‘Animal House’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan

21:49Bill Simmons:Everyone's looking for the next Belushi Animal House. Everyone's looking for the next person to write that. So P.J. O 'Rourke had this whole thing about it. Killed National Lampoon immediately. Because everyone who wrote for it was now being approached to write something. Like, how can I get a script going? Yeah. And it just like demolished basically this counterculture thing. They became the culture. Yeah. Although by the time PJ O 'Rourke is running National Lampoon, like it's probably like its sensibility is more conservative than you would be. No question. You'd be surprised to find out like how conservative like their worldview was, I think.

22:24Bill Simmons:I was never a big National Lampoon guy. I always probably like Mad Magazine more as weird as that is. but Spy was the first one where I was like finally a magazine for me yes yeah yeah you know have either of you read that National Lampoon like yearbook parody I looked at like some of the pages just online for this but it's kind of ingenious I'm sure other people had done it beforehand but it's basically Boone's yearbook yeah with like notes scrawled and then there's some of the characters from the movie a couple of the characters from the movie are in it yeah there's a really good National Lampoon documentary that was made kind of in the early days of when we were good at documentaries.

23:03Bill Simmons:I'm going to say it's like late 2000s, early 2010s. I thought they did a good job. They interviewed a lot of people. Is it called Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead? 2015. Yeah. Yeah. That documentary is good. So this was based on Ramis' experience at Washington University, Chris Miller's experience at Dartmouth, and then Ivan Reitman at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. not on my radar that was in one of your safety schools and then Doug Kenny who was you know one of the writers pretty legendary lampoon guy died in Hawaii with Chevy Chase Chevy Chase and him were on vacation fell off a cliff unclear what happened big mystery you know you're not Doug Kenny thing's a really interesting one I didn't know about this yeah big rabbit hole he was involved he was involved in Caddyshack right a lot of cocaine yes back then obviously in all kinds of ways and a death that they still don't know what happened.

24:01Bill Simmons:And some people wonder if he killed himself or he didn't. Right. But anyway, he graduated from Harvard. He was, his frat experience was closer to the Omega side. And the three characters from the yearbook you mentioned were Larry Kroger, Mandy Pepperidge, and Vernon Wormer. Oh, so it's probably Larry's yearbook done, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But you mentioned this earlier. They picked 62 because they thought that was the year before JFK, the year before Vietnam gets going, kind of the last innocent year in America. But it's almost like right around then. Because I remember my earliest memories of the car radio are my parents listening to Big Chill-style oldies.

24:45So for them, this is kind of almost like they're freezing that time in amber and they're starting to make money off of Happy Days and stuff.

24:53Bill Simmons:So the original script, there was a lot more vomiting. There was a lot of crazy shit. They did like nine drafts and then finally got greenlit at$3 million. And the National Lampoon guy, Matty Simmons, no relation, said, screw it, silly little movie, we'll make a couple bucks. Landis said he thought it was the funniest script he'd ever read. Really offensive. He said there was a great deal of projectile vomiting and rape and all of these things. I don't even know what that meant for a comedy. But they get Belushi and they're off. $3 million budget made$141.5 million. Feels like probably more since then.

25:34Bill Simmons:This is just... Well, also$140 million off$3 million is an insane profit. Craig, they did... It made$120 million. They did the re-release a year later in 79, made another$21 million just because Belushi was more famous. Let me ask you this. Did you watch this? Did you watch this after you'd seen Caddyshack? I don't remember when I first saw this. I saw Caddyshack in the theater. I don't think my parents let me see this in the theater. So I probably saw it after Caddyshack. But I love Belushi. So I probably figured out a way to see this at some point. This is one of those where it's like, this movie's been in my life for 50 years.

26:10Bill Simmons:I don't remember when I saw it. Other ones I do remember. It's interesting to think about this kicking it all off. But a lot of people, most people, who are listening to this podcast probably saw it in and around, maybe even after they saw Revenge of the Nerds, or maybe even after they saw Porky's, or maybe even after they saw, like, PCU and Dazed and Confused. I mean, you might have an experience where it's always sitting there on the shelf. Like, I remember really being drawn to the cartoon poster. Yeah. And, like, that style of, like, kind of caricature. I was just like, what is this, you know?

26:42Bill Simmons:Well, the part I don't remember from the 80s is how we saw the unedited version. because we didn't really have the VHS stuff until like 83, 84 range. So it was probably edited for a couple years there on the different channels and then became unedited again. Well, this was definitely a sleepover movie. No question. I feel like everybody had a copy of it. Yeah, but I remember when I was like, I must have been like eight or nine maybe or something and it was just like, we're going to watch Animal House tonight. My older brother got it, you know? Yeah. Top 11 movies in 1978, Craig? Grease Superman Animal House It's our top three Wow Every Which Way But Loose Is that a rewatchable?

27:28Bill Simmons:It is for me Say the word Clint Eastwood and an orangutan in a truck Heaven Can Wait Hooper If we do August 1 for Us month It should be Every Which Way But Loose Lincoln

27:46Bill Simmons:what else I mean there's so many one for us Jaws 2 was 7th Revenge of the Pink Panther The Deer Hunter Halloween and Foul Play Deer Hunter top 11 Deer Hunter crank it almost 50 million bucks Deer Hunter also rewatchable come on oh that's definitely that's not even a one for us month no no that just came out that's Russian Roulette month that came out on Steelbook yeah yeah Ebert four stars fucking loved this movie it's anarchic messy filled with energy it assaults us part of the movie's impact comes from its sheer level of manic energy it's better made than we might at first realize it takes skill to create this sort of comic pitch probably caught Ebert at the right time of his life too I wonder if 1998 Roger Ebert loves it as much he's coming he still has a little bit of like Russ Meyer vapors coming out of that no question but I do imagine if you saw this in 78, it would feel like punk rock.

28:44It would feel like he describes it as anarchic, you know?

28:47Bill Simmons:Well, we'll talk about it when we do rewatchable scenes. But there's seven minutes in the middle of this movie where Belushi just goes to another planet. It's like an all-time takeover. But we'll talk about it in one second. We'll take a break. The playoffs are here and you can predict all the action all the way to the finals with FanDuel predicts. All you have to do is sign up, get your$25 bonus, predict the spread, the total points, even the game-winning moments that make the playoffs from opening tip to the final buzzer. Stay locked in with every pass, every play, every moment that moves us closer to crowning a champion.

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30:02Bill Simmons:So whether it's buying tickets to the game and grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2 % cash rewards on purchases. Say it with me. The active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. Be a two percenter. Learn more at wellsfargo.com forward slash active cash. Terms apply. So Murph's gone. We brought up Belushi. Yeah, he's not a Belushi guy. Most rewatchable scene. Really good entrances for Bluto, Otter, and D-Day in the beginning. Yeah. I like a good entrance. See Bluto. He's just drinking a beer. Eric Stratton, Rush Chairman. damn glad to meet you. I can't wait to talk about Matheson. I really like this movie.

30:42Bill Simmons:The pledge recruit sequence when they're naming everybody. You're a weasel. You're a mothball. You're going to be Pinto. Why Pinto? Louie Louie. I like... Belushi just probably looks... I don't know if he was really drunk for that scene during the Louie Louie. They all look absolutely hammered. Yeah. And then we go to the other frat for the thank you sir. May I have another? All right. So those are two. Flounder kills a horse followed by the Dean meeting. Holy shit! The cafeteria scene. Yeah, the food fight. The food, Belushi and the food line. First, he's eating out of the garbage, basically.

