1
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Announcer: <i>Due to the explicit</i>
<i>sexual nature</i>

2
00:00:03,212 --> 00:00:05,875
<i>of the following</i>
National Lampoon Radio Hour,

3
00:00:06,048 --> 00:00:08,586
<i>it is featured as adult</i>
<i>entertainment</i>

4
00:00:08,759 --> 00:00:11,046
<i>and not recommended</i>
<i>for children's ears</i>

5
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<i>without parental supervision.</i>

6
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<i>Tonight's show will begin</i>
<i>after this brief commercial word.</i>

7
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John Belushi: <i>Good evening, uh,</i>
<i>this is John Belushi</i>

8
00:00:19,728 --> 00:00:21,970
<i>and this is the</i>
National Lampoon Radio Hour.

9
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<i>- ?(</i>music plays) ?
<i>- (</i>applause)

10
00:00:32,533 --> 00:00:34,024
- Boy: <i>Hi, Dad.</i>
- Man: <i>Hello there, son,</i>

11
00:00:34,201 --> 00:00:35,191
<i>how was school today?</i>

12
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Boy: <i>Okay. Hey, I heard</i>
<i>a really neatjoke</i>

13
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<i>at recess,</i>
<i>you wanna hear it?</i>

14
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Man: <i>Why, certainly, son.</i>
<i>Go ahead.</i>

15
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Boy: <i>Okay. Well, you see,</i>
<i>there was this priest</i>

16
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<i>and this minister and this...</i>
<i>Wait, what do you call it...</i>

17
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<i>Rabbi, yeah.</i>
<i>And they were in this car and--</i>

18
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Man: <i>Hold it right there, son.</i>
<i>Around this house,</i>

19
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<i>we don't make jokes</i>
<i>about religion, do we?</i>

20
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Boy: <i>Aw, but gee, Dad,</i>
<i>it's a really cute joke.</i>

21
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Man: <i>Don't "Aw, gee" me, son.</i>

22
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<i>You start off with</i>
<i>cute jokes about religion,</i>

23
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<i>and you end up</i>
<i>with atheistic trash</i>

24
00:00:56,431 --> 00:00:58,673
<i>like this December issue</i>
<i>of the</i> National Lampoon.

25
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<i>It makes fun of saints and prayers</i>
<i>and money and all that's sacred.</i>

26
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<i>This issue of the</i> National Lampoon
<i>is foul and repulsive,</i>

27
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<i>and this is where your cute</i>
<i>little jokes will lead you, son.</i>

28
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Boy: <i>Okay, Dad, I'm...</i>
<i>I'm sorry.</i>

29
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Man: <i>That's all right, son,</i>
<i>you're forgiven.</i>

30
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- Man: <i>Oh, and son?</i>
- Boy: <i>Yes, Dad.</i>

31
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Man: <i>You'll be sleeping</i>
<i>with your mother tonight.</i>

32
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<i>It's my turn</i>
<i>with your sister.</i>

33
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<i>?(</i>David Bowie "Jean Genie" plays) ?

34
00:01:47,482 --> 00:01:48,723
Billy Bob Thornton:
<i>I had this sense of humor</i>

35
00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:52,143
that sort of didn't exist
where I grew up.

36
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<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

37
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<i>After reading that first</i>
National Lampoon,

38
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I went, "Wow, that's what
I've been trying to say."

39
00:02:02,581 --> 00:02:04,698
<i>National Lampoon</i>
just meant a lot to me as a kid

40
00:02:04,875 --> 00:02:06,582
<i>because it was</i>
<i>what I wanted to do.</i>

41
00:02:06,752 --> 00:02:09,369
<i>It woke me up to the idea</i>
<i>that this was a job.</i>

42
00:02:09,546 --> 00:02:12,380
Fat, drunk and stupid is
no way to go through life, son.

43
00:02:12,966 --> 00:02:15,458
Judd Apatow: <i>And then you get</i>
<i>all these generations afterwards</i>

44
00:02:15,802 --> 00:02:19,136
of people like me who were
just trying to be those guys.

45
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It was sharp, crystal clear,
and above all funny.

46
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It just blew
the whole shit house up.

47
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<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

48
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The <i>National Lampoon</i> was
defining part of the zeitgeist.

49
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Here was this totally
outrageous voice

50
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that was screaming,
"Here I come."

51
00:02:50,087 --> 00:02:53,296
<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

52
00:02:55,509 --> 00:02:58,547
Breasts... I would try
to seek out the magazine

53
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,258
on the off chance that
there would be some breasts.

54
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<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

55
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Kevin Bacon: <i>The humor was</i>
<i>a little bit above my pay grade.</i>

56
00:03:09,272 --> 00:03:11,138
<i>(</i>chuckling)

57
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Meatloaf: <i>The Lampoons</i>
<i>are very intellectual.</i>

58
00:03:15,195 --> 00:03:16,902
Tennessee Williams
and Arthur Miller

59
00:03:17,072 --> 00:03:19,359
<i>could have been part</i>
<i>of</i> National Lampoon.

60
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We were taking on
the idiocy

61
00:03:23,286 --> 00:03:25,152
<i>of our own generation.</i>

62
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You know, overthrowing the ageist,
racist, sexist,

63
00:03:27,666 --> 00:03:30,249
corporate pig monster
is a full-time job.

64
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They always had
the best parties,

65
00:03:34,339 --> 00:03:37,332
the best drugs,
the smartest people.

66
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We could sell out more,

67
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<i>and the moment</i>
<i>we do sell out totally,</i>

68
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<i>we'll be dead.</i>

69
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<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

70
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There's a time
in everyone's life,

71
00:04:09,541 --> 00:04:12,955
and it's really
between 17 and 22,

72
00:04:13,128 --> 00:04:15,586
when you talk to people
in their middle age,

73
00:04:15,756 --> 00:04:17,713
they always talk
about their high school

74
00:04:17,883 --> 00:04:20,296
or their college experience
as the, quote unquote,

75
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<i>"Best years of their lives."</i>

76
00:04:22,304 --> 00:04:23,795
<i>And I'm thinking, "Well, why?"</i>

77
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And ultimately it's because,
when you're 17, 18,

78
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<i>you were expected to function</i>
<i>as an adult, but you're a baby.</i>

79
00:04:33,565 --> 00:04:34,976
<i>Have you ever gone</i>
<i>to a college campus?</i>

80
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Those kids are babies.

81
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<i>But they're adults,</i>

82
00:04:38,069 --> 00:04:41,483
so there's this wonderful
freedom, sense of adventure.

83
00:04:41,865 --> 00:04:45,108
<i>"We can do anything we want!</i>
<i>We're college students!"</i>

84
00:04:45,452 --> 00:04:47,409
<i>And that's really</i>
<i>how the whole thing started.</i>

85
00:04:47,579 --> 00:04:50,947
<i>?(</i>piano plays) ?

86
00:04:51,124 --> 00:04:54,333
<i>? Fight fiercely, Harvard</i>
<i>fight, fight, fight ?</i>

87
00:04:54,503 --> 00:04:57,211
<i>? Impress them</i>
<i>with our prowess do ?</i>

88
00:04:57,380 --> 00:04:58,461
Meatloaf:
<i>What was it originally,</i>

89
00:04:58,632 --> 00:04:59,964
<i>the</i> Harvard Lampoon, <i>right?</i>

90
00:05:00,133 --> 00:05:01,624
Well, anybody that
mentioned Harvard,

91
00:05:01,802 --> 00:05:03,794
I just went, "Fuck you."

92
00:05:04,179 --> 00:05:06,796
The <i>Harvard Lampoon</i>
was one of those famous things

93
00:05:06,973 --> 00:05:08,384
that nobody has
ever seen a copy of.

94
00:05:08,558 --> 00:05:09,924
<i>? Fight, fight, fight... ?</i>

95
00:05:10,101 --> 00:05:11,217
Mike Reiss:
<i>The</i> Harvard Lampoon <i>is</i>

96
00:05:11,394 --> 00:05:13,181
<i>America's oldest humor magazine</i>

97
00:05:13,355 --> 00:05:16,439
started at Harvard in 1876.

98
00:05:16,608 --> 00:05:18,190
Man: <i>John Updike was an editor,</i>

99
00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,352
<i>and George Plimpton was</i>
<i>an editor.</i>

100
00:05:20,862 --> 00:05:22,478
Well, that's about it,
you know?

101
00:05:22,948 --> 00:05:25,816
Two famous writers
in 125 years.

102
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<i>And we also had Fred Gwynne, the</i>
<i>guy who played Herman Munster.</i>

103
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It goes
off the table after that.

104
00:05:31,706 --> 00:05:35,040
<i>? Fight, fight, fight ?</i>

105
00:05:35,502 --> 00:05:38,210
<i>Harvard Lampoon</i> was just
this extracurricular activity

106
00:05:38,380 --> 00:05:40,042
and was something
you did before you went

107
00:05:40,215 --> 00:05:43,128
<i>into the family law firm</i>
<i>or became a banker.</i>

108
00:05:47,389 --> 00:05:50,848
Doug Kenney and Henry Beard were
in the class after I left Harvard.

109
00:05:51,059 --> 00:05:52,971
<i>They were both incredibly brilliant,</i>

110
00:05:53,144 --> 00:05:56,933
<i>and incredibly funny</i>
<i>and incredibly good friends,</i>

111
00:05:57,107 --> 00:05:58,723
but they weren't the same at all.

112
00:06:04,781 --> 00:06:07,239
Doug Kenney was really the heart
and soul of the <i>Lampoon.</i>

113
00:06:07,409 --> 00:06:10,652
Doug was the, sort of, the complete
social opposite of Henry.

114
00:06:10,829 --> 00:06:13,116
<i>For one thing, he did not come</i>
<i>from an upper-crust family.</i>

115
00:06:13,290 --> 00:06:15,953
Doug's father was
the tennis pro

116
00:06:16,126 --> 00:06:19,244
<i>at a golf club</i>
<i>in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.</i>

117
00:06:19,796 --> 00:06:21,662
Have you ever seen <i>Caddyshack?</i>
That's Doug.

118
00:06:22,424 --> 00:06:23,881
- You take drugs, Danny?
- Every day.

119
00:06:24,050 --> 00:06:25,166
Good.

