Thanks
Well, co-written. I don’t know how much was his contribution.
But it doesn’t really look like a writer’s award. Most of the award-winners are known foremost as performers. It looks like Neil Simon is the only one who’s famous only for his writing.
Carl Reiner and Lorne Michaels preceded Simon and both were known for their behind-the-scenes work, not primarily as performers. The later award to Tina Fey was also primarily for her writing. Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg were famed for the Broadway one-women shows they wrote (Tomlin with Jane Wagner) and performed in. The others were mostly stand-up comics who produced their own idiosyncratic material rather than relying on paid joke writers.* Until recently the Mark Twain Prize had a coherent rationale.
*Bill Murray won the award for being Bill Murray.
Adam Sandler’s mid-90s comedy albums They’re all Gonna Laugh at You and What the Hell Happened to Me? were very big among my high school peer groups at the time.
He also gave us The Chanukah Song and The Thanksgiving Song which have endured.
And Robin Williams never won it? Questionable.
Based both on the reward’s namesake and who won it the past couple of times, I had assumed it was about comedians who actually said something important and participated in important discussion. Sandler is, as far as I know, hasn’t ever really done that.
And Christopher Guest? He’s at least half American, I think.
For Jim Morrison, dying was a great career move. For Williams, it was way too early.
Christopher Guest is among a fine group of people who will never win the big awards: Randy Rhoads, Lemmy Kilmister, Rory Gallagher as examples. It kind of sucks, but at the same time, it’s kind of cool, too. All those names are respected by the people that matter.
Declined the award, according to Wikipedia, as did Mel Brooks. And the Wikipedia article describes the ceremony as a significant fundraiser for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which may explain why they chose who they chose.
Those may be the justification for the award.
Certainly Sandler doesn’t get quoted the way George Carlin still does–putting Carlin solidly in the ‘like Twain’ category. He said things that live on.
But then (as has been pointed out), quite a few of the past recipients are better known as performers who read work written by others, than as originators of quotable quotes themselves.
Meh.
It’s always about the money, isn’t it? 
Someone has to be least-deserving. I’d say Whoopi is a tad less deserving then Adam. And she got in way before many others more deserving. Yes I know Whoopi has an EGOT.
I’d pick Matt Stone and Trey Parker if they’re hurting for ideas. Don’t forget Team America and Book of Mormon… Matt and Trey haters.
Those past recipients are solid as hell. And Tina Fey won in 2010 three years before 30 Rock ended? Nice.
Sounds more like an unpaid gig than an award.
Yep. Even if you forget South Park, Book of Mormon should qualify them.
Many of Sandler’s movies are pretty juvenile, but they’re not all bad. Punch Drunk Love was quite highly rated and Sandler was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor. The Wedding Singer wasn’t too bad, and 50 First Dates, while critically not well rated, was kind of sweet from what I recall when I saw it ages ago.
But Sandler definitely deserves an Emmy and maybe a Nobel Prize for the greatest musical composition of modern times, to wit: Piece of Shit Car! 
I put Carl Reiner toward the top of my list. He wrote for and performed on Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour. He created, produced, wrote for, and performed on The Dick Van Dyke Show (he was originally cast as the lead since it was based on his life). And, he was involved in many quality productions since then. He’s a funny, productive guy, with a very long career. Sandler is not in Carl Reiner’s league.
Just to add, Carl Reiner’s son Rob has also had a stellar career as director and actor with a string of awards and nominations. I keep forgetting that he was “Meathead” on All in the Family (beating out Richard Dreyfuss for the role). He was just 24 when the series launched, and by that time had been in films and television for four years. He’s a progressive activist of some repute.
I like a lot of Sandler movies. Anyway, that’s beside the point. The real point is that anyone anywhere can make up their own genre of award and call it what they want and nominate who they like then decide who will get it. Try it. If you’ve got the cash you can also have special trophies made and maybe get a mention in the press.