31:21Bill Simmons:Yeah. And then he goes through the food line. That's just like also a six-minute Buster Keaton scene. Yeah. Like, it's silent for the most part until he goes, everybody goes and sits down with the preppy kids. But like, all of that stuff with him. I like when the donut falls off the tray he just keeps going just grabbing stuff putting things on top eats the jello um and then he makes the horse sound of that guy yep and then does the amazit which I think for me at age 10 or 11 was the height of comedy for me yeah it's the funniest thing of all time um entirely improvised in the cafeteria and then uh they just kinda went the amazit thing was apparently improvised too they didn't know that was coming yeah um just a home run.

32:07Bill Simmons:It's up there for me. It might be my most rewatchable. We do have the ladder scene, which I guess is probably a little problematic these days. Yeah, but... It's a little bit of a voyeur thing. I mean, but that basically is... It invents Revenge of the Nerds and Porky's. Yeah. Yeah. Turn to the camera eyebrow raise. Yeah. All-timer. The ladder falling backwards is just fucking funny. It just goes back. Yeah. I had... So this seven minutes of Belushi just taking over the movie, I almost wonder, is this a new category? The Victor Wembenyama Award for when somebody just completely annihilates four minutes of a movie or a game?

32:45Bill Simmons:There is no defense for this. Yeah, it's like, what's happening? Can you score 12 points in two minutes? Block five shots? But that was just a total Wembe. Does that Belushi thing, it's still funny for your generation, right? Yeah. What the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor thing? Just everything Belushi, but especially the cafeteria. I just feel like it's got to be timeless comedy for however old you are. Yeah, I think some people might find it like a little juvenile humor that hasn't aged in a clever way. But I still think it's really funny. Okay, good. The grocery store scene is underrated. I really like the grocery store scene.

33:22Bill Simmons:Flander just catching 15 things. Also, my cucumber is bigger. The flirting? Yeah. There's something about those mid-70s horny housewives. that they would have in these movies, like in Slapshot or this movie. They really did it for me. Yeah. Toga Party. I like when Otter takes their coats and just throws them on the ground. There's so many good little, like, just blink and you miss it visual sight gags in this movie like that. Guitar guy gets demolished. We get shout. This is the Kid Cudi pursuit of happiness word for needle drop. I think this is my most rewatchable scene because I really love the shout performance.

34:00Bill Simmons:I love how it cuts back and forth with the audience. I like, a little bit louder now. Like, a little bit louder. Oh my God. Yeah. It's so good that Wedding Crashers was like, let's just do that again. Yeah. They did the homage. The road trip to the bar to see Otis Day. Yep. Dexter's. Wait till Otis see us. He loves us. Wormer reading the grades. Yeah. 0.2. Fat, drunk, and stupid. That guy has an amazing voice. And he had like, almost like it seemed like a glass eye or something. Vernon? John Vernon? But I know he didn't, but he had a way of like, he just always seemed like he was about to say something evil.

34:45Just like the way he says, double secret probation. It's so good.

34:49Bill Simmons:Yeah. If you're a character actor in the 70s, you just are like, what I do is wear a suit and I do the same part in every movie. Yeah, yeah. So I just show up. I just nail it. The big Bluto speech, which I think is the most famous scene for this movie because it lived on in sports and jumbotrons for 20 years after. It's kind of the first hold on, let him cook. Yeah. Yeah, you know? Yeah. He's like, they're like Germans and he's like, hold on, let him, he's cooking. Groggy and Dougie and some of the other Hitler youth underrated line. Every part of that bullshit thing is great. The parade scene's fun.

35:24The parade scene is like a precursor to Blues Brothers where it's like, we don't really know what to do here Let's have a giant set piece. Belushi just climbs on top of a building for no reason. I could have fixed it, though, but that's in a category coming up.

35:39Bill Simmons:Okay, great. And then the closing credits, which I think this movie probably invented. Well, it's certainly Apex Mountain for Z-Want and Neo title cards. Yeah, nobody did this before this movie. I have no idea. And I feel like everybody's ripped it off since. There's so many good ones. Marmalade became a rude Nixon White House aide and was raped in prison in 1974. Otter became a gynecologist in Beverly Hills. Senator and Mrs. John Putarski. Yeah. Just like fucking home runs all over. I like that D-Day's whereabouts were unknown too. What do you have for most rewatchable? The most rewatchable scene for me is the Toga party with Shout.

36:21Yeah, I agree.

36:22Bill Simmons:That's just the most fun to watch. what's the most 1978 slash 1963 thing about this movie I think we have to go with 1978 well I just had the prominence of National Lampoon as a comedy brand as like an umbrella that like was doing all this different stuff and was launching all these careers I have a smoking pot in a dark room as a secret clandestine event and that you are afraid you might get schizophrenia from it yeah I had that and then Pinto's girl revealing that she's 13 is just insane. Yes. It was insane in 1978. It's out of control. It's fucking crazy, Bill. Go 16 or 17. Maybe it's still borderline insane.

37:05But 13, it's like... She's like, I'm 13, and he still goes for it. He's just like, I guess I have... No, he doesn't. He doesn't seem to do anything. But he asks, he has to get... Oh, because he has to get married to her first, right? And she's like, hey, mom and dad, this is the guy that molested me.

37:18Bill Simmons:Yeah. I think doing... In 1978, obviously nobody in the room or no notes or edits were like hey make her older 13's crazy yes the when would I have died award I would have killed myself after that girl said I was 13 13 also she I mean the real actress was probably like 20 I just I don't know if they thought 13 was funny or it would be funny if she says she's 13 it's just insane begin to imagine yeah it is the craziest thing in this movie because Because Old School basically does... Old School, which ripped off multiple parts of this movie. Yes. But they do the... Old School is almost a remake.

37:57Yeah.

37:58Bill Simmons:But they do the same thing with Luke Wilson when he's with Alasha Cuthbert. And it turns out she's in high school. It's crazy. I mean, this girl is lying topless in this movie. And then an hour later, she's 13. It's just nuts. I don't understand it. Yeah. She was 20. The actress. It's weird that you nailed that. Well, she looked like She was at least in college But I think they thought He's like, got a great scout's eye Hey, you know, I sized her up I think they thought 13 would get a big laugh Yeah Because this was 1978 Landis takes some big swings, man Yeah In terms of big swings, probably not as big as the Twilight Zone No The Floyd Gondoli, Butter in My Ass in Love lollipops in my mouth award for something I just enjoy.

38:52Man, I just like Louie Louie and Shout. Those songs are undefeated. They still go really hard at weddings.

38:57Bill Simmons:They still play Shout at weddings? Oh, yeah. I think that was going to make my... My category would have just been what's age the best. I have not been to a wedding where Shout is not playing. Also, you may think you're better than Shout, but every time you go to a wedding and Shout plays, you're like, this is the thing that really set the wedding off. It is the single best moment of every wedding is Shout. It still plays. Live band, DJ, doesn't matter. Everybody loves Shout. Getting on the floor. It is still so fun. It's the time when everybody's like, let's get fucked up. The question I was going to ask, though, is did the wedding thing happen after Wedding Crashers or were people doing that in the 80s after Animal House?

39:29After Animal House.