120
00:06:25,552 --> 00:06:27,009
Tony Hendra:
<i>The very first time I met Doug,</i>

121
00:06:27,178 --> 00:06:29,886
he was talking like
William Makepeace Thackeray.

122
00:06:30,056 --> 00:06:33,390
I mean, he was actually
improvising his prose, right?

123
00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,347
And it was Thackeray,
it wasn't Dickens.

124
00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,684
<i>And about 30,</i>
<i>45 seconds after that,</i>

125
00:06:38,857 --> 00:06:41,816
he was demonstrating that he could
put his entire fist in his mouth.

126
00:06:42,444 --> 00:06:44,060
So this was Doug,
you know?

127
00:06:44,446 --> 00:06:46,654
Sean Kelly:
<i>Doug was a performer.</i>

128
00:06:46,948 --> 00:06:48,405
<i>Doug wanted to be a star.</i>

129
00:06:48,575 --> 00:06:50,407
And he was a smart, funny,

130
00:06:50,577 --> 00:06:52,489
complicated person
who could write.

131
00:06:52,662 --> 00:06:54,403
Now that's, uh, that's rare.

132
00:07:07,886 --> 00:07:09,843
Bruce McCall: <i>Henry was probably</i>
<i>the smartest man I ever met.</i>

133
00:07:10,013 --> 00:07:11,254
He could have been
a nuclear physicist,

134
00:07:11,431 --> 00:07:12,763
he could have been
a Supreme Court judge,

135
00:07:12,933 --> 00:07:13,923
he could have been anything.

136
00:07:14,184 --> 00:07:17,143
Kelly: <i>I remember the first time</i>
<i>Henry met my first wife.</i>

137
00:07:17,312 --> 00:07:20,055
Afterwards she said,
"I've met Holden Caulfield."

138
00:07:21,608 --> 00:07:23,065
Henry Beard: <i>My father</i>
<i>had graduated from Yale,</i>

139
00:07:23,234 --> 00:07:25,476
and as a...
a bit of youthful rebellion,

140
00:07:25,654 --> 00:07:26,986
<i>I decided to go to Harvard.</i>

141
00:07:27,781 --> 00:07:31,024
Henry is about as private
a person as you'll ever find.

142
00:07:31,201 --> 00:07:34,239
<i>He was mysterious and elusive.</i>

143
00:07:34,579 --> 00:07:38,163
The two of them together were
an absolutely amazing team.

144
00:07:38,333 --> 00:07:40,825
When I was at Harvard,
we got a call one day

145
00:07:41,002 --> 00:07:42,493
<i>from Betsy Talbot Blackwell,</i>

146
00:07:42,671 --> 00:07:45,709
who was the editor-in-chief
of <i>Mademoiselle</i> magazine.

147
00:07:48,009 --> 00:07:50,342
<i>She had seen a parody issue</i>

148
00:07:50,512 --> 00:07:52,174
<i>that the</i> Harvard Lampoon
<i>had put out,</i>

149
00:07:52,347 --> 00:07:54,213
<i>and Betsy said,</i>
<i>"You know, maybe I should</i>

150
00:07:54,391 --> 00:07:56,633
<i>ask these guys</i>
<i>to do a parody of us,</i>

151
00:07:56,810 --> 00:07:59,052
and we'll publish it
in our own magazine."

152
00:07:59,479 --> 00:08:03,689
She offered us $7,000 which
seemed like nothing even then,

153
00:08:03,858 --> 00:08:07,602
but what she also offered was
a free subscription ad.

154
00:08:09,781 --> 00:08:12,899
<i>We could do anything we wanted</i>
<i>as long as we put the clothes in</i>

155
00:08:13,243 --> 00:08:15,360
<i>and as long as we showed</i>
<i>the models,</i>

156
00:08:15,537 --> 00:08:18,120
which, of course,
led to a lot of good times.

157
00:08:19,582 --> 00:08:21,574
<i>And as a result of that</i>
<i>parody issue,</i>

158
00:08:21,751 --> 00:08:24,539
<i>we got tens of thousands</i>
<i>of subscriptions right away.</i>

159
00:08:24,963 --> 00:08:26,295
She gave us
a national audience.

160
00:08:28,341 --> 00:08:30,253
<i>The discovery is that,</i>
<i>rather than having</i>

161
00:08:30,427 --> 00:08:34,341
<i>to depend on</i> Mademoiselle <i>to</i>
<i>make our magazines go national...</i>

162
00:08:36,808 --> 00:08:40,518
<i>...the</i> Harvard Lampoon <i>could actually</i>
<i>publish national magazines itself.</i>

163
00:08:40,687 --> 00:08:43,646
They did <i>Time</i> magazine,
and they did <i>Sports Illustrated</i>

164
00:08:43,815 --> 00:08:45,431
<i>and they did</i> Life <i>magazine.</i>

165
00:08:45,608 --> 00:08:48,897
Beard: <i>Doug Kenney and I decided</i>
<i>to do a parody of</i> Lord of the Rings.

166
00:08:49,738 --> 00:08:51,695
We sent a letter to Tolkien,
who, honest to God,

167
00:08:51,865 --> 00:08:54,528
sent a letter back saying, "Yeah
go right ahead, silly book."

168
00:08:54,868 --> 00:08:57,281
I like the <i>Playboy</i> parody
that they did

169
00:08:57,370 --> 00:09:02,115
where the centerfold girl was more
tan around her bottom and top.

170
00:09:02,834 --> 00:09:04,416
She had reversed tan lines.

171
00:09:06,296 --> 00:09:08,037
<i>Playboy</i> was
a big hit nationally,

172
00:09:08,214 --> 00:09:10,752
<i>and Doug and Henry realized</i>
<i>that maybe there was some way</i>

173
00:09:10,925 --> 00:09:13,417
<i>that the</i> National Lampoon
<i>could exist.</i>

174
00:09:16,264 --> 00:09:18,597
Radio Announcer: <i>Uh-uh-uh,</i>
<i>don't touch that dial.</i>

175
00:09:18,767 --> 00:09:20,929
<i>The</i> National Lampoon
<i>will be right back</i>

176
00:09:21,102 --> 00:09:23,219
<i>after this insincere</i>
<i>commercial message</i>

177
00:09:23,396 --> 00:09:25,183
<i>written by some cynical Nazis,</i>

178
00:09:25,356 --> 00:09:28,019
<i>solely for the purpose of</i>
<i>ripping off your parents' money.</i>

179
00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,477
I think if you take yourself
back to when you were

180
00:09:31,654 --> 00:09:35,193
in your 20s, all possibilities
appear open to anybody.

181
00:09:35,366 --> 00:09:38,074
<i>You know, you could</i>
<i>go after anything at any time.</i>

182
00:09:39,871 --> 00:09:42,739
P.J. O'Rourke: <i>Doug and Henry</i>
<i>had gone to New York</i>

183
00:09:42,916 --> 00:09:45,784
in hopes of doing a 50/50 deal
with some publishing group

184
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:47,792
<i>who would put up the money.</i>

185
00:09:48,713 --> 00:09:51,171
See, we met with some guys
from <i>Time</i> and <i>Life.</i>

186
00:09:51,341 --> 00:09:53,628
<i>I can't tell you how</i>
<i>off-putting they were.</i>

187
00:09:53,802 --> 00:09:56,169
<i>Just saying, "Oh, you guys,</i>
<i>you don't understand anything.</i>

188
00:09:56,346 --> 00:09:58,303
<i>You don't have a chance.</i>
<i>You're toast.</i>

189
00:09:58,473 --> 00:09:59,634
<i>You're just not going anywhere."</i>

190
00:10:00,350 --> 00:10:02,842
Doug Kenney was not
very happy about that

191
00:10:03,019 --> 00:10:05,181
<i>and said, "You people are</i>
<i>the kind of people</i>

192
00:10:05,355 --> 00:10:07,597
<i>who commute back and forth</i>
<i>from Westport, Connecticut,</i>

193
00:10:07,774 --> 00:10:08,855
<i>in a station wagon.</i>

194
00:10:09,567 --> 00:10:11,024
We have nothing to do
with you."

195
00:10:11,194 --> 00:10:13,652
I thought, "Holy God",
but he was right!

196
00:10:14,364 --> 00:10:16,777
<i>And that's how we ran</i>
<i>into 21st Century Communications</i>

197
00:10:16,950 --> 00:10:18,191
<i>and Matty Simmons.</i>

198
00:10:18,368 --> 00:10:20,860
Matty Simmons: <i>Doug Kenney,</i>
<i>Henry Beard, and Rob Hoffman,</i>

199
00:10:21,037 --> 00:10:23,074
<i>three</i> Harvard Lampoon <i>editors,</i>

200
00:10:23,248 --> 00:10:26,662
came into my office,
and I was immediately impressed.

201
00:10:30,213 --> 00:10:32,705
Matty belonged
to another generation.

202
00:10:32,882 --> 00:10:35,795
Very much New York,
very much old-school publishing.

203
00:10:35,969 --> 00:10:37,085
Ellis Weiner:
<i>This guy invented</i>

204
00:10:37,262 --> 00:10:39,379
the Diners' Club card,
which was the first credit card.

205
00:10:39,556 --> 00:10:41,422
Janis Hirsch: <i>I think he wished</i>
<i>he was in the Rat Pack.</i>

206
00:10:41,599 --> 00:10:43,431
<i>He, sort of,</i>
<i>always had those bedroom eyes.</i>

207
00:10:43,601 --> 00:10:45,263
You'd be talking to him
about something serious,

208
00:10:45,436 --> 00:10:46,552
and he'd take a phone call and say,

209
00:10:46,729 --> 00:10:49,472
"Oh, yeah, darling, baby,
I love you so much, I love you.

210
00:10:49,649 --> 00:10:51,732
Yeah, broccoli for dinner's fine.
Yeah, thank you, good-bye."

211
00:10:52,652 --> 00:10:55,861
Beard: <i>He was very full of himself,</i>
<i>knew the business inside out.</i>

212
00:10:56,030 --> 00:10:58,488
Distribution in those days was,
you know,

213
00:10:58,658 --> 00:11:00,024
<i>there were some</i>
<i>criminal elements.</i>

214
00:11:00,201 --> 00:11:02,488
<i>Matty wasn't one of them, but he</i>
<i>had to deal with people like that.</i>

215
00:11:05,623 --> 00:11:07,785
O'Rourke:
<i>Magazines in the late '60s</i>

216
00:11:07,959 --> 00:11:10,997
<i>were thought to take about five years</i>
<i>before they got into the black.</i>

217
00:11:11,171 --> 00:11:14,460
<i>Rob intuited that this would</i>
<i>either work or it wouldn't.</i>

218
00:11:14,632 --> 00:11:17,295
<i>So he made a bet</i>
<i>when he negotiated the deal.</i>

219
00:11:17,468 --> 00:11:19,380
<i>He did a forced buyout</i>
<i>after five years.</i>

220
00:11:19,554 --> 00:11:21,341
It was, kind of, a gutsy move.

