Maybe it's a Rodney-Rodney type of thing
November 28, 2013 6:28 AM Subscribe
The Lost Roles of Rodney Dangerfield – Rodney Dangerfield starred as himself in this unsuccessful NBC pilot about a pre-teen boy who idolizes Rodney Dangerfield and gains the ability to magically make him appear to give him advice. Where's Rodney? was a co-production between Aaron Spelling and Hanna-Barbera and also starred Jared Rushton, Soleil Moon Frye, and Breckin Meyer.
Breckin Meyer is so much more than the stoner from Clueless. He's gorgeous now and was on some legal show with the always hot Mark-Paul Gosselaar. I haven't watched the show but saw some pictures of them on the beach, and he's so much more than the awesome, good-natured, stoner guy from Clueless.
And Soleil Moon Frye, I'll have you know, was also on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
Harrumph.
posted by discopolo at 6:44 AM on November 28, 2013
And Soleil Moon Frye, I'll have you know, was also on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
Harrumph.
posted by discopolo at 6:44 AM on November 28, 2013
personal story: My Dad met Rodney on flight from Detroit to Vegas in the mid 50's.
They remained lifetime friends,playing poker in Vegas and drinking, lots of drinking. My dad passed in 1980. Somewhere my mom has pictures of me, a child, sitting on Rodney's lap at our flat in Chicago.
posted by robbyrobs at 6:46 AM on November 28, 2013 [16 favorites]
They remained lifetime friends,playing poker in Vegas and drinking, lots of drinking. My dad passed in 1980. Somewhere my mom has pictures of me, a child, sitting on Rodney's lap at our flat in Chicago.
posted by robbyrobs at 6:46 AM on November 28, 2013 [16 favorites]
Yeah okay, Breckin Meyer was like 12 in that pilot so it's of no interest to me.
Though Rodney Dangerfield is funny, as are impressions of his schtick.
posted by discopolo at 6:49 AM on November 28, 2013
Though Rodney Dangerfield is funny, as are impressions of his schtick.
posted by discopolo at 6:49 AM on November 28, 2013
Casting him in Sledge Hammer is just something I can not wrap my brain around.
posted by radwolf76 at 6:51 AM on November 28, 2013
posted by radwolf76 at 6:51 AM on November 28, 2013
Important note: the pilot of Where's Rodney? is embedded in the article and the opening credits are glorious, and not just because it helps prove my theory that what we think of as "the eighties" didn't end until 1992.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:57 AM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:57 AM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Important note: the pilot of Where's Rodney? is embedded in the article and the opening credits are glorious, and not just because it helps prove my theory that what we think of as "the eighties" didn't end until 1992.
It delivers on all accounts. Make sure you watch the commercials, too.
posted by timshel at 7:02 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
It delivers on all accounts. Make sure you watch the commercials, too.
posted by timshel at 7:02 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Breckin Meyer series is Franklin & Bash, and is full of '90s child eyecandy! It just got renewed for a fourth season.
posted by nicebookrack at 7:06 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by nicebookrack at 7:06 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anybody, why did every show in the '80s have yellow title credits?
posted by leotrotsky at 7:20 AM on November 28, 2013
posted by leotrotsky at 7:20 AM on November 28, 2013
I watched as far as the credits, and now I have the "Where's Rodney?" theme stuck in my head.
posted by xingcat at 7:22 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by xingcat at 7:22 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Make sure you watch the commercials, too.
If only as a reminder that 23 years ago a large number of skilled professionals worked hard to bring you a lambada joke.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:37 AM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
If only as a reminder that 23 years ago a large number of skilled professionals worked hard to bring you a lambada joke.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:37 AM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
This is what you should show your kids when they ask, "Mullets are just something you made up to scare us, right?"
posted by Sys Rq at 7:52 AM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 7:52 AM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Highly recommend The AV Club's excellent article about Dangerfield's autobiography. Like most comedians, he was a thoughtful and very sad man.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 8:08 AM on November 28, 2013
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard at 8:08 AM on November 28, 2013
Highly recommend The AV Club's excellent article about Dangerfield's autobiography. Like most comedians, he was a thoughtful and very sad man.