39:30Bill Simmons:Really? Every wedding I went to from the early 90s on, there was Shout. Yeah. And I assume that was the case in the 80s, too. The weddings that I have been to have all had Shout. But pre-Wedding Crashers? Yeah. Oh, fuck yeah. Oh, no. Shout's a fucking wedding staple. Well, because I just didn't know if, like, Everybody liked the song Watching Animal House But that has nothing to do With a wedding I didn't know if Wedding Crashers Made it popular at weddings No Shout was You would No no no no It was a thing before No you would go to a wedding Even in the early 90s And it was like Can't wait for Shout You just knew it was coming And you knew the band Was going to play it The thing is like It's the undisputed champ Yeah It's like Who's the best quarterback Of all time It's Tom Brady Like there's no argument It's chocolate ice cream There's just like Very few people who are like I don't like Shout I don't want to do that Like and then why'd you come to the wedding it's just like the most it's a complete communal experience everybody knows the moves it's the best yeah because you the fact that you have to like go down to the ground and then come back up and get happy again is the key to show now the question is have you ever done gator where you jump on the floor and and shake it i don't remember doing that one um yeah it's like shouts michael jordan and every once in a while a new song comes in and tries to be LeBron and then we have an argument about it.

40:45Bill Simmons:It's like, no, no, it's still shit. My Floyd Gondoli, I like when a movie gets made because it wasn't going to get made until some random star from the time period agreed to be in it for two scenes and then they're like, now we can make it. Sutherland's here. Sutherland, he worked for two days. He was offered $25 ,000 for the two days or 2 % of the film's gross. He took the$25 ,000. And he took the$25 ,000. because he thought the movie was going to bomb. It's amazing. We've done 437 rewatchables at this point. 438, something like that. It's amazing how many times the movies were right on the fringe of not being made until some random...

41:25Bill Simmons:And then they got somebody to do it. Yeah. And Donald Sutherland, it's not like... He was famous, but even I said Ryan Reynolds before. He wasn't even as famous as Ryan Reynolds. I just think it's a different kind of fame. I mean, he's also like doing... It was a credibility fame. Still doing like three movies a year pretty much around. I'd have to look at his actual filmography. But those people worked a lot. And I love in the opening credits. I love when it says at the end, and so-and-so as Jennings. And Donald Sutherland as Jennings. It's great. Well, I have him in What's Age the Best, too, because I'm convinced he's wearing just his same clothes from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

42:01Bill Simmons:It's the same outfit. He's wearing the same outfit that he wears for an hour of the movie. And he was probably filming the other movie. He probably showed up in a corduroy suit, and they were like, you know what? Honestly, that's perfect. And he looks the same. He's got the same hair, the same mustache. It's like he just got pulled out of the movie. Does the John Milton speech, she does the My Novel is a Piece of Shit scene, and then he's in the last scene with Katie. He's in two and a half scenes, basically. The biggest what's aged the best for this movie is Bluto's speech became an incredibly impactful home game sports movie, let's get the crowd going, during this era that I think is basically over now, But from late 90s, let's say like 98, 99 range through the 2000s, there was like five or six different movies where they would play the scenes.

42:49Bill Simmons:They would do Rudy. They would do Hoosiers. And this one always brought the house. I feel like 300. 300 is a good one. Gladiator. And like, what's another one that's kind of replaced this as like a staple? But I don't feel like they do this anymore. Because people during their timeouts are just playing music. Lakers used to have 300 playing when they would do the starting lineups. The Celtics would... They got to the point where they just wouldn't run the clip. They would... Just play the speech. They would do the speech, but they would intersperse it with Celtics shit. And they would do the next level recut of it.

43:24Bill Simmons:But Animal House was a major one. And you would just see Balooz. It was like, nothing is over! Have you ever heard this at a game? I don't think so. Yeah, they don't do it anymore. This was like a 10-year run. I have more, but what do you have for what's it? best the way that they depict the what is essentially like smith college like the the seven sisters schools yeah the girl who dies in a kiln explosion fun and otter's like she was gonna make me a pot we were engaged to be engaged um but just the whole that whole segment it's not necessarily a rewatchable scene but it's so nailed on like that whole like women's college thing um yeah there's somebody working at the front desk same thing Belushi destroying the acoustic guitar I feel like I've seen like a billion times and like it's still like I think of it every time I'd ever go to a party and somebody would be like there's a guy in the corner playing Dave Matthews and you're just like how funny would it be to just smash this thing against the fucking wall and be like sorry I have uh I think Matheson is tremendous as I unbelievable this time around I think he's so good in this movie and it's like kind of looks like Craig by the way.

44:34Bill Simmons:That's really a compliment. I don't understand why Tim Matheson didn't become a bigger star. I had him coming up but we could talk about it now. Like he is actually the could have been Harrison Ford because he was another guy up for Raiders. Right. And like he's a little like I think he's like a Hollywood native like whole life like on Western TV shows when he's a little kid and stuff. But Well I wonder did he get it's in casting what ifs I'll do one now where they tried to get Chevy Chase for Otter and he ends up doing foul play I wonder if he just got market corrected by Chevy Chase well he's in Fletch with Chevy Chase hilarious because in Fletch he plays the guy who hires Chevy Chase because they look like each other but it's funny to watch him be Chevy Chase's straight man in Fletch but he's just doing Chevy Chase in I think Otter is so fucking funny in this movie it's great man his speech at the trial where he's like if the fraternity system is on trial and the entire Jesus system was on trial.

45:33I won't have you besmirch the United States of America. And they walk out singing Star Spangled Banner.

45:41Bill Simmons:I love how horny he is too. Like, he meets Flounder's girlfriend. Yeah. And he's like, here, come over here. And he's just like clearly gonna try to get Flounder's girlfriend to go up to his room. He's always trying to have sex with whoever he's in the room with. But he's like, there's something charming about him. I don't know. That's why the gynecologist thing's so funny at the end. Yeah. It's fucking hysterical. I thought Matheson just killed it. Crazy college Ratsy kids. Yeah. Niedermeyer, when they're all in the thing. That's also an overrated, rewatchable scene is Ryger and Matheson playing golf.

46:16Oh, yeah, just trying to hit the... Don't think about it as work. Think about it as something you enjoy.

46:21Bill Simmons:This is a small one, but at the beginning when Flander and Pinto go to the thing to meet all the people, like basically the first scene in the movie, and he lets Pinto in and then slams the door on Flounder and it's like a great like it actually seems like he hits him with the thing but it's just like just immediately sets the tone when Flounder goes over to Greg and starts talking at him and then Greg's like kind of guides him back to the four rejects and he's just like why don't you talk to him some more I've already met these guys and he's like great you'll have plenty to talk about

46:55Bill Simmons:handjobs with latex gloves you think that's aged the best yeah it's hilarious

47:02Bill Simmons:Flounder in Silent Rage four years later that is a one for us month Silent Rage yeah we're finally gonna end up doing that but Flounder is Chuck Norris' sidekick in Silent Rage that would be an amazing collection of films it's just if we did if we did Lincoln's Silent Rage and we tried to tie it with Netflix it was like hey so I'm not sure how you're gonna promote this in the carousel but it's One for us month. Toga parties did become a thing in the 80s. I never. I was at the tail end of it when I was in college. I don't think I ever went to one in college. You weren't in a frat. No. Kurt Haas.

47:39Were you? I was in a fraternity for two years and we did throw a toga party in college. Did you like. You were in a junior and senior or freshman and sophomore? Freshman and sophomore. Why'd you stop? I just like honestly didn't like it. Okay. I don't know.

