It started at a hotel in Des Moines.
It was 1987 andDana CarveyandKevin Nealonwere touring after wrapping their first seasons onSaturday Night Live.
After a disastrous season 11, the show recruited Carvey, who then suggested his close friend Nealon.
Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon as Hans and Franz on ‘Saturday Night Live’.NBC
Thanks to their contributions, season 12 was a return to form for producerLorne Michaels.
Nealon was watching TV in his hotel room and landed on anArnold Schwarzeneggerinterview.
Throughout the rest of the tour, they would slip into imitating theTerminatorstar.
They knew this was the genesis for a potential character once they returned to New York.
They welcomed guests like Patrick Swayze and mockedRick Moranis for shrinking them.
Schwarzenegger himself made two cameos during the sketch’s run.
Clearly, Schwarzenegger took the homage in stride.
They also popped up in aBehind the Musicparody near the end of the decade.
Two NASA crawler-transporters are nicknamed Hans and Franz.
In 2014, the duo appeared inseveral State Farm commercialswith Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
But the top of the mountain forSNLsketch characters remains the feature film adaptation.
It’s a treacherous climb that only a small handful of characters have successfully managed.
“Hans and Franz” is another example and remains a fascinating “what if” possibility.
“Conan was doingThe Simpsonsat the time.
Dana was doing something else.
So it was me and Smigel a lot of the time.
I remember he would always be eating greasy chicken and he liked to touch the screen of the computer.
I’d see these streaks of chicken grease all over my screen.”
Arnold had just parodied himself inLast Action Hero, so he opted not to do this one."
In other words, the project’s big screen aspirations got thwarted by timing.
“We first did that sketch in 1987 over 35 years ago, if my fingers are correct!”
