Arnold Schwarzenegger Sadly Rejected SNL Star

Back in the day, Saturday Night Live’s Kevin Nealon was watching TV in his hotel room and landed on anĀ Arnold Schwarzenegger interview. He was fascinated by the action star’s description of his exercise and relaxation methods and he called up Dana Carvey to watch along with him. They tried imitating the TerminatorĀ star. They knew this was the birth of a potential character once they returned to New York.

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On Oct. 17, 1987, the premiere date ofĀ SNL‘s 13th season,Ā “Pumping Up With Hans & Franz” made its first appearance on the show. The premise involved two Austrian bodybuilder brothers, supposedly cousins of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who host a show where they ridicule people for being weak “girly men.” As the announcer (Phil Hartman) informed viewers over mock Austrian yodeling, the cable show ā€” one ofĀ SNL‘s structural crutches ā€” is designed to be “the informative training program for the serious weightlifter.”

Schwarzenegger himself made two cameos during the sketch’s run. The first occurred on Dec. 3, 1988, when Schwarzenegger was appearing inĀ TwinsĀ with the episode’s host, Danny DeVito.

Later, on Oct. 26, 1991, as the sketch was waning in popularity, Schwarzenegger again joinedĀ the duo courtesy of a pre-tape as part of his PR campaign as the Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Schwarzenegger took the homage in stride.

While promoting his book,Ā I Exaggerate: My Brushes With Fame, Nealon spoke to EW and noted that Schwarzenegger wanted to co-produce and co-star in it but opted not to do:

“We also decided to make it a musical. The original title was Hans and Franz: The Girlyman Dilemma.Ā Maybe it wasĀ Go to Hollywood, because they do go to Hollywood on a bicycle built for two, a bicycle with a sidecar, I thinkā€¦ Then I guess when push came to shove, Arnold and these big movie stars have like six films in development at a time, then they have to decide what to do. Arnold had just parodied himself inĀ Last Action Hero, so he opted not to do this one.”

Barry Russell
Barry Russell
A dedicated pro wrestling follower for more than a decade

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