Valerie Bertinelli Recalls Phil Hartman ‘Reprimanding’ Her During ‘SNL’ Sketch Rehearsal

Valerie Bertinelli’s 1987 Saturday Night Live hosting gig wasn’t all laughs.

The actress, 64, reminisced on her episode of the NBC comedy series in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on Wednesday, March 5. While rehearsing a sketch called “Dinner at the Van Halen’s,” Bertinelli said she and the late Phil Hartman got into an unexpected argument.

“I remember Phil Hartman. I loved him,” she told the outlet. “[The script] didn’t have me say a name [for him], but I was like, ‘And, Phil,’ and he goes, ‘No, don’t call me Phil in this. My character’s name is [blank].’”

The sketch centered on Bertinelli and her then-husband, Eddie Van Halen, hosting their friends — played by Hartman and Victoria Jackson — for dinner. What was supposed to be a calm night turns chaotic as Van Halen’s roadies — played by Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller — continuously interrupt the meal, despite their good intentions to make everything go smoothly.

Accepting Hartman’s note about his character, Bertinelli recalled, “I’m like, ‘Oh, OK, you have a character name.’ I remember him just reprimanding me like, ‘No, I’m not Phil here.’ I don’t know why that sticks out. He was digging deep for that particular skit.”

Despite her quarrel with Hartman, Bertinelli said the sketch ended up being “very funny” to do. “We’re having a dinner party, and Ed had his roadies there taking care of the dinner instead of waiters and waitresses and being wait staff, which we would never have anyways,” she quipped. “It’s like, so not us.”

Bertinelli hosted SNL six years after she and Van Halen, who died at age 65 in 2020, tied the knot. The couple welcomed their son, Wolfgang, in 1991 before eventually calling it quits in 2001. She filed for divorce in 2005 and their separation was finalized two years later.

Hartman, meanwhile, famously starred on SNL for eight seasons from 1986 to 1994, creating several iconic characters such as the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer and doing impressions of stars such as Frank Sinatra and Bill Clinton.

Hartman was previously married to Gretchen Lewis and Lisa Strain before marrying Brynn Omdahl in 1987. The comedian was infamously shot and killed by Omdahl, who fatally shot herself right after, in May 1998.

Adam Sandler paid tribute to Hartman during SNL’s 50th anniversary special last month. While singing a song about past and present cast members, Sandler, 58, noted that the series got “eight of Hartman, ‘The glue,’” referring to Hartman’s nickname.

Following her split from Van Halen, Bertinelli moved on with Tom Vitale, whom she was married to from 2011 to 2022. On Monday, March 3, Bertinelli addressed her split from ex-boyfriend Mike Goodnough, for the first time since their reported November 2024 breakup.

“I feel so lucky to have gotten to know him, and to really see him and soak up his insights. I value all of our long conversations and they have lead me to interesting and fascinating places I rarely thought to go,” she wrote alongside an Instagram pic of the two. “I look at life with a different perspective and caring because of my experiences and conversations with him. And he’s been a big part of helping me heal from some old childhood wounds I never knew what to do with or even where to start.”

She concluded her post by writing, “Thank you, Mike, we may no longer be a couple, but you’ll always hold a very special place in my heart. Love you.”