CHRIS FARLEY in the LOST VERSION of "The Cable Guy"

when the Cable Guy released in the summer of 1996  it quickly became the most divisive movie in Jim   car's filmography during that era all five of  his previous films while not universally loved   by critics and movie goinging audiences were  Smash Hits at the box office that cemented   Jim carre's place as a pop culture icon Jim's  recent success gave him the freedom to enlist   a few of his friends to work on the movie Ben  Stiller who would direct the film and Jud appat   who revised the original scripts and acted as a  producer this group of individuals took a movie   Once conceptualized as a goofy light-hearted  buddy comedy starring Chris Farley and turned   it into a dark slapstick comedy that a lot of  people did not know what to make of in today's   video we'll be discussing the development  and Legacy of the Cable Guy not to mention   how different the movie could have been with  another comedic Powerhouse as its star once   he gets plugged in there's no stopping him  Jim Carrey Matthew brck the Cable Guy rated PG-13 early on in 1995 firsttime screenwriter Lou Holtz  Jr completed a screenplay for a film called the   cable guy at the time Lou was a prosecutor for the  Los Angeles District Attorney's Office who claimed   that he was inspired to write the screenplay  after seeing a cable company employee in the   hallway of his mother's apartment building late at  night in that moment he couldn't help but think to   himself what's he doing here so late that internal  dialogue led him to write a script that was as Lou   put it a comedy about a needy Cable Guy you can't  get rid of this original script was reportedly a   silly buddy comedy keep that in the back of  your mind going forward upon completion Lou   passed his screen play along to some producer  friends who linked him up with a talent agency   the script then ended up in the hands of talent  manager and producer Bernie brilin after Bernie   looked over that original screenplay for the  cable guy he immediately pictured one of his   clients for the main role actor and Comedian  Chris Farley you're going to be doing a lot of   dooie rolling when you're living in a van down by  by the river like I said all of this went down in   the early part of 1995 so Chris Farley's star  was Rising faster than ever after the release   of Tommy Boy in March of that year Tommy Boy  is truly one of my favorite comedies and one   of my just favorite movies in general of all time  melted chocolate inside the dash that really UPS   the resale value they have a thin candy shell I  think your brain has a thick candy shell your I'm   your brain has the shell on it but once Chris  Farley was eyed for the starring role his man   took the Cable Guy script to various Studios  a bidding war took place and Columbia pictures   came out on top purchasing the script for a total  of $750,000 with an additional $250,000 going to   writer Lou Holtz Jr if the movie ended up being  made at that point Lou took a leave of absence   from his place of work and flew to New York so  he could talk with Chris Farley face to face   about his potential role in the Cable Guy while  researching this part of the video it was hard to   find a solid reputable source to figure out what  EXA exactly happened when Farley was in talks to   star in the cable guy so I decided to use David  Spade's 2015 Memoir titled almost interesting   as my main source of info for a lot of what I'm  about to tell you after looking over the script   for the Cable Guy Chris Farley was extremely  eager to star in this film and negotiations   quickly began between his management and Columbia  pictures at that point in time production on the   cable guy was planned for summer of 1995 the  problem was Chris had signed a two- picture   deal at Paramount with Tommy Boy being the first  of the two movies he was contractually obligated   to do when that deal was made Chris Farley had  publicly been in and out of rehab so he accepted   a smaller salary than usual in order to as David  Spade put it get back on everyone's good graces   and show that he was a team player but after  the success of Tommy Boy Chris Farley was in   high demand Columbia Pictures was willing to  pay him a salary of $3 million to star in the   Cable Guy which was according to David much  more than either of them made on Tommy Boy at   that point Paramount scrambled to find a script  that fit the Duo's comedic sensibilities so they   could shoot the next movie of that two- picture  deal as soon as possible Fred Wolf who performed   uncredited rewrites on Tommy Boy was tasked with  writing a complete screenplay under insane time   constraints the result was a 45-page script called  Black Sheep which was written in just a few days   because Chris Farley and David Spade's contract  with Paramount Pictures was set to expire after   reading the script himself Chris Farley expressed  to David Spade that he thought it was good but   it needed a lot of work Paramount planned on  beginning production on Black Sheep In Summer   of 1995 but Chris Farley insisted that they spend  some time improving the script and delay shooting   until summer of 1996 at that point David had yet  to read through the screenplay for Black Sheep so   Chris told him to look it over and if David  liked it Chris would set aside his negative   feelings and proceed with shooting black sheep  that following summer David found himself in a   tough position because he was fully aware that if  he truly didn't like the script black sheet would   be shelv for a