Month: September 2021

The Wonder Case

/ blackcasediaries / Leave a comment

It’s been a blast going back to school with you all. This week, we’re finishing up Back-to-school September with a very special episode about a very special TV series and its pilot episode. On March 15th, 1988, the world met Kevin Arnold, a 12-year-old suburban boy growing up in the 1960s. Guided by the voice of Daniel Stern, The Wonder Years took audiences back in time to an era of change and uncertainty and reminded them what it was like to be a kid again. 

Throughout its 5 seasons, The Wonder Years connected with audiences in the late 1980s and early 90s, but many of its themes are timeless. It also made its star, Fred Savage, a household name, and forever made a mark on American pop culture. 

This week, we’re discussing the history of The Wonder Years, with a focus on the pilot episode of the show. Because the show starts with the main character going back to school, we thought it would be the perfect topic to close out our series of school-related episodes! 

Before we go into the events of the episode, let’s talk a little about the historical context of the show. 

THE FIRST TELEVISED WAR

  • The late 1960s was a turbulent time. The war in Vietnam forever changed and destroyed the lives of countless people, including those that lived in stucco houses, nestled safely in American suburbia. Between 1964 and 1973, over 2 million American men were drafted to fight in the war. 
  • When America entered the Vietnam war in 1965, it had been less than 20 years since the end of the second world war, and a little over 10 years since the Korean War. The American people were familiar with the pain, anxieties, and struggle of war. Back then, it was common for people to get updates on the conflict through newspapers and newsreels at the local theater. But by the 1960s, a new medium existed to reach wider audiences: TV. 
  • For the first time, the bleak and disturbing realities of war and the names of dead American sons were broadcast daily to audiences across the country. This new exposure further enlightened many to the horror of war, experiencing it for the first time in their living rooms.
  • This and the other major events of the 1960s, like the civil rights movement, the counterculture movement, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr, John F Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy, defined a generation. It was an era of immense turmoil and great change. 
  • Because The Wonder Years begins in this decade, the backdrop of the war is important to the storyline, showing the effect it had on American families directly. The show began less than 20 years after the end of the war, meaning that there were writers, crew members, and even actors that had either fought in the war or knew someone that did. 

MAKING OF

  • Shortly after creating the sitcom Growing Pains in the mid-1980s, Neal Marlens felt like he was done with TV for a while. After working on a film with his wife Carol Black, the two of them decided to make another movie told from the perspective of a little boy. The more they discussed the idea, they realized it would be better suited as a TV show. They wrote the first episode in about two weeks. 
    • Marlens and Black understood that what they were creating was unorthodox compared to the usual TV sitcom, as it would feature a single camera and narration. So, they decided to write the script before pitching the idea, so that the producers would have a better understanding of what they were going for.
    • Using their own childhood experiences for inspiration, the couple set the show in the late 1960s. Carol Black said in an interview that she started her childhood watching shows like “Leave it to Beaver,” but as she grew up, the entire country changed. 
    • Since the beginning of the writing process, the creators were certain they wanted an adult narration driving the story forward, so they could avoid writing unnatural dialogue for the child actors. The narrator also made the show work for adult audiences, so it became a show for all ages. 
    • The show was not autobiographical, but it touched on shared experiences of many Americans, and because of that, it felt very authentic. 
  • The house in the pilot episode was a real house on a street in Burbank, California. It was perfect for the show because all of the trees looked young, just like the trees in the recently built suburban neighborhoods of the 1960s. 
  • Daniel Stern received the script so he could audition for the role of the narrator, and showed it to his brother, Dave. Dave then wrote a spec script for the show, and became the first writer hired by Carol and Neal! Just as the show was starting, there was a writer’s strike, so this script was helpful. 
    • All the auditions for the narrator were blind, meaning that the creators did not know anyone’s name or face. They chose actor Daniel Stern solely on his voice and ability to connect with the character. 
    • The showrunners would talk to the kids and sometimes put stories or lines in the script based on their ideas. 
  • When Carol Black and Neal Marlens were interviewing casting directors, almost all of them told them that no matter what they do, they should audition this child actor named Fred Savage. They saw some footage of his work and mailed him a pilot script. Later on, Savage would say that it was his parents that decided that it was worth it to fly to California for an audition. Fred got the part and became one of the biggest child stars of the 90s. 
  • The creators searched for a month to find someone to play Winnie Cooper, the lead female character opposite Fred Savage. Danica McKellar and her sister Crystal were both finalists for the role. For them, acting was just a hobby and not a career, and their mother would normally not allow them to audition for a pilot episode of a show for that reason. However, the role at this stage in development was actually a one-off, so their mother allowed them to audition. Both girls were equally talented, and the role eventually went to Danica, because she had dark hair that matched Fred Savage’s hair. The writers created another character for her sister to play, as well. 
  • When they were writing the parents, Carol and Neal considered the generational divide that was happening between parents and their kids in the 1960s. It’s something that occurs with every generation, but there had been so much radical change throughout the decade, this issue really affected the family dynamic.
    • For Jack Arnold, Kevin’s father, they cast Dan Lauria. The creators were looking for someone who had an “everyman” feeling, a working-class person that audiences would connect to. Jack is meant to embody the classic 1960s father, a man that had sacrificed everything for his family, and just wants quiet at the end of the day. 
    • Alley Mills was cast as Norma Arnold, the peace-keeping matriarch of the Arnold family. The relationship dynamics between men and women had changed so much since the 1960s, many actresses that auditioned for the role played the character “too modern.” Mills understood that her role wasn’t to win the arguments with her male counterpart but to keep the harmony of the household. Mills also had great chemistry with Olivia d’Abo, who was cast as her teenage daughter. 
  • The Pilot episode was directed by Steve Miner with some scenes filmed at John Burroughs High School in California. 

MUSIC

  • W.G. “Snuffy” Walden composed the music for the show, notably the theme for Winnie Cooper. The music for the show is usually acoustic, giving it a more personal feeling. 

STARS

  • Narrated by Daniel Stern as the grown-up Kevin Arnold
    • According to Daniel Stern, he was hired to narrate the show but got fired after recording the pilot episode. Apparently, the show was concerned that Stern’s film career would make him unavailable to record. In his place, the show hired actor Arye Gross and his narration was heard in the pilot that aired on January 31st. Shortly after the pilot aired, the show asked Stern to return as the narrator.
  • Fred Savage as young Kevin Arnold
    • Fred is an actor and director that you may remember as the little boy in The Princess Bride.
  • Danica McKellar as Winnie Cooper
    • Danica has since done several Hallmark movies but is also a mathematician who has written several children’s books about math.
  • Josh Saviano as Kevin’s best friend Paul Pfeiffer
    • Josh no longer acts and is now a lawyer.
  • Dan Lauria as his father Jack Arnold
    • Dan is an actor that has been in many things such as the tv show Sullivan and Son.
  • Alley Mills as his mother Norma Arnold
    • Alley is an actress and has most recently had a recurring role on The Bold and the Beautiful since 2006.  
  • Olivia d’Abo as his sister Karen Arnold
    • Olivia is an actress that was in Conan the Destroyer as Princess Jehnna.
  • Jason Harvey as his brother Wayne Arnold
    • Jason is an actor and tv producer. He was also in Back to the Future.


