If you are looking for something to make you chuckle, laugh or guffaw, may I suggest a book I just finished? The Naked Truth by Leslie Nielsen.
If you have been a reader of this blog for awhile, you are aware of my silly sense of humor. Airplane!, Top Secret, and the Naked Gun Trilogy are among my favorite laugh out loud movies. Airplane! was the catalyst that threw Leslie Nielsen into many comedic roles.
If you take a look at the top of the book’s cover, it says that the book tells Leslie’s “Incredible Life Story – Uncensored, Uninhibited, and COMPLETELY MADE UP! The book reads just like Leslie is doing a voiceover in the Naked Gun films. It is one crazy line after another. Nielsen “offers a zany account of his life and career, providing outrageous anecdotes about his four decades in show business, famous people, and more.”
One reviewer states: This is two books in one- a parody and honest retelling of one’s life couched in blatant lies.
Sewn into this fabric of fantasy is about 25% truth-telling. The lies ares so obvious that it is not difficult to detect. Yet, within the blatant hyperbole there is much to learn about the underpinnings of an actor’s mind and motivation.
I guess hindsight gives everyone the right to distort the facts. Who cares- as long as it makes for a good story, and this book does.
I had to get the full book at the library, because the audio book was abridged. I wanted to read the whole thing after hearing the shortened version.
All in all, it was a funny way to relax and waste some time without having to think too much. Who doesn’t need that now and then?
He began his career playing serious roles, but wound up being a comedy legend. Leslie Nielsen was born today in 1926. Most folks who are familiar with him know him going serious to funny. It was the opposite for me, as I first saw him in Airplane!, Police Squad, and the Naked Gun films first.
When I saw him in those early roles, I was blown away. He was a great actor! His performance in Forbidden Planet was amazing! Then I saw him pop up on TV shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and even Columbo! Each time I saw him I was more and more impressed with him. He was also good as the captain in the movie The Poseidon Adventure. He could be funny, serious, mean, nasty, romantic and more!
In Airplane! he was hilarious. His deadpan delivery is exactly what the directors wanted and it worked. It worked so well, they had him play Lt. Frank Drebin in a short lived show called Police Squad.
The show only lasted 6 episodes, but it laid the groundwork for the Naked Gun films, which featured him again as Drebin.
In his honor today, here is the Theme from Police Squad (and Naked Gun).
It was on this day in 1988 that The Naked Gun premiered in theaters. It starred Leslie Nielsen and was based on the short-lived TV series, Police Squad.
Nielsen stars as Lieutenant Frank Drebin of Police Squad. George Kennedy, Ricardo Montalban, Priscilla Presley, and OJ Simpson (Yes, THAT OJ Simpson), as well. It was created by the same people who created Airplane! The jokes and puns are quick and there are many verbal and physical gags. The movie was so successful that two sequels followed.
In the film, Nielsen’s character and Presley’s character become romantically involved. There is a hilarious montage of the two together on various dates. While this montage happens, the music that plays under it is a familiar song from the 1960’s. I’m Into Something Good.
The song was written by Carole King and her writing partner Gerry Goffin. It was first recorded by Earl-Jean, the lead singer of the Cookies. Her version only went to #38 on the charts. The song became a British Invasion hit when producer Mickie Most heard Carole King’s demo and decided to cover it with a new British group, Herman’s Hermits.
The Hermits released this as their debut single. In December of 1964, their version went to #13 in America and #1 in the UK. This version is not the version used in the Naked Gun, however. It sounds similar because it is actually a rerecording done by Herman’s Hermits lead singer, Peter Noone.
For the record, the producers DID want the original Herman’s Hermits version. Songfacts.com explains what happened:
Peter Noone recorded a new version of this song for the 1988 movie The Naked Gun. Herman’s Hermits recorded for Cameo/Parkway Records, which was bought by Allen Klein, who as a result owned the rights to the songs Herman’s Hermits recorded for the label as well as tracks by The Animals, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and many others. Klein rarely allowed the songs he controlled to be used in movies.
Before Allen Klein’s death in 2009, Peter Noone explained to the Forgotten Hits newsletter how this song ended up in The Naked Gun: “They wanted to use the song in the movie. Klein declined because he knew he would have to account to somebody (e.g. Paramount). As he hates to account to anyone, because he can’t cheat and lie, he had to say no. The producers and writers contacted me with their story and I said, ‘I can make a copy exactly like the original and nobody will be able to tell the difference.’ When it was done, we decided you couldn’t tell the difference so we took off the guitar and replaced it with a whahhoo machine so Klein wouldn’t say it was the original. It’s a tragedy that Klein and his witless children stop all the product they control from being in movies so they can steal ALL the money. A question: Have any songs under the Klein families’ control ever been used in movies, commercials, TV shows? Doesn’t anyone ever wonder why? Surely there would be one Herman’s Hermits song, one Animals song. One song from a Cameo / Parkway artist, one Sam Cooke song, just one, that would work in a motion picture?”
Personally, I like the 1988 remake better than the original!
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
I suppose it is when you are on the backside of 20, you begin to really understand how fast the years go by. I turned 26 in 1996 and I was told, “30 is just around the corner!” One co-worker told me that every thing starts to fall apart when you turn 30. I learned that he was right!
My first pick from 1996 has a Meatloaf vibe. “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that. The Gin Blossoms will “follow you down, but not that far.” Follow You Down was their first single from the “Congratulations…I’m Sorry” album. The album got its name because that was what people said to the band finally having hits (Hey, Jealousy & Found Out About You) after struggling to get one for years.
The song was a last minute addition to the album. “We were working on the record, and I’d come home at night to my hotel room, and I had those chords, and finished writing by the time we got home,” guitarist Jesse Valenzuela told songfacts.com. “We’d already finished the record, but I had this great song, so I demoed it up and I sent it to my main A&R man, David Andaly, the great David Andaly, and he said, ‘Why are you hiding this thing? Let’s put it on the record.’ So we went and recorded it right away.”
This is one of those songs that really stuck out to me on the radio. I loved the little harmony on “Anywhere you go.” It was another one of those songs that I would crank up the radi.
Follow You Down
Let it be known that I am not the biggest Celine Dion fan. However, I think Diane Warren is one of the best songwriters ever. Diane wrote the song Because You Loved Me for the movie Up Close & Personal.
From songfacts.com:
Diane Warren explained in the book Chicken Soup For the Soul: The Story Behind The Song how she honors her father in this song. Said Warren: “I saw the film with the director, Jon Avnet, on a Friday. I thought, ‘What would I want to hear at the end of the movie?’ Jon played me a tape of a gospel singer to give me a sense of what he was looking for – something really soulful.
I went into my office on Saturday, the following day, and the chorus came quickly. Michelle Pfeiffer’s character is thanking Robert Redford’s character for believing in her. The song became personal at the same time that it was telling the story of the film. Once I began, it became a way of thanking my dad for everything he did for me and the support he has always given me. He believed in me and my music from the time I was a little girl. When I was 15, he took me around to music publishers. Not only did he support my goals, he supported me financially while I was struggling in the beginning.
I had to wait for months to see if my song would be chosen to use in the film or if they would select one of the other four submissions. Thank goodness I had just started therapy! It got me through it.”