year and Chris would be free to go  off and shoot the cable guy that following summer   but after reading through the screenplay David  truly believed that while Black Sheep wasn't   perfect there was a funny movie there David  was officially on board and apparently when   he announced his decision to Chris it didn't  go over well Chris Farley was clearly upset   that he would have to turn down the cable guy  but David said to him I'm sorry but if you took   cable guy out of the equation I think you know  this movie can be really good David thought that   he and Chris had the improvisational skills  needed to refine the movie as it was shoo and   they could work with writer Fred Wolf during  the production to make script changes on the Fly that didn't happen long story short Tommy  Boy director Peter Sagal was unavailable to   direct the movie so the director of Wayne's World  Penelope spus was brought on to direct instead   Penelope famously did not like working with David  Spade she intentionally kept him apart from Chris   Farley for most of the film shooting and also  fired Fred Wolf during production to bring in   her own writer who Who David alleges threw out  40 pages from that original script and rewrote   most of the movie as a result Black Sheep just  really couldn't capture the same magic as Tommy   Boy it was panned by critics and regular movie  goers alike this is not only one of the worst   comedies I've ever seen but one of the least  ambitious it doesn't even feel like they're   trying to make a good movie Black Sheep is awful  uh I have a confession to make this is the first   movie that I have ever walked out on in a theater  MH in 26 years I envy you I envy you I just want   to make it clear that I do not agree with those  opinions I just wanted to show an example of the   harsh criticism that black sheep received around  the time of its release I have a lot more to say   about this movie but I'll save it for a dedicated  episode later on down the road for now let's turn   the clock back to June of 1995 when the Cable Guy  finally found its star now I couldn't really find   any concrete sources to back these names up so  take this with a grain of salt but it's been   reported that Adam Sandler Paul Giamatti Phil  Bartman and Robin Williams were also considered   for the role of the Cable Guy and even though  David Spade convinced Chris Farley to star in   Black Sheep instead of the cable guy he wasn't  completely to blame in the situation because   Columbia Pictures reportedly stopped pursuing  Chris Farley for that starring role as soon as   another actor showed interest in the part the one  and only Jim Carrey we got no food we got no jobs   our Pet's heads are falling off before he was  known as Jim Carrey star of Dumb and Dumber in   Ace Ventura James Carrey made a name for himself  as a stand-up comedian and eventually became a   principal cast member on the sketch comedy show  In Living Color through his standup comedy he   met fellow comedian Jud appow who eventually  became known for writing and producing some of   the biggest comedy movies and TV shows of the  last 20 plus years while Jim was on In Living   Color Jud would help him come up with ideas for  sketches so when the first version of the cable   gu script made its rounds throughout Hollywood  Jud knowing that Jim was attached to star in the   movie expressed interest in not just rewriting  portions of the film but also directing it Jud   alleges that the people at Columbia pictures were  willing to hire him as a writer but absolutely   would not let him direct it but the studio had  a list of potential directors and Ben Stiller   coming off of the success of his directorial debut  Reality Bites was one of the names on that list   Jud brought the script to Ben and convinced  him to direct the movie the pair had recently   worked together on another movie that was panned  by critics but turned into a cult classic 1995's   heavyweights get on the scale son hey get off the  scale the news of Jim's casting was first reported   on in June of 1995 and do you remember when I  said that Chris Farley was offered $3 million   to star in this movie to star in the Cable Guy Jim  Carrey received a $20 million upfront Payment Plus   15% of every dollar the movie earned at the box  office that salary made like headline news at the   time people were shocked that he was getting paid  that much money to star in a comedy film about an   annoying creepy cable install doll but Columbia  Pictures was confident that Jim Carrey was on an   Unstoppable run of box office success and the  cable guy would be a summer smash hit before   shooting began Jud and Ben apparently visited Jim  on the set of Ace Ventura when Nature Calls to   discuss the Cable Guy specifically on the day when  he was filming the iconic Rhino scene there SP a   few days in a hotel room close by brainstorming  ideas for the movie and this was apparently where   Jim came up with the idea to give his character  a lisp a Vision inspired by his Dicky Peterson   character from a Living Color who are you Dicky  Peterson chair above Justice here to protect and   serve production on the cable guide didn't start  in summer of 1995 as planned but rather January   of 1996 about 6 months before its theatrical  release Jim carre's co-star in the film was   Matthew brck who plays a character named Steven  the film begins with Steven setting himself up   in a new apartment after a recent breakup with  his girlfriend resulting from a failed marriage   proposal by the way his ex-girlfriend Robin was  played by Leslie