THE EPISODE

The pilot episode of The Wonder Years aired on January 31st, 1988, after the Super Bowl. It opened with the song, “A Little Help from my Friends,” sung by Joe Cocker. The show creators felt the song’s combination of vulnerability and levity was perfect for the show. Because they were unable to license anything by the Beatles, they went with the Joe Cocker version. They also felt that Cocker’s version was more emotionally raw. 

  • We see the actors through the silent home movies of the era, introducing the family dynamic and playing on the nostalgia of the 1960s. After the opening credits, we hear, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds. Music is often a tool for transporting audiences to specific decades, and that technique is used often in The Wonder Years. For the first time, we hear the narration by Daniel Stern, who introduces the main conflict of the episode: Kevin Arnold’s first day of middle school. He refers to the late 1960s as a golden age for kids. 
  • Eventually, we meet Kevin Arnold, as he plays football on the street with some friends. We’re introduced to Winnie Cooper, the neighbor girl that used to be close with Kevin, and of course, we meet Kevin’s older brother Wayne. In this scene, we also meet Paul, Kevin’s best friend that’s allergic to everything. Paul was based on a real friend of co-creator Neal Marlens!
  • Wayne and Kevin get into a fight, and as Wayne is beating up his younger brother, Winnie Cooper’s older brother, Brian, yells for him to stop. The narration introduces Brian’s character as the epitome of cool, a 19-year-old that never stopped working on his El Camino. Even after he was drafted to fight in Vietnam, the car still sat out on blocks, as a reminder of “who really ran things.” Brian was played by Robert Mitchum’s grandson, Bentley Mitchum.  
  • In the next scene, we see Kevin and Paul eating dinner while we get a glimpse of the news coverage of the war on their TV. We meet Kevin’s mom, who pleads with Kevin not to make his father upset when he comes home from work. Kevin’s dad, Jack, walks in shortly after, exhausted from a long day. Soon we see all of the family at the table, including Kevin’s sister, Karen, and brother, Wayne. Norma, Kevin’s mother, hands his father a vodka tonic as the entire family starts to eat. 
    • Karen breaks the tense silence at the table by announcing that she, a teenager in 1968, is getting birth control pills, and the scene ends with the entire family arguing. 
  • The next scene opens with the song, “Both Sides, Now,” by Joni Mitchell, as we see a montage of Kevin’s summer memories, the last summer of his childhood. The next few scenes focus on Kevin and Paul as they prepare for the first day of school; looking over a copy of, “Our bodies, ourselves,” (while listening to “Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James & The Shondells) and Kevin attempting to wear the latest styles to the bus stop. Just after, Kevin and Paul encounter Winnie Cooper without her signature braids and glasses, with hot-ironed hair and stylish clothes, and going by the name Gwendolyn. 
  • As Kevin and Paul head into the school, the narrator tells us that the school had recently been renamed Robert F Kennedy High School, as many schools had been rebranded to honor the recently assassinated politician. 
  • Kevin’s first day of school isn’t going very well. In homeroom, a teacher recognizes him as Wayne’s brother, which essentially puts a target on his back. In the hall, a bully tosses a knife and some drugs in Kevin’s locker, threatening him in the process. And of course, his first class was phys ed. 
    • Robert Picardo, a brilliant physical comedian, played Kevin’s gym teacher, Coach Cutlip. He had “the biggest inferiority complex since Napoleon.” 
    • Kevin gets called on to explain the jockstrap, as we hear the sound of a plane crashing in Kevin’s mind. 
  • It’s lunchtime, and Kevin and Paul are sitting together when Winnie Cooper comes to join them. Kevin’s nerves start to calm when his brother Wayne spots him and begins to make fun of him and Winnie. Kevin, angry and annoyed, grabs the apple off his tray and heads out of the cafeteria, when the vice principal stops him. He tells Kevin that if he leaves with the apple, he will get detention. When the vice principal stops him again, Kevin considers what Brian Cooper, Winnie’s older brother, would do in this situation. So, Kevin throws the apple into the cafeteria, landing him in deep trouble. 
  • In the next scene, we see Kevin in the vice principal’s office with his mother. It’s clear that he’s in trouble, but he has a hard time explaining why he did what he did. It isn’t until the end of the scene that we find out that Kevin’s father, Jack, is also in the room. Jack cracks his knuckles and says, “I’d like to take him home, now.” 
  • As Kevin rides home with his parents, he considers the fact that a physical punishment is in his near future, and he resolves to imagine that he’s his brother as his dad inevitably hits him for what he did. 
  • When the family arrives home, Karen and Wayne come out the front door to greet Kevin and their parents, looking distraught. There’s a long pause before Karen says the words, “Brian Cooper was killed.” The family stands in a moment of shocked silence, and Kevin’s father, who moments earlier was considering Kevin’s punishment, firmly places his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. 
  • Kevin decides to go for a walk at dusk, and as he heads to the woods, he comes across Winnie, sitting alone on a big rock. Kevin sat down and told her he was sorry. He pulls off his jacket and places it around her shoulders as the song “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge begins to play. Kevin and Winnie then share a kiss and a hug as the camera zooms out. The episode ends with the narration: “Whenever some blowhard starts talking about the anonymity of the suburbs, or the mindlessness of the TV generation, because we know that inside each one of those identical boxes with its Dodge parked out front, and its white bread on the table, and its TV set glowing blue in the falling dusk, there were people with stories, there were families bound together in the pain and the struggle of love. There were moments that made us cry with laughter, and there were moments, like that one, of sorrow and wonder.” 
    • It was the first kiss for the characters and the actors. They were both incredibly nervous, and they had to do six different takes. Someone on the set clapped when the kids kissed, which made them feel even more self-conscious. Danica McKellar says that they used the 6th take because it was the only take when Kevin gently stroked Winnie’s hair. 
    • Fred also noted that he was so nervous that he was picking at the fake rock they sat on for the kiss.