When I was DJing weddings, I would say that 8 out of 10 couples used it as their wedding song. Even Vince Gill and Amy Grant used it for their first dance. Lyrically, it is just spectacular.
On a Billboard podcast, Diane Warren said, “I feel like it was a leap in my craft. I felt that when I wrote that song, it was better than I was at the time, if that makes sense. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is probably my best song.’ There’s something lyrically about it.”
Because You Loved Me
My next pick was actually a hit back in 1973 for BW Stevenson. My Maria was written by Daniel Moore and Stevenson. It is basically Three Dog Night’s Shambala written about a woman.
In 1996, it was covered by Brooks and Dunn and it went straight to number one on the Country Chart. It was also named Country Song of the Year.
This version made Moore happy as it made him more money than any other version. He said, “The original sold 950,000 singles, Brooks & Dunn’s version has sold over 6 million. The original version got about 1,500,000 US radio performances. The Brooks & Dunn version is over 6,500,000 US radio performances and still going.”
It was one of Brooks and Dunn’s biggest hits, but it almost wasn’t recorded. Ronnie Dunn admitted he was reluctant to cut the song when the idea was first presented to him. “I thought, ‘Oh man, it’s just that falsetto thing,'” he remembered. “It’s a rock song, in my opinion. And I was very much wrong.”
Personally, I like the Brooks and Dunn version better than the original. I also have fond memories of a few of the country stations I played this one on.
My Maria
Next is a song that was never released on a Weird Al album. The song Spy Hard was recorded and used as the title song for the Leslie Neilsen movie of the same name.
Anyone who has seen a James Bond film knows the importance of the opening credits. They were all very unique and this song (and video) were a nod to those Bond intros. Spy Hard is unique in that it was recorded with an orchestra (which was conducted by Bill Conti of Rocky fame).
There is a Bond Urban legend that says that for the song Thunderball, Tom Jones held the song’s final note long enough to pass out; in this film, Yankovic holds it long enough to make his head explode. Originally, Yankovic had planned to loop the note to the required length, but in the studio, he discovered he was able to hold the note long enough that no looping was required. What a talent!
As for the movie itself? Let’s just stick with the song ….
Spy Hard
One of the first songs I remember playing when I started at my first country station was by a group called Ricochet. Many of the “older” songs I was playing were new to me at the time and that included Daddy’s Money.
This song was their second single and it was a number one hit for them. I could relate to the song in a way. Whenever the choir at church there, I often found myself staring a a pretty girl singer. The opening lyric:
Can’t concentrate on the preacher preaching My attention span done turned off I’m honed in on that angel singing Up there in the choir loft
I love the line, “My attention span done turned off!” The only thing that makes me chuckle more in this song is the fact that it goes out of the way to make sure you know that she is “a good bass fisher!” Now, what man doesn’t want that in a woman?!
This is on my list because I love singing along to it.
Daddy’s Money
I knew Alanis Morissette from the children’s comedy show You Can’t Do That On Television. When her Jagged Little Pill album was released I was struck by the deep and profound lyrics of many of the songs. Some of the lyrics shocked me, honestly.
At a live show, she explained how the song came about:
“When relationships get healthier and healthier we somehow equate that with not being as passionate or as sexy,” she explained. “I’ve kind of realized that it’s actually sexier when there’s less drama. It’s been better, and I never thought that that would be the case because of the whole clingy, overly dependent roller coaster that often times seemed very passionate and very sexy. And when I wrote ‘Head Over Feet’ about this particular person it was the first time that I actually had a glimpse of what it would be like to be in love and have it be something that was inducing of the heart palpitations, yet at the same time I could spend a couple minutes and actually not think about that person. It was very new to me.”
I was dating a gal in 1996 who was not as vocal about her feelings as me. I have always believed in letting people know how you feel about them. I always thought it was odd for me to say “I Love You” and not hear it back in return.
I had made a cassette tape of love songs for this gal and it had a huge variety of singers. She actually liked it a lot. She told me that she had a song that made her think of me and told me to listen to it. The song was Head Over Feet.
Knowing this gal like I did, it made perfect sense for her to use this song. She was exactly like the gal in this song and I was exactly like the guy. It wasn’t exactly the way I wanted her to express her emotions, but it worked.
Later on, she broke up with me by putting a note on my windshield. That even led me to some pretty dark times.
Head Over Feet
Some of my music blogger friends are familiar with the next song. I love it because it has that 60’s Beatles feel to it. It’s from the imaginary group called The Wonders. That Thing You Do becomes a hit for the group in the movie of the same name.
The song was written by Fountains of Wayne bass player, Adam Schlesinger. He said, “That was 1995 I think I first heard about it, or ’96, and I was just starting out. I had a publishing deal as a writer and they told me about this movie – they said that they were looking for something that sounds like early Beatles. And they knew that that was an era that I liked a lot. So I just took a shot at it and got very lucky and they used the song.”
Adam says he is better known for this song than Fountains of Wayne’s Stacy’s Mom.
I admit that this is a song that I play over a couple of times when it comes up on my music playlist. I just love this one.
That Thing You Do
One of the best interviews I’ve ever done was with Jewel. She promoting a country album when I chatted with her on the air, but I was very familiar with her music. Some folks wanted to write her off as a one hit wonder after her song Who Will Save Your Soul, but You Were Meant For Me stopped that!
Jewel wrote the song during the time she was homeless and living in her car. During that period she started having panic attacks and anxiety, and came up with her own way of coping, using mindfulness exercises to retrain her brain. In an interview with ABC radio, she said the line, “Dreams last for so long even after you’re gone” is about “the love of fantasy versus the actual reality.”
Songfacts.com says, “Jewel wrote the song during the time she was homeless and living in her car. During that period she started having panic attacks and anxiety, and came up with her own way of coping, using mindfulness exercises to retrain her brain. In an interview with ABC radio, she said the line, “Dreams last for so long even after you’re gone” is about “the love of fantasy versus the actual reality.”
At the time, this was the biggest-selling single in the history of Atlantic Records, and Jewel became the label’s first artist to grace the cover of TIME magazine (July 21, 1997). She is such an amazing singer and songwriter.
You Were Meant For Me
Beavis and Butthead were so successful that they got their own movie – Beavis and Butthead Do America. The soundtrack included songs from Ozzy Osbourne, White Zombie, No Doubt, Isaac Hayes, and AC/DC. It also included a cover of the Ohio Players’ song Love Rollercoaster by the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
While the original was a number one song, the Chili Peppers’ version didn’t do much in America. It did go Top 10 in the UK.
It’s not that I love this song, but I do like the more modern take on it by the RHCP. The video is kind of fun to watch too.
Love Rollercoaster
Remember the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces? Me either.
I Finally Found Someone was a hit for Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams. Streisand initially wrote the love theme with veteran composer Marvin Hamlisch, but her producer, David Foster, envisioned it as a duet. That’s when Bryan Adams and his producer, Mutt Lange, were brought on to the project.
Barbra says, “Bryan played our track and heard me humming and fell in love with this little theme that I wrote, and then he and his producer Mutt Lange wrote a counter melody based on the track that I sent him. And they wrote the lyrics. So that’s how that happened.“
The single gave Streisand her first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1981 and was a top ten hit. This was a song that I would often suggest to couples who did not want the most popular wedding songs (like the aforementioned Celine Dion). This was also a song that I mentioned to my wife as a possible “our song.”