221
00:11:21,514 --> 00:11:24,097
Simmons:
<i>They owned 25%, I owned 75%.</i>

222
00:11:24,267 --> 00:11:26,680
<i>And part of the deal was,</i>
<i>after five years,</i>

223
00:11:26,811 --> 00:11:28,268
<i>I would buy them out.</i>

224
00:11:28,438 --> 00:11:29,929
If this magazine is successful,

225
00:11:30,106 --> 00:11:33,725
I might owe these guys five,
six million dollars,

226
00:11:33,902 --> 00:11:35,063
<i>but I made the deal.</i>

227
00:11:36,362 --> 00:11:38,399
And we started
<i>National Lampoon.</i>

228
00:11:43,494 --> 00:11:45,360
Their first hire was
Michael O'Donoghue,

229
00:11:45,538 --> 00:11:47,495
and Michael O'Donoghue
was not Harvard,

230
00:11:47,665 --> 00:11:49,452
Michael O'Donoghue was Buffalo.

231
00:11:49,959 --> 00:11:51,700
<i>?(</i>T. Rex "Children of
the Revolution" plays) ?

232
00:11:57,258 --> 00:11:58,920
Boy, was he an angry bunny.

233
00:12:00,929 --> 00:12:05,264
<i>He probably as much as anyone</i>
<i>gave the</i> Lampoon <i>its tone.</i>

234
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:07,967
<i>We're doing this in place</i>
<i>of hitting you in the face.</i>

235
00:12:08,144 --> 00:12:11,433
He had this recipe box,
you know the ones that ladies have

236
00:12:11,606 --> 00:12:13,063
with the recipes in them?

237
00:12:13,233 --> 00:12:15,190
"Oh, baked beans..."

238
00:12:16,069 --> 00:12:20,780
But his recipe box was full of things
like battling buses of World War Il.

239
00:12:20,949 --> 00:12:22,485
He just had
hundreds of these things.

240
00:12:23,701 --> 00:12:24,987
Chris Cerf:
<i>He would take any chance.</i>

241
00:12:25,161 --> 00:12:28,074
<i>Even though we were perfectly</i>
<i>happy to do tasteful things,</i>

242
00:12:28,248 --> 00:12:30,285
he pushed the bounds
even further.

243
00:12:30,458 --> 00:12:32,040
Doug did the dirty stuff,
Henry did the brainy stuff,

244
00:12:32,210 --> 00:12:33,746
<i>and O'Donoghue did</i>
<i>the outrageous stuff,</i>

245
00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:35,206
<i>the really</i>
<i>transgressive stuff.</i>

246
00:12:50,770 --> 00:12:52,727
Tony Hendra was
a British comic

247
00:12:52,897 --> 00:12:55,184
as part of a comedy team
called Ullett and Hendra.

248
00:12:55,358 --> 00:12:58,442
He and his partner Nick Ullett
used to be on <i>The Merv Griffin Show.</i>

249
00:12:58,611 --> 00:13:01,854
When you hear the buzz,
it will be the correct time.

250
00:13:02,365 --> 00:13:03,981
<i>(</i>buzzes)

251
00:13:04,158 --> 00:13:05,740
It is now the correct time.

252
00:13:05,910 --> 00:13:07,026
<i>(</i>audience laughing)

253
00:13:07,203 --> 00:13:09,365
Tony Hendra: <i>Writing for television</i>
<i>was like firing on one cylinder.</i>

254
00:13:09,539 --> 00:13:13,954
Working at the <i>Lampoon</i> was like
firing on all six cylinders.

255
00:13:14,127 --> 00:13:16,335
It was like you could talk about
anything you wanted.

256
00:13:16,504 --> 00:13:18,666
There was absolutely
nothing that was,

257
00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,298
<i>"You can't say that, Tony"</i>
<i>or "That's not funny, Tony."</i>

258
00:13:21,467 --> 00:13:24,130
He had this extraordinarily
educated-at-Cambridge accent

259
00:13:24,304 --> 00:13:26,011
and was very literate
and worldly

260
00:13:26,180 --> 00:13:29,924
and yet behaved like
a delinquent of 12 or 13.

261
00:13:41,029 --> 00:13:43,112
I was a humble Canadian
schoolteacher.

262
00:13:43,281 --> 00:13:46,149
<i>One day, my upstairs neighbor,</i>
<i>Michel Choquette,</i>

263
00:13:46,326 --> 00:13:49,364
<i>came home and told me he was</i>
<i>interested in starting to write</i>

264
00:13:49,537 --> 00:13:51,529
<i>for this</i> National Lampoon
<i>magazine</i>

265
00:13:51,706 --> 00:13:53,197
<i>that was being</i>
<i>started in New York.</i>

266
00:13:53,374 --> 00:13:55,707
<i>I thought, well, maybe I can</i>
<i>come down to New York</i>

267
00:13:55,877 --> 00:13:57,243
<i>and become rich and famous</i>

268
00:13:57,420 --> 00:14:00,128
<i>and get tremendous amounts</i>
<i>of drugs and sex and things.</i>

269
00:14:00,923 --> 00:14:02,414
None of which panned out.

270
00:14:11,059 --> 00:14:13,142
Sean Kelly actually fixed me up

271
00:14:13,269 --> 00:14:15,135
on a blind date
with Michel Choquette.

272
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,814
<i>And then Michel started</i>
<i>taking me to New York with him</i>

273
00:14:18,983 --> 00:14:22,067
<i>because I was, quote unquote,</i>
<i>"Helping him with his work."</i>

274
00:14:23,446 --> 00:14:25,187
<i>I got into comedy the same way</i>

275
00:14:25,365 --> 00:14:27,698
<i>that Catherine the Great</i>
<i>got into politics</i>

276
00:14:28,201 --> 00:14:29,282
on my back.

277
00:14:39,545 --> 00:14:43,038
I was working in a saloon
on the West Side.

278
00:14:43,216 --> 00:14:45,208
<i>One night,</i>
<i>somebody came over to me.</i>

279
00:14:45,385 --> 00:14:47,718
<i>"There's a fellow back there</i>
<i>stealing the ketchup."</i>

280
00:14:47,887 --> 00:14:48,923
<i>And I go after him, and I said,</i>

281
00:14:49,097 --> 00:14:50,463
<i>"Excuse me,</i>
<i>I know what you're doing."</i>

282
00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,677
And then I realize I'm standing
here accusing somebody

283
00:14:52,850 --> 00:14:56,093
of stealing ketchup
from a red rubber bottle.

284
00:14:56,396 --> 00:14:57,887
So this is so sad.

285
00:14:58,398 --> 00:15:00,685
Very shortly thereafter,
Henry offered me a job,

286
00:15:00,858 --> 00:15:02,144
<i>and I gleefully took it.</i>

287
00:15:04,570 --> 00:15:06,562
Doug and Henry had this idea
about bringing in

288
00:15:06,739 --> 00:15:10,653
this very hippyish
art studio called Cloud.

289
00:15:17,291 --> 00:15:20,284
Cloud Studios was
an independent design firm.

290
00:15:21,087 --> 00:15:23,374
That's a generous term to use
for those guys.

291
00:15:23,548 --> 00:15:25,210
Bill Skurski: <i>We were,</i>
<i>quote unquote, "hippie artists"</i>

292
00:15:25,383 --> 00:15:26,715
<i>because we weren't out</i>
<i>to be millionaires.</i>

293
00:15:26,884 --> 00:15:28,671
We were out to do
the things we liked to do.

294
00:15:29,429 --> 00:15:30,419
<i>You know, we were turned on,</i>

295
00:15:30,596 --> 00:15:32,963
<i>and I don't mean by drugs,</i>
<i>I mean by the ideas.</i>

296
00:15:35,226 --> 00:15:38,469
Doug liked to hang with people
like Cloud Studio artists.

297
00:15:38,646 --> 00:15:40,512
He like the fact
that they were kind of freaky

298
00:15:40,690 --> 00:15:43,148
<i>and wore costumes</i>
<i>and had beards.</i>

299
00:15:43,568 --> 00:15:45,355
Michael Sullivan: <i>Doug would</i>
<i>come to parties that we had,</i>

300
00:15:45,528 --> 00:15:48,612
and when Doug wasn't in
the office working,

301
00:15:48,781 --> 00:15:50,738
<i>he was probably high as a kite.</i>

302
00:15:50,908 --> 00:15:53,366
Kelly: <i>Doug wanted to be</i>
<i>a beat or a hippie.</i>

303
00:15:53,536 --> 00:15:56,074
<i>Doug wanted to be trendy</i>
<i>and with it.</i>

304
00:15:56,456 --> 00:16:00,166
I remember Doug asking, "Should I...
Should I be for the Black Panthers?"

305
00:16:00,751 --> 00:16:01,867
And he wasn't kidding.

306
00:16:08,509 --> 00:16:10,922
I saw the first issue, um,
which was terrible.

307
00:16:14,182 --> 00:16:15,389
Sam Gross: <i>They had this duck.</i>

308
00:16:15,558 --> 00:16:19,677
And they were gonna keep
the duck as a logo on the cover

309
00:16:19,854 --> 00:16:21,811
<i>like the</i> Playboy <i>bunny.</i>

310
00:16:21,981 --> 00:16:24,815
I said to Henry,
"Get rid of the duck."

311
00:16:24,984 --> 00:16:26,816
<i>That's not the</i> Playboy <i>bunny</i>
<i>where, you know,</i>

312
00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:30,775
you can put it on a garter,
make it a pasty or whatever.

313
00:16:31,157 --> 00:16:34,195
Everything they did was,
it had to be funny-looking,

314
00:16:34,368 --> 00:16:37,236
<i>which means it was all sort of</i>
<i>squirrely and hippie-like.</i>

315
00:16:40,750 --> 00:16:44,334
The issues were messy,
they were confusing.