Aw. I hate this. Every time I hear about how sad and unhappy one of my beloved comedians was, it burdens me!
posted by discopolo at 9:16 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Aw. I hate this. Every time I hear about how sad and unhappy one of my beloved comedians was, it burdens me!
posted by discopolo at 9:16 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
This post made my day.
Speaking of other awesome comedians, a friend of mine once had a dream where he was driving long distance with Don Rickles. My friend was sitting in the back seat, and Don Rickles, who was driving, would often glance back at him while telling stories and jokes.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:42 AM on November 28, 2013
Speaking of other awesome comedians, a friend of mine once had a dream where he was driving long distance with Don Rickles. My friend was sitting in the back seat, and Don Rickles, who was driving, would often glance back at him while telling stories and jokes.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:42 AM on November 28, 2013
The AV Club article linked above says Rodney Dangerfield's website is "depressing", but as celebrity websites go I think it's pretty good.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:52 AM on November 28, 2013
posted by KokuRyu at 9:52 AM on November 28, 2013
Anybody, why did every show in the '80s have yellow title credits?
Solid, bright colors (especially the RGB primaries and especially especially reds) bled like crazy on a lot of standard def TVs - except for yellows, they were pretty safe compared to the others except on the very worst TVs (as you'd have seen if you ever tried to watch The Simpsons on a truly terrible CRT TV). Yellow and white were by far the most common for title text. With SDTV you basically tried to make sure you'd read on even the crappiest television set you might be seen on, usually (again, for The Simpsons and other bright cartoons, not much you can do about the lowest-end sets), which is also why there were absurdly conservative title- and action-safe areas in SDTV, so you didn't have important content disappear due to overscan or shoddily-designed bezels (and even in HDTV land, people are still sticking to 4:3 SD title safe all over the place just to cater to the lowest-common-denominator viewer TV sets still being used). The drop shadow usually applied to title credits from the time helped any letters read, but the unshadowed edges of the letters still bled, and some colors bled enough to bleed over the drop shadow on crappier TVs.
But yellow was pretty chill about bleeding on all but the worst-of-the-worst TVs, so drop-shadowed yellow was a great choice for readability. Drop-shadowed white generally worked best, and was more common, but if you wanted some color in your title text for that "I'm a wacky sitcom, not some stodgy cop drama!" look, yellow was the safest choice. The move away from CRT TVs has fixed these problems for the most part, because you can get reliably crisp edges without bleed.
The More You Know!
posted by jason_steakums at 10:00 AM on November 28, 2013 [23 favorites]
Solid, bright colors (especially the RGB primaries and especially especially reds) bled like crazy on a lot of standard def TVs - except for yellows, they were pretty safe compared to the others except on the very worst TVs (as you'd have seen if you ever tried to watch The Simpsons on a truly terrible CRT TV). Yellow and white were by far the most common for title text. With SDTV you basically tried to make sure you'd read on even the crappiest television set you might be seen on, usually (again, for The Simpsons and other bright cartoons, not much you can do about the lowest-end sets), which is also why there were absurdly conservative title- and action-safe areas in SDTV, so you didn't have important content disappear due to overscan or shoddily-designed bezels (and even in HDTV land, people are still sticking to 4:3 SD title safe all over the place just to cater to the lowest-common-denominator viewer TV sets still being used). The drop shadow usually applied to title credits from the time helped any letters read, but the unshadowed edges of the letters still bled, and some colors bled enough to bleed over the drop shadow on crappier TVs.