Adams and Streisand have two very distinct voices, but they blend well together and this is really a fantastic and underrated love song.
I Finally Found Someone
This year was a difficult one for me to narrow down to ten songs for some reason, so I am sure I left off a few of your favorites. Tell me about yours in the comments.
Next week, we’ll look at 1997. I can see that this was another difficult year to pick ten songs as below the ten I have another nine artists names! The list does lean a bit alternative, but there is also some pop, country and swing!
I mentioned that my breakup of 1996 began some dark times. In 1997, there is a song that ties in way to closely with what I was doing in my personal life … More on that next week.
It seems odd to do a week in review “highlights” post on Thursday, but it really is the day that I get an extra minute or two to look back, so here goes.
Kicking Kid
While the days leading up to it were extremely unorganized, Saturday morning Andrew got to play soccer. It was quite a mess in the days prior as we had no idea what time to be there until the day before. Next, there was confusion about whether or not they had to wear cleats (They did. Thankfully, Ella’s baseball cleats worked.) Then there was confusion about whether or not we had to purchase a uniform (We did at $75). To top it off, hours before we were supposed to be there, the coach texted to say that she wasn’t going to be there – and the assistant coach was also not going to be there!
Thankfully, the guy in charge had a couple people who were there to run the kids around doing drills. So, technically, there was no game, but they got to “dribble” the ball up and down the field and shoot at the goal.
It was pretty chilly that morning and I wish we had all dressed a bit warmer. As much as we thought he’d love running around, he (and the rest of the 2-3 year olds) were done about 30 minutes in. He did love when they sat up some cones in front of the net and he had to try to know them down.
Sam was the “pin setter” for the soccer bowling.
Sam was stylin’
When we got home, we all relaxed around the house. Sam was sitting on the couch and Ella asked if she could brush Sam’s hair. This led to an impromptu hairstyling session.
All I could see was the front, but Andrew and Ella said I really needed to see the back…
Holy Bows!
Ella was sad that I have no hair to put bows in. Sam suggested she put them in my chest hair. I will spare you from having to see that photo!
Will I Walk ‘Round in Circles?
Yes. Yes I will. 17 circles in fact. The indoor track I told you about at Ella’s preschool is not a full size track, and so you have to go around 17 times to walk a mile.
The track is on the second floor and goes around the top of the basketball court. The day we walked it without headphones on, it was weird. The track is almost like a plastic/vinyl type material. My shoes were very loud as I walked on it. Now, when I drop her off, I put on my headphones and don’t even notice it.
There is also a gym/work out center there that I could join if I wanted to. I’m thinking about it, but I’d have to do everything before I head into work and I am sure that my coworkers would not want to sit near me post workout.
For what it is worth, it is a nice 30-45 minutes lost in music, a book, or my thoughts. It is very nice!
James Earl Jones
It was sad to hear of the passing of James Earl Jones. Man, did he have a voice! What a great actor, too. He made every role his own. As a child, I had no idea that he was the voice of Darth Vader (who gave me nightmares after seeing Star Wars).
James doing comedy was funny because he almost always played it straight. There is a scene in the Naked Gun 33 1/3 where Leslie Neilsen’s character is mistaken for Phil Donahue. At one point he see’s something that makes him ill at The Academy Awards show and he runs out on stage as James Earl Jones and Olympia Dukakis are at the podium. He leans over the band stand and vomits into a tuba. When Olympia asks James “What is that?” James says, as serious and straight as possible, “It looks like Phil Donahue throwing up in a tuba.” That never ceases to make me laugh.
David Letterman always had him on his show to do silly Top Ten lists and more. Here are just some of them:
Of the many tributes to him this week, I loved this one:
He was such a part of the Star Wars Universe and to have him amongst those who had passed away before him is simply beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful
My baby girl not only started preschool this month, but she also started her dance class. She will be learning ballet and tap. She had her first class this week. I was at work, but Sam kept me posted on the happenings. Even though there are no parents allowed in the dance studio where they kids are, Sam said you could hear the tap shoes tapping away.
She called me at work after he first class and was so excited to talk about it. They got to dance with tambourines and maracas and she loved every minute of it! I can’t wait to see her perform!
I guess I am officially a “soccer dad” and a “dance dad” – and I’m ok with that!
If you had a dollar for every time I have ranted about this, you could get yourself a really nice seven course meal! I wish that this didn’t aggravate me so much, but it does! So, please let me rant and you can get on with your regular scrolling….
It is all over the internet and on social media that Liam Neeson will be starring in a Naked Gun “reboot.” Before I go any further, I want to say that I REALLY like Liam Neeson! He is a great actor. I enjoy a lot of his movies and I think he has an amazing voice.
That being said, I continue to get angry and frustrated that Hollywood cannot come up with an original story! WHY? Why do we need a reboot or remake or whatever the heck they want to call it of the Naked Gun? The only answer I can come up with is money. But can’t they come up with an original money making idea?!
I understand that the original creators aren’t even a part of this. Paramount Pictures owns it and they can do whatever they want. I heard that Seth MacFarlane is the guy behind it. I’m not a huge fan of his TV and movie work, so perhaps I am biased. I just see this as being something that will be crap.
If you don’t agree with me, that’s ok. I will offer up my reasoning: Airplane 2. Yep. While there are some funny scenes in it, and has a lot of returning cast (and William Shatner), it lacked the original creators and was a lot less funny.
Another lame argument from me is that Leslie Neilson will ALWAYS be Lt. Frank Drebin! Just like Peter Falk will ALWAYS be Columbo and Raymond Burr will ALWAYS be Perry Mason. Why is the argument lame? James Bond and other big characters have been played by other actors or actresses, however, some people just own the role. I can’t see anyone else playing Archie Bunker or Fred Sanford, for example.
I know that Liam Neeson can do comedy. A good actor can do it. I have seen him do comedy in bit parts in movies, on SNL, and such. He will probably be great, but why reboot an old premise or series? Write him a new police comedy. Come up with something new!
A buddy on Facebook said that the Hollywood sign should be changed to read “Lazywood.” I agree. I feel like the ones that are getting all the talk (Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, etc…) are based on books. Rightfully so! I think there are thousands of great stories in books that are ready to be adapted into a movie. Why isn’t this happening? I don’t know. Maybe the folks in Hollywood can’t read?
I will wrap up by stating once again – STOP WITH THE REMAKES!!!! Please!
This blog is part of the TV Show Draft that is being hosted by Hans from Slice The Life. He is the same guy who hosted the Song Draft I took part in last year. This is the same idea. All the participants will pick their “draft picks” like one would pick a player in a fantasy football draft. Once a show is picked, it is out of the running for others to pick.
That in itself makes this draft more difficult for me. I mean, there is no shortage of shows to write about. However, I have a feeling that many of the picks on my list are also picks on some of the other bloggers. Because of this, I have an extra long list in case I have to make a last minute switch of my pick.
For my first pick, I went with a show that despite only being on the air for 6 episodes, makes me laugh every time I watch it – Police Squad!
