Adam Sandler Saved David Spade From Chris Farley's Fists On The Set Of Saturday Night Live

David Spade and Chris Farley only made two films together as co-leads. In 1995, they appeared in Peter Segal's "Tommy Boy" and in 1996, they starred in Penelope Spheeris' "Black Sheep." They also both appeared in the movie "Coneheads," although they had no scenes together, and were part of a generation of comedians who started on "Saturday Night Live" in 1990. This generation, often called "The Bad Boys of SNL," included future stars like Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, and Rob Schneider. The group frequently worked together both on the show and in feature films, and some of them still collaborate to this day. 

Farley, rather tragically, passed away in 1997 at the age of 33 due to a drug overdose. There was every reason to believe that, had he survived, Farley's career would have continued to progress, evolve, and include more dramatic work. Of the "Bad Boys," Farley seemed to have the greatest comedic chemistry with Spade, whose wry, weaponized sarcasm played perfectly off of Farley's penchant for over-the-top, childish panic. By all accounts, Farley was an intense co-star to work with, and Spade even admitted that his fellow comedian had something of a temper. Spade, meanwhile, wielding his reputation for smugness, often had trouble diffusing the situations wherein he was the subject of Farley's rage. 

In a 2016 interview with Conan O'Brien, Spade and Sandler reminisced about working with Farley and recalled a dark episode where Farley nearly beat up Spade. 

Looking at Chris Farley and David Spade from the outside, Adam Sandler recalled the incident most clearly. It seemed that Farley would fly into a rage about little things that had nothing to do with performance or stage time. Farley's temper, it seems, went off over personal things. Sandler said:

"Those guys were the tightest. David and Chris was so tight ... I was tight with Chris, [but] those guys were like real best friends ... When he'd get pissed at David, Farley [would] always come over to me ... like, he had a crazy temper, Farley. So he would just be stewing mad about nothing — about [Spade] — but just, like, whatever. Like, if a girl talked to him he'd be like 'Why is that girl–' like, he'd get so angry that David was talking to a girl or something."

Sandler had to play peacemaker in these moments, and he helped calm Farley down by explaining the logical outcome of his desired actions. Hitting Spade, Sandler would tell Farley, was a no-win situation: Whether Farley won or lost the fistfight, he would be the loser. 

"He'd be like, 'I'm gonna kill him, I'm gonna punch him!' and I'd be like, 'No ... don't hit him.' And he'd be like 'No, I gotta hit him! I'm gonna crush him!' And I would say, 'It doesn't make sense — if you knock him out you're known as a jerk. And if you lose, my god, you're known as just a giant p****' And he'd be like, 'You're right, you're right.'"

This was enough to calm Farley and allay any wrath. 

Spade admitted to fearing Farley's anger, but he often calmed his friend before fights broke out. 

Spade remained unpunched.