Oh Mylanta! I’m not normally the type of fan that second guesses what a movie or tv show would have been like had another actor been cast in a specific role, but as a superfan of both Saturday Night Live and Full House, I have to admit I’m spiraling right now. I just found out that a few years before Lorne Michaels brought him to Studio 8H, David Spade was called in to read for the part of Joey Gladstone.
Apparently Spade has mentioned his audition before, but I wasn’t aware of it until I listened to the comedian’s appearance on Esquire’s What I’ve Learned earlier today. Host Michael Sebastian asked Spade if it was true he almost played Joey, and I let out an audible, “Have Mercy!” The Joe Dirt star verified it happened and even gave some insight into his audition. Here’s a portion of his quote…
That’s not a total lie. When I moved here, it was one of my first auditions when I had a little heat on me, and I read for Joey. I remember something about something (being) in the laundry basket, and I was trying to juggle the (clothes). I was like, ‘hey!’ I didn’t know what I was doing, but let’s just say I safely didn’t get that close.
I love Spade, but it’s hard to imagine him being a fit on Full House. Dave Coulier, who got the Joey role, projects extreme sincerity, which is the hallmark of the show itself. It’s all about learning lessons and connecting as a family, whether you’re related by blood or just by love.
Spade, on the other hand, is all about insincerity. He’s best when he’s sliding in little comments and second-guessing everything going on around him. It’s hard for me to imagine how any of it would have blended together, except I’m positive his scenes with noted weirdo Kimmy Gibbler would have been electric.
We have no idea if producers ever seriously considered him, but he said he knows he definitely was close to landing something on In The Heat Of The Night. That’s not really a show that’s talked about a ton anymore, but it was a police procedural that ran from 1988 to 1995. Perhaps more notably, it was Carroll O’Connor’s follow-up to All In The Family/ Archie Bunker’s Place. Had Spade been cast, he likely never would have had that amazing run on SNL (or Just Shoot Me) and may have seen his career go down an entirely separate path since the show had a much more serious tone.
Full House ran for eight seasons and unlike In The Heat Of The Night, remains very culturally relevant. Reruns of the sitcom were broadcast very consistently for decades, and more recently, Netflix even gave us five seasons of a spinoff following the next generation called Fuller House. I’ve seen every single episode of both shows. I wouldn’t change a thing about the cast, but I would pay more money than I’d care to share for an alternate universe DVD set of the show featuring Spade exchanging, “You got it, dudes” with the Olsen Twins.