In 1980, Airplane! was a major hit at the movies. One of the reasons I think it was such a hit was the fact that you had actors and actresses known for playing dramatic roles in this comedy film, playing it completely straight! Watching Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, and Peter Graves saying completely ridiculous lines as serious as possible only added to the humor of the film. How they kept a straight face with everything else that was going on in the background always amazed me.
To me, Leslie Nielsen was perfect for this movie. His role as Dr. Rumack is fantastic. His booming baritone voice saying those lines in all seriousness is just hilarious. No wonder he was the one who David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker approached him to play the lead, Detective Frank Drebin, in this TV series.
The series was basically a TV version of Airplane! There would be straight dialogue, silly jokes, word play, and all kinds of sight gags to watch for in the back ground. It was going to spoof cop shows. As a matter of fact, much like Airplane! which was almost a line by line copy of the movie Zero Hour, Police Squad lifted a plot and even dialogue from the TV show M Squad. It also drew from the show Felony Squad. The opening credits are very similar to M Squad (which starred Lee Marvin).
The opening narration was done by Hank Simms, who had done announcing on many other great shows. His narration is done is a matter of factly stern voice. He announces Leslie Neilsen and Alan North. Both enter scenes in which they pull out their guns and begin firing. Then, he announces “… and Rex Hamilton as Abraham Lincoln!”
The scene is Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre. When his hat is shot off, he gets up and returns fire with his own gun! This is one of two running gags in the credits.
The other gag is just priceless. The gag introduces each weeks guest star.
In the credits, the guest stars are killed off and never appear in the rest of the show!
Guest stars included Lorne Greene, William Conrad, Florence Henderson, Robert Goulet, and Florence Henderson. Word is that they shot a scene of John Belushi, but when he died of a drug overdose, they reshot with another guest star.
The final gag of the opening credits was a simple (and stupid) one. The title of episode would appear on screen, but the announcer would call the episode something completely different. For example, the first episode shows on the screen as “A Substantial Gift,” but the announcer reads “A Broken Promise.”
The Naked Gun movies were direct spin offs of the TV show. Alan North played Ed on the show, while George Kennedy played him in the movies. Peter Lupus (who is brilliantly funny on the show) plays Norberg on the show, while OJ Simpson plays Nordberg (yes, spelled differently) in the movies. Many of the scenes from the movies were adapted from scenes from the show.
The show consisted of dialogue that at times reminded me of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” Here is an example from the first episode:
[Frank and Ed are interviewing a witness to a shooting]
Sally: Well, I first heard the shot, and as I turned, Jim fell.
Frank: Jim Fell’s the teller?
Sally: No, Jim Johnson.
Frank: Who’s Jim Fell?
Ed: He’s the auditor, Frank.
Sally: He had the flu, so Jim… filled in.
Frank: Phil who?
Ed: Phil Din. He’s the night watchman.
Sally: Oh, if only Phil had been here…
The deadpan delivery of Leslie Nielsen on this show (and in the Naked Gun movies) made him comedy gold! In a scene where he and Ed are interviewing the widow of a man shot in a robbery, Drebin simply says:
“We’re sorry to bother you at such a time like this, Mrs. Twice. We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn’t dead then.”
The show aired on ABC in 1982. After 4 episodes aired, the show was cancelled. The last two episode aired later that summer. So why was such a funny show cancelled? That question was posed to Leslie Nielsen in an interview for the DVD release. He stated that ABC said “Police Squad! was canceled because viewers had to pay close attention to the show in order to get much of the humor.” In other words, people had to WATCH the show to get it. TV Guide stated that was “the most stupid reason a network ever gave for ending a series.”
Nielsen also stated that “the premise was more effective in the successful Naked Gun films because the much larger screen size in a cinema meant viewers saw more of the visual gags.”
There certainly is some truth to that, as the movies were very successful. It is interesting that the creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening said, “If Police Squad had been made twenty years later, it would have been a smash. It was before its time. In 1982 your average viewer was unable to cope with its pace, its quick-fire jokes. But these days they’d have no problems keeping up, I think we’ve proved that.”
One of my favorite lines in the series comes from the third episode of the series. After a small group of mobsters blackmail various store-owners, Frank and Norberg go undercover and set up a key-making and locksmith store. The mobsters offer Frank “protection” in exchange for money, but Frank declines. While they attack the store with guns, Frank and Norberg’s Locksmith store remains, enraging the mobsters’ boss (played by the great Al Ruscio). Frank goes to see the boss and walks in unannounced:
Dutch Gunderson: Who are you and how did you get in here?
Frank: I’m a locksmith. And, I’m a locksmith.
Brilliant!!!
I need to interject here and say that Peter Lupus, who of course is known for his role as Willy on Mission: Impossible, is just hilarious! He was a body builder turned actor and was fantastic in Mission: Impossible. He really shows his comedy chops in Police Squad. I wish he had been in more episodes. He is almost over the top in everything he does.
In one episode, the crew is searching for a kidnapped girl. When the kidnapper calls, he is told to get a tap on the phone. As the call is going on you see him in the background banging and destroying the phone. It is a classic payoff when they ask if they got a tap on the phone ….
Later in the episode, mime comes through a window and acts out the “ransom note.” In a very funny scene, Frank, Ed, and Norberg (Lupus) are playing Charades to guess the answers. Peter Lupus steals the scene. He is so hysterically funny!
In the final running gag, the end of every episode featured Drebin and Hocken talking about the week’s criminal going to “Stateville Prison”, and mentioning the names of the criminals from all previous episodes. The scene ended with an imitation “Freeze Frame” with the actors trying to stand still while various things happened to or around them (such as Hocken pouring coffee into Drebin’s cup until it overflows and starts burning him.)
Those were so fun to watch. I wonder just how hard it was to get them to not react while everything around them went crazy?
I am so glad to have the entire series on DVD. It is a “go to” when I need to really laugh out loud. What a shame that this show never caught on. At the same time, if it had, would they have ever ventured out and made the Naked Gun movies? Who knows?
In the Creative Writing class I had in college, one of the exercises they had us do was to grab a piece of paper and just write whatever pops into your head. That’s kind of where this blog is coming from. What will it contain? Read on and see …
The above quote is from Sidney Poitier. Randomness will follow:
A forgotten favorite
I forgot how much I love French Toast. We bought frozen French Toast sticks for the boys at the store recently and Sam asked me to make some for her. I asked if she would rather have regular French Toast. She did, so I made her some. I made some for me too. It’s been forever since I have had some. It was awesome.
Back when I worked at Kiss-FM (WKSG) in Detroit, I would work on Saturday nights and on Sunday Mornings, we’d go to the Big Boy right down Gratiot and get the breakfast bar. We’d grab French Toast and bacon. It was a weekly tradition, the waitresses knew us, and always had crispy bacon for us. Good times!
A Cheesy Story
I saw a story this week about a woman who has been washing her hands regularly because of the coronavirus, only what she thought was a bar of soap … was a block of cheese! I don’t get it. You would think the absence of bubbles or lather would have been a clue, much earlier than it was! Of course, she said she probably left out the cheese when she was drunk … thank you, alcohol, for another funny tale. Here is the story:
If you have been on social media at all, there are people who are in quarantine due to the corona virus. Many pictures are of whatever they are watching on TV, whatever they are eating, or their feet up on the ottoman. The rest are selfies. Those selfies take time to get “just right.” According to a new survey, the perfect selfie takes about 20 minutes to get! Who the hell studies this? I have taken selfies in the past, and I may take one or two, but it takes me far less than 20 minutes …. of course, I have no hair, so I don’t have to be sure it is perfect.