HOW IT WAS RECEIVED

  • The very first episode aired after Super Bowl XXII on January 31st, 1988.
  • The show was so well-received that even more people tuned in the next week to watch the second episode! In 1988 The Wonder Years won an Emmy for best comedy series, and it had only released six episodes. The first episode was so well written that the network wanted to order 13 episodes, but the creators knew they could only handle six. 

THE NEW REBOOT ANNOUNCEMENT

  • In August, ABC released a trailer and officially announced that The Wonder Years was getting a reboot! The reboot is heavily influenced by the original series and takes place in the 1960s. However, the main difference is that the show centers around a black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama, and their 12-year-old son Dean. It has Don Cheadle as the narrator and also stars Dulé Hill. It will be released shortly on September 22nd.

Over thirty years later, The Wonder Years continues to connect with audiences. When the show aired in 1988, parents watched it with their children, and today those children are sharing it with their kids. Every actor in the show has expressed nothing but affection for their time on the sitcom, especially Fred Savage, who feels lucky to have been part of something that is so special to so many people. 

The Wonder Years ran for five seasons, but the pilot episode is one of the show’s most iconic moments. The show found a way to appeal to every generation, not just the people that remember the 1960s. All of us can watch The Wonder Years and remember that confusing, magical, strange, and painful time in our lives; when we realized that the world just doesn’t make sense sometimes. We all know what it’s like to grow up, and when we watch The Wonder Years, we’re reminded that we didn’t have to grow up alone. 

SOURCES:

The Case of John Hughes

/ blackcasediaries / Leave a comment

Good morning/afternoon/evening, class! Thank you for joining us once again for Back-to-School September. Last week, we gave you a crash course in three of our favorite school-themed films. This week, we’re talking about a man that revolutionized the teen comedy genre, connecting with an entire generation of high-schoolers in a way no filmmaker had ever done before or since.

In the 1980’s, up-and-coming filmmakers weren’t jumping at the chance to make teen comedies. Along came John Hughes, a man that saw the current youth films as a means of entertaining adults much more than children. This was a man that never forgot what it was like to be a kid, to be treated as if your opinions are invalid. He remembered the complex social structure of high school, and what it meant to be an outsider. Hughes applied all of this to his films, becoming one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood. Of course, Hughes wouldn’t focus solely on the teen comedy, but it was this part of his career for which he would be most remembered. 

John Hughes is known as the king of the coming-of-age comedy. Even still today you will find teenagers watching his films. No matter how dated the movies become, there still exists a sense of timelessness to these films about teen life. 

Hughes was an autobiographical writer, imbuing his own life experiences into every story brought to the screen. Because of this, each one of his films was deeply human in a way that audiences everywhere could understand. So, come learn with us as we explore the life of this man that brought us so many wonderful movie memories!

FAMILY/YOUNG LIFE

  • John Hughes was born on February 18, 1950 in Lansing, Michigan. He was the second oldest child and the only son. His father was a salesman, and would sometimes struggle to support the family. The Hughes family often found themselves to be a lower-class family among wealthy suburban communities. As a result, class issues would one day be prominent plot points in his films. 
  • The Hughes family moved around often throughout John’s childhood, but stayed most prominently in Grosse Pointe, a suburb of Detroit. Hughes was a constant observer of his suburban life. He would carry around a notebook and fill it with notes on the people he met, places he saw, and jokes that popped into his mind. He was rarely found without a notebook on his person, and he would use his childhood experiences to help him craft some of his most iconic stories. When John was 13, the family moved to Northbrook, a suburb of Chicago. This and Grosse Pointe would become the basis for Shermer, Illinois, the fictional town in which many of his films were based. John Hughes’ films had their own universe, with characters that John had imagined, but never even put in his films. He knew who lived where, who were friends, and who were related. 
    • In the beginning of The Breakfast Club, one character recites the zip code as 60062. This is the actual zip code for Northbrook, IL. However, as explained in Kirk Honeycutt’s book John Hughes: A Life in Film, the town was originally known as Shermerville, and one of its most prominent roads is named Shermer Road. 
    • Producers began to notice after working with John Hughes that most of the homes in his films had the same layout. Michelle Manning, who produced 16 Candles and The Breakfast Club, has said that they were very similar to the home Hughes lived in as a teen. 
  • Hughes was an unpopular teenager, who was considered a problem student and reportedly had a rocky relationship with his parents. He found escape in film, and solace in music. When he got into making movies, he was determined to get the music right. Music was a big part of his writing process, as he often blasted British rock music while crafting his stories. Tarquin Gotch, a frequent music supervisor for Hughes’ films, referred to him as a “modern Frank Capra.” Hughes’ films examined American life, and he wanted the actors to feel involved in the process.
  • After high school, John Hughes attended the University of Arizona but dropped out before graduating. He moved back home and married the love of his life, a woman named Nancy that he had met while in high school. He was only 20-years-old at the time, and the couple ended up living in his parents’ basement until Hughes began a career in advertising. Eventually, he would become the creative director at the Leo Burnett Company, but he never lost his ambition to become a writer. John started ghostwriting for a comic strip called, The Berrys. He started submitting jokes to comedians like Rodney Dangerfield and Joan Rivers. John also became a freelance writer for Playboy Magazine. On business trips to New York, Hughes would visit the offices of The National Lampoon for assignments. 
    • The National Lampoon seemed to be the perfect place for a young comedic writer. They allowed their contributors to have their own unique voices, and although the magazine was raunchy and hip, it relied on nostalgia to connect with its audience. John became a contributing editor until he was offered a full-time job. John accepted, but kept his other job in advertising. This meant he had to work nonstop, even sometimes catching flights to New York during the workweek. 
  • John kept up both careers until the famed blizzard of 1978 grounded him in his Chicago-area home with his wife and son. John spent those days writing and reflecting on his career. He had seen his fellow writers in advertising become frustrated with their work, losing track of what they wanted to be. When John later spoke of this time, he said, “What if I’m sixty-five and retired with all my stock, my profit-sharing, my money, and I’m sitting on the porch thinking I should have been a writer–I wonder if I could have done it?” So, Hughes quit his advertising job and took a big pay cut to work at The National Lampoon. He continued to write parodies, including issues about family holidays and vacations; stories that would eventually make it to the big screen. 