47:53Bill Simmons:Wow. Sounds like he got hazed. I did go through that. But just not for me. Yeah. We threw the toga party out of house senior year, actually, not in the frat. Was it fun? It's great. It's the best. Yeah. The toga thing became a big thing for about, I would say, 10 years. Never got it. It's also like the easiest dress-up party you can go to. Like, everyone just wears a bed sheet. It's the easiest thing in the world. You got to wear, like, shorts underneath the bed sheet, though, right? Not me. Not Otter. And then this is my high school buddy, Jim Grady, who went to Colgate and I think was president of his flat.

48:26Bill Simmons:He texted this yesterday. little known secret. I wanted to be Rush Chair at Sigma Chi just so I could say, hi, Jim Grady, Rush Chairman. Damn glad to meet you. Not joking. Apparently really did that. Oh my God. Yeah. This is a great What's Age the Best. So they had this bit in the original script, but they didn't film it with the JFK float. And they had the four people dress like Jackie Onassis on the day he got assassinated. Oh yeah. but they had this they were going to have a car go through his head and it was going to be in the exit wound spot of when he got assassinated and then Landis was like we got to cut this it's too offensive so that's when he was like we can't do that but what if she was 13 right somehow the 13 was fine if they had had the car zoom through his head in the exit wound I think that would have aged pretty funnily in my opinion yeah it's just like holy shit they were really going for it in 1978 but they decided not to do it and then you mentioned the other what's age the best Louis Louis Shamalama Ding Dong shout the music's great I had one last age the best it's Sarah Holcomb's IMDB okay Sarah Holcomb is Colette the young girl Sarah Holcomb is the yeah who ends up being Maggie in Caddyshack oh thanks for nothing she's in four movies And then apparently, sadly, had some issues and was out of the industry.

49:59Bill Simmons:Her first movie ever is Animal House. And her last movie is Caddyshack. Her second to last movie is some movie called Happy Birthday Gemini. Okay. And then she makes one other movie. And she's the star of Walk Proud. Do you know what Walk Proud is? I'll just read you what it's about. Robbie Benson plays Emilio Mendez a young Chicano gang member in Los Angeles who begins to question his gang life when he meets and starts to fall for a white girl who encourages him to try and leave Robbie sang the theme song Adios Yesterday he was a blue-eyed Caucasian in real life but made up in dark face and wore black contact lenses so he would look like a Latino for the movie and then all the research is this movie was reviled this is considered one of the most offensive movies of all time this seems like a Robbie Benson passion project though walk proud yeah Robbie Benson as Emilio Mendez but if you're like I'm also doing the song like you gotta be believing in the material do we do this for politically incorrect month with soul man and a couple others what if we did walk proud with van but just like made no comment about how weird it was yeah Ciara and I love this walk proud Benson is just in his bag in this movie.

51:18Bill Simmons:So, but this ties back to them thinking it was a good idea of a 13-year-old. This is 1978, the start of the cocaine era. Their radar is off. people are just, it's like, oh, we got Robbie Benson. He's going to play Emilio Mendez. That movie was released by Universal. Yeah. By the way, Robbie Benson was like a star because he was coming off one-on-one. This was like his next big project. So yeah, that did not go well. Anyway, those were her four movies. Great Jack Order Award, what'd you have? I had the freeze frame of when the horse has the heart attack.

51:52There's fucking nothing better. I would say this goes into what stage is the best. Putting animals indoors, like large farm animals indoors. When you see the four legs just up and the guy brings in the chainsaw. Carmine's like, I'm going to bring your legs if you ever try to say it. He's measuring the doorway. Oh, it's good.

52:12Bill Simmons:Kahuna Burger for best use of food and drink. It's got to be Amazit. It's the buffet. Chess Rockwell Brocklander is a word for best character name. I could give you John Blutarski. What about Mandy Pepperidge? It's pretty good. I have Gregory Marmalade. Gregory Marmalade raped in prison.

52:35What do you have for a flex?

52:36Bill Simmons:Oh, shit. I had the Dennis Peck relationship test for Otter. Otter as Dennis Peck? Yeah. With Flanders Girl Butch's coming in Being like Dennis Beck Los Angeles PD Damn glad to meet you

52:57Bill Simmons:Butch's girlfriend Award weak link Of the film Other than The 13 year old I have Minus The Greg Mandy Babs love triangle Is just The handjobs are funny I don't know But there's like Five scenes about this And I'm just kind of like Alright guys This is not Jermaine to why I'm watching animals. The handjob scenes kill me. Yeah. Why is it soft? And he's like, sorry, this Delta thing's on my mind. Kid's 19. All you want to do is get laid when you're 19. My weak link was 1962 is now 64 years ago. It feels like a fucking lifetime. Yeah. I mean, I... Did Ben watch this? Zoe Simmons, my daughter, who's home right now, I...

53:45Bill Simmons:It was on. She was on her phone the whole time and thought it was too slow, but did enjoy Belushi. Okay. That was her review. Had she seen it before? No. Okay. No. But yeah, if you're remaking this, I guess we did remake it as old school, basically. The Steven Seagal Shitting on Himself Award for most unbelievable anecdote from the actual film shoot. There's a lot, yeah. I'm going with... So they filmed this at University of Oregon, and they weren't supposed to interact with the students, but then one day... These girls at a fraternity invite them to a fraternity party. All the Delta actors go.

54:21Bill Simmons:They're greeted with hostility from the Oregon students. Guy Widows, who played Hoover, throws a cup of beer at drunk football players and they end up having a brawl. And McGill gets a black eye. Widows got some loose teeth. And then Belushi was filming SNL, came back, found out about the fight, and they had to like physically restrain him from going to find the football players and fighting them. He's a fucking real one. Yeah. I love the detail in the New York Times or oral history. I think Widow says he was basically like hooking up with a girl whose dad was a dentist. Yeah. So he got in at eight in the morning the next morning and got his teeth fixed.

55:03Bill Simmons:The Ed Norton reverse dunk award for did this movie need a random sports scene? So can I get rid of like one of the two handjob scenes and just have like a intramural football scene or something? something rugby this is exactly what i was going to say which is this movie needed to end with a flag football game or a football intramural football game to decide whether or not they could stay in college and i went as far as to just break down oh let's go 1962 i didn't even know you did this 1962 football position so you got quarterback halfback fullback center garden ends so otter's qb otter definitely qb he's probably a good qb incredible pocket presence Yeah, good size.

55:43A little Brady-ish, charisma. Stafford-esque, you know? Yeah, sure. Kind of Jimmy G a little bit. Yeah. But like would excel in the McVay system. Unfortunately, back then, it was like 90 % runs. But halfback, you go Boone. I like Rieger. I think he's crafty. Probably some speed. Going between the tackles. Fullback, obviously Bluto. Center, I go D-Day. Kind of calling it all out. Kelsey style. Seized all the coverages. Interesting. I could see him as a tight end, too. And then guard, Flounder. You got to put him somewhere. And then my wide receivers are Hoover and Stork. stork what is it what does Widow say oh no Otter when he's like stork when you came here everybody thought you were

56:21Bill Simmons:brain damage he's like that's Doug Kenny by the way yeah now I don't know what the other team so but this is basically Revenge of the Nerds decided oh we should actually this will be our ending we'll have that compete if they just remade the end of the longest yard I would have been like that's great nice job yeah so you could have gone football basketball would have been weird softball yeah no because it feels like it's fall there it feels like it's it's so rugby would have been the other one i think or you could have done track at hayward field at oregon that's true but they're supposed to be at dartmouth right like this is supposed to be the northeast isn't it yeah but there's a shot the rotc thing you see hayward field behind them the big track dude what among the things that has aged the best is eugene as a college town I've been there a few times recently so 7v7 1962 intramural football something and it's like we'll let you stay in school if you win this Belushi definitely scores the winning touchdown.