The survey says that the subject of the selfie will mess with lighting, angles, and edit with various apps to make sure the picture is “post worthy.” One final fact – only 8% of people will post a candid picture on social media. Many opt for staged photos. Now you know.
Long Before Eminem …
No cheating. What was the first song to feature a white rapper on MTV? It happened in 1981. It was a female singer. Got it? Sure you do! Remember Blondie’s song “Rapture?” It features the first rap verse on the channel and it was a #1 song. Here are some other white rappers and their songs you may have forgotten about:
It’s Good To Be The King – Mel Brooks. (It was a tie in with the movie “History of the World Part 1” Mel was first white artist with a rap song on the Billboard R&B chart in 1982.
Rappin’ Rodney – Rodney Dangerfield. In 1983, I had this on a 45. He was holding a boom box on the cover.
The Rappin’ Duke – Shawn Brown. Duh Haw Duh Haw! Ok, I know, Shawn Brown is black, but the actor he is imitating – John Wayne – is white. This got a lot of radio play in 1983.
The Beastie Boys. They hit the scene in 1986 and were HUGE! Their album License to Ill sold over 100,000 copies the first week! (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) still is requested at weddings and parties!
Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice. This one hit wonder dropped in 1990 and sampled Queen and David Bowie’s Under Pressure. This was the first hip hop single to reach #1 on Billboard’s charts. Eminem once said that Ice Ice Baby actually made him want to STOP rapping!
Good Vibrations – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Another #1 song that came a year after the Ice Man in 1991.
Jump Around – House of Pain. From 1992, I’m not going to lie – I love this song! I still get requests for this at high school dances!
Eminem shows up on the scene in 1999 with “My Name Is”.
I wonder if I still have that 12 inch single of Rappin’ Duke….
2020 Seniors
My son Dante’ is a senior this year. This coronavirus has basically robbed him (and every other high school senior across the country) of the best year of their lives! It saddens me. Over the weekend, he was so happy to tell me that the girl he asked out to prom said yes. Now, the prom has been cancelled. Kansas has basically called school “over and done” for the year. Just like that – it’s over.
He posted a picture of a headstone that read “My Senior Year” on his Facebook page this week. It hurts me to see how sad this makes him. Oh, I am sure that some students are glad, but my son was looking forward to so much more before the school year was over. I still don’t know how they are handling commencement ceremonies. U of M and MSU have cancelled theirs.
A Louisiana teacher posted a letter to the 2020 Senior Class that is worth sharing here. If you have a high school senior and haven’t seen it – share it!
Growing up in the 70’s, there were plenty of Super Hero shows on TV. Wonder Woman was one of them. Lynda Carter was – and still is – beautiful. Even as a 5-7 year old boy, there was something about seeing her in that outfit! Lyle Waggoner, who passed away this week at age 84, played Steve Trevor on the show. I don’t remember much about his character, but I do remember that whenever they showed him in the opening credits, there was this “sparkle” that flashed off his teeth! HA! I tried very hard to find a picture of just that, but couldn’t. I am sure if you YouTube the opening credits, you will see what I mean.
Lyle also had a role on The Carol Burnett Show. He was actually on more shows than I remember. He played comedy well. He was a great strait man and could deliver comedic lines as strait and as good as Leslie Nielsen! Did you know he was almost Batman on the 1966 TV show? He actually did a screen test, but lost the role to Adam West.
December 2020
It’s funny to me what people think about. I have seen all kinds of memes and posts on social media joking around about the quarantine for the coronavirus. There are lots of jokes about how there will be a boom of babies born in December of 2020 because so many people are stuck at home. Dr. Oz even came out and said that couples should have sex to break up the boredom! If you are stuck home alone, there was another article about how masturbation can actually boost the immune system!
It will be interesting to see just how big the Baby Boom of 2020 is!
Work
The situation is changing every minute. For now, my lab is open. We had only a couple patients last night, but I was able to work. It looks like if we have low census or the lab closes, they will find work for us within the hospital system screening people, answering phone, or stuff like that. That freaks me out a bit, but at least I can work and get some or my hours.
It’s a time like I have never seen before. I am guessing its the same for you. Traffic is light. Everything seems to be closed. Meetings and gatherings are taking place via video chats. Life events like weddings are being cancelled (or postponed). People are fighting over toilet paper. Visitors are being limited or prohibited in medical facilities and nursing homes. It is crazy!
I wanted to share a few things friends posted on social media – feel free to share.
You can probably add to the above list. There are many things we take for granted. When this is all over, perhaps we will be a bit more grateful for them.
The following is a prayer read by our classic rock morning man, Carl Coffey just before St. Patrick’s Day. It was pretty powerful, too.
Another friend posted this:
“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.” – Kitty O’Meara
This blog is a continuation of a series I started a week or so ago. Somebody had the idea to post a list was to consist of your favorite films from each year of your life. So, you start with your birth year and move ahead year by year and list all the films from each year. A post from the Avocado site came up in my “Reader” list of blogs that had the same principle, but with one exception – you can only pick one movie from each year. My last “movie” blog focused on my favorites from the 1980’s and this one will feature the 1990’s.
As I looked through the films for this decade and was actually surprised. I thought that the as I moved forward, I’d have less films to talk about. I was wrong. Picking one favorite from each year is going to be tough.
1990 had plenty of sequels, one of which will end up my pick for favorite. Eddie Murphy was back with Another 48 Hours. Bruce Willis offered up Die Hard II. Almost 20 years later, The Corleone family returned in Godfather III. The second installment of Young Guns was in theaters and Sylvester Stallone returned as Mr. Balboa in Rocky V. Johnny Depp was Edward Scissorhands, Kevin Costner was Dancing with Wolves, while Sean Connery was underwater with the Hunt for Red October. Julia Roberts was “hooking” in Pretty Woman, Harrison Ford was Presumed Innocent, and Macaulay Culkin was left Home Alone. Comedies included Nuns on the Run, Madhouse, and Kindergarten Cop. The film adaption of Stephen King’s Misery will have be forever fearing sledgehammers!
I am going to catch some flack for this not being my favorite of this year. Goodfellas is a great film! It is. “You’re Italian, Keith! How can Goodfellas NOT be your pick?” It doesn’t matter. It’s my list.
My pick for favorite of 1990 is the conclusion of the Back to the Future series – Back to the Future Part III.
What can I say, I love these characters. By the end of Part II, I was wondering just how things were going to wrap up. While the end is a bit contrived and falls a bit flat, everything else I enjoyed. I enjoyed how in the old west we see the beginnings of the town, the clock tower (which plays such a big role in the first film), and the earlier family members of the characters. The suspense of getting that train up to 88mph had me on the edge of my seat in the theater. Loved this trilogy and it remains one of my all time favorites!
In 1991, there were silly comedies (Naked Gun 2 1/2, Hot Shots, Soapdish, and What about Bob?), action films (Robin Hood, Hook, and Thelma and Louise), and thrillers (Backdraft and Silence of the Lambs).