316
00:16:44,504 --> 00:16:46,166
<i>It wasn't bringing in</i>
<i>the readers,</i>

317
00:16:46,339 --> 00:16:48,205
<i>and they weren't getting</i>
<i>the sales on the newsstand.</i>

318
00:16:49,050 --> 00:16:51,337
I told them, "We've gotta
replace your art director."

319
00:16:53,679 --> 00:16:56,171
Doug was very upset,
he wanted to keep Cloud,

320
00:16:56,349 --> 00:17:00,218
and he argued with me,
but it was my call, I was the boss.

321
00:17:01,145 --> 00:17:04,479
After we did the first seven issues,
I got a call from Doug Kenney.

322
00:17:04,649 --> 00:17:07,562
<i>He said, "I'm sorry, but you're</i>
<i>no longer the art director."</i>

323
00:17:07,735 --> 00:17:10,193
Great, knock yourself out.

324
00:17:22,583 --> 00:17:25,246
When I brought Michael Gross in,
Doug was kinda hostile.

325
00:17:25,419 --> 00:17:27,661
My first issue when
I walked in the door

326
00:17:27,838 --> 00:17:32,879
was the nostalgia issue,
which was Doug Kenney's baby.

327
00:17:41,727 --> 00:17:44,936
<i>I knew when I was hired,</i>
<i>I was hired against Doug's will.</i>

328
00:17:45,231 --> 00:17:47,268
In the sales pitch that I made,

329
00:17:47,441 --> 00:17:51,776
<i>I referred to an article they'd</i>
<i>done about postage stamps.</i>

330
00:17:51,946 --> 00:17:57,158
<i>I said, "For these stamps to work,</i>
<i>they should look like real stamps."</i>

331
00:18:00,371 --> 00:18:02,658
<i>You should be fooled</i>
<i>when you look at them.</i>

332
00:18:02,832 --> 00:18:06,325
Therefore the parody
is empowered.

333
00:18:06,502 --> 00:18:10,917
And in that little example,
he transformed the magazine.

334
00:18:13,593 --> 00:18:16,301
After that, Doug came
into my office and said,

335
00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:18,052
<i>"You were right about this guy."</i>

336
00:18:18,764 --> 00:18:21,802
As soon as Michael came aboard,
the <i>Lampoon</i> began to look great.

337
00:18:22,226 --> 00:18:25,060
<i>?(</i>King Floyd's "Groove Me" plays) ?

338
00:18:39,535 --> 00:18:41,948
Cerf: <i>And what the</i> Lampoon
<i>began to be able to do</i>

339
00:18:42,121 --> 00:18:45,034
was to create anything
in any format,

340
00:18:45,207 --> 00:18:47,415
<i>so that it looked like the original.</i>

341
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:01,546
Michael O'Donoghue: <i>You know,</i>
<i>Ed Sullivan, we kid him a lot,</i>

342
00:19:01,724 --> 00:19:04,137
<i>but Ed Sullivan is one of</i>
<i>the greats of this business,</i>

343
00:19:04,310 --> 00:19:06,222
<i>and I had a funny thought.</i>

344
00:19:06,604 --> 00:19:12,020
<i>What if Ed Sullivan were tortured,</i>
<i>and when I say tortured,</i>

345
00:19:12,193 --> 00:19:14,936
<i>what I mean is,</i>
<i>what if steel needles,</i>

346
00:19:15,112 --> 00:19:18,446
<i>say six inches long,</i>
<i>were plunged into Ed's eyes?</i>

347
00:19:18,616 --> 00:19:21,233
<i>I... I think it would go</i>
<i>something like this...</i>

348
00:19:21,410 --> 00:19:25,825
<i>(</i>continuous screaming)

349
00:19:31,337 --> 00:19:34,125
You could walk into
the <i>Lampoon</i> editorial office

350
00:19:34,298 --> 00:19:35,880
<i>and get high just walking in.</i>

351
00:19:36,342 --> 00:19:38,709
<i>But as long as it stayed</i>
<i>in the editorial office,</i>

352
00:19:38,886 --> 00:19:41,094
and as long as they were doing
the terrific work

353
00:19:41,263 --> 00:19:43,971
they were doing,
I didn't tell them what to do.

354
00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:48,347
In the course of a given day,
it was understood

355
00:19:48,521 --> 00:19:52,606
that the day didn't end
when the office day ended.

356
00:19:52,775 --> 00:19:55,142
Beatts: <i>They would have these</i>
<i>dinner meetings in, like,</i>

357
00:19:55,319 --> 00:19:57,151
some of the worst restaurants
in New York.

358
00:19:57,321 --> 00:19:59,529
Brian McConnachie: <i>There was</i>
<i>a saloon called The Green Man.</i>

359
00:19:59,699 --> 00:20:04,034
It was hot,
it smelled of cat stink.

360
00:20:04,203 --> 00:20:07,241
And they would sit around a table
and drink tons and tons of beer.

361
00:20:07,415 --> 00:20:09,407
This would be paid for
by Henry or Doug.

362
00:20:09,583 --> 00:20:11,825
<i>They would whip out their</i>
<i>company American Express card</i>

363
00:20:12,002 --> 00:20:13,243
<i>and pay for dinner.</i>

364
00:20:13,421 --> 00:20:15,413
That's when we made up
the next issue.

365
00:20:15,589 --> 00:20:19,924
You had to either get Doug or Henry
to react positively to your idea.

366
00:20:20,511 --> 00:20:22,127
Ed Subitzky: <i>The ideas would</i>
<i>come out very rapid fire.</i>

367
00:20:22,304 --> 00:20:23,385
<i>"How did he think of that?"</i>
<i>And then...</i>

368
00:20:23,556 --> 00:20:24,797
"How did he think of that?"

369
00:20:25,015 --> 00:20:26,381
<i>"How did he think of that?"</i>

370
00:20:29,103 --> 00:20:30,969
We all do it the same way,
you get drunk,

371
00:20:31,397 --> 00:20:33,639
<i>you go home,</i>
<i>you get up in the morning,</i>

372
00:20:33,816 --> 00:20:35,023
<i>and you write the piece.</i>

373
00:20:35,317 --> 00:20:37,730
Gross: <i>Doug was who</i>
<i>you went to really see</i>

374
00:20:37,903 --> 00:20:41,192
<i>if you had some wild and wacky</i>
<i>brilliant but funny idea.</i>

375
00:20:41,741 --> 00:20:44,154
Doug would go,
"I gotcha, you're in."

376
00:20:44,326 --> 00:20:45,567
Beard: <i>I mean,</i>
<i>he was a workaholic.</i>

377
00:20:45,745 --> 00:20:47,737
<i>I mean,</i>
<i>he was unbelievably productive.</i>

378
00:20:47,913 --> 00:20:50,576
Like, he wrote
the Letters column every month.

379
00:20:50,750 --> 00:20:53,163
<i>I mean, that's like 2200</i>
<i>very funny words of letters</i>

380
00:20:53,335 --> 00:20:54,826
<i>in, like,</i>
<i>an hour and a half.</i>

381
00:20:55,004 --> 00:20:57,212
I mean, every single time
there was something

382
00:20:57,381 --> 00:21:00,169
that had to be done,
he really was focused on it.

383
00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:02,422
Shary Flenniken:
<i>Doug was valuable in that sense.</i>

384
00:21:02,595 --> 00:21:05,258
<i>Because he would</i>
<i>stimulate your ideas.</i>

385
00:21:05,431 --> 00:21:08,219
So I don't think that there
really was anyone else

386
00:21:08,350 --> 00:21:10,763
<i>who could inspire</i>
<i>other people like Doug.</i>

387
00:21:11,103 --> 00:21:13,060
People would come
to Henry with ideas,

388
00:21:13,230 --> 00:21:14,687
and Henry would say,

389
00:21:15,191 --> 00:21:16,682
<i>"Tempting, tempting."</i>

390
00:21:16,859 --> 00:21:20,443
Whatever idea you pitched him,
he would say, "Tempting, tempting."

391
00:21:20,613 --> 00:21:22,650
"Tempting" meant that

392
00:21:22,782 --> 00:21:25,024
that is so awful,
it really blows chunks.

393
00:21:25,409 --> 00:21:28,743
Or, I'm about to have
an intellectual orgasm, it's so good.

394
00:21:29,497 --> 00:21:31,614
Subitzky: <i>Somehow Henry Beard</i>
<i>would take this ragtag</i>

395
00:21:31,791 --> 00:21:34,408
bunch of material and different
types of personalities

396
00:21:34,585 --> 00:21:36,326
and brilliantly
merge it together

397
00:21:36,504 --> 00:21:38,962
to make a magazine that was
surprisingly coherent.

398
00:21:39,131 --> 00:21:41,339
<i>?(</i>Dave Mason
"Only You Know & I Know" plays) ?

399
00:21:53,062 --> 00:21:56,555
Beard: <i>It was like we had</i>
<i>an attic full of culture</i>

400
00:21:57,233 --> 00:22:01,773
that had been accumulating
from 1945 to 1970.

401
00:22:02,029 --> 00:22:05,648
And we opened the trap door,
and nobody had been up there,

402
00:22:06,408 --> 00:22:08,400
<i>and we just basically looted it.</i>

403
00:22:10,538 --> 00:22:12,780
Kelly: <i>Michael O'Donoghue's</i>
Vietnamese Baby Book

404
00:22:12,957 --> 00:22:15,665
was an extraordinary
piece of satire.

405
00:22:15,835 --> 00:22:19,545
It was a baby book, but it was
designed to be for a Vietnamese baby,

406
00:22:19,713 --> 00:22:22,751
<i>and so it had things in it like</i>
<i>"Baby's First Wound."</i>

407
00:22:24,510 --> 00:22:26,046
<i>(</i>laughing)

408
00:22:29,098 --> 00:22:31,340
Simmons:
<i>It was incredibly dark,</i>

409
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,059
extremely political,
and it was funny.

410
00:22:36,981 --> 00:22:39,189
Michel Choquette came to me
with an idea.