57:19And Old School does a big gymnastics scene. It's basically do a decathlon or like Olympics. This movie is still huge at Oregon. I mean, they play Shout in between every third and fourth quarter. Oh, yeah.

57:30Bill Simmons:What's age the worst?

57:36Bill Simmons:I'm sure the Belushi-Voyer stuff wouldn't go over awesome these days. We mentioned the 13-year-old girl. And then the Angel Devil scene. Yeah, I had that one. Tough one. Angel Devil scene, statutory rape, prominent Confederate flag on the wall, attitudes about animal cruelty.

57:55Bill Simmons:The Angel Devil scene really hits the jackpot of things that would never happen again, especially when we find out how young the girl is. But I gotta say, I gotta say it's still funny. The devil's like, fuck her, fuck her. I have one more What's Age the Worst, which is a personal preference thing because obviously he was relatively successful around this. I just would love to have seen the Reitman or Ramis version of this movie directed. I think Landis is like... This one and Blues Brothers feel so flat to me. Yeah. And he loves to do like a big master shot where there's like lots of sight gags and like recurring bits or whatever.

58:39But I just wish it had a little bit more pizzazz with the direction. And... I like what he did with Trading Places, so it's not like I don't like any John Landis movies. I mean, Kentucky Fried Movie was still the hardest I ever actually laughed in my life up until that point. But these two, like, Blues Brothers and Animal House are kind of like a little too static for my tastes.

59:02Bill Simmons:Yeah, Landis... I'm trying to think of, like, there's coaches over the years that get too much credit for the teams they had. Casey Jones was like this. He's like, what a coach. He was like, he had Bird Parish, McHale, Bill Walton, and, you know, we've seen football coaches like this too where Mike McCarthy... Right. We're about to find out. How dare you? Well, Mike McCarthy that one year, and it's like, Mike McCarthy, what a coach. And then, you know, he's available and starts bouncing around. And I wonder with Landis, the people he had on Animal House. Now, I'm sure he gets credit for some stuff, and he's been really good in the different books of spinning stuff his way and making it seem like he was the hero.

59:39I think even in the oral history for Animal House, multiple people are mad at him. He immediately started calling it his movie.

59:45Bill Simmons:Yeah. And everybody was like, what the fuck, man? Like, this is all of our life stories. He's pretty famous for revisionist history stuff. And it seems like a lot of the people that have worked with him aren't that flattering about him after the fact. Yeah. Like, Eddie Murphy was another one that really turned on him. Eddie worked with him a bunch. I know, but the last one, Coming to America, he turned on him. And then... But didn't Landis do, like, the Beverly Hills cop that's set at, like, Disney World, basically? The bad one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. Obviously, he was talented, but I also feel like if Reitman or Ramis had directed this, I'm pretty sure it still would have been funny.

1:00:22Bill Simmons:There's some racism stuff that probably makes sense because it's set in 1962, but when you watch it, you're like, oh, what's your major primitive cultures? And then it just cuts right to Otis. It's like, ah. Yeah. Well, and the mayor has the lawn jockey statue, the Confederate flag. I guess. The only other what's age the worst, this inspired a lot of copycat stuff, including the ABC sitcom called Delta House. You ever see it? No. Dean Wormer was in it. So was Flounder. McGill was in it as D-Day. Widows was in it as Hoover. Michelle Pfeiffer made her acting debut. And then Bluto's brother, Blotto, played by Josh Mustel.

1:01:02Bill Simmons:Zero Mustels. Yeah. Yikes. Then CBS decided to co-ed fever about all female Baxter College, one episode. And then Brothers and Sisters on NBC are frat and sorority sitcom, three months. I never watched any of these. Okay. And in the late 70s, I watched everything. I was an only child. I did not watch this. The Hans Gruber scale villain ranking. Niedermeyer or Dean Wormer in the finals. I think Niedermeyer's pretty iconic. Can I make the case for Dean Wormer? Please. He hates these guys so much that he fails them out of college and then says, and I notified the local draft boards that you are now eligible.

1:01:41Bill Simmons:That's true. That is like as evil as it gets. He's like, I'm actually going to send you guys off to be murdered. Yeah. So I'd vote for him. Niedermeyer does try to shoot somebody during the parade chaos. I will give. So then if you say that, I'll do the Ruffalo Hannah Rubenick Award. I'll give it to Mark Metcalf for Niedermeyer's spittle champion, like spitting in Flounder's face during ROTC. Well, he, they, Twisted Sister, had the, We're Not Gonna Take It video. And they bring Niedermeyer back to basically play Niedermeyer again, yelling at Dee Snider. And that actor, Mark Metcalf, basically became Niedermeyer.

1:02:17Bill Simmons:He became Niedermeyered. Yeah. It was like, we've talked about, I think that's a rewatchables category, actually, in the flexes. Can you escape this character? Yes. Yeah. This character. All right, we'll take a break, and then we'll do Hot as Take. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the finals with FanDuel Predicts. Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes, and misses. Predict the spread, the total points, and even the game winner. Sign up for FanDuel Predicts and predict it from the couch. Offered by FanDuel Prediction Markets, LLC, a registered futures commission merchant.

1:02:53Bill Simmons:18 plus. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools. This episode is brought to you by Brooks Running. Sometimes in the film world, we see performances on screen that are so mind-blowing, you think someone somewhere is bending the rules. Like when one actor plays twins or nails a really difficult accent. The glycerin flex from Brooks is that phenomenon in shoe form. It provides a flexible cushion ride that's made to move with you. With a breathable upper, your shoe feels like a distraction-free second skin.

1:03:25Bill Simmons:It's the ultimate blend between human movement and tech. so if you want to experience the best parts of your performance flex the rules in the new Glycerin Flex shop the Glycerin Flex at brooksrunning.com alright the CR thinks Luke Wilson could have been Harrison Ford hottest take award what do you got CR can we just talk this out for a second is this movie or is Belushi's career different if he plays Flounder if Belushi doesn't do like a Belushi like mega performance he saves bluto for the next one yeah or maybe like in you do animal house 2 and flounder becomes bluto or something like that i know he's probably a little old to play a freshman yeah but i would have loved to have seen belushi like try one different like sort of he does that in neighbors which i saw in the theater where he plays the straight man basically yeah and you're just sitting there the whole time waiting waiting for the other the only other one was like literally the Tim Matheson thing where I was just like, this guy does this movie.

1:04:26He's got like, like literally like the platonic ideal movie star looks. Goes up for Raiders. It's him, Tom Selleck, Jeff Bridges, and Harrison Ford.

1:04:35Bill Simmons:He's got market corrected a couple times. Ended up like, by the time we got to the 90s, he's in a lot of those lifetime type of movies. Yeah. Where he's like the dad who's attracted to the nanny. His like later period probably highlight would be when he's the VP on West Wing. Right. my uh my hottest take i think this movie caused more copycat damage than any other movie ever made damage yeah i think it completely wrecked two generations of college kids trying to basically this was blackout the blueprint for like let's go fucking crazy tonight they would have done it anyway but this movie gave them a map yeah to be like well we could have a frat like they like all this stuff was kind of happening anyway but i think this movie like was was the gasoline and the fucking match for an entire generation.

1:05:21I think you can also make the argument that even outside of Animal House, like outside of the Greek system, there's some influence of Animal House on interior design in houses lived in by like three or more men. Three or more guys. Like where you have, we just put an air hockey table that we found on the sidewalk and hung it on the wall. You know what I mean? Or like the TV is on a milk crate and we have three movies and we watch them on a loop.