It is hard to pick one favorite for this year. As someone who has been fascinated with the JFK assassination, I really enjoyed Oliver Stone’s JFK. I had read so many books about the various conspiracies. What a stellar cast! Robin Williams put on an amazing performance in The Fisher King. I admit, when I rented this film, I expected a comedy. It was a very powerful story. See it if you haven’t! Billy Crystal and Jack Palance are just great together in City Slickers. “I crap bigger than you” remains a favorite movie quote!
My pick for this year may come as a surprise to those who have read previous blogs. Why? Because I have complained so often about Hollywood running out of ideas! I have bitched about how they are remaking everything! This is one of those exceptions. YES – it is a remake of a TV show, but this is also an instance of a good remake. The Addams Family.
I think what makes this such a good movie is that the cast is true to the characters of the cartoon and the TV show. Raul Julia is brilliant as Gomez. Anjelica Huston is spot on as Morticia. Christopher Lloyd is great as Fester. Christina Ricci is the perfect Wednesday. The film is funny and fun. I wasn’t so keen on the sequel, but this one was a blast (and a film I have to watch every October!).
1992 brought the return of Michael Keaton as Batman in Batman Returns, Whitney Houston was a superstar in The Bodyguard, and who can forget Sharon Stone in basic Instinct? Honeymoon in Vegas was ok, but had a great soundtrack! Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei are just wonderful together in My Cousin Vinny while Tom Hanks coaches Geena Davis and Madonna in A League of Their Own. We are also introduced to Wayne Campbell and his friend Garth in the SNL based Wayne’s World.
This almost was my pick for favorite – A Few Good Men. Such a great story, with a great cast, and powerful performances! Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollack, and Jack Nicholson are all superb in this film! My favorite, however, has to go to Disney’s Aladdin.
Why? Two words – Robin Williams! I have heard of the many hours of voice stuff he recorded for this film that was never used. I can only imagine the wonderful ad-libs he did in the studio! Friend Like Me is on my iPod and it gives me chills every time I listen to it.
1993 comedies included Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Wayne’s World II, Loaded Weapon, Groundhog Day, So I Married an Axe Murderer, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Another comedy that is a must watch (especially for the bloopers at the end) is Grumpy Old Men. Drama/Thrillers included John Grisham’s The Firm, Jurassic Park, and In The Line of Fire.
1993 brought two films that are considered classics that I have never seen. One of them, I have a reason, the other, I don’t. Schindler’s List and the Sandlot. Schindler’s list is one that I will watch – but I have the book and I want to read it first. The Sandlot I have heard quoted 100 times, I just have never had the chance to sit and watch it. I will – eventually.
Twice in the same decade, I am picking a remake – a remake of a TV show again. My pick for 1993 is The Fugitive.
Harrison Ford does a great job playing Richard Kimball. I loved the original series. Tommy Lee Jones is just hilarious in this. It truly is a great film and one I can watch over and over again.
Jim Carrey dominated the year with three films – The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Dumb and Dumber. Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks, was a wonderful film! It had a great soundtrack and it was cool to see how they put his character into scenes from history. I could watch Jamie Lee Curtis over and over in True Lies. Dennis Leary is so funny in The Ref. It is one of those forgotten Holiday movies that I just love. Another forgotten film from this year is The Shadow. It is based on the old radio show, which was based on a comic book. Alec Baldwin stars in it and I thought it was very well done.
My favorite film from the year, hands down, is The Shawshank Redemption.
Based on a Stephen King short story, it remains one of my favorite films. Prior to seeing it, I knew King had wrote it. I had always associated him with horror films, so I never saw it. I am so glad that I was convinced to watch it. If you have never seen it – you should! It is a masterpiece!
1995 comedies featured SNL stars Chris Farley (in Tommy Boy) and Adam Sandler (in Billy Madison). Mel Gibson starred as William Wallace in Braveheart. Tom Hanks first uttered “Houston, we have a problem” in Apollo 13. He also starred as Sheriff Woody in the first installment of Toy Story. Robin Williams is stuck in a board game in Jumanji. There was a remake with a twist – The Brady Bunch Movie. What made this work, was that the cast is still stuck in the past, while living in the present day. It wasn’t hilarious, but it worked.
Again, here is a film that you would think should be THE pick for this year. Casino with Robert Deniro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci. It truly is a great film, but my pick is The Usual Suspects.
I remember my grandmother used to watch Perry Mason and guess who the killer was all the time. Some movies, you can guess the ending, but this one caught me completely off guard. I never saw it coming. That is the reason I picked this one. Watching it the second time, I noticed all the things I missed throughout the first viewing. It is such s good film.
Comedies from 1996 include Leslie Nielsen in Spy Hard, Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore, and Jim Carrey as The Cable Guy. Drama/Thrillers included Ghosts of Mississippi, A Time To Kill, and Primal Fear. Tom Cruise appeared in Mission: Impossible (which I hated, because it was really all about his character while the TV show was more of a team effort). We first saw that stupid ghost mask in the first Scream movie, and Sean Connery starred in The Rock.
Before naming my pick for 1996, I will mention in passing a movie that was loaded with big name stars, but was just awful – Mars Attacks. Urgh!
My pick for 1996 is again, a remake. The Nutty Professor.
I want to say first of all that I LOVE the Jerry Lewis version of this movie. It is my all time favorite Jerry film. When I heard that he gave his blessing to this film, I gave it a chance and I am glad I did. While Jerry’s version takes a nerd and makes him a cool jerk, Eddie’s version takes an overweight, shy man and makes him a thin pompous jerk. Kudos to Eddie Murphy, who plays his entire family!
My list of 1997 films is a short one. I’m not sure why. There were some films that stood out, though. Two presidential movies this year – Absolute Power with Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford in Air Force One. Nicolas Cage was a con in Con Air and starred with John Travolta in Face/Off. Jim Carrey is very funny in Liar Liar and Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith star in the first Men In Black.
Almost nabbing the pick for the year is Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. It’s a funny and silly spy spoof and while many of the jokes are childish, the character is one that I found very funny. My pick for the year, however, is Titanic.
Let me say this – I hated the whole Jack/Rose love story BS in this film! It doesn’t make it a bad film, I understand why it was done. I think they thought no one would go see the story of the sinking ship without something “new” in it. At any rate, as someone who has been intrigued by the story of Titanic since I was in elementary school, I was amazed at the details of the ship. After the film came out they had a magazine that compared the shots from the movie with pictures from the real ship – it was neat to see just how close the set was to the real ship.
I had read the story of the Titanic many times. We read Walter Lord’s A Night To Remember in high school. The minute by minute account was so accurate. When I saw Titanic, I was left speechless. There were all the people I had read about. I will never forget watching it and seeing a passenger falls and hit the propeller on their way into the water – wow. I left the theater in complete silence. I got in the car and wept.
1998 saw Stephen King’s Apt Pupil come to the big screen, Robin Williams was wonderful as Patch Adams, and Pixar showed us A Bug’s Life. SNL and SNL actors were prominent in comedies. Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan starred in A Night at the Roxbury, while Adam Sandler was The Wedding Singer (with Drew Barrymore) and The Waterboy (with Henry Winkler and Jerry Reed). Norm MacDonald and Artie Lang star in one of my favorite comedies (though many people found it NOT funny) – Dirty Work. Finally, Antonio Banderas is excellent in The Mask of Zorro with Catherine Zeta Jones!