411
00:22:39,358 --> 00:22:42,647
<i>He had run into a guy who looked</i>
<i>just like Adolf Hitler.</i>

412
00:22:43,195 --> 00:22:46,359
Flenniken: <i>The piece was called</i>
Stranger in Paradise

413
00:22:46,699 --> 00:22:50,909
which was about Adolf Hitler
really survived World War Two

414
00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:55,160
<i>and was living on a tropical island</i>
<i>somewhere in the Caribbean.</i>

415
00:22:56,584 --> 00:22:58,997
Simmons: I gave him a budget,
and ten days later

416
00:22:59,128 --> 00:23:00,619
I got a telegram,
it said,

417
00:23:00,838 --> 00:23:04,002
<i>"Hitler eating too much,</i>
<i>need more money."</i>

418
00:23:04,174 --> 00:23:08,088
I said, "Stop feeding Hitler
and return to New York immediately."

419
00:23:08,262 --> 00:23:09,673
<i>And it was a brilliant article,</i>

420
00:23:09,847 --> 00:23:13,011
which we resold to almost
every foreign country.

421
00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:18,808
Doug Kenney came up with
the photo funnies concept.

422
00:23:18,981 --> 00:23:23,726
<i>Doug insisted that they be us</i>
<i>and some girls we brought in.</i>

423
00:23:23,903 --> 00:23:26,737
I was so opposed.
"Guys, we're a real magazine.

424
00:23:26,906 --> 00:23:29,489
We don't need to take Polaroid's
in a fuckin' office."

425
00:23:30,242 --> 00:23:33,485
<i>I was so wrong,</i>
<i>because what Doug recognized</i>

426
00:23:33,662 --> 00:23:37,076
<i>is the audience identified with us.</i>

427
00:23:37,875 --> 00:23:40,458
They went, "These are, like,
a bunch of jerk-offs like me."

428
00:23:40,628 --> 00:23:42,711
Like, "You and me,
Bernie, look!"

429
00:23:43,547 --> 00:23:46,005
<i>That's Doug Kenney's genius.</i>

430
00:23:47,134 --> 00:23:50,377
They did probably one of the greatest
magazine covers ever done.

431
00:23:50,554 --> 00:23:53,297
Beard: <i>Ed Bluestone came</i>
<i>to the office, and he said,</i>

432
00:23:53,474 --> 00:23:54,965
<i>"You're gonna get a dog,</i>

433
00:23:55,142 --> 00:23:56,678
<i>gonna put a pistol to its head,</i>
<i>and you're gonna say</i>

434
00:23:56,852 --> 00:23:58,935
<i>'If you don't buy this magazine,</i>
<i>we'll kill this dog. '"</i>

435
00:23:59,104 --> 00:24:01,016
I said, "Ed, that's the most
brilliant thing I've ever heard."

436
00:24:01,899 --> 00:24:04,186
Gross:
<i>It was a huge, huge hit</i>

437
00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:08,695
because it's what every magazine
publisher wanted to do.

438
00:24:08,864 --> 00:24:11,277
All they want to say is,
"Buy the fucking magazine!"

439
00:24:19,249 --> 00:24:22,037
We realized that artists,
well-known established artists,

440
00:24:22,211 --> 00:24:25,579
people like Arnold Roth,
the great cartoonist Gahan Wilson,

441
00:24:27,049 --> 00:24:28,290
<i>Sam Gross.</i>

442
00:24:32,054 --> 00:24:34,171
<i>Charlotte Rodriguez is</i>
<i>just a wonderful illustrator.</i>

443
00:24:34,348 --> 00:24:35,634
<i>Neal Adams.</i>

444
00:24:35,808 --> 00:24:40,098
They all had to have
drawers full of wonderful stuff

445
00:24:40,270 --> 00:24:43,684
<i>that had been rejected by</i>
<i>more traditional publications</i>

446
00:24:43,857 --> 00:24:45,564
that weren't rejected because
they weren't funny or good,

447
00:24:45,734 --> 00:24:47,316
they were rejected because
they were a little too raunchy,

448
00:24:47,486 --> 00:24:49,318
so we knew we were
that outlet.

449
00:24:49,488 --> 00:24:51,400
It didn't matter
how strange your work was.

450
00:24:51,573 --> 00:24:54,657
<i>It didn't matter if your work</i>
<i>was anti-republican,</i>

451
00:24:54,868 --> 00:24:56,734
<i>anti-democrat,</i>
<i>anti-the-universe,</i>

452
00:24:56,912 --> 00:24:58,869
whatever it was,
you could bring it into them,

453
00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:00,746
and they would not touch it.

454
00:25:01,166 --> 00:25:02,623
And that's one great thing
about the <i>Lampoon.</i>

455
00:25:02,793 --> 00:25:04,625
<i>Never before and never</i>
<i>since had that kind of freedom.</i>

456
00:25:04,795 --> 00:25:06,411
Gross:
<i>If you were smart and funny,</i>

457
00:25:06,588 --> 00:25:10,207
<i>you walked into Henry Beard's office</i>
<i>or Doug Kenney's office,</i>

458
00:25:10,384 --> 00:25:12,341
"Hello, can I come
show you some stuff?"

459
00:25:12,469 --> 00:25:14,882
He goes like this, he goes,
"Brilliant, thank you, you're hired.

460
00:25:15,055 --> 00:25:17,718
<i>We don't pay much,</i>
<i>but we're not gonna edit you.</i>

461
00:25:17,891 --> 00:25:19,257
<i>We're not going to change you.</i>

462
00:25:19,435 --> 00:25:21,848
We're gonna let you be
what you want to be."

463
00:25:28,235 --> 00:25:29,567
We had one problem.

464
00:25:30,195 --> 00:25:31,652
<i>It was losing a lot of money.</i>

465
00:25:33,157 --> 00:25:34,648
Because we couldn't get advertising.

466
00:25:37,411 --> 00:25:39,403
Jerry Taylor: <i>They sold little,</i>
<i>teeny mail order ads.</i>

467
00:25:43,792 --> 00:25:48,708
They needed a pro to come in,
make it bigger, more legitimate.

468
00:25:50,716 --> 00:25:52,878
Danny Abelson: <i>Jerry Taylor was</i>
<i>an extraordinarily successful</i>

469
00:25:53,052 --> 00:25:54,918
and, sort of,
charismatic ad guy.

470
00:25:55,345 --> 00:25:57,428
Bill Lippe: <i>We had a difficult</i>
<i>time getting appointments</i>

471
00:25:57,598 --> 00:25:59,339
with advertising prospects.

472
00:25:59,641 --> 00:26:02,429
Taylor: <i>It was always hard</i>
<i>to be taken seriously,</i>

473
00:26:03,103 --> 00:26:04,969
so I had a dress code.

474
00:26:05,564 --> 00:26:08,477
<i>Three piece suit,</i>
<i>white shirt, vest, tie.</i>

475
00:26:08,650 --> 00:26:11,108
We walked in looking exactly
like the guys from <i>Time Inc.</i>

476
00:26:12,112 --> 00:26:15,822
But still nothing,
zero, nothing mattered.

477
00:26:16,408 --> 00:26:21,324
It was almost like they would
vomit up this hostility on the desk.

478
00:26:22,081 --> 00:26:24,289
<i>And I would say,</i>
<i>"Okay, that's cool.</i>

479
00:26:24,458 --> 00:26:25,744
You don't have to buy
a subscription,

480
00:26:25,918 --> 00:26:28,661
but now let me tell you
why I think our audience

481
00:26:28,837 --> 00:26:31,545
<i>is a great target for</i>
<i>your product."</i>

482
00:26:32,049 --> 00:26:36,384
<i>Our readership drank more than</i>
<i>the average adult.</i>

483
00:26:36,553 --> 00:26:39,136
And the first liquor
advertisement that we had

484
00:26:39,306 --> 00:26:40,717
at the magazine was
Jose Cuervo,

485
00:26:40,891 --> 00:26:42,723
<i>and it made other people,</i>
<i>"Oh, wow,</i>

486
00:26:42,893 --> 00:26:44,885
<i>they got a liquor advertisement</i>
<i>in the</i> Lampoon."

487
00:26:45,062 --> 00:26:46,724
And then
the snowball started.

488
00:26:46,980 --> 00:26:49,267
<i>?(</i>King Floyd's "Groove Me" plays) ?

489
00:27:01,453 --> 00:27:03,365
Taylor: <i>I had a slogan,</i>
"National Lampoon.

490
00:27:03,747 --> 00:27:06,330
There's nothing funny about
the way it sells."

491
00:27:16,009 --> 00:27:19,002
Tell me about <i>National Lampoon.</i>
Why do you think it's so popular?

492
00:27:19,179 --> 00:27:21,011
Well, I think they're very witty.

493
00:27:21,181 --> 00:27:24,015
Yes, they're very witty,
but they are designed

494
00:27:24,184 --> 00:27:26,471
to please and flatter

495
00:27:26,645 --> 00:27:31,060
a particular audience of
fairly well-to-do nobodies

496
00:27:31,275 --> 00:27:33,141
who can afford
to be nobodies.

497
00:27:33,318 --> 00:27:38,484
<i>?(</i>Pacific Gas & Electric
"Are You Ready?" plays) ?

498
00:27:49,376 --> 00:27:52,119
I honestly think that
the <i>National Lampoon</i>

499
00:27:52,296 --> 00:27:54,663
is the most entertaining
magazine I have ever read.

500
00:27:54,756 --> 00:27:56,748
It's often the only
magazine that a lot of

501
00:27:56,925 --> 00:28:00,214
younger, hip people
today, uh, read.

502
00:28:00,387 --> 00:28:04,051
And why that is,
is I think they trust us.

503
00:28:04,224 --> 00:28:06,432
<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

504
00:28:06,602 --> 00:28:08,218
It looks really good,
it's funny to look at.

505
00:28:08,395 --> 00:28:11,103
It's weird to look at.
And if you read the printed stuff,

506
00:28:11,273 --> 00:28:12,764
if you look at things
that aren't the pictures,

507
00:28:12,941 --> 00:28:14,648
occasionally you find
something really good

508
00:28:14,818 --> 00:28:17,185
which you don't find anywhere
else in the written humor form.

509
00:28:17,529 --> 00:28:19,361
There was a lot
of bad stuff going on.

510
00:28:20,699 --> 00:28:22,315
Christopher Buckley: <i>We'd just</i>
<i>come out of the sixties.</i>

511
00:28:22,492 --> 00:28:25,485
<i>We had the assassinations,</i>
<i>Vietnam, now we had Watergate.</i>

512
00:28:25,662 --> 00:28:32,375
So it was a perfect storm moment
of brilliant comic sensibilities

513
00:28:32,669 --> 00:28:35,662
hitting the culture
in a crisis point.

