Adam Sandler's Netflix special faked glitches for the show, but one problem was real

Adam Sandler has a new comedy special coming to Netflix. It's called “Love You,” and it comes six years after the Sandman made an incredible comeback to the comedy special scene with his spectacular “100% Fresh,” which featured new stand-up routines, silly songs, and a damn fine tribute to the late, great Chris Farley. Does Sandler still have what it takes? The answer is yes, even if the special comes to an abrupt halt thanks to a certain buddy of his (read my full review here for more). But this special has a little something extra, this time thanks to a talented filmmaker behind the scenes as director.

Love You was directed by Josh Safdie, one half of the Safdie brothers filmmaking duo (the other is Oppenheimer co-star Benny Safdie), who gave us the endlessly intense and frightening drama Uncut Gems, which featured Adam Sandler himself in a killer performance. The special includes a bit of the typical Safdie mayhem in the opening sequence before the show begins. In addition, the show's venue was constructed by Safdie and Sandler to not only seem like a seedy place for a comedy show, but also to have several planned mishaps take place there, creating a slightly odd atmosphere for the audience.

Yes, as Vulture (who attended the premiere of “Love You” at the Paris Theater in New York) confirmed, Safdie and producer Ronald Bronstein executed a plan to convert the Nocturne Theater in Glendale, California, into a performance venue, where “Safdie and production designer Sam Lisenco basically trashed the place, adding carpet and knocking over a two-liter bottle of Coke to give the whole place a repulsive smell (and presumably sticky floors).” As Safdie explained:

“We wanted it to look like it had been there for 60 years. It had a real mood. John Turturro said it was like hanging out in his friend's basement and laughing at his funniest friend.”

Part of that mood was planning several mishaps that both Sandler and the audience had to deal with immediately. Sandler knew strange things were going to happen, but he wasn't sure what exactly those things were. In fact, there's an altercation about 10 minutes into the special that actually wasn't part of Safdie's plan at all.

The main problem, which becomes apparent almost immediately after the show begins on stage, is that the three monitors above Sandler's head in the venue are not working properly. We see the blue sky and rolling green hills of a Windows computer background, and then the computer completely fails and the monitors are useless for most of the show. Sandler even mentions that the audience would have seen a shot of the Sunmaid Raisins woman on stage for one of his performances, but unfortunately “the monitors weren't working.”

Not long after, before one of the musical cues begins, Dan Bulla (a writer for Saturday Night Live who has worked with Sandler on various films as well as 100% Fresh) suddenly finds his keyboard stand sunk into a gap on the stage, causing a slight delay to the show. Much later in the show, a dog marches across the stage and into the audience, where some hug the dog like a good boy/girl.

It's interesting because it makes the show seem more real and unpredictable to the audience and anyone watching at home who isn't aware of what's going on. Safdie really managed to throw the venue off balance a little bit. But there was one moment that wasn't his doing.

About 10 minutes into the special, you hear some arguing in the audience, and Sandler addresses them directly to find out what's going on and to stop the drama before it gets out of hand. Safdie said at the premiere: “[Sandler] didn't know these things were coming, but when the fight happened, part of him probably thought, “Was Josh behind this?” But Sandler could tell that this was not fake. He explained, “No, it felt like real Energy. I was damn scared for everyone.”

We're glad the faked mishaps (and the real one) didn't spoil Sandler's latest comedy special. It would have been a shame if they were too much of a distraction to get the special going, but it was just enough to keep things interesting. And for what it's worth, the monitors finally work just in time for Sandler's wonderful tribute to the art of comedy.

“Adam Sander: Love You” is now streaming on Netflix.