My pick for 1998 is the powerful D-Day film – Saving Private Ryan.
This movie is about as real as it gets. D-Day was a bloodbath. This is such a powerful movie. It leaves me in awe every time I see it.
As we reach the end of the 90’s, there are plenty of great movies in this final year of the decade. Comedies included the return of Austin Powers in The Spy Who Shagged Me, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Big Daddy, Analyze This, and Office Space. Adventure films included The Mummy, True Crime (the book was better), Sleepy Hollow, and Deep Blue Sea (Love the scene where Samuel L. Jackson gets it!). For kids (and adults) Woody and Buzz are back in Toy Story 2 and Episode 1 of Star Wars (The Phantom Menace) graced the screen (and left adults wanting to kill Jar Jar Binks!).
My pick for favorite is based on the Stephen King novel – The Green Mile.
This remains one of my favorite films. I cry like a baby at the end every time! What an amazing story! This is one of those rare instances where I have seen the movie and never read the book. I am not sure how different the film is from the book, but the book remains on a shelf at home in the “to be read” stack. Writing about it for this blog has just moved it up to the top of my list to read.
In closing
I have a feeling it will become easier to pick films in the decade ahead. As I move into the 2000’s, I know for a fact that I have seen less movies. I got to the point where I didn’t want to go to the movies to pay $10 to see a crappy movie. It was happening was too often so I started watching less movies.
This blog is a continuation of a series I started earlier this week. Somebody had the idea to post a list was to consist of your favorite films from each year of your life. So, you start with your birth year and move ahead year by year and list all the films from each year. A post from the Avocado site came up in my “Reader” list of blogs that had the same principle, but with one exception – you can only pick one movie from each year. My last blog focused on my favorites from the 1970’s and this one will feature the 1980’s.
I have a feeling that there will be more movies per year for me to pick from in this decade.
1980 was a year for sequels. Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason returned for another adventure in Smokey and the Bandit II, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker faced off in The Empire Strikes Back, and Christopher Reeve was back as Superman in Superman II. We were first introduced to Jason in the first of many installments of the Friday the 13th franchise. Queen provided the theme song for the film Flash Gordon. A few years before he was dealing with a Delorean, Robert Zemeckis directed Kurt Russell and Jack Warden in Used Cars. Jack Nicholson yelled “Here’s Johnny!” in the Shining and Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin dreamed of knocking off their boss in Nine to Five.
I mentioned in the last blog that I had a feeling it would be more difficult to pick just one movie per year as I headed into the 80’s. That was proven to be true as I looked over the movies for 1980 and saw three of my all-time favorites were released. ANY three of these could easily be my one pick for the year for the following reasons (1) all three of them have an amazing cast (2) all three of them are funny (3) all three of them are all full of great movie lines! I want to break the rules and make this a three way tie! Alas, I have to pick just one.
The first runner up – Caddyshack. Such a funny movie that is quoted every day on golf courses all across the country! Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase all combine their talents to make this such a funny movie! Second runner up – The Blues Brothers. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are Jake and Elwood Blues. It is a comedy of epic proportions and has one of the best soundtracks ever. Also, very quotable.
The pick for my favorite, though, has to be THE most quoted movie of the ’80s – Airplane! “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley!”
Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Hayes and SO many more! The Zucker Brothers brought us this comedy, a direct rip-off of a film called Zero Hour (look for the comparison on YouTube), and it is a joke after joke laugh riot. Having serious actor say these comedy lines straight makes the line even more funny! The scenes with “Johnny” are worth the price of admission!
1981 brought us some great films. Some of my favorite action movies from ’81 include Burt Reynolds in Sharky’s Machine, and Sylvester Stalone and Billy Dee Williams in Nighthawks. Adventure films included stop-action creatures from Ray Harryhausen in Clash of the Titans and our introduction to Indiana Jones with Harrison Ford starring in Raiders of the Lost Ark (the face melting scene still creeps me out!).
1981 was full of comedies, some better than others (Remember Ringo Starr’s Caveman?!). Dudley Moore was brilliantly funny in Arthur. The Muppets return for fun in The Great Muppet Caper. Chevy Chase, Dabney Coleman, and Nell Carter appear in the underappreciated Modern Problems. George Hamilton plays dual roles in a film I recently blogged about, Zorro The Gay Blade. Not his best, but I still laugh at Jerry Lewis’ Hardly Working. And Mel Brooks offered up History of the World Part I (and left many of us longing for Part II).
Stripes starring Bill Murray, John Candy, and Harold Ramis comes in as a close second here. It could easily be THE favorite for this year. It is still funny today, and I find myself quoting it often. Just edging it out as my favorite is The Cannonball Run.
Burt Reynolds leads an all star cast in the race across the country! Silly fun and many funny lines. Dom Deluise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. Farrah Fawcett, Bert Convy, Jamie Farr, Roger Moore, Jack Elam, Adrienne Barbeau, Peter Fonda, Terry Bradshaw, Mel Tillis, and so many more star in this comedy, which will always remain one of my favorites!
In 1982, Sylvester Stallone introduced us to Rambo in First Blood while Harrison Ford starred in Blade Runner (which finally just recently got a sequel). ET phoned home, Sean Penn was stoned out of his mind in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Scott Baio had super powers in Zapped! Airplane II: The Sequel recycled some old jokes and was not as good as the original. Michael Keaton drove Henry Winkler crazy in Night Shift. Creepshow was creepy (and had a cool cameo from Stephen King). A favorite from this year is Steve Martin’s Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, which is shot in black and white and Steve interacts with old movie stars.
My top pick for 1982 has got to be Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
I didn’t care for the first Star Trek film, but this one was excellent. Again, we have the original cast back on the Enterprise. This film goes back to the original series for a tie in. Ricardo Montalban played the character on the series and now, years later, he finds Kirk and plans to get his revenge. It is a great story, and the film has a powerful ending. The best of the entire series in my opinion. Montalban is just amazing in this movie!
The scene with William Shatner screaming “Khan!” – how can you not love it?
I can already sense the backlash I am going to get for my pick from this year, please remember this is MY list and not yours!
In the comedy category, 1983 had Michael Keaton stepping in for Teri Garr in Mr. Mom. Gary Busey, Marsha Warfield, and Mr. T are a riot in DC Cab while Bob and Doug McKenzie (Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) get their first feature film in Strange Brew. Dan Aykroyd takes on “mom” in Doctor Detroit while Rodney Dangerfield takes on his mother-in-law in Easy Money. 1983 also introduced us to the Griswold family as they make their trip to Walley World in National Lampoon’s Vacation.
The Skywalker’s were back for the third part of the original trilogy in Return of the Jedi, while Christopher Walken woke from a coma with psychic powers in The Dead Zone. And who can forget Al Pacino’s thrilling performance in Scarface? My pick for favorite of this year is a holiday classic – A Christmas Story.
So why this film? Because it remains one that I faithfully watch every Christmas. Who can’t relate to the way the Parker boys feel as Christmas approaches? While it is set in the 1940’s, their excitement mirrors what every child feels during the holidays. It’s a classic! I had the chance to see the Christmas Story house this year (and blogged about it) and it was fun to walk through.
