A Test Screening Saved Adam Sandler's Billy Madison From Studio Interference

Although "Billy Madison" got poor reviews at the time, it still holds up for the kids who grew up watching it. That "I award you no points" speech is still iconic, and the scene with the O'Doyle family cheering as they fall to their deaths is still funny. It also helps that Adam Sandler would go on to make a ton of other movies throughout his career, and most of them make this movie's script look like Shakespeare in comparison. We've seen what a truly terrible Adam Sandler movie looks like, and this ain't it.

The exact version of "Billy Madison" we got almost never happened because the studio originally had mixed feelings. "The studio didn't know what to think about the film, which was, frankly, weird," director Tamra Davis explained. "Thank god for audience test scores — they loved it."

It should come as no surprise that it was teenagers specifically that loved the film, who saved it from the kind of studio meddling that's torn apart so many other films out there. "The kids didn't seem to pay attention to Steve Buscemi's lipstick scene, though adults laughed," Davis noted in the above interview. "The studio was happy, and I didn't have to make any of their incorrect changes, like taking out the shot of the family going over a cliff in a station wagon to their deaths."

For Tamra Davis, there's some irony to be found in the fact that this is now the most relevant movie she's ever made. "The film opened at No. 1 at the box office, but the critics hated it," she said. "I was used to great reviews — my first film, 'Guncrazy,' starring Drew Barrymore, was a critical darling." 

Sure enough, most critics today (and in the '90s) agree that "Guncrazy" was the better movie, although it was never as well-received as the 1950 film "Gun Crazy" by which it was inspired. "Billy Madison" was seen as a clear step down, but as one looks at Davis' other movies over the years — long-forgotten films like "Half Baked," "Best Man," "Skipped Parts," and "Crossroads" — "Madison" stands out among the rest. Despite how star-studded most of the other movies were, "Madison" is the only one that's made a clear impact. Nobody quotes "Half Baked" anymore, but for better or worse, the line "If peeing in your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis!" still lives rent-free in a lot of viewers' heads. 

"I found solace in thinking that if a critic liked 'Billy,' we failed," Davis explained. "We didn't make the film for stuffy intellectual critics, but for us, crazy kids who loved to party and have fun." And sure enough, "Billy Madison" accomplishes exactly what an Adam Sandler comedy film is supposed to do: it's fun. It won't blow your mind or change your life, but for movies like "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmore," or "Mr. Deeds," you at least know you'll never be bored.