514
00:28:37,257 --> 00:28:39,874
Thornton: <i>It was actually</i>
<i>the first time that I realized</i>

515
00:28:40,052 --> 00:28:42,669
that, through humor,
you can tell the truth.

516
00:28:48,852 --> 00:28:50,514
Apatow:
<i>In a mass media way,</i>

517
00:28:50,687 --> 00:28:52,679
<i>this kind of comedy didn't</i>
<i>exist before then.</i>

518
00:28:52,856 --> 00:28:54,347
People weren't that frank

519
00:28:54,524 --> 00:28:58,063
and didn't attack the
establishment comedically.

520
00:28:58,237 --> 00:28:59,569
Beard: <i>We're basically</i>
<i>a humor magazine,</i>

521
00:28:59,738 --> 00:29:01,274
<i>and we publish things</i>
<i>we consider to be funny.</i>

522
00:29:01,448 --> 00:29:03,485
It's just impossible to put out
this kind of a publication

523
00:29:03,659 --> 00:29:08,279
and be, uh, completely unwilling
to do something offensive.

524
00:29:08,455 --> 00:29:09,912
I think it's sometimes conscious

525
00:29:10,082 --> 00:29:12,540
and sometimes just instinctive
that we push things

526
00:29:12,709 --> 00:29:14,621
<i>as far as they possibly</i>
<i>can be pushed.</i>

527
00:29:14,795 --> 00:29:15,911
I've always had a bad attitude.

528
00:29:16,088 --> 00:29:17,078
Interviewer: Always?

529
00:29:17,256 --> 00:29:19,418
I'm earning a living off
a bad attitude right now.

530
00:29:19,591 --> 00:29:20,923
Teachers always said
it would get me in trouble,

531
00:29:21,051 --> 00:29:22,383
but it's great,
it's working for me.

532
00:29:26,598 --> 00:29:28,555
In those days,
magazines were a bigger deal.

533
00:29:29,977 --> 00:29:34,438
People very much defined themselves
by the magazines they read.

534
00:29:38,110 --> 00:29:39,476
Simmons:
<i>It was the most popular magazine</i>

535
00:29:39,653 --> 00:29:41,394
<i>on college campuses in America</i>

536
00:29:41,571 --> 00:29:44,063
<i>and was the second</i>
<i>most popular magazine</i>

537
00:29:44,241 --> 00:29:47,860
on newsstands in America,
second only to <i>Cosmopolitan.</i>

538
00:29:50,622 --> 00:29:53,205
The biggest circulation
we ever had was a million.

539
00:29:53,375 --> 00:29:57,164
<i>We had a pass along</i>
<i>of maybe 12 or 15.</i>

540
00:29:57,587 --> 00:30:01,922
<i>So we probably had</i>
<i>12 million readers.</i>

541
00:30:02,092 --> 00:30:03,799
I mean, it was huge.

542
00:30:03,969 --> 00:30:05,926
It's our unerring charm
that makes our readers

543
00:30:06,096 --> 00:30:07,553
swallow it
month after month.

544
00:30:07,723 --> 00:30:09,885
And frankly, that's what
it's all about, isn't it?

545
00:30:10,976 --> 00:30:13,719
Suddenly Doug Kenney disappeared.

546
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,604
When Doug left or disappeared,

547
00:30:20,235 --> 00:30:22,693
it was...
It was a crisis.

548
00:30:22,863 --> 00:30:24,855
One Sunday morning
I came downstairs,

549
00:30:25,032 --> 00:30:26,739
and there was a note
in the kitchen, and it said,

550
00:30:26,908 --> 00:30:28,774
"Henry, I'm gonzo.

551
00:30:28,952 --> 00:30:30,989
I'm out of here, I'm gone,
I'm finished, I'm done."

552
00:30:31,621 --> 00:30:32,611
And he was gone.

553
00:30:40,172 --> 00:30:43,586
Radio Announcer: <i>And now the</i>
<i>final question, for $25,000.</i>

554
00:30:43,717 --> 00:30:45,754
<i>Name four famous Mickeys.</i>

555
00:30:47,304 --> 00:30:49,887
Man: <i>Uh, Mickey Mouse.</i>

556
00:30:50,390 --> 00:30:51,722
Radio Announcer:
<i>That's number one.</i>

557
00:30:51,892 --> 00:30:53,133
Man: <i>Mickey, Mickey Mantle.</i>

558
00:30:53,602 --> 00:30:54,843
Radio Announcer: <i>Number two.</i>

559
00:30:55,771 --> 00:30:58,684
Man: <i>Uh, Mickey Rooney.</i>

560
00:30:58,774 --> 00:30:59,890
Radio Announcer:
<i>That's number three.</i>

561
00:31:00,025 --> 00:31:02,358
<i>Only one more,</i>
<i>and you win $25,000.</i>

562
00:31:04,029 --> 00:31:05,190
Man: <i>Mickey Way.</i>

563
00:31:06,740 --> 00:31:07,901
Radio Announcer: <i>Mickey Way?</i>

564
00:31:08,825 --> 00:31:10,316
Man: <i>The candy bar,</i>
<i>they'll take that, won't they?</i>

565
00:31:10,494 --> 00:31:12,656
<i>- The judges will take that?</i>
<i>- (</i>buzzer sounding)

566
00:31:13,413 --> 00:31:16,906
Because I had had a previous career
as half of a comedy team,

567
00:31:17,084 --> 00:31:20,543
I had experience in how to write
and put together an album.

568
00:31:20,712 --> 00:31:24,296
And I was paired with O'Donoghue,
who wanted to do this album,

569
00:31:24,466 --> 00:31:26,708
so that's how
<i>Radio Dinner</i> came to be.

570
00:31:27,511 --> 00:31:30,595
Kelly: <i>But the album itself was</i>
<i>very much Michael O'Donoghue.</i>

571
00:31:30,972 --> 00:31:33,589
So Michael would say, "TV dinner?
What about radio dinner?"

572
00:31:33,767 --> 00:31:36,305
And then he'd go, "Yes," and
he'd write down <i>Radio Dinner.</i>

573
00:31:36,478 --> 00:31:38,185
And a year later
when someone said,

574
00:31:38,355 --> 00:31:39,846
"Let's do an album,"
he'd go...

575
00:31:40,857 --> 00:31:42,223
"Let's call it <i>Radio Dinner."</i>

576
00:31:43,235 --> 00:31:45,727
Cerf: <i>Still one of my favorites</i>
<i>was a parody song</i>

577
00:31:45,904 --> 00:31:47,861
<i>that Michael O'Donoghue</i>
<i>and I wrote</i>

578
00:31:48,031 --> 00:31:49,897
and that Tony Hendra
ended up performing,

579
00:31:50,075 --> 00:31:51,532
brilliantly, I might add.

580
00:31:51,785 --> 00:31:53,401
<i>? I resent performing</i>
<i>for you fuckers ?</i>

581
00:31:53,578 --> 00:31:54,864
<i>? Tell me,</i>
<i>what do you know? ?</i>

582
00:31:55,038 --> 00:31:56,654
<i>? A lot of faggot</i>
<i>middle class kids ?</i>

583
00:31:56,832 --> 00:31:58,414
<i>? Wearing long hair</i>
<i>and trendy clothes ?</i>

584
00:31:58,583 --> 00:32:00,119
<i>? I don't owe you fuckers</i>
<i>anything ?</i>

585
00:32:00,293 --> 00:32:02,706
<i>? And all I've got</i>
<i>to say is fuck you... ?</i>

586
00:32:02,879 --> 00:32:04,211
Cerf:
<i>It was right after John Lennon</i>

587
00:32:04,381 --> 00:32:06,498
<i>had an interview in</i> Rolling Stone,

588
00:32:06,675 --> 00:32:10,544
and we had the idea that if you just
put in an occasional rhyme...

589
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,633
<i>? The sky is blue... ?</i>

590
00:32:13,974 --> 00:32:16,261
You could set the whole
interview to music.

591
00:32:16,435 --> 00:32:18,051
<i>? George said</i>
<i>she gave off evil vibes ?</i>

592
00:32:18,228 --> 00:32:20,311
<i>? I should have beat the fucking</i>
<i>shit right out of him ?</i>

593
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,520
<i>? Him with his</i>
<i>fucking Hare Krishna ?</i>

594
00:32:26,862 --> 00:32:28,694
Hendra: <i>The album was actually</i>
<i>a great success.</i>

595
00:32:28,864 --> 00:32:30,321
<i>It got a tremendous amount</i>
<i>of airplay.</i>

596
00:32:30,490 --> 00:32:31,981
It was also
nominated for a Grammy,

597
00:32:32,159 --> 00:32:33,240
which was pretty good,
first time out.

598
00:32:33,743 --> 00:32:37,111
<i>It showed that we could more</i>
<i>than simply put out a magazine.</i>

599
00:32:39,958 --> 00:32:41,870
The truth is,
Doug carried the magazine.

600
00:32:42,043 --> 00:32:45,582
If I wrote a hundred words,
he wrote a thousand, every month.

601
00:32:45,755 --> 00:32:48,247
People hadn't really expected
that he would disappear,

602
00:32:48,425 --> 00:32:50,712
but Doug was
not a stable person.

603
00:32:51,011 --> 00:32:52,252
Beard:
<i>He had an older brother</i>

604
00:32:52,387 --> 00:32:54,049
<i>who was the preferred son,</i>
<i>the favorite son,</i>

605
00:32:54,514 --> 00:32:56,972
and his older brother
died at an early age,

606
00:32:57,142 --> 00:32:58,849
<i>and it was a great loss</i>
<i>to his parents,</i>

607
00:32:59,019 --> 00:33:01,477
and his parents, kind of,
treated Doug as the...

608
00:33:01,646 --> 00:33:03,979
As the "Well, I guess
that's all we've got left."

609
00:33:04,357 --> 00:33:07,145
<i>It probably did have</i>
<i>some emotional impact on him.</i>

610
00:33:07,444 --> 00:33:09,902
Gross: <i>And basically what happened</i>
<i>is he had a nervous breakdown.</i>

611
00:33:10,071 --> 00:33:12,279
And he just couldn't
take it anymore.