As I looked over my list from ’84, I once again see more comedies than other genres. Eddie Murphy went to Detroit to film Beverly Hills Cop, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis took on the spiritual realm in Ghostbusters. Michal Keaton and Joe Piscopo are mobsters is Johnny Dangerously. We meet the first batch of recruits in the first Police Academy movie, while Cannonball Run II fell flat, despite a great cast. Sight gags and puns galore were seen with Val Kilmer in Top Secret, and we first met Sarah Connor in the first Terminator movie.
1984 was the year the Detroit Tigers last won a World Series. I will never forget the excitement of that series or the season that led up to it. Perhaps that is why my favorite flick from 1984 is The Natural.
Robert Redford is Roy Hobbs and he is an amazing ball player. The film is based on a 1952 book by Bernard Malamud. (Spoiler, in case you haven’t seen it) In the book, Hobbs strikes out at the end. However, in the movie, there is an amazing homerun that knocks out the lights and sparks fly all over the place – one of my favorite endings!
“Knock the cover off the ball ….”
My list of favorites from this year is not too long. Not that there weren’t some great films released, because there were, but many of them didn’t make an impact on me. I enjoyed the James Bond film A View to a Kill (Roger Moore as Bond), Harrison Ford in Witness, and Chevy Chase as Fletch. The “Brat Pack” film The Breakfast Club was released with your “stereotypical high school teens”. The Goonies was one I watched once. It was ok, but I didn’t see the hype that everyone else did. As stupid as it was, Transylvania 6-5000 always made me laugh. Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley Jr., John Byner, Geena Davis, and Michael Richards are all part of the cast, and there are some funny (and some very dumb) scenes.
Who would have thought that a board game could inspire a very funny film? Clue came out in 1985 and had three different endings (it varied on wherever you saw it). Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, Martin Mull, Madeline Khan, Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan, and Lesley Ann Warren play the various people from the game and it is just a blast to watch. This easily could be my pick, but there is one film that stands out far above the rest.
As someone who always loved stories about time travel, I was hooked immediately by the trailer for Back to the Future. It remains one that I can watch over and over today.
There is just SO much to love about this film!!! Great story. Great characters (and a great cast). Comedy. Suspense. Good music and a cool car that when it hit 88 miles per hour, you saw some “pretty serious sh*t!”
1986 really doesn’t have a stand out film for me. I enjoyed Top Gun with Tom Cruise (it also has a sequel coming out). Little Shop of Horrors was an ok movie (Steve Martin as the dentist is a high light). Tough Guys had some good scenes, but with big stars like Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, I expected more. One Crazy Summer had some funny scenes, but wasn’t a laugh out loud riot. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was good. I loved the premise of this kid skipping school and doing all that he did … and still making it home before his folks found out (what kid didn’t want to do what Ferris did?!).
The only film that stands out to me from 1986 is one that you may question. It gets the my pick as favorite for sentimental reasons. The Three Amigos starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short. I don’t care how many times El Guapo yells “It’s a sweater!”, I laugh! But that is not why I picked this one. Back when my oldest son was just diagnosed with autism, we were watching this movie. There is a scene where the Amigos are sitting around a campfire and they begin to sing the song “Blue Shadows”. My son walked to the TV and just stared. He loved that song. At that time, we had no idea if he would ever really speak more than a few words. He would watch this scene over and over! I even have it on my iPod because it makes me think of him.
After the song, we used to have to wait for the turtle to say “Goodnight, Ned” before we had to rewind that scene.
1987 offered up some classics. Who wasn’t freaked out by the rabbit scene in Fatal Attraction? Even though you saw it coming, you cried when Richie Valens died in La Bamba. Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World was given new life on the radio thanks to Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam. “Nobody gets outta here without singing the blues” is one of my favorite lines from Adventures in Babysitting. Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks team up for a Dragnet movie that misses the mark. Danny Glover and Mel Gibson first teamed up for Lethal Weapon and Kevin Costner played Elliot Ness in The Untouchables. We also enjoyed the fairy tale The Princess Bride and Mel Brooks parodied Star Wars and space movies with Spaceballs (“We Break for Nobody!”
If you loved Airplane, but have never seen Amazon Women on the Moon, you need to. It’s as silly as Airplane and has some very funny scenes. For years, I’ve joked that I’d like my funeral to be like a roast. I said I would want people to share funny stories about times we shared together. In this film, there is actually a funeral that is a roast – with a dias that includes Steve Allen, Slappy White, and other comedy greats!
My 1987 favorite goes to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
This is just one of the best John Hughes films. You get every emotion watching this film. There are times that are laugh out loud funny and there are times where you are wiping tears from your eyes. Steve Martin and John Candy are just great together. This film makes me miss John Candy. He was such a great actor.
In 1988 Dirty Harry returned in The Dead Pool, Tom Hanks wished he was Big, and Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall were Coming to America. Bruce Willis starred in the first Die Hard and Michael Keaton was Beetlejuice. I was impressed by the interaction between humans and cartoons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and (as a Monty Python fan) loved John Cleese and Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda.
With my favorite movie that kicked off this decade (Airplane), it should come as no surprise that my pick from 1988 is The Naked Gun starring Leslie Nielsen.
Shortly after Airplane, the Zucker brothers created Police Squad. It was a short lived TV show starring Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin. It aired just 6 episodes. The show is the premise for the movie. George Kennedy replaced Alan North and OJ Simpson (pre-murder trial) also starred. Ricardo Montalban plays the villain in this and is just great. Not as many lines as Airplane, but just as funny!!
“It’s Enrico Palazzo!!”
As I come to the last year of this decade, I am faced with the same issue I had with the first year. I have many favorites from this year and wonder just how I can pick only one movie as a favorite!
Comedies included Eddie Murphy in Harlem Nights, Weird Al Yankovic starred in his first film UHF, John Candy was Uncle Buck in another John Hughes film, and Charlie Sheen was Wild Thing in Major League (“Just a bit outside!”). Bernie is dead, but he still has quite an adventure in Weekend at Bernie’s. Jack Palance plays a wonderful bad guy in Tango and Cash and the Griswold’s host Christmas in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. And I can’t forget to mention that Doc Brown and Marty McFly return in Back to the Future II (which some people hate because it goes back and forth from time to time – but that’s what I love about it! That, and the fact that they reshot original scenes from Part I and then had the characters interact within that scene.)
Two films that really stand out from 89 are not comedies, but adventure movies. The runner up for my favorite is Tim Burton’s Batman. As a fan of the 1966 Batman, I was excited to see how this film would be portrayed. Michael Keaton played Batman and I thought he did ok. Jack Nicholson as the Joker was amazing! I loved his interpretation of the character (though I still believe Cesar Romero is the best). It was really well done. This brings me to my favorite film of 1989 – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
In the Indiana Jones series, I always felt this was the strongest of them all. Harrison Ford is again great as Indy, but his father, played by Sean Connery, steals the scenes. I can easily see my dad and I fighting with each other like these two do if we ever were off on an adventure like this. I just love their interactions with each other. They are both just perfect in this film. The final scene is also just a picture perfect ending!
So with that, let’s ride into the sunset. When we return, let’s dive into the 90’s, ok?
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 