1:05:45Bill Simmons:I think this movie killed more brain cells than any other movie ever. In terms of the impact it had on kids going to college in the future? Yeah, I think just kids being like, someday I'm going to college, I'm going to be like the Animal House guys and just going fucking nuts. Casting with Ifs, the initial cast wish list, Chevy Chase is Otter, Bill Murray is Boone, Brian Doyle Murray is Hoover, Dan Aykroyd is D-Day, and Belushi is Bluto. And Lorne wouldn't let... That Lorne thing's not true. I don't think he ever would have not let somebody do a movie. Like, Akroyd has said, because they based D-Day on Akroyd because he rode a motorcycle, and he feels like he should be in this movie, but they're filming it during season three of SNL, and Akroyd was, like, a huge part of the show, and he felt like if both him and Belushi were flying back and forth doing a movie, it would hurt the show.

1:06:35Bill Simmons:And that's why he said he didn't do it. I believe that story more than... I just don't think Lorne would be like, you're not doing this. He never operated that way. I would love to try and see how I did now. I mean, I'm a little too old, probably, but like I would love to try and do like bi-coastal potting and just see like if I could do two pots in New York. Oh, CRs in New York Monday to Wednesday? Yeah, and then I'm back here to do rewatchables Thursday Friday. Oh, I'd be dead. Yeah. Like the rewatchables have been canceled this week because Bill died from flying back and forth. Chase turned down the film for a foul play and there's, of course, Landis and Chase disagree on what happened.

1:07:06Bill Simmons:Like just absolutely busting each other's balls in the press. Yeah, Landis, who I think does spin stuff toward his version of things, He's like, I didn't want Chase to be in it. I told him it was going to be an ensemble. You should do foul play. Yeah, I was like, you're not going to be the star of this movie. And I Jedi mind tricked him into saying no. And Chase was like, I was offered foul play with Goldie Hawn. Like, of course I was going to do that. And I think he was like, as usual, John Landis is full of shit or something like that. John Landis is full of shit as he usually is. Ramis wrote the part for Boone for himself, but they decided he looked too old, which is funny because half the people in this movie look too old.

1:07:43And I think that was another Landis call and Ramis was pissed off about it. Still mad about it.

1:07:50Bill Simmons:Landis wanted Jack Webb from Dragnet and Kim Novak to play the Wormers and Jack Webb thought this movie was not funny. Bigger question is does Craig know who Jack Webb is? I don't. Did you ever see the star of Dragnet? Tom Hanks to Dan Aykroyd Dragnet? No. Yeah. Two generations removed from not knowing who he is. Reitman wanted to direct but had no directing skills. And they said no thanks. Best that guy award. Really tough because this movie came out 48 years ago. I went with John Vernon. I think Flounder is that guy. I don't think people know what his real name is. Yeah, I guess. But he's not in a ton of stuff.

1:08:30Bill Simmons:Yeah. Niedermeyer would be the other one. Yeah. Dion Waiters. I could offer you Donald Sutherland for two and a half scenes. I could offer you Dean Wormer's wife I could offer you Otis Day or I could offer you Shelly the the girl who is Fawn's roommate who really wanted Otter to feel better about this the girl in Fawn's roommate cracks me up that girl's great she's really good she's really good but I'm gonna go with Sutherland just because it is like a classic Dion Waiters of like I'm in two scenes everybody's like that's Donald fucking Sutherland he's in MASH and then yeah I have Dean Wormer's wife you can get your finger out of my ass you love a drunk witchy I love drunk and witchy great stuff can I just for casting what ifs I mean I guess this is also casting couch director city the it's pretty legitimate research that this movie was offered to a bunch of major directors yeah so John Schlesinger who did Midnight Cowboy did you believe this?

1:09:35it's in the New York Times oral history so I was kind of like maybe this is true but it went out at least to Schlesinger Alan Pakula Mike Nichols and George Roy Hill and Bob Raffleson I didn't understand that at all that's amazing George Roy Hill directed this would just be crazy well I mean he was probably directed Slapshot it wouldn't have been completely out of the question I just can't imagine why any of those people would have done this which of those directors do you think would have been like so the 13 year old Pakula are you sure about there we go 14 what are we doing

1:10:01Bill Simmons:do I hear 15 I forgot to mention Shelly two IMDb credits. What's the other one? An episode of Charlie's Angels. Oh, okay. That was it. I thought she was good. I would have liked to have seen her more stuff. She was Robbie Benson's Chicana girlfriend and walked out. She dated Emilio Mendez before somebody else. Recasting couch director of Citi, what'd you have? I think I'd like to see Reitman do this one. Yeah, I'd have Reitman as director. Craig Flex. Jamie Lee Curtis. unnecessary nudity, but I think all of the nudity in this movie is defensible because it's all at the surface of these loser, horny college kids.

1:10:46So I actually think all of it's fine for 1978, and it's totally fine. There's one scene where I'm like, Karen Allen's just bare ass in that one scene. I don't know why that's in the movie. And that's why Sutherland's ass is out is apparently he was like, if she was going to have to take her pants off, I was going to take my pants off. Like in solidarity, Sutherland? Yeah. Ass solidarity. Because the rest is like, sure, Belushi's a creep. He's looking in it. All of it actually kind of works. And then there's just the beginning of a scene Karen Allen's just putting on a dress. We haven't really talked about her and Ryger.

1:11:15Bill Simmons:In what sense? Just as like, they're like kicking and screaming in this movie. Like they're in the most like relatable, normal relationship. Could have used like one more scene with them. Yeah. One less handjob scene. Karen Allen. She looks great in this movie. Looks great. She's great. Really one of a kind. Yeah. Something really just like fetching and approachable. Did you have a girlfriend in college when you were like, I love the Boston Red Sox and drinking beer and hanging out with my friends who was just like, when are you going to grow up? Yeah. Yeah. Her like pouring beers at the beginning of the movie behind the bar at Delta, you're like, fuck.

1:11:47But it's all, yeah. Like, that was also, she's also like the coolest thing ever. Yeah.

1:11:52Bill Simmons:That's what I like about the character is I'm not positive she exists in real life. Trying to think of any friend, girlfriend I had who was like… No, she's like the platonic ideal of a woman in that movie. Yes.

1:12:05Bill Simmons:Half-East Center Research We mentioned University of Oregon Allowed them to use the campus for 20K But they were like, don't mention us And then all these years later They have like a tour when you go Here's all the filming locations Then you shout between the third and fourth quarters Of every football game Just don't watch the movie But know that we were in it Black extras had to be bussed in from Portland Due to the scarcity around the college campus Jesus Christ Wow In 78? Yeah Landis brought the Deltas five days early so they could all bond and they all bond and then Bruce McGill's room became party central and then the Omegas were another part and they all didn't really like each other like it's weird that on a movie like Animal House they're doing like method acting rules because I think I read that like Greg Greg wanted to party with them but it was like you know I couldn't really so like it just put me more into character and I was like come on man do you think they took movies more seriously in the 1970s because we made less of them, right?

1:13:00Bill Simmons:So if you're in this, it's like this is a big deal. We have to... Now I just feel like, yeah, I'm in Animal House and I'm going to do a thing on Friends and Neighbors and then you're just kind of bouncing around. I think there's also something about like, you know, these movies back then like also excelled at like finding unknowns and so people were probably like, this is my big break. I'm going to take it seriously even if it's Animal House. True. Belushi went to local nightclubs during filming, checked out bands, became fascinated by a musician named Curtis Salgado, who wore sunglasses and loved the blues, and it became the Blues Brothers.