FIRST PROJECTS

  • Over the course of his career, John Hughes wrote 37 films, produced 23, and directed eight. The first film project he worked on was a Jaws parody called, Jaws 3, People 0. The project was eventually pulled by a Universal Studios executive. Hughes then worked on a screenplay for National Lampoon’s Joy of Sex, but its star, John Belushi, passed away suddenly just days before filming was set to begin. Hughes’ script was thrown out and the film was made by another studio. After that, there was Delta House, a TV spinoff of Animal House, but it only lasted one season. 
  • After attending a high school reunion, John Hughes penned a script that would become his first screen credit. It was a horror/sex comedy called, National Lampoon’s Class Reunion. The film holds a lot of the notes and character archetypes that would become familiar in his later films, but ultimately it was a box office failure. 
  • John continued to write, and struck up a friendship with a young producer named Lauren Shuler (who would one day be Lauren Shuler Donner, as she married Richard Donner!) Lauren had called John to pitch a story, and their friendship led to him presenting her with the pages of an unfinished screenplay based on his days as a househusband when his wife went out of town. Lauren loved the pages and wanted to make the film. Learning from his early experiences in film, John decided to complete the script before bringing it to a studio. He realized that if someone paid him before the script was done, he had less creative freedom. This was how he preferred to work for the rest of his career.
  • This film would become Mr. Mom, a fairly successful comedy starring Michael Keaton. However, John Hughes was fired as a screenwriter during the production process, and two uncredited writers polished the screenplay. The film was not what John Hughes and Lauren Shuler Donner wanted to make, and the experience might have planted the seeds for John Hughes’ famous distaste for Hollywood in the years to come. 
  • While writing for The National Lampoon, John Hughes published a story called Vacation ‘58, based on his childhood family vacations. It followed The Griswold Family and their ill-fated trip from Grosse Pointe, Michigan to Walt Disneyland in California. Marty Simmons, the owner of the Lampoon eventually shared the story with an executive from Warner Brothers, and soon the project was underway with John Hughes as the screenwriter. Because the studio wanted to draw in Saturday Night Live fans, they cast Caddyshack star Chevy Chase as the lead. Harold Ramis signed on to direct, and John adapted his screenplay to match Chase’s comedic delivery. The story stayed generally the same, but Hughes built on his younger characters, giving them more personality. The original ending didn’t do well with audiences, and Hughes was forced to do a rewrite where the family actually did arrive at their destination: Wally World. Because of the rewrite, comedian John Candy was added to the cast, playing a hilarious guard at the vacant park. Candy would become synonymous with John Hughes in later years, and the two were very close friends. The new ending did well, and Vacation was a hit. It essentially created a new genre of film, the family road trip. 
  • Now that Hughes had two major successes under his belt, it wasn’t hard for him to find screenwriting jobs. He quit his job at the Lampoon and was on his way to directing his first feature film. 

A FEW OF HIS MOST INFLUENTIAL MOVIES

  • John Hughes was a rare man in his field. He was a midwestern conservative, working amongst Hollywood liberals. He held a disdain for authority (something he picked up from his youth) and a distrust of Hollywood bigwigs. Instead of filming in Los Angeles like many other filmmakers, John liked to film in Chicago, away from the big studios. He hated studio notes and wanted freedom. A few of his films were filmed in the New Trier Township High School, an abandoned school! Ferris Bueler’s Day Off, Uncle Buck, and Home Alone were all shot here. Filming in the midwest also meant taking young actors away from their friends and the partying scene in California. But most of all, John Hughes was an autobiographical filmmaker. His stories took place in the midwest because that’s where he was from, and so that’s where they would be filmed. 

So let’s talk about some of John Hughes’ most influential films. We won’t have a chance to talk about all of them. So let us know if we missed your favorite or if you’d like us to cover any of these in a future episode!

  • SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984)
    • In the early 1980’s, one of Hollywood’s biggest agents was circulating a script for a teen comedy. Many studios were interested, but the major hang-up was that the screenwriter, John Hughes, wanted to direct the film as well. Producer Michelle Manning mentioned the screenplay while in a job interview with filmmaker Ted Tanen. Tanen liked giving first-time directors a chance, and was interested in the idea. Manning contacted Hughes, and they were able to strike a deal for Sixteen Candles. 
    • When the agency ICM first agreed to represent John Hughes, they gave him a batch of headshots for potential actors in his films. Hughes fixated on one photo in particular, and placed the photo over his workspace as he wrote Sixteen Candles. The photo was of Molly Ringwald, and in John’s mind, she had already been cast in the leading role. Hughes also decided that Anthony Michael Hall, who had appeared in Vacation should play the film’s famous geek character. 
    • Sixteen Candles relies heavily on high school tropes like the jock, the geek, the prom queen, and the wallflower. But, it unexpectedly turned the unspoken rule of the teen comedy on its head. Audiences were shocked and delighted when the quiet girl got the surprisingly sensitive jock at the end, instead of learning some kind of hard lesson. One of the film’s biggest surprises was Samantha’s (Molly Ringwald) touching conversation with her father, and the empathy that he shows his teenage daughter. 
    • This was Hughes’ breakout as a director and started his meteoric rise as the king of teen comedy. Of course, there are components in the film that do not pass the test of time. Featured prominently is a foreign exchange student that plays into hurtful stereotypes. It’s also hard for modern audiences to brush aside the casual attitude toward date rape, which seems to be prominent throughout the film.
  • THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985)
    • True to his style, he filmed this as well in small-town high schools, this time in Illinois. This forced the cast to become closer as there were not many entertainment options in town. The most common things they would do were to go to the Hughes home for dinner or go to see a blues band together.
    • Judd Nelson would stay in character as Bender, even after scenes were shot. This almost cost him the role as Hughes noticed that he would continue to treat Molly Ringwold terribly. Hughes felt responsible for her and therefore wanted Michelle Manning to fire him. It was worked out however when Manning discussed the issue with his manager/live-in girlfriend, Laurie Rodkin. After that it was never an issue again.
    • In order for Judd Nelson and Emilio Estevez to understand the divisions between jocks and the outcasts, Hughes sent them back to high school. Nobody seemed to recognize Judd, but unfortunately for the experiment, Emilio was recognized almost immediately. 
    • As the set was being built, the cast began getting ready for rehearsals. John had a few different drafts of the script. After Emilio asked to see them, John brought all of them in for the cast to look through. Each actor read through them and picked out the pieces from each script that they felt connected with their characters. Hughes spent that night cutting and pasting those pieces together and presented a new script the very next morning. 
    • The film was actually shot in continuity, and the Principal was based on a real gym teacher of Hughes’s that did not like his attitude!
    • This film is what brought about the term “Brat Pack.” The term refers to teens that often appeared in multiple movies together in the 80’s. For example, Hughes knew after Sixteen Candles that he wanted Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald to be in this movie as well. The ensemble group of talented kids did not take kindly to the term and even stopped hanging out all the time because of it.
  • WEIRD SCIENCE (1985)
    • Directed and wrote
  • FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (1986)
    • Directed by and wrote
    • The screenplay was written in just seven days, though Hughes claimed he did it in four. Hughes was famous for writing his stories in short, manic bursts. 
    • The name Ferris Bueller came from Hughes’s long term friend Bert Bueller and the character of Sloane was based on his wife.
    • To help immerse the actors Hughes drove them around the Chicago town, showing them the sights and talking about his life as a high schooler. As he did this he put cassettes into the player with the songs that he intended to run throughout the movie.
    • When Broderick first met with Hughes Pretty in Pink was going to be released soon. As the pair walked and talked Hughes plastered Pretty in Pink stickers on every lamp post. He was brilliant at advertising. Hughes would pen a newsletter, and it would be mailed out to many fans of which he had a database from all the fan mail Hughes Entertainment received.
  • PRETTY IN PINK (1986)
    • Written by
    • John Hughes continued his reign as the teen comedy king with Pretty in Pink, another classic starring Molly Ringwald. It was named after a 1981 Psychedelic Furs song that Hughes liked, and even included in the film. In fact, Hughes selected about 90% of the film’s soundtrack. 
    • This movie continued to explore the difficulties of living in a working class family, surrounded by upper class peers. It also featured one of Hughes’ most iconic ‘80s characters, Duckie, played by Jon Cryer. 
    • Duckie was a classic Hughes geek, a guy that has everything going for him but doesn’t know it. According to Jon Cryer, Molly Ringwald was uncertain of his taking the role, she reportedly wanted Robert Downey Junior to play the character. 
    • In the original ending, Ringwald’s character, Andie, ends up with Duckie. But, test audiences didn’t like this ending. So, the crew reshot the ending to have her character end up with Blane, the rich boy played by the dreamy Andrew McCarthy. There were many challenges to the reshoot, including the fact that Andrew McCarthy had shaved his head and had to wear a wig.  
  • PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES (1987)
    • Directed and wrote
    • This movie has become the perfect model for future buddy comedies. The two characters are forced together into situations where they must walk in the other’s shoes.
    • When Steve Martin read the screenplay and accepted the part, he noticed that it was a hefty 145 pages. The typical for a comedy would be about 90. When Martin asked what would be cut, Hughes looked at him quizzically and Martin realized that Hughes did not plan to cut a thing!
    • The movie, while only modestly successful at the time, became treasured by Hughes and many others. Roger Ebert even said in a tribute article that it is in his “Great Movie Collection.”
  • SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL (1987)
    • Written by
  • NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989)
    • In 1988, John Hughes wrote and directed She’s Having a Baby, a deeply personal film and probably his most autobiographical. However, the film didn’t do very well, despite the star power of Kevin Bacon and Alec Baldwin. Some theorize that because this film didn’t find the same success as his other projects, John began moving away from personal stories for films. 
    • In 1989, two of Hughes’ films premiered. They were Uncle Buck and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Both did fairly well at the box office, with Christmas Vacation eventually becoming a holiday staple in many American households. Critics felt that the film lacked the magic of the original, as it had less of a cohesive plot and more of a string of hilarious holiday mishaps jumbled together in a film. This would be the final Vacation film written by John Hughes, though two more would be made–one in 1997 and 2015. 
  • HOME ALONE (1990)
    • After working with Macaulay Culkin in Uncle Buck, John Hughes thought it would be interesting to have a movie centered around a 9 year old. He had thoroughly enjoyed working with Macaulay after never having worked with that age group before.
    • Chris Columbus, who directed the film, expressed that he was afraid that nobody would give him another shot at directing after his recent flop Heartbreak Hotel. John Hughes, however, had faith in him and liked his style. Chris was originally supposed to direct the previous Christmas movie we just talked about but had difficulties with Chevy Chase. Chevy refused to take direction from him because he saw Chris as too new to know anything about directing properly. Hughes therefore brought Chris on to direct Home Alone! Since Chris was also a writer, the script went back and forth between the two until they felt it was ready. It was then pitched to Warner Brothers, who said that they would make it for the low budget of 10 million dollars. When they inevitably surpassed that budget (though not by much to 14.7 million), Warner Brothers shut down the project. We almost didn’t have this Christmas joy.
      • Luckily Hughes was behind the project as its writer and had secretly met with his friend Tom Jacobson at 20th Century Fox. When Tom and chairman Joe Roth heard the storyline, the 14.7 million dollar budget, and that Hughes was fighting with WB they said they would make it! All they had to do was wait for WB to officially pull the plug because legally they weren’t really supposed to know about the project while another studio owned it. Once the phone call came, those that knew about the switch had to feign sadness and fear before calling up 20th Century Fox to seamlessly continue the picture.
    • Chris Columbus said that John Hughes was a director’s dream, essentially staying offset except when John Candy arrived for his scenes. He was receptive to ideas, and allowed Columbus to add his own touch to the story, giving it more heart to balance out the slapstick humor.     
    • All the sets for the insides of the house were built in New Trier Township High School, including the scene when the house is flooding. The crew knew that the set would leak due to all the water, so they built it right in the school’s empty swimming pool!
    • Hughes’ close friend and colleague John Candy made an extended cameo in the film, appearing on set for 23 hours of shooting. He appeared in the film as a favor to Hughes, and was paid even less than the pizza delivery boy that appears in the early scenes of the film.  
    • Some believe this was John Hughes last greatest film, and in later years he would move away from autobiographical works and films focused on midwestern families. 
  • HONORABLE MENTIONS
    • Baby’s Day Out (1994)
    • Beethoven
    • Flubber
    • 101 Dalmatians

AWARDS

  • John Hughes was the epitome of a cult classic. He wasn’t universally loved in Hollywood, and held grudges that, as Molly Ringwald would later put it, “were almost supernatural things.” But, the man certainly had a following, and still does to this day. Despite connecting with and influencing generations, he didn’t win very many awards. 
  • In 2020, Hughes was posthumously inducted into the OFTA Hall of Fame. In 1991, he won the Showest award for Producer of the Year
  • On a more negative note, Hughes won two “Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.” One was “Worst Resurrection of a TV show” for Dennis the Menace. The other was “Worst screenplay for a film grossing more than 100 million” for Flubber. 

DEATH AND LEGACY

In August of 2009, John Hughes died suddenly of a heart attack while visiting family in New York. He was 59. The news of his sudden death shocked and saddened his collaborators, including the young actors that started their careers with Hughes. Hughes had continued to write until his death, with his last credit being Drillbit Taylor. At the 82nd Oscars, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Matthew Broderick, John Cryer, and Macaulay Culkin all paid tribute to John Hughes. This included a montage of his most well-known films, ending with a classic moment from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Life moves pretty fast; If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it.”

John Hughes was one of a kind. He didn’t do things the normal way, the popular way. In reality, Hughes was the outsider that he put on screen. He was a man that never forgot how it felt to be a teenager, with all the anxieties of life, but none of the respect of adulthood. He talked to his actors, young and old, as if they were his collaborators and not his employees. And because of this, he created art that resonated with millions of people.  

Not only did John Hughes give voice to the younger generations in his movies, he helped to launch the careers of so many others around him. John Hughes was funny and strange, intelligent and to some, frustrating. But, he made meaningful connections to audiences and his fellow filmmakers that would last a lifetime. In a foreword for Kurt Honeycutt’s book John Hughes a Life in Film, Chris Columbus wrote, “John’s films have inspired a few generations and they will continue to do so for many, many more decades. His work has profoundly changed millions of lives. I know that he profoundly changed mine. Without John, I may not still be directing today. I owe everything that’s happened in my cinematic life over the past twenty-five years to John Hughes.”

Before we go, we’d like to thank our Patrons! Joel, John, Jacob, Jacklyn, JD, Anthony, Shelli, Linda, Bob, Carlos, and Jaren!

You can now buy us a Popcorn! @ buymeacoffee.com/blackcasediary   

Thank you to all that support us, whether it be through listening, telling a friend, or donating!

SOURCES:

The Case That Went Back to School

/ blackcasediaries / Leave a comment

We all know the feeling. You’re playing outside on a hot August day, and suddenly a cool breeze hits your face as a yellow bus drives by, running a test route for the coming school year. You go inside and hear a particularly catchy Office Max commercial boasting about their school supplies sale. Your heart falls as a parent hands you a letter from your school containing a message from your new teacher. You look around, wondering where the summer went. 

Well, August is over, and school is officially back in session! So grab your pencils and your composition notebooks! It’s Back to School September! In this first episode of the month, we decided to give you a crash course in three of our favorite school-themed films. 

ADAM’S PICK: SCHOOL OF ROCK 

Synopsis

  • The film stars Jack Black playing a struggling rock guitarist named Dewey Finn. The story begins with Dewey’s band kicking him out for his over-the-top rock and roll shenanigans. Out of a job and in desperate need of money, he disguises himself as his roommate, a substitute teacher, and accepts a job at a prep school. After witnessing the musical talent of the students, Dewey forms a band of fifth-graders under the guise of a school project to attempt to win the upcoming Battle of the Bands.

Production

  • School of Rock was directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. White called up his friend and once-neighbor Jack Black to pitch an idea for a film, partly inspired by the Langley Schools Music Project of the 1970s. Recorded in 1976–77, it is a collection of children’s choruses singing pop hits of the time, from the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, and David Bowie. They were found and re-released 25 years later in 2001. So basically, the world’s first Kidz Bop! (Which, by the way, was first released in 2001 as well!)
  • Some additional inspiration came from Jack Black. He said he once witnessed a stage dive gone wrong involving a man named Ian Astbury of rock band The Cult. This story made its way into the opening of the film. 
  • Much of the film was shot on location in New York City. For the interior shots of the school, the film uses the Main Hall at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. According to some of the children in the movie, the different hallway scenes were all shot in one hallway with slight changes to the walls. 

Music

  • The movie is obviously filled to the brim with many well-known rock and roll songs, including top bands and artists such as AC/DC, The Doors, Kiss, Black Sabbath, The Who, Metallica, The Black Keys, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, and much more. If you are looking for a great selection of rock to jam to, look no further than School of Rock. 
  • Musician James Jr. of the band The Mooney Suzuki and screenwriter Mike White wrote the title track, “School of Rock.” The Mooney Suzuki played as backup for the child musicians on the soundtrack recording of the song. 
  • One interesting thing to note is that the soundtrack also includes “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin. For years, the band had been known to be stingy with the use of their music in media. Director Richard Linklater had first-hand experience with this issue, as he wanted to use their song, “Dazed and Confused,” in his 1993 film of the same name. So, Linklater filmed a video of Jack Black standing on the stage used at the end of the film, begging the band for permission to use the song. According to Jack Black, about 1000 extras were chanting behind him. After receiving the video, the three living members of Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones) granted permission for the song.

Cast

  • Jack Black as Dewey Finn
    • A very well-known actor who has been in many things. Films such as Kung Fu Panda, Goosebumps, Nacho Libre, and Jumanji: The Next Level, to name a few.
  • Joan Cusack as Principal Rosalie Mullins
    • Cusack is another very well-known actress who has had a very successful career since the 80s. Some of her top movies include, In & Out, Working Girl, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 
  • Mike White as Ned Schneebly
    • Primarily known as a writer for shows such as Dawson’s Creek, Freaks and Geeks, Nacho Libre, and the screenplay of Pitch Perfect 3.
  • Sarah Silverman as Patty Di Marco, Ned’s girlfriend
    • Silverman is a comedian who was on Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, Robot Chicken, and more recently provided voices on Bob’s Burgers.

-All the kid cast members had rock and roll names in the movie and throughout production.

  • Miranda Cosgrove as Summer “Tinkerbell” Hathaway (band manager)
    • Unsurprisingly, she went on to have a hugely successful acting career after School of Rock. Especially with iCarly being as popular as it was.
  • Joey Gaydos Jr. as Zack “Zack-Attack” Mooneyham (lead guitar)
    • After School of Rock, Joey quit acting and instead decided to focus on his music.
  • Kevin Clark as Freddy “Spazzy McGee” Jones (drums)
    • Sadly, he passed away in May of this year at age 32.
  • Rivkah Reyes as Katie “Posh Spice” (bass)
    • She still plays bass and is part of the band Sweet Revenge. She has also appeared in several other titles on-and-off since the movie.
  • Robert Tsai as Lawrence “Mr. Cool” (keyboards)
    • He has also left acting and still plays concert piano.
  • Maryam Hassan as Tomika “Turkey Sub” (lead and backing vocals)
    • She is a musician under the name Mayhrenate, and as of this year, she has released a few singles and one album.   
  • Aleisha Allen as Alicia “Brace Face” (lead and backing vocals)
    • Her career as an actor started as the voice of Sidetable Drawer on Blue’s Clues and has been in various other films since School of Rock. 
  • Caitlin Hale as Marta “Blondie” (lead and backing vocals)
    • She took a break from acting to focus on her studies and would later graduate from Arizona State with a degree in journalism.
  • Brian Falduto as Billy “Fancy Pants” (band stylist)
    • He is no longer an actor, but he does sing and is a successful life coach.
  • Angelo Massagli as Frankie “Tough Guy” (security)
    • After School of Rock, he featured in some titles, including Stuart Little 2 and The Sopranos. Also, as a side note, he and Catlin Hale are currently a couple.
  • Cole Hawkins as Leonard “Short Stop” (security)
    • He has been in a few movies before and after School of Rock and has had appearances in Law and Order: SVU.
  • Z Infante as Gordon “Roadrunner” (assistant, lights)
    • They have continued acting and were in the TV series Gotham and the 2016 film Carrie Pilby.
  • James Hosey as Marco “Carrot Top” (assistant, special effects)
    • He has been in a few TV series since School of Rock, such as Boardwalk Empire and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Reception

  • The opening in 2003 was well-received, grossing $131 million worldwide on a $35 million budget. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for Black’s performance and humor. It was the highest-grossing music-themed comedy of all time until 2015 when surpassed by Pitch Perfect 2. Due to this success, a stage musical adaptation was developed for Broadway in 2015, and a television adaptation also made its way to Nickelodeon in 2016.
  • The film received several awards and nominations, including a Movies for Grownups Award for “Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up.” It won Best Comedy Film at the British Comedy Awards and a Grammy nomination for “Best Compilation Soundtrack Album.” Additionally, Jack Black received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor and won an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.
  • In 2013, a 10th-anniversary screening of the film was held in Austin, Texas, at the Paramount Theatre. Those in attendance included director Richard Linklater, Jack Black, Mike White, and most of the young cast members. The event had a red carpet, a full cast and crew Q&A after the screening, and a VIP after-party performance by the School of Rock band where they reportedly played “School of Rock (Teacher’s Pet),” “The Legend of The Rent,” “Step Off” and “It’s a Long Way to the Top.”

ROBIN’S PICK: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID

  • Why I Chose it: 
    • Middle school was not a good time for me. I was just as weird and awkward as I am now, but in a cesspool of mean and unaccepting pre-teens. Marci and I had just started going to a new school, which is actually how we met Adam! But alas, Adam was one of the few bright spots in this otherwise bleak time. Am I being dramatic? Probably, but I think anyone who was an awkward middle-schooler might relate. 
    • In middle school we had a computer class elective, and were allowed to spend free time on approved websites. One such site was called, “Funbrain,” and was filled with games and comics. This is where I first discovered an online web series that I really identified with. It followed an awkward middle school kid as he navigated the perils of growing up. It was called, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”
    • It may sound silly now, coming from a woman who is just south of 30, but this comic really helped me get through school. I actually remember when Jeff Kinney, the creator, hinted that he may someday make a book! About three years later, the first book of the series hit shelves, and the rest is history. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a huge franchise made of 11 books and four feature films. Greg Heffley, the series’ main protagonist, even has a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 
    • In 2010, when I had grown from an awkward pre-teen to an awkward teenager, I went to see the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid in theaters. Of course, I was past the age of the target audience, but I still went with my younger sister and our mom. To my delight, the movie was entertaining, funny, and downright adorable. I still think it is one of the best back-to-school movies out there, so I chose to talk about it today!
  • Synopsis
    • Greg Heffley is nervous for his first day of middle school. As many of his peers have experienced early growth spurts, Greg is one of the smallest boys in school. Determined to have a great year, Greg devises a series of schemes with his best friend Rowley, in an attempt to achieve popularity. As each plan backfires, Greg and Rowley learn more and more about growing up. 
  • Production Behind the Scenes – Diary of a Wimpy Kid 
    • Directed by Thor Freudenthal, Diary of a Wimpy Kid premiered in March of 2010. The film was a faithful adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s bestselling book series of the same name, with some scenes created and staged based solely on the cartoonist’s illustrations. 
      • Thor had worked as a special effects artist and animator before becoming a director, which would be great experiences for him to build on for this project. He wanted to use whatever film techniques necessary to create the feel of a comic-turned-film. This meant blending animation and live-action in some sequences, and finding an animation studio that could bring Jeff Kinney’s work to life, while maintaining its style and charm. 
      • One of his favorite scenes to shoot was the “cheese touch” sequence, which had been planned from the very beginning of the production process. The cheese itself is a character, and its creation was a group effort between the prop designer and the team at Custom Film Effects, who used CGI to update the look of the cheese throughout the film. 
    • Writers Jackie Filgo, Jeff Filgo, Gabe Sachs, and Jeff Judah all worked on the screenplay. Sachs has said that adapting a book of funny, episodic stories was difficult. The writers had to create a through-line story that connected these silly moments that Greg would write about in his diary. The writers decided to focus the film on the relationship between Greg and his best friend, Rowley, and the challenges young friends face as they grow up together. 
      • The screenplay went through 10 different drafts before 20th Century Fox settled on a final version. 
    • They auditioned 5000 kids across the US and Canada before filming the movie in Vancouver. Zachary Gordon won the part with an audition using the title sequence monologue of the movie. Freudenthal said that he stood out because he was such a likable kid, who really brought a layered performance. Gordon was able to act with a cockiness and snark that clearly masked someone with a lot of insecurities. 
  • Music
    • Theodor Shapiro composed the music for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, crafting a main theme that is reminiscent of Vincer Guaraldi’s Linus and Lucy. Shapiro has scored many film projects like Tropic Thunder and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Most recently he scored The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+. 
  • Cast 
    • Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley
      • Writer Jeff Kinney first created Greg Heffley in 1998, the same year that Zachary Gordon was born. Eleven years later, Gordon would be cast as the character. Before the film was even in production, Gordon had read the book and told his mom that he wanted to play Greg if they ever made the movie. 
      • Gordon starred in the next two Wimpy Kid films. He has a recurring role on the TV series “Good Trouble.” 
    • Devon Bostick as Roderick Heffley
      • Thor Freudenthal said on the DVD commentary that Bostick was one of the biggest surprises that came with making this film. He is a very talented actor, and really brought Roderick’s character alive as a gleefully mean older brother. 
      • Bostick had a recurring role on the TV series The 100, and has appeared in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 
    • Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson
      • Capron was very popular with the adults on set, as he was much like his character, Rowley. In one scene, he famously dances to the Beastie Boys song, “Intergalactic” with his real-life and on-screen mother!
      • Capron has recently done a lot of voice work, and will reprise his role as Rowley for an animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie and TV show! 
    • Rachel Harris as Susan Heffley
      • An experienced comedic and dramatic actor, Harris has recurring roles in Suits and Lucifer. She is also known for her role in The Hangover.  
    • Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley
      • Steven Zahn would bring a lot of ideas to his role as Frank Heffley, adding hilarious pieces to his character. He perfectly encapsulated the Frank Heffley of the book, a seemingly angry and annoyed man that, deep down, was off-beat and silly. 
    • Chloe Grace Moretz as Angie Steadman
      • Moretz’s character was not in the book, and was added by the writers to help give the story more depth. Director Thor Freudenthal noted that the book doesn’t have any main female characters, and that most of the girls are all drawn similarly. He read this as an indication that Greg doesn’t understand girls, and therefore doesn’t know how to represent them. The character Angie also serves as a, quote, “jiminy cricket” character to Greg, showing up and questioning his decisions.
      • Moretz recently starred in the film “Tom and Jerry,” but is also known for her roles in “Hugo” and “Kick-Ass.” 
    • Karan Brar as Chirag Gupta
      • Part of the reason that the film works so well is because it focuses on mundane issues, blown out of proportion from a child’s perspective. Karan Brar as Chirag Gupta really sold his scenes by delivering his lines in a dramatic way.
      • Brar had never acted before but has since been in a lot of projects, including the Disney show Jessie
    •   Grayson Russel as Fregley 
      • Russel was perfect for the role of the off-beat and unusual Fregley. He is also set to reprise his role in the animated film! 
  • Reception
    • Although the movie wasn’t highly promoted, it still made well over its budget with a worldwide gross of over 76 million dollars. It also gained respectable critical reviews. Roger Ebert gave the movie 3.5 out of four stars and called it, “a bright little charmer.” He said in his review: “It is so hard to do a movie like this well. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is a PG-rated comedy about the hero’s first year of middle school, and it’s nimble, bright and funny. It doesn’t dumb down. It doesn’t patronize. It knows something about human nature. It isn’t as good as “A Christmas Story,” as few movies are, but it deserves a place in the same sentence. Here is a family movie you don’t need a family to enjoy. You must, however, have been a wimpy kid. Most kids are wimpy in their secret hearts.”

MARCI’S PICK: BACK TO SCHOOL

  • For my pick we head back to college! It portrays a wilder college experience, especially because it is an 80’s movie version of college. Although some of the humor may be dated it still brings about all the embarrassment, pressure, and fun that school has to offer.
  • Synopsis
    • Thornton Melon is a self-made millionaire that got his riches without attending college. He becomes worried that his son Jason is unsure about finishing college and Thornton therefore makes a deal with him that he will attend college as well. Hilarity ensues as Thornton falls in love with Professor Diane Turner and uses his riches to get through his courses while his son Jason falls for another student and tries to make the cut for the diving team.
  • Production
    • Grand Lakes University was actually portrayed by three different colleges: University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Southern California, and California State University.
      • The divers in the movie were expert college divers! They were told to perform their worst as the Grand Lakes University team.
    • Originally the idea was that the character of Thornton would be a struggling father that would need to work and do dishes in order to just be there. The team was having trouble getting the script right and so one night director Alan Metter was talking with Harold Ramis.
      • Ramis said he would rather go back to college after he had all the money and resources so he could just have fun and “get laid.” This led the script to be changed to what it is now.
    • When casting his love interest was a difficult job, they needed someone kind and warm but that set his sights higher than you might expect for a comedy such as this. They talked to so many women but Sally Kellerman really stood out when she came in.
    • They packed the entire movie with jokes!
    • The first scene shot was Rodney walking across the campus in his bathrobe. Metter felt that it would break the ice since everyone was so nervous for shooting.
    • One of the funniest and most impressive things in this movie is when Thornton does The Triple Lindy dive into the pool. This dive was about 6 different dives put together and Rodney of course had a stunt double, Michael Ostovich. He didn’t actually have to land on the other boards. In order to make it look like it was actually Rodney they did a cast of his face to create a mask. They also used foam rubber to make the stomach. Michael Ostovich wore all this and put an old diving suit on to cover the fake belly. The first time getting it all on took 6 hours. Rodney avoided him because it would just freak him out.
    • Rodney was the glue. The talent was all amazing and that helped make this movie great.
  • Music
    • Danny Elfman composed the music for the movie. The director made the condition that Elfman and his band Oingo Boingo must be in the movie. So much to our delight they are in the party scene playing Dead Man’s Party.
  • Cast
    • Rodney Dangerfield as Thornton Melon
      • Rodney took a little while to find his footing as an actor but once he did it was gold. You may know him from other things such as Caddyshack!
    • Sally Kellerman as Dr. Diane Turner
      • Sally appeared in MASH and several other things.
    • Keith Gordon as Jason Melon
      • He is an actor and now a director as well, directing the FX show Fargo.
    • Terry Farrell
      • She plays the love interest for Jason and was one of the last people cast. She was so charming that she got the part. They were only a smidge reluctant because she is taller than Keith Gordon. It ended up being no problem however and the two seemed to enjoy kissing!
      • She is also known for being in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
    • And plenty of others such as Robert Downey Jr. as his friend Derek Lutz! He at the time was also starring in SNL. Also William Zabka as Chas who is known for playing bad guys but did not want to make this character evil.
  • Reception
    • The Chicago Tribune called it “the surprise hit of the summer.”
    • With a budget of a mere $11 million, it grossed an impressive $91 million in the US making it the second highest grossing comedy of ‘86.
    • Roger Ebert said that “The most interesting thing about “Back to School,” which is otherwise a pleasant but routine comedy, is the puzzle of Rodney Dangerfield. Here is a man who reminds us of some of the great comedians of the early days of the talkies – of Groucho Marx and W. C. Fields – because, like them, he projects a certain mystery. Marx and Fields were never just being funny. There was the sense that they were getting even for hurts so deep that all they could do was laugh about them. It’s the same with Dangerfield.”
  • Fun Facts
    • Jim Carrey almost got the part of the screaming Professor Terguson but it was decided that he was too young to be the professor and so it went to Sam Kinison instead. Sam improvised to shock the students and it worked, those were real reactions.
    • Dangerfield’s final oral exam room may look familiar as it is also where the dance scene from Flashdance happened!
    • Kurt Vonnegut loved the lines about him and thought they were hilarious.

Well kids (of all ages) we know that the end of summer can be sad, but at least you have these movies to get you through it. Summer will always live on in our hearts, and help us find something good about every season…even the season that makes you go back to school. 

Before we go, we’d like to thank our Patrons! Joel, John, Jacob, Jacklyn, JD, Anthony, Shelli, Linda, Bob, Carlos, and Jaren!

You can now buy us a Popcorn! @  buymeacoffee.com/blackcasediary   

Thank you to all that support us whether it be through listening, telling a friend, or donating!

SOURCES: