, the show was seemingly running short on time, which isn’t all that surprising considering that Chappelle’s monologue lasted for a whopping 17 minutes, setting a new record.

Lynch fans may be slightly miffed, but Bob Uecker fans are probably livid, considering that the late sports broadcaster got no mentions at all during the episode, despite having hosted SNL in 1984. They could have at least shown a clip from the “Mr. Belvedere Fan Club” sketch.