1:13:37Bill Simmons:They almost did a sequel, Craig. It was going to take place during the 1967 Summer of Love, a reunion at Otter's wedding. Yeah. Which is funny in itself. Otter was going to get married. But then more American graffiti bombed the box office. I saw that movie in the theater. Universal stalls the project. Blue, she dies, and they're done. Yeah. This would have been It was going to be set at Hey Ashbery I don't know If it necessarily I was kind of into the idea I don't know Yeah but it's like It's a different sensibility Than the one that was in this one Just kind of like Ivy League prick sensibility Dwayne Jesse played Otis Day This is my favorite piece of research Purchased the rights To the character name They made it up And became Otis Day But he doesn't do the music In the movie He's lip syncing Yeah And Landis finds out Like 25 years later That this guy has been Just touring the country Doing Otis Day He's like, good for him, I guess.

1:14:29Bill Simmons:Steven Bishop, no relation to my buddy Bish, who was also named Steve Bishop. This is a running joke for us that there are two Steve Bishops. Yeah. He was the guy with the guitar. Oh, okay. He had a career on his own. Started dating Karen Allen after they met in the set. Dated for years. Wrote the song Separate Lives based on their breakup that became a hit song for Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin. Huh. and was in the movie White Nights. I remember Separate Wives. Emotional. Not a great karaoke song. No. Bruce McGill and Tim Madsen starred in Black Sheep. They're the only actors to star with Chris Farley and John Belushi.

1:15:12Bill Simmons:Oh, wow. Yeah. And then Universal's film president, Ned Tannen, wanted them to cut the entire black bar scene. Thought there would be riots across America. Big argument back and forth. They sent the movie to Richard Pryor. and he sent Ned a note saying Animal House is fucking funny. White people are crazy. And I'm saying, this movie really, really hit the gamut of weird things to touch. Apex Mountain, Belushi, yes. Yeah. Tim Matheson. I'm going to say yes. Felt like the world was his oyster after this movie. Cafeteria scenes. Is he also in 1941 with Belushi? is Matheson in that cafeteria scenes it's been some great cafeteria scenes yeah dining hall scenes but this is probably up there this is the best food fight I've ever seen yeah I think it narrowly edges just one of the guys they make Greg Tolan Greg didn't like that it just beats it out yeah barely John Landis I think Trading Places personally yep I agree Handjobs why is it soft I kind of want to google greatest movie handjobs but I'm a little worried this is a work computer yeah don't do that Steven First yeah definitely definitely and goes on to play Dorfman again multiple times yeah Peter Reigard no but I can't off the top of my head think of what it is maybe I think it was Animal House for years but now I think it's Sopranos okay he dates the Russian hooker and then Tony beats the shit out of him.

1:16:57Bill Simmons:Crossing Delancey and Local Hero were the two that I remember. College movies, I'm going to say yes. Toga Party's yes. Do you have a second favorite college movie? Old school. Do you have a third favorite? Road Trip. I think Road Trip's excellent. I really like that movie. I think Everybody Wants Some is like way up there for me now. It's getting there. It's aging really nicely. Were you ever a PCU fan? Never really. I never really loved Piven. Okay. Yeah. You've only watched his television series nine times. Lloyd!

1:17:33Bill Simmons:Cruise or Hanks? Hanks. I think Hanks. I think Hanks could do Otter. Scorsese or Spielberg? This is really tough. Neither of them, obviously. It's two entirely different films. I think it's definitely Spielberg. He basically tries to do this in 1941 to some degree. Right? Scorsese would be like, there's cocaine, there's all kinds of shit going on. It's like when Belushi's on the ladder, he's just like staring. He's sucked at it. Pick a nits. I have a few. Does Dean Wormer really need to go digging into the school's constitution to find a reason to expel these guys? They're clearly like, like a disaster.

1:18:12They don't go to class. They're all good at 0.0. He's like, we got to put them on probation. We have to look for all these reasons to get them out of here. Just fucking kick them out.

1:18:21Bill Simmons:A few of the actors, too old for college. No question. But I think that's part of the joke. Wouldn't Mandy hear Bluto on the ladder or see him? Yes. He's moving the ladder over. And could you actually even do that? It's like a 12-foot ladder. Could you jump it up and move it like that? If Flounder's brother also had been in the frat, wouldn't he kind of understand if his car got destroyed on like a frat road trip weekend? Yeah, true. And also, like, I'm not sure I totally understand why Boone's being such an idiot with Katie. Like, guy Karen Allen, man. What are you doing? Just let that down. I gotta go on a date with a bunch of like Smith College girls for a weekend.

1:19:04Bill Simmons:Mrs. Wormer goes to the Delta party? Yeah. It's insane. There's no way that happens. She's like, get me a drink. Fawn dies in a kiln explosion. Awesome. What? I just need more information. That's why you fire the pots. Yeah. So you do your, you do, you shape the clay and everything. You put like a lacquer on it. And it just exploded and killed it? But it's like a fucking super oven. Yeah. And they used to have those in my like arts and crafts classes. And spot them more information. And they would always be like, it was really weird now that I think back about like shop and arts and crafts class when I was a kid.

1:19:38Because we were around like table saws and kilns and all these chemicals for black rooms, for dark rooms, for photos. Yeah. And it was like, yeah, you guys just don't drink that and don't put your hand in the oven. Right.

1:19:52Bill Simmons:Why didn't we see Flounder puke on Dean Wormer? I don't know Big miss I think this movie's made 20 years later We see the puke Yeah He's like just covered in puke They'll figure it out Can you really just buy 10 ,000 marbles? Flounder buys 10 ,000 marbles Like think how many marbles that is I love that that scene Is literally one second long He like cuts them He's like 10 ,000 marbles please And then he just cuts away And would a store have 10 ,000 marbles? I don't even know Could you go to a store right now And buy 10 ,000 marbles? How did they see out of the float car? The Eat Me float car? It's like a tank, basically.

1:20:29I don't know.

1:20:31Bill Simmons:Every time they cut to it, it's just completely covered with float stuff. And Bruce McGill's just driving it around. It's insane. That whole sequence is so nuts. Yeah. Sequel, prequel, prestige, TV, all black cast, or untouchable. I think a sequel could have worked if Belushi hadn't died. Yeah. I think a reunion thing would have been really funny. I think they could have just like, this could have just been a franchise where they just kept making animal houses set throughout the decades. But big mistake. I guess they just let. I mean, we had four American pies. Yeah. Is this movie better with Wayne Jenkins, Fergie the Florist, Zane Lowe, Robert Evans, or somebody else?

1:21:08Boone, here you are, man. Higher education, but we find you at an all-time low. Committing statutory rape. Binge drinking. not taking your studies seriously. My zane is rusty. I'm sorry. I should probably. Where do we go from here? And where's your 13-year-old child bride going to go with you? We've been spotted by Jerry Lee Lewis.