man and she actually met Future   Husband Jud appau while auditioning for her role  in this movie during that audition Jud had to read   Ernie Douglas's lines while also imitating his  lisp other actresses who tried out for the part   were Jennifer Lopez Salah hyek and Heather ler  but Steven has been expecting the arrival of a   cable installer who of course shows up right when  he goes to take a shower when Steven enters the   door he quickly reminds the cable guy that he's 4  hours late which angers him because he's a little   little bit of a perfectionist perfectionist  the Cable Guy quickly reveals that on top of   his exuberant personality he's a bit of a creep  he does some very sensual finger gestures to the   wall while looking for a spot to install a cable  hookup and proceeds to ask Steven about his recent   breakup which he found out about by looking into  his account information prior to his service call   your lady kicked you out despite the fact that the  cable guy called him a jerk off and rearranged his   apartment in a strange way to maximize his TV  reception Steven is friendly to him during his   service call that friendliness leads to Steven's  downfall when the cable guy who reveals that his   name is actually Ernie Douglas but his friends  call him chip begins to insert himself into   Steven's day-to-day life hey buddy come on down  he pulverizes Steven and all of his friends in   a game of basketball disconnects his cable while  he's attempting to make up with his ex-girlfriend   and takes him out to dinner at Medieval times  but promptly beats his ass in battle chip does   occasionally do nice things such as gifting him  a bunch of electronics or beating the [ __ ]   out of Owen Wilson in a restaurant bathroom while  he's on a date with Robin but when Steven finally   just Flatout tells chip that he doesn't want  to be his friend anymore the [ __ ] hits the   fan that stereo equipment that chip graciously  gifted to Steven was actually stolen so he gets   thrown in jail when Steven continues to decline  his friendship advances chip causes him to lose   his job and threatens his personal relationships  with family and friends meanwhile Rick Steven's   actual best friend played by a very young Jack  Black digs up some dirt on chip and discovers   that he's been using various fake names to mask  his identity not to mention he hasn't worked for   the cable company in months because he was fired  for stalking customers the film wraps up with an   absolutely insane scene taking place on top of a  giant satellite on a rainy night which concludes   with chip falling onto an antenna that due to  the camera's positioning you're led to believe   actually impales him but when the camera pans  up it's revealed that he missed it by just a few   inches oh and a separate ongoing story involving  the murder trial of a former Child Star has been   being shown throughout the film the cable guys  impact on that antenna causes all TV reception   to go out the very second that the verdict is  announced The Abridged version of the synopsis   that I just gave you was obviously very much not  a silly buddy comedy in the months leading up to   production Jud appau per the request of Jim Carrey  made several passes on the film's original script   the Cable Guy quickly went from silly buddy comedy  to as Ben Stiller put it a comedy that sazed the   psycho Thrillers like Kate fear Hand That Rocks  the Cradle and Fatal Attraction in an interview   with the New York Times the original writer of the  screenplay Lou Holtz Jr said Carrie did not want   to meet with me did not want to give me any notes  I was told I was out as soon as the studio can   make a deal with appow Sometimes You Don't Know  What You Got Till It's Gone Jim Carrey wanted the   cable guide to be a dark comedy because as he put  it I can't keep repeating myself my audience is   going to get bored I can't keep making Ace Ventura  if I don't progress as a creative person I'm going   to go stale and the audience won't come anyway  oh all righty then after filming completed a   preview version of the cable guy was screened for  Columbia pictures in March of 1996 and apparently   it did not go over well the studio and even some  of the producers were quote dismayed by what they   saw expectations of a silly buddy comedy predicted  to be a summer blockbuster were not met apparently   Ben Stiller was pushed to make changes to the  fil film before its theatrical debut so some of   the darker more violent scenes were cut from the  film they were later included on the Blu-ray and   one of them is an extended version of the parking  garage scene which shows chip actually getting run   over at which point he grabs onto the vehicle and  Steven is forced to Swerve his Jeep in order to   get him off of the roof there's also a deleted  scene that shows chip chasing after Steven on   Horseback before their battle on the satellite  dish that ends with a mud fight and Steven is   shown nearly crushing Chip's head with a boulder  unfortunately for the studio the film's release   was locked in for June and they refused to delay  it any further the film posters were printed the   preview trailers were cut and the promotional  7-Eleven Big Gulp cups had already been   manufactured featuring special cable guy cups now  appearing at a 7-Eleven near hon there was no time   for re-shoot the movie was going to release as  it was originally made on June 14th 1996 Ben Jud   and Jim agreed that the entire process of actually  making the cable guy was a lot of fun up until the   day it actually