Dana Carvey and David Spade Remember Their Friend Phil Hartman 25 Years After His Shocking Death (Exclusive)

1998, then 49 years old Saturday night live star Phil Hartman seems to have everything going for him.

He was living in Los Angeles where he had just finished filming the fourth season of the NBC comedy NewsRadio, expressing several different ones The Simpsons characters (including fan favorite Troy McClure) and enjoying life as a father to son Sean, 9, and daughter Birgen, 6.

On weekends, when he wasn’t sailing, golfing, flying his single-engine plane, or scuba diving, he was hanging out with good friends, like his exes SNL actress Dana Carvey.

“We would play in the garage together,” Carvey, 68, recently told PEOPLE of making music with his longtime friend, who was also an accomplished jazz musician and graphic designer.

Then, in May 1998, the unthinkable happened when, after an argument, Hartman’s wife, Brynn, shot Hartman as he slept and then shot herself. The shocking murder-suicide shook Hollywood, especially those who knew and loved him.

Now, in honor of Hartman’s incredible life and career, Dana Carvey and David Spade are publishing a two-part special about their A fly on the wall podcast, produced by Audacy and dedicated to all things SNL.

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The duo decided to run the two-part special mainly because many of their regulars would reminisce about Phil when talking about their time on the show.

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“They would talk about Phil without prompting,” says Spade, 59. “Will Ferrell, Bill Hader, Alec Baldwin … They all talk about how he was such a brilliant sketch player.”

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SNL cast season 18.

Al Levine/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images

The first part of the podcast special (both parts released today, September 27) was recorded at LA’s famed Groundlings Theater and featured former SNL stars Julia Sweeney, Kevin Nealon and writer Jim Downey. The second part featured Ferrell, Hader, Baldwin, Mike Myers, Conan O’Brien, Jon Lovitz, Robert Smigel and Cheri Oteri.

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Listen to an exclusive clip of Mike Myers reminiscing about Phil Hartman on Fly on the Wall

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In the podcast, Myers, 60, recalls how Hartman improved everything he touched.

“Phil was [at SNL] for five of the six years I was there, he left in my senior year, I believe. He was in ‘So I Married an Ax Murderer,’ which was fun and … just brilliant,” he told Carvey and Spade. “He did what Phil always did with everything, which was to make it better than it was written.”

Spade tells PEOPLE, “Everybody remembers how big he was. He could be the host or the main host, or he could do those thankless roles – like the elevator man or the father – and just get some extra laughs. You could give him Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, which is such a weird part, and then you’d watch him do it and he’d be so weirdly hysterical.”

“His range was outstanding,” adds Carvey. “That’s why they called him ‘Glue’.”

Listen to an exclusive clip of Conan O’Brien reminiscing about Phil Hartman on Fly on the Wall

As a colleague, Spade says, he admired that Hartman “was the type of guy who could leave work at work.

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“When I first started in SNL, I would be there all the time because I was crazy and didn’t want to go anywhere, but he wasn’t that crazy. He would come with his briefcase and read his fishing or boating magazines and be a gentleman with everyone. Then he’d read the script and say, ‘Okay, here we go,'” he continues. “Then he’d kill it, say something like, ‘Okay, guys, see you tomorrow,’ and walk out with his briefcase and go home. That’s what you want to be at some point. He understood that.”

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Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton on Saturday Night Live. Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Carvey says Hartman was “not a showbiz person at all,” adding, “He was fascinating. His brain [was] so great, and he just had such a wide spectrum of intellect.”

Hartman was also a devoted father. In 1995, he told PEOPLE that he liked to keep working News Radio because he could have a much more normal family life than his previous one SNL allowed hours.

Carvey remains close to Hartman’s two children, who grew up out of the spotlight with Brynn’s sister after their parents’ deaths. They confirmed that his daughter Birgen was in the audience while the tribute shows were being recorded.

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While still mourning their friend, who would have turned 75 this year, Carvey and Spade recognize one good thing: “He left behind such a great body of work,” Spade says. “And it can always be revisited.”

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Source: HIS Education