History Creator / PhilHartman

** After he departed SNL, he thought about hosting his own variety/sketch comedy show which would have been titled ''The Phil Show''. However, those plans were scrapped after ''Series/TheChevyChaseShow'' bombed with audiences.

[[quoteright:276:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PhilHartman_1938.jpg]]

** Also was frequently paired both on SNL and in other film and TV with Creator/JonLovitz due to their real life close friendship (which Lovitz described as almost like an older and younger brother).

The outpouring of sympathy was immense. ''Simpsons'' creator Creator/MattGroening had Hartman's characters Hutz and [=McClure=] retired from the show (though those two characters did appear in some of the comic book stories), and named ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' protagonist Phillip J. Fry in honor of Hartman, while Creator/BillyWest took over as the voice of Zapp Brannigan ([[TheOtherMarty who was supposed to be voiced by Hartman]]). ''Series/NewsRadio'' pressed on one more season (having his character KilledOffscreen by a coronary), this time with his friend Creator/JonLovitz, before being cancelled, because as his castmates put it, "Phil would've wanted us to." Hartman's loss remains deeply felt more than twenty years after his death, with many of his former castmates speaking fondly of him on a regular basis.

* TheAnnouncer: On ''Pop 'N Rocker Game'' in 1983-84, a rock themed game show hosted by [[Music/ShaNaNa Jon Bauman]]. Phil supposedly auditioned to take over for Johnny Olson on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' as well, and for season 2 of the mid-1980s run of ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'' (losing the latter gig to Dean Goss).

The outpouring of sympathy was immense. ''Simpsons'' creator Creator/MattGroening had Hartman's characters Hutz and [=McClure=] retired from the show (though those two characters did appear in some of the comic book stories), and named ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' protagonist Phillip J. Fry in honor of Hartman, while Creator/BillyWest took over as the voice of Zapp Brannigan ([[TheOtherMarty who was supposed to be voiced by Hartman]]). ''Series/NewsRadio'' pressed on one more season (having his character KilledOffscreen by a coronary), this time with his friend Creator/JonLovitz, before being cancelled, because as his castmates put it, "Phil would've wanted us to."

Philip Edward Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-born comedian and actor famous for starring on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' from 1986 to 1994,[[note]]considered to be the show's second GoldenAge[[/note]] for his guest appearances on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' as incompetent attorney Lionel Hutz (who has a law office at the local mall called "I Can't Believe It's a Law Firm") and washed-up B-movie actor Troy [=McClure=], and for starring as Bill [=McNeal=] on the sitcom ''Series/NewsRadio''. He was the most prolific guest star on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ever.

* LargeHam: He could rival Creator/WilliamShatner for theatricality.

* TheAnnouncer: On ''Pop 'N Rocker Game'' in 1983-84, a rock themed game show hosted by [[Music/ShaNaNa Jon Bauman]]. Phil supposedly auditioned to take over for Johnny Olson on ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' as well.

** After he departed SNL, he thought about hosting his own variety/sketch comedy show which would have been titled ''The Phil Show''. However, those plans were scrapped after ''The Chevy Chase Show'' bombed with audiences.

* CharacterOutlivesActor: Hartman's two long-running ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' characters Troy [=McClure=] and Lionel Hutz lived on despite his death, albeit [[DemotedToExtra relegated to silent cameos]]. His ''Series/NewsRadio'' character Bill [=McNeal=] [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim did die of an off-screen heart attack, however.]]

Hartman has been consistently praised as one of SNL's best performers. His memorable celebrity impressions included Music/FrankSinatra, Creator/CharltonHeston, UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, Ed [=McMahon=], Creator/KirkDouglas, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Useful/DonaldTrump, Barbara Bush, and UsefulNotes/BillClinton (years before Creator/DarrellHammond would also be famous for the impression)[[note]]In fact, a lot of Darrell Hammond's memorable impressions were made famous by Phil Hartman, like Trump, Dick Cheney, and Music/JohnnyCash.[[/note]]. His original characters included Eugene the Anal-Retentive Chef (who also appeared as an anal-retentive carpenter and an anal-retentive sportsman) and The Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. His ability to adapt to any performance and keep the cast working together earned him the nickname "Glue" from co-star Creator/AdamSandler.

Hartman has been consistently praised as one of SNL's best performers. His memorable celebrity impressions included Music/FrankSinatra, Creator/CharltonHeston, UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, Ed [=McMahon=], Creator/KirkDouglas, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Barbara Bush, and UsefulNotes/BillClinton (years before Creator/DarrellHammond would also be famous for the impression).[[note]]In fact, a lot of Darrell Hammond's memorable impressions were made famous by Phil Hartman, like UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, Dick Cheney, and Music/JohnnyCash.[[/note]] His original characters included Eugene the Anal-Retentive Chef (who also appeared as an anal-retentive carpenter and an anal-retentive sportsman) and The Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. His ability to adapt to any performance and keep the cast working together earned him the nickname "Glue" from co-star Creator/AdamSandler.