Before the multimillion-dollar Netflix deals, the "Hanukkah Song," and the oversized basketball shorts, there was a skinny teenager named Adam Sandler wandering around a Brooklyn soundstage. Long before he was Billy Madison, he was Smitty.
Honestly, if you missed it, you aren't alone. Most people think Sandler just manifested on the set of Saturday Night Live in 1990. But his actual TV debut happened three years earlier on the biggest show in the country. It was 1987. NBC was king. And a nineteen-year-old Sandler was about to become Theo Huxtable’s new best friend.
Who Was Smitty Anyway?
Sandler played Manuell "Smitty" Smith. He wasn't a lead, but he wasn't a background extra either. He was one of Theo’s core buddies at school.
You’ve gotta remember the timing. The show had just lost "Cockroach" (played by Carl Anthony Payne II) because of a legendary behind-the-scenes dispute involving a haircut. The producers needed a new "friend group" for Theo, and Sandler fit the bill of the goofy, slightly awkward high schooler perfectly.
He didn't stay long. He appeared in only four episodes during Season 4.
- Dance Mania (The debut)
- The Locker Room
- The Prom
- The Visit
In his first episode, "Dance Mania," the plot revolved around the gang trying to get on a TV dance show. Smitty was just... there. He was the guy in the background making faces and trying to act cool. Looking back at the footage now, you can see the "Sandler-isms" starting to brew. That weird, jittery energy he’s famous for? It was already there, even under the strict gaze of Bill Cosby.
What Most People Get Wrong About His Time on Set
There’s this common idea that Sandler was "discovered" on The Cosby Show. That’s not really how it went.
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He was already doing stand-up in New York at places like Comic Strip Live. He was a kid from New Hampshire trying to make it. Getting cast as Smitty was a paycheck and a foot in the door, but it wasn't the big break that made him a household name.
In fact, he was actually working on the MTV game show Remote Control around the same time, playing characters like "Stud Boy." He was essentially living two lives: the clean-cut, sweater-wearing friend on NBC and the chaotic, trash-talking comedian on MTV.
The real "expert" secret here is how much he actually learned from the environment. Sandler has mentioned in several interviews—most recently while mourning the passing of his co-star Malcolm-Jamal Warner in 2025—that the set was like a masterclass. He wasn't just there to say lines; he was watching how a massive production functioned.
The Chris Rock Incident
Here’s a detail that usually gets buried. One night, Sandler brought his buddy Chris Rock to the set. Rock wasn't on the show, but the warm-up comedian hadn't shown up.
Sandler, being the loyal friend he is, suggested Rock take the mic to entertain the studio audience before filming.
It was a disaster.
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Rock went out and did his usual raw, edgy material. In the middle of the "Huxtable house," he started riffing on things that were... let's just say, not NBC-approved. Bill Cosby was famously obsessed with the "purity" and "morality" of the show's image. Sandler later recalled an "icy feeling" in the room. He actually thought he might get fired because of what his friend said on stage.
Why Smitty Matters in the "Sandler-verse"
If you watch those four episodes, you see the blueprint for everything that came later.
In the episode "The Prom," Smitty is part of the group that tries to rent a helicopter to impress their dates. It’s classic Sandler: a high-concept, slightly ridiculous plan that ends in awkwardness.
He also had a brief on-screen crush on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet). Think about that for a second. The guy who would eventually play the "Waterboy" was trying to pull Lisa Bonet in 1987. That’s the kind of confidence that carries a career for forty years.
The Reality of the Legacy Today
It’s hard to talk about Adam Sandler on The Cosby Show without acknowledging the elephant in the room.
Because of the massive legal and personal scandals surrounding Bill Cosby, the show was largely scrubbed from syndication for years. You can't just catch these episodes on a random Tuesday afternoon on TBS anymore.
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When asked about it, Sandler has always been careful. He’s expressed a "both sides" perspective—understanding why people can't watch it anymore, but also feeling a deep nostalgia for the crew and the actors like Warner and Phylicia Rashad who were genuinely kind to him.
For Sandler, the show was a stepping stone. It wasn't the destination. By the time he hit Season 5, Smitty was gone, replaced by the next rotation of "Theo's friends."
But for fans of TV history, those four episodes are a time capsule. They represent the exact moment a future comedy titan was learning how to stand in his light.
Next Steps for the Super-Fan:
If you want to track down these rare appearances, your best bet is looking for the original Mill Creek Entertainment DVD releases of Season 4. Streaming rights are currently a mess, and many "best of" compilations actually skip the Smitty episodes because they don't feature the main family as heavily.
Pay close attention to "The Locker Room." It’s arguably his best performance on the show, where you can see him actually "acting" rather than just filling a spot in a group scene.