612
00:33:12,574 --> 00:33:13,940
John Weidman:
<i>He needed a break.</i>

613
00:33:14,117 --> 00:33:16,905
He was having sort of
a mid-life crisis

614
00:33:17,078 --> 00:33:18,444
at the age of 24, whatever.

615
00:33:18,580 --> 00:33:20,071
He was trying
to figure himself out,

616
00:33:20,290 --> 00:33:22,998
<i>and he picked up and moved</i>
<i>to Martha's Vineyard.</i>

617
00:33:24,085 --> 00:33:26,418
I think he wanted to try
something else before 30.

618
00:33:26,630 --> 00:33:28,246
<i>He's got to do something new.</i>

619
00:33:28,423 --> 00:33:31,257
Hendra: <i>He wanted to write</i>
<i>Teenage Commies from Outer Space.</i>

620
00:33:31,426 --> 00:33:34,260
<i>I went up to Martha's Vineyard</i>
<i>to actually see Doug.</i>

621
00:33:34,429 --> 00:33:38,890
My idea was to take stuff
and develop from the magazine

622
00:33:39,059 --> 00:33:41,472
<i>and then put it on stage,</i>
<i>and then Matty said</i>

623
00:33:41,645 --> 00:33:42,806
<i>it needed Doug's touch.</i>

624
00:33:42,979 --> 00:33:44,140
<i>He looked completely wasted.</i>

625
00:33:44,314 --> 00:33:47,227
<i>He'd obviously been</i>
<i>dropping acid and eating very little.</i>

626
00:33:48,068 --> 00:33:50,401
He wanted to go for a walk
'cause he had something to show me.

627
00:33:50,570 --> 00:33:52,812
And we walked out to where
there's this peculiar,

628
00:33:52,989 --> 00:33:55,276
<i>kind of, mud which runs</i>
<i>right down to the sea.</i>

629
00:33:55,450 --> 00:33:58,193
And he said
it was really groovy,

630
00:33:58,370 --> 00:34:01,989
really groovy in the summer
to slather yourself with this stuff

631
00:34:02,123 --> 00:34:03,204
<i>and just lie in the sun.</i>

632
00:34:04,834 --> 00:34:06,541
<i>So I had pitched my idea,</i>

633
00:34:06,711 --> 00:34:08,794
and he said,
"No, man, I can't do that.

634
00:34:08,964 --> 00:34:10,421
I'm too deep into my novel."

635
00:34:10,590 --> 00:34:13,333
And it turned he'd written
one and a half chapters.

636
00:34:17,180 --> 00:34:19,638
<i>? Aah... ?</i>

637
00:34:23,395 --> 00:34:26,763
The first album did so well,
we've got to do another album.

638
00:34:26,940 --> 00:34:29,478
<i>Wouldn't it be fun</i>
<i>to parody Woodstock?</i>

639
00:34:29,651 --> 00:34:32,314
We were going to do
a three night show, record it,

640
00:34:32,487 --> 00:34:35,070
edit it, and that would be
the second album.

641
00:34:35,824 --> 00:34:38,157
But it got out of hand.

642
00:34:38,326 --> 00:34:39,658
<i>?(</i>rock music plays) ?

643
00:34:39,828 --> 00:34:42,696
<i>? We are Lemmings! ?</i>

644
00:34:42,872 --> 00:34:46,456
<i>?(</i>guitar riff plays) ?

645
00:34:46,626 --> 00:34:49,494
We needed a cast of
people who could be very funny

646
00:34:49,671 --> 00:34:51,833
and could play an instrument

647
00:34:52,007 --> 00:34:54,750
or, at the very least,
sing extremely well.

648
00:34:54,926 --> 00:34:56,462
Simmons: <i>Tony Hendra called me</i>
<i>one night, and he said,</i>

649
00:34:56,636 --> 00:34:59,128
<i>"There's a guy here</i>
<i>at Second City in Chicago,</i>

650
00:34:59,306 --> 00:35:02,674
and he's the funniest actor
I've ever seen in my life.

651
00:35:02,851 --> 00:35:03,887
He's incredible."

652
00:35:04,060 --> 00:35:05,471
<i>So I said,</i>
<i>"Bring him to New York."</i>

653
00:35:08,064 --> 00:35:09,555
John Belushi: <i>Can I have</i>
<i>your attention please?</i>

654
00:35:09,733 --> 00:35:12,692
The theme of Lemmings
Woodshuck Festival

655
00:35:12,861 --> 00:35:15,945
was that everyone's
come together to off themself.

656
00:35:16,114 --> 00:35:19,607
<i>Lemmings are animals that commit</i>
<i>suicide by going over cliffs.</i>

657
00:35:20,869 --> 00:35:23,703
<i>So they were giving advice on how</i>
<i>they might do this along the way</i>

658
00:35:23,872 --> 00:35:25,613
<i>by the announcer,</i>
<i>who was John.</i>

659
00:35:25,790 --> 00:35:28,282
<i>(</i>applause)

660
00:35:28,460 --> 00:35:30,793
Now we all know
why we came here.

661
00:35:31,755 --> 00:35:33,291
A million of us,

662
00:35:33,923 --> 00:35:35,880
we came here to off ourselves.

663
00:35:36,051 --> 00:35:38,759
He made the character into this,
kind of,

664
00:35:38,928 --> 00:35:43,172
manically agreeable
murderous lunatic.

665
00:35:43,350 --> 00:35:45,137
If your buddy is too stoned
to off himself,

666
00:35:45,310 --> 00:35:46,676
do him a favor.

667
00:35:46,853 --> 00:35:48,810
Roll him up
in his sleeping bag

668
00:35:48,980 --> 00:35:51,814
and drag him over to where
the tractors can run him down.

669
00:35:54,235 --> 00:35:58,149
Chris Guest did a James Taylor
that was genius.

670
00:35:58,323 --> 00:36:00,235
<i>? Farewell,</i>
<i>New York City ?</i>

671
00:36:00,408 --> 00:36:03,776
<i>? With your streets that</i>
<i>flash like strobes ?</i>

672
00:36:04,245 --> 00:36:06,487
<i>? Farewell, Carolina ?</i>

673
00:36:06,748 --> 00:36:09,786
<i>? Where I left</i>
<i>my frontal lobes ?</i>

674
00:36:09,959 --> 00:36:11,416
Hey! Chevy!

675
00:36:11,586 --> 00:36:12,997
Hey! What's your
name again?!

676
00:36:13,254 --> 00:36:15,621
- John.
- John, hey!

677
00:36:15,799 --> 00:36:17,711
Chevy Chase: <i>There was a sketch</i>
<i>where John and I</i>

678
00:36:17,884 --> 00:36:19,921
<i>were two high school</i>
<i>or college guys</i>

679
00:36:20,095 --> 00:36:21,836
at urinals, just talking.

680
00:36:21,971 --> 00:36:23,303
I can't even remember
what it was about,

681
00:36:23,473 --> 00:36:25,965
<i>but I do remember that</i>
<i>they were laughing all through.</i>

682
00:36:26,434 --> 00:36:28,346
And it became clearer
and clearer to me

683
00:36:28,478 --> 00:36:29,514
that they were laughing at John,

684
00:36:29,688 --> 00:36:30,849
<i>whether he was saying</i>
<i>anything or not.</i>

685
00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:32,012
<i>(</i>laughter)

686
00:36:32,107 --> 00:36:33,769
I'm like this, talking to John.

687
00:36:35,068 --> 00:36:38,607
And finally after, like, a week,
I have to look over at him

688
00:36:38,780 --> 00:36:40,442
to see what the hell
is going on,

689
00:36:40,615 --> 00:36:42,447
why are they always laughing?
And he's like this.

690
00:36:44,077 --> 00:36:47,036
<i>(</i>chuckling)

691
00:36:47,455 --> 00:36:49,071
Never knew it,
never told me.

692
00:36:50,041 --> 00:36:52,249
<i>The little bastard</i>
<i>just took me.</i>

693
00:36:52,419 --> 00:36:55,127
<i>(</i>laughing)

694
00:36:55,588 --> 00:36:56,795
It was so good.

695
00:36:57,966 --> 00:37:00,333
It was decided, because
the ticket sales were so brisk,

696
00:37:00,844 --> 00:37:02,380
<i>that we would simply</i>
<i>leave the show open.</i>

697
00:37:02,554 --> 00:37:04,762
<i>And at that point,</i>
<i>from a record project,</i>

698
00:37:04,931 --> 00:37:07,093
<i>it actually become an</i>
<i>off-Broadway show.</i>

699
00:37:07,684 --> 00:37:09,095
<i>?(</i>piano music plays) ?

700
00:37:09,269 --> 00:37:12,057
It was in this little
tiny club in the Village,

701
00:37:12,230 --> 00:37:15,439
<i>but it was an underground hit,</i>
<i>it was a cool thing to go see.</i>

702
00:37:15,608 --> 00:37:16,894
<i>(</i>indistinct singing)
<i>? Well I'm standing here ?</i>

703
00:37:17,068 --> 00:37:18,400
<i>? Singing my song ?</i>

704
00:37:18,570 --> 00:37:22,280
<i>? Well, there ain't nothing</i>
<i>to do, all my friends are gone ?</i>

705
00:37:22,782 --> 00:37:25,775
<i>? I had sunshine</i>
<i>and a country home ?</i>

706
00:37:25,952 --> 00:37:28,865
<i>? I've been on the cover</i>
<i>of</i> Rolling Stone ?

707
00:37:29,038 --> 00:37:31,030
<i>- ? But it lonely ?</i>
<i>- ? Yes it's lonely ?</i>

708
00:37:31,207 --> 00:37:32,869
Kelly:
<i>When we were with the actors,</i>

709
00:37:33,042 --> 00:37:34,749
<i>it got more rambunctious.</i>

710
00:37:34,919 --> 00:37:37,957
Because that was
when actual uppers and downers

711
00:37:38,131 --> 00:37:41,090
and nose candy,
and things, entered.

712
00:37:41,259 --> 00:37:43,376
What about the acid?
You gonna open the acid?

713
00:37:45,263 --> 00:37:46,344
What acid?

714
00:37:47,599 --> 00:37:49,591
What do you mean,
"What acid," John?

715
00:37:49,768 --> 00:37:51,509
- What acid?
- The LSD 25, man.

716
00:37:51,686 --> 00:37:53,222
You mean the LSD zero?

