Why Saturday Night Live 's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer was the perfect Phil Hartman showcase
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Dating back to nearly the dawn of man, satire has existed. As far back as 426 BC, the comic playwright Aristophanes' second play, The Babylonians, was denounced by the Athenian general Cleon as slanderous. Nowadays, political satires — from Borat to The Daily Show — are a cottage industry. But in terms of pure entertainment factor, Saturday Night Live's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer remains perfectly preserved.
The sketch series is, pardon the pun, an absolutely savage tale about a simple caveman who went "out hunting on the frozen wastes when he slipped and fell into a crevasse," only to be discovered by scientists centuries later. Once unfrozen, he goes to law school and, in a dark twist, weaponizes his humble origins to become a smarmy defense attorney and yuppie. It is a perfect showcase for its star, the legendary Phil Hartman.
The premise combined several ideas writer Jack Handey conceived in 1991. "It's a little boy idea. You think, 'caveman' and unfrozen guy that they pull out," Handey reflected on a 2008 podcast. "I kicked around a couple of ideas for it. One was the caveman melted into a big puddle of mush and the scientists fight about whose fault it was." Indeed "Too Many Frozen Cavemen" focused on a group of frozen Neanderthals driving scientists crazy, while "Swamp Bastard" was about a womanizing monster adept at stealing other characters' girlfriends. "I guess my brain put these things in a blender and out came Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer," he later said to The New York Times.
The first sketch appeared on Nov. 23, 1991 midway through the seventh episode of season 17 hosted by Macaulay Culkin with musical guest Tin Machine. It immediately followed "Weekend Update" with Kevin Nealon — other sketches that night included Bob Swerski's Super Fans, the Richmeister, and Handey's classic Deep Thoughts, with Mike Myers' Simon and Al Franken's Stuart Smalley rounding out the show. This was during the apex of the show's reliance on recurring characters.
The narration quickly hands audiences the premise: "In 1988, he was discovered by some scientists and thawed out. He then went to law school and became: Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer." The sketch's surreal concept — a riff on clever-like-a-fox country bumpkin TV lawyers a la Matlock — justifies the spoon fed, upfront explanation.
It also invites some of Handey's trademarks. He was rarely topical — no "Family Guy"-style puns. Before we join the sketch, a parade of fake sponsors are also rattled off: "Brought to you by Gas Plus, actually gives you gas, for those times when you feel like being the joker… and by Happy Fun Ball – still legal in 16 states – it's legal, it's fun, it's Happy Fun Ball." Of course, fans of classic SNL will recall the show's iconic commercial parody for Happy Fun Ball, which was also written by Handey.
Following the popularity of "Mr. Short Term Memory," theme songs began to accompany some of SNL's recurring characters. Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer's jingle is beautiful in its simplicity.
Cirroc is prehistoric but that's not what makes him monstrous; instead, it's the cynical use of his own folksy origins and appearance. By leaning into the stereotype, Cirroc exploits himself, the ultimate sellout. Therein lies the sketch's brilliance. "A lot of comedy is going the extra step. An unfrozen caveman was funny, but that's not enough," Handey told the Times in 2013.
Cirroc was among the first of many iconic characters Hartman played in what would became his signature persona: the outwardly polished yet insincere, smug professional. Think Lionel Hutz on The Simpsons, Newsradio's Bill McNeal, or any of the other roles he played on TV or in movies before his tragic death in 1998. Hartman possessed an innate, everyman quality that could be leveraged to mock the glib selfishness of regular people. With Cirroc, soullessness never looked so appealing.
Siobhan Fallon Hogan — who would later go onto to write and star in such films as Rushed and Shelter in Solitude — played the judge in the initial sketch, reappearing as the mayor in the second installment. She remembers: "We all had a very hard time containing ourselves during the (original) filming of the sketch because Jack Handey's script was so bizarre and out there, and Phil committed as if he was doing Chekhov. Phil's brilliant voice also contributed greatly to the success."
Cirroc's closing arguments always centered around being a mere caveman, frightened and confused by modern life. However, they are also nonchalantly laced with nods to his material success — vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, courtside Knicks tickets — revealing the disingenuous attorney's true nature. In the end, he always won.
Al Levine/NBCU Photo Bank Phil Hartman as Cirroc the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer on the March 14, 1992 episode of 'Saturday Night Live.'
It's a wonderfully bitter comic statement. But the real masterstroke comes in the first sketch's preview of a future episode. We cut to Cirroc at the podium of a political rally, joined by his wife and children. Adoring fans are cheering him on as he again leaps into his "Just a Caveman" schtick. But this time, the stakes are even higher: "First of all, let me say how happy I am to be your nominee for the United States Senate!" He concludes his acceptance speech, pivoting to the true reason for his candidacy: "There is one thing I do know – we must do everything in our power to lower the Capital Gains Tax."
In today's world of politicians cloaking themselves in faux populism, it's eerily resonant. Chilling — but also hilarious.
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer returned in season 17 during the John Goodman episode, then the following season when Harvey Keitel hosted. This iteration, Hartman's last as a cast member, was spoken almost entirely in Spanish. Over three years later, when Hartman returned to host SNL during season 21, the corrupt troglodyte was revived for a final time. This sketch, featuring Will Ferrell, plays like a near-remake of the 1991 original. It seemed — after one hundred thousand years — the concept had finally run its course.
SNL creator Lorne Michaels was not an initial fan of Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, reportedly telling Handey at an after-party he was surprised it was connecting with audiences. But since then, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer has endured. Bill Hader has called the sketch his all-time favorite, as he used to perform it in school growing up. Kenan Thompson has also named it as one of his top picks. Years later, when the GEICO Cavemen commercial campaign became popular — spawning a sitcom spin-off — it was hard not to see Cirroc's influence. Imitation, as they say, is the sincerest form of flattery.
Today, the sketch has an extra layer of poignancy given Hartman's death, standing as a lasting tribute to his talent and one of his singular contributions to the show. As he joked during his season 21 monologue: "Hiding behind wigs, fake noses, and false bosoms, that's easy! What's hard is playing the one character I've never had to play – myself!" For better or worse, Cirroc is the poster-child for the many camouflaged characters Hartman played over the years. The sketches themselves are also a masterclass in SNL at its finest: a brutal yet utterly bizarre concept, perfectly executed.
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