1:21:36Bill Simmons:I had Dr. Charles Nichols. You'll have to excuse my friend, John Butoski. He's not feeling well. It'll be good. Just want to ask her who gets it, Belushi? I guess so, yeah. Sure. Yeah. Probably an answer for questions. Did this movie create double secret probation? Yeah. Was this a term that existed before this movie? I'm going to say it did not exist. Maybe it was taken from their college experience, but it is very funny. Yeah. What'd you have? Did this movie invent not only the sex comedy, but the college comedy? And what were these guys majoring in? communications was that a major back then in 1962 it would have been funny if Bluto was a big political science guy it's like Middle East man stuff's happening there he's pre-med right but pre-law same thing did the Omegas create the Illuminati the frat hazing was pretty I think they tipped us off it's really real you know Kubrick got eyes wide shut from that scene this is my big one was Greg gay I guess so I can't remember where it's possible two of the hottest girls at that Mandy and Babs those are your hottest was against premarital sex and could barely get it up for a handjob in the car on a thing just I have some suspicions seem really really interested in feuding with the Deltas I don't know Craig very repressed yeah something's going on with him the memorabilia you'd want from this movie so many choices this is easy for me It's the fishbowl boobs from behind the bar.

1:23:21Bill Simmons:I had the college sweatshirt Belushi work. Yeah, that's a great one. That's a good one. Which you can get. I mean, everybody ripped that off since. You can buy that. I was actually going to try to speed rush that to wear that for the pod. Couldn't figure it out. Coach Finstock, Mr. Miyagi. Best life lesson. Don't get mad, get even. You know, I had your only young ones. Double feature? Old school. I have Revenge of the Nerds. I've never seen Revenge of the Nerds. It's hard to find. It's hard to find. That would ever be a rewatchable. Hard to find. As soon as it's streaming again, it's going to be a rewatchable.

1:23:55Bill Simmons:Come on, Ted Sarandos. Come on, Ted. Do the right thing. You love comedy, right? Big comedy fan. What do you have for double feature? God. I guess it's old school, yeah. Probably old school. Another good one would be Project X. Project X for the debauchery, yes. Neighbors, I guess. It's a great one. But yeah. fucking Ben had a Project X party at our house he did? yeah what do you mean though? like a themed party or it was like a Project X? it was supposed to be 125 people and it turned out to be 400 in the police game when did this happen? eh two months ago you fucking kept that under the rug?

1:24:31Bill Simmons:really? well I was mad about it and Ben was and Ben was not happy about it and then six months later he's like it's like when I had my Project X party I'm like you motherfucker Did Ben try to do the look dad? No one's more disappointed about this than me. He did. He played all the fucking tricks. I thought it was going to be 100. Kids from other schools started showing up. Yeah, it was people throwing up in the street. That's fucking amazing. It was a disaster. But Ben's a mastermind. I think he did all of it. But did anything go wrong? Did anything burn down? Did anything go wrong? We're still here.

1:25:01Bill Simmons:Nothing burned down. The cops did come. Are you still finding like cigarettes in random places and stuff? It's the maddest I've ever been in him. but I should have known. But the thing is, he can never have a party here again. I should have showed up like the Dean's wife. You probably, I honestly would have been surprised. It would have been amazing if we were like, I heard about this party tonight. Weird, it's a bill. Who won the movie? Pelushi. Pelushi. Craig, give us your thoughts. I love this movie. I like it more now than I ever have. When I watched it, whatever, 10 years ago, closer to Zoe's opinion, I was like, okay, it's a little underwhelming maybe it's a little boring the pacing is just different the way it's cut but i don't know why watching it i had an absolute blast it's such a great hang because it's a hang movie which is rare now it's not really there's not like a lot of like hard jokes punch lines in this film it's more like dirty dazed and confused it's you know what it is too is it's uh it's just short stories so yeah like until the last 30 minutes there's basically no coherent it's not really a plot you know it's like no here's all these funny things that happen to these guys in college and then at the end it's like they have to stay in college so there's going to be a parade yeah it's just more about the hang and the movie this movie for all of its you know that's like it hasn't aged well in certain ways but it's just like your fun drunk uncle who is hilarious and you just put up with like when was the last time you'd seen it before you watch it for this every couple years i'll jump in um i like the the interplay between the guys like there's real friendship in this movie, which I think a lot of movies have borrowed since.

1:26:35I think it's actually just quite well acted. I think it's underratedly well acted across the board for how dumb this movie seems like it is.

1:26:43Bill Simmons:Yeah, Matheson. Riger. Riger's great. They're all really good at it. I think he's really funny in this. And I think movies back then compared to comedies now, like, I don't know, even though this movie's about a lot of stupid stuff, like, there are a lot of commentaries on society and what's going on across the country, and now I think comedies are a little bit more siloed in what they're trying to say and they're more just about like the punchline on the screen. There's also like, comedies are a little bit more high concept now. So it'll be like, this is a comedy about how like a guy will die in five days if he doesn't meet the love of his life.

1:27:14I just watched a college movie on Hulu, Pizza Movie, which is starring as Stranger Things Kid and it's all about like a kid in a dorm who takes drugs trying to get pizza. And I mean, it is what it, but it's like, it's not saying anything. It's just a fun, crazy comedy about a guy taking drugs in college. But it's not, it's not wider than the very narrow scope of the movie. Right. And these movies back then were just, were different. They're sneaking some Watergate,

1:27:39Bill Simmons:Vietnam, Nixon stuff in here too. In smart ways. That's not over the top, like what we have now. Yeah. And I think that the, their sort of umbrella excuse for the way that this movie and I, you know, the 13 year old stuff is almost so beyond the pale, but like, they're like, it was an equal opportunity. We made fun of everybody. You know, kind of thing. I also think sometimes when you have to work within parameters the movie gets better like you know the script was apparently way way way raunchier than it actually was but Universal kind of putting like like guardrails on the movie I actually think ends up you have to make it work and actually make it funny for it to validate being in the film and it can't just be raunchy for raunchy's sake it's just like rape scenes apparently that they cut so I think sometimes when you have kind of the off the wall style and you pair it with a studio and you have to kind of land in the middle sometimes it is the best outcome.

1:28:28It's a classic.

1:28:29Bill Simmons:It's movie magic, baby. It's a classic. That's it for comedy month. We ended up doing four quote-unquote politically incorrect movies. Something about Mary, Tropic Thunder, Borat, Animal House. Yeah. Four movies that definitely pushed the envelope for different ways. to go back and revisit? Which is the one that you feel like... Honestly, Borat. Yeah. I was just... You missed that episode. You were at Heifetz's wedding. Borat just... I was on the treadmill and I almost fell off like four times. I don't know why. it just fucking kills me it's really but all of them I thought held up really well um I think there's something about Mary as we've been with that movie now for 28 years so you know all the bits but it's still Warren still makes me laugh um especially when Warren came back in the last Survivor episode did you see that?

1:29:15Bill Simmons:uh Jonathan's brother came back dressed like Warren that's right yeah it was amazing um comedy month though pretty fun what's next? so we're doing um we're gonna do Summer from Hell starting next week. All movies that are dot, dot, dot from hell. We've talked about this for a long time. You want to announce the June 1st movie or no? Yeah, so the first one is going to be 2001, Computer from Hell. And then Netflix licensed a bunch of movies for this. So it's going to be, and I don't know if we're going to do all of them, but Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Single Wife Female, Good Son, Pacific Heights which I don't know if they're able to license that's the one I was most excited about I know you're excited about that one Domestic Disturbance which is in the running for funniest unintentionally funniest movie of the 2000s yeah and a bunch of others so they're all on there so From Hell it might be it lasts longer than a month okay might be like a month and a half what a way to ring in the World Cup we'll do some some mailbags as well yeah in honor of our World Cup people alright thanks Craig thanks Kahau thanks Chris Ryan see you next week Rewatch.

1:30:24Bill Simmons:Later.