717
00:37:53,396 --> 00:37:54,932
<i>(</i>audience laughing)

718
00:37:55,106 --> 00:37:56,563
Tony would go
to Matty and say

719
00:37:56,733 --> 00:38:00,443
he needed X bucks
to buy marijuana for the cast.

720
00:38:00,612 --> 00:38:03,400
<i>And then Tony, of course, would</i>
<i>immediately buy cocaine with it.</i>

721
00:38:03,907 --> 00:38:06,240
I mean, everybody can buy
their own marijuana.

722
00:38:07,076 --> 00:38:09,238
<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

723
00:38:09,412 --> 00:38:10,573
<i>(</i>applause)

724
00:38:10,747 --> 00:38:12,830
Hey! Hey,
you gotta get up!

725
00:38:14,542 --> 00:38:16,454
Hup! Hup!

726
00:38:16,628 --> 00:38:19,416
<i>(</i>groaning)

727
00:38:23,134 --> 00:38:24,170
Whoa!

728
00:38:24,344 --> 00:38:25,926
<i>(</i>laughter)

729
00:38:29,015 --> 00:38:31,177
<i>? What would you do ?</i>

730
00:38:31,851 --> 00:38:34,389
<i>? If I sang out of tune? ?</i>

731
00:38:34,562 --> 00:38:37,805
- One, two, three!
<i>- ? Lonely at the bottom ?</i>

732
00:38:37,982 --> 00:38:40,269
<i>? Lonely,</i>
<i>lonely, lonely ?</i>

733
00:38:40,443 --> 00:38:42,901
<i>- ? Lonely at the bottom ?</i>
<i>- ? I said my baby's lonely ?</i>

734
00:38:43,071 --> 00:38:44,687
<i>? I said she lonely,</i>
<i>I said she lonely ?</i>

735
00:38:44,864 --> 00:38:47,447
<i>? I said she lonely,</i>
<i>I said she lonely, I said... ?</i>

736
00:38:48,451 --> 00:38:50,113
<i>(</i>music stops)

737
00:38:50,286 --> 00:38:54,326
<i>(</i>cheering and applause)

738
00:38:54,666 --> 00:38:58,125
Gross: <i>Henry Beard's</i>
<i>office door hardly ever opened.</i>

739
00:38:58,461 --> 00:39:01,204
<i>Henry Beard sat there</i>
<i>and typed.</i>

740
00:39:01,381 --> 00:39:02,747
<i>(</i>typewriter keys clicking)

741
00:39:02,924 --> 00:39:05,541
Pull it out, pull it out.
Pages, pages, pages.

742
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:10,801
Genius, brilliant,
intellectual and otherwise pages.

743
00:39:10,974 --> 00:39:12,010
That's it.

744
00:39:13,101 --> 00:39:15,138
Beard: <i>Suddenly I was working</i>
<i>a hundred hours a week.</i>

745
00:39:15,311 --> 00:39:17,519
You know, I would
go home and go to bed

746
00:39:17,772 --> 00:39:19,138
and then wake up
the next morning

747
00:39:19,315 --> 00:39:21,807
and go to the office
and start writing again.

748
00:39:23,069 --> 00:39:24,435
Hendra: <i>Henry, really,</i>

749
00:39:24,612 --> 00:39:26,148
<i>had become</i>
<i>the leader of the magazine.</i>

750
00:39:26,322 --> 00:39:28,188
<i>When Doug was still there,</i>
<i>it was a partnership,</i>

751
00:39:28,366 --> 00:39:31,234
and when he left,
Henry was the only person

752
00:39:31,369 --> 00:39:33,907
who could actually, sort of,
be the final authority,

753
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,697
and he had done that very,
I think, grudgingly.

754
00:39:37,250 --> 00:39:40,209
<i>So when Doug sidled back</i>
<i>into the office,</i>

755
00:39:40,378 --> 00:39:44,463
sort of saying, "Hi, I'm back,"
no one had much patience for Doug.

756
00:39:45,091 --> 00:39:48,209
He came back humbled,
deeply humbled.

757
00:39:48,386 --> 00:39:50,093
Deeply, sadly humbled.

758
00:39:50,263 --> 00:39:52,971
<i>Tail between his legs.</i>
<i>He knew what he had done.</i>

759
00:39:55,143 --> 00:39:57,260
Gross:
<i>Doug brought the novel back,</i>

760
00:39:57,437 --> 00:40:00,145
and Henry looks at it and goes,
"Jesus, this is awful."

761
00:40:00,315 --> 00:40:02,398
He... I... I read this thing,
it just made no sense.

762
00:40:02,567 --> 00:40:04,274
It was a complete nothing.

763
00:40:04,861 --> 00:40:06,978
And what he did was,
he opened up the window

764
00:40:07,155 --> 00:40:10,148
<i>on Madison Avenue and just</i>
<i>scaled the whole thing out.</i>

765
00:40:12,285 --> 00:40:13,992
Gross: <i>There were people</i>
<i>not talking to him.</i>

766
00:40:14,203 --> 00:40:16,786
And people were, like, doing this.
They didn't even want to see him.

767
00:40:17,624 --> 00:40:19,490
I was pissed at Doug,
and I said,

768
00:40:19,667 --> 00:40:21,909
<i>"Doug, you know,</i>
<i>you fucking let me down.</i>

769
00:40:23,171 --> 00:40:24,161
You let us all down."

770
00:40:33,723 --> 00:40:35,931
- Julius: <i>This is Julius...</i>
- Ethel: <i>And Ethel...</i>

771
00:40:36,100 --> 00:40:37,136
Both:
<i>Rosenberg.</i>

772
00:40:37,310 --> 00:40:40,348
Julius: <i>Did you know that</i>
<i>the majority of dead people are Jews?</i>

773
00:40:40,521 --> 00:40:45,141
<i>Mm-hmm. 85% of all</i>
<i>dead people are Jewish.</i>

774
00:40:45,443 --> 00:40:46,729
<i>So remember,</i>

775
00:40:46,903 --> 00:40:49,771
<i>if you persecute Jews</i>
<i>when you're alive,</i>

776
00:40:49,948 --> 00:40:53,237
<i>boy, are you going to get it</i>
<i>when you're dead.</i>

777
00:40:54,452 --> 00:40:57,320
Doug had just gotten back from
being AWOL for about a year,

778
00:40:57,497 --> 00:40:58,783
<i>and I had just been hired.</i>

779
00:40:58,957 --> 00:41:01,825
<i>And Michael O'Donoghue,</i>
<i>in the early</i> Lampoon,

780
00:41:02,001 --> 00:41:05,415
<i>wrote a brief parody</i>
<i>of a high school year book.</i>

781
00:41:05,588 --> 00:41:07,705
<i>Matty Simmons had the idea</i>
<i>of turning this</i>

782
00:41:07,882 --> 00:41:11,091
<i>into a special edition</i>
<i>of doing a yearbook.</i>

783
00:41:11,260 --> 00:41:14,424
<i>Matty gave us the job because,</i>
<i>basically, we couldn't say no.</i>

784
00:41:14,597 --> 00:41:17,965
<i>Doug was still in the doghouse,</i>
<i>and I was a fresh hire.</i>

785
00:41:18,142 --> 00:41:19,508
Simmons:
<i>They weren't hot about the idea.</i>

786
00:41:19,686 --> 00:41:22,554
But I wanted to do it,
and I pushed them.

787
00:41:22,730 --> 00:41:24,722
O'Rourke: <i>We're sitting around,</i>
<i>bemoaning our fate.</i>

788
00:41:24,899 --> 00:41:26,731
<i>"This is such a stupid idea.</i>

789
00:41:26,901 --> 00:41:28,563
<i>How are we gonna</i>
<i>talk him out of this?"</i>

790
00:41:29,153 --> 00:41:30,689
And we just started talking
about high school.

791
00:41:31,072 --> 00:41:33,280
And we started
talking about how, really,

792
00:41:33,449 --> 00:41:35,236
there are only a dozen people
in high school.

793
00:41:35,410 --> 00:41:36,821
<i>Well, there's</i>
<i>the beautiful frigid girl,</i>

794
00:41:36,995 --> 00:41:38,202
<i>there's the stupid jock,</i>

795
00:41:38,413 --> 00:41:40,405
<i>there's the exchange student</i>
<i>from "Absurd-istan."</i>

796
00:41:40,581 --> 00:41:43,073
You know, there's only a dozen,
18 people in high school.

797
00:41:44,210 --> 00:41:45,246
<i>?(</i>Chuck Berry "School Days" plays) ?

798
00:41:45,420 --> 00:41:46,410
Bingo.

799
00:41:48,423 --> 00:41:49,539
O'Rourke: <i>This is how you do it.</i>

800
00:41:49,716 --> 00:41:52,174
<i>You cast these 18 characters,</i>

801
00:41:52,343 --> 00:41:54,460
<i>and you spin out a year</i>
<i>of their life,</i>

802
00:41:54,637 --> 00:41:56,344
<i>and you can get</i>
<i>a whole book out of this.</i>

803
00:41:59,308 --> 00:42:00,890
Hirsch:
<i>When I got to the Lampoon,</i>

804
00:42:01,060 --> 00:42:03,552
<i>Anne Beatts and Emily Prager</i>
<i>were the only two women writers.</i>

805
00:42:03,730 --> 00:42:05,437
<i>So I was desperate</i>
<i>to work on anything.</i>

806
00:42:05,606 --> 00:42:08,189
And so I said to Doug Kenney,
"I volunteer.

807
00:42:08,359 --> 00:42:12,694
I will do anything
you want to help you."

808
00:42:13,072 --> 00:42:15,155
<i>I walked with crutches,</i>
<i>I had polio as a kid.</i>

809
00:42:15,324 --> 00:42:17,156
He said, "Oh, well, you know,
there's always a handicapped kid

810
00:42:17,285 --> 00:42:18,275
in every school.

811
00:42:18,453 --> 00:42:20,035
Can we borrow
your crutches?"

812
00:42:20,663 --> 00:42:22,529
And I went,
"Well, not without me, you can't!"

813
00:42:22,707 --> 00:42:24,539
<i>And so he said "All right,</i>
<i>well, will you be in it?"</i>

814
00:42:24,709 --> 00:42:26,450
<i>And I was</i>
<i>Ursula Wattersky.</i>

815
00:42:31,007 --> 00:42:33,