came out Jud appow alleges that  while he was attending the premiere of the movie   he was handed two reviews from Newsweek and Time  magazine that absolutely tore the movie apart Ben   Stiller appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien  with his father to promote the film on the day of   its release and even though you can clearly see  that Ben was internally screaming thinking about   all of the negative Buzz surrounding his new movie  this clip is just absolutely incredible uh this   guy Matthew brck who uh you know he he breaks his  girlfriend breaks up with sleep here listening to   this thing they heard this already on Charlie  Rose they with Jean sh but the Cable Guy cost   an estimated $47 million to make on its first day  in theaters the Cable Guy knocked the rock out of   the top spot but quickly dropped to the number  two spot the very next day by the end of its   theatrical run the Cable Guy made just under  $ 1013 million worldwide the general rule in   Hollywood is a movie needs to make about two or  two and a half times its budget in ticket sales   to be considered profitable clearly the Cable  Guy fit the bill it definitely wasn't a failure   but the news about Jim Carry's salary along with a  broken streak of massive success at the box office   and mixed reviews made for a perfect storm people  were a lot harder on this movie because of those factors even though the cable guy was given a  lot of flak around the time of its release it's   definitely gained a pretty sizable cult following  Jim returned as the character in a recent Verizon   Super Bowl ad and the chip character was  referenced in an SNL sketch back in 2014   even though the Simpsons joked that the cable  nearly wrecked Jim Carrey's career that couldn't   have been farther from the truth an argument  could be made that without the cable guy as   a stepping stone from Comedy to drama Jim Carrey  might not have felt confident about Taking Chances   on movies like The Truman Show Eternal Sunshine of  the Spotless Mind or man on the moon I also wanted   to mention that Jud and Ben worked hard to include  some of the best grunge acts of the time on the   film soundtrack although unfortunately as judge  stated on the movie's commentary track grunge   died like 2 months before the film released and  as far as the the direction of the music industry   around that time he's absolutely right Jerry  Krell provided an original song called leave   me alone for the soundtrack complete with a  video that utilized unused footage from The   Nightmare sequence in the Cable Guy Jerry's  solo stuff is amazing enough on its own but   he's probably best known for his contributions as  lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist for Alice and   chains Alice's Unplugged album was released just  a few months before the cable guy came out and the   band played their last show with Lane Staley on  vocals just a month mon after the film debut in   theaters most people would point to those two  events as the final Nails in the coffin for   Grunge music during that era but you can't help  but wonder what the less dark more silly Chris   Farley version of the cable guy would have been  like somewhere in the world that original draft   script still exists I was hoping that the movie's  novelization was based on that original screenplay   but unfortunately it's almost identical to the  completed film unless the original writer has   a copy of his own which I'm guessing he does  the only other copy of that original script   is probably locked away way in some Columbia  picture storage closet I'd imagine that the   film would have been essentially the finished  product we received but without all of the dark   unsettling overtones also having chip bring  Steven to Medieval Times for the dinner scene   was apparently Jim carre's idea so Chris Farley's  Cable Guy probably would have brought Steven to   like Sizzler cce's pizza or Chuck-E-Cheese funny  enough while I was doing research for this video   I found a picture of Jim Carrey and Chris Farley  together outside of the Kids Choice Awards in 1997   where Jim actually won the award for favorite  movie actor his kids had better taste in movies   than critics back in the '90s anyway I thought  it was cool to not just see two comedic Legends   in a photo together especially considering that  Chris would pass away just about 8 months later   but also the potential cable guy next to the  actual cable guy but when I was looking at this   photo I thought to myself who is that goofy  guy in the background staring at the camera   like a deer in headlights when I zoomed in and  realized that it was Jud appow I could not stop laughing but that'll do it for today's episode I  hope you enjoyed it if you have the time please   leave a comment down below it really helps  the channel and I'll probably reply to you   if you're not a complete Jer as always thank  you for watching and I'll see you on the next one

Channel: Media Pastimes

Views: 386,375

Keywords: the cable guy, cable guy, jim carrey, superbowl ad, super bowl ad, commercial, verizon commercial, chris farley, james carrey, jim carrie, ben stiller, comedy movie, comedy movies, funny movie, funny movies, mathew broderick, matthew broderick, 90s comedy, dark comedy, dark comedies, chip douglas, tommy boy, black sheep, waynes world, snl, chris farley cable guy, cable guy chris farley, the cable guy jim carrey, the cable guy trailer, the cable guy soundtrack

Id: Ov1RJhMM20s

Length: 19min 17sec (1157 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 26 2024