Matt Foley first appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1993, played by Chris Farley as an intense motivational speaker hired by parents to scare their teenagers straight. David Spade and Christina Applegate played the kids in the debut sketch, struggling not to laugh as Farley crashed through a coffee table. The van down by the river catchphrase became Farley's signature line, repeated in later appearances and endlessly quoted, parodied, and shared online as a shorthand for hitting rock bottom.