But yellow was pretty chill about bleeding on all but the worst-of-the-worst TVs, so drop-shadowed yellow was a great choice for readability. Drop-shadowed white generally worked best, and was more common, but if you wanted some color in your title text for that "I'm a wacky sitcom, not some stodgy cop drama!" look, yellow was the safest choice. The move away from CRT TVs has fixed these problems for the most part, because you can get reliably crisp edges without bleed.
The More You Know!
posted by jason_steakums at 10:00 AM on November 28, 2013 [23 favorites]
Breckin Meyer is so much more than the stoner from Clueless. He's gorgeous now and was on some legal show with the always hot Mark-Paul Gosselaar. I haven't watched the show...
Oh man they totally should have just called that show Hot Lawyers.
I haven't seen it, either.
I wonder if people actually show up and write scripts for it and everything, or if they're all in on the fact that it's just two hot dudes standing around in suits.
posted by Sara C. at 11:38 AM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Oh man they totally should have just called that show Hot Lawyers.
I haven't seen it, either.
I wonder if people actually show up and write scripts for it and everything, or if they're all in on the fact that it's just two hot dudes standing around in suits.
posted by Sara C. at 11:38 AM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
I thoroughly enjoyed the old-style Hyundai ad: "Honest! It's a car that has door locks and everything!" Nothing like their reputation today, but back then it was a plausible excuse to be late for work because your Hyundai wouldn't start. Sorry, tiny TIME-LIFE division responsible for business-to-business job data, I did not own a Hyundai, so totally owe you that two hours.
But the rest of it, yech. How many hours of holding time waiting for the "real Rodney" to show up did they expect audiences to sit through? Or conversely, were the dreary, exposition-laden setups simply dragged out to minimize the amount of Dangerfield schtick the audience would have to sit through? A philosophical discussion that could last all night.
posted by dhartung at 3:36 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
But the rest of it, yech. How many hours of holding time waiting for the "real Rodney" to show up did they expect audiences to sit through? Or conversely, were the dreary, exposition-laden setups simply dragged out to minimize the amount of Dangerfield schtick the audience would have to sit through? A philosophical discussion that could last all night.
posted by dhartung at 3:36 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I wonder if people actually show up and write scripts for it and everything, or if they're all in on the fact that it's just two hot dudes standing around in suits.
It's a TNT original series I think. Much like many USA series, looks like it's hot guys in suits. Nothing wrong with that!
Also I think Travis from Clueless is a fine role to be known by! Excellent work.
posted by sweetkid at 6:20 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's a TNT original series I think. Much like many USA series, looks like it's hot guys in suits. Nothing wrong with that!
Also I think Travis from Clueless is a fine role to be known by! Excellent work.
posted by sweetkid at 6:20 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
You misunderstand. I have no problem with the show at all. I've actually worked on a few USA shows, which are equally silly.
My question is more whether the writers are in on the silliness or not. Which isn't even a real question. It's just a glibness.
posted by Sara C. at 7:42 PM on November 28, 2013
My question is more whether the writers are in on the silliness or not. Which isn't even a real question. It's just a glibness.
posted by Sara C. at 7:42 PM on November 28, 2013
I didn't think you had a problem with it- I've never watched it, I just think a lot of original basic cable series are interchangeable and bland, sometimes appealingly so, but often have hot guys in suits.
posted by sweetkid at 8:43 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by sweetkid at 8:43 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
But that one? That one is the ur-hot guys in suits show. I mean, it's Zack from Saved By The Bell and Breckin Fucking Myer.
I hope there are interludes where they surf.
posted by Sara C. at 9:35 PM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
I hope there are interludes where they surf.
posted by Sara C. at 9:35 PM on November 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Oh dear god, this site also has the fabled pilot of Poochinski. These videos are like potions you drink if you want to feel sorry for a now-departed actor or comedian.
posted by blueberry at 11:59 PM on November 28, 2013
posted by blueberry at 11:59 PM on November 28, 2013
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fever dream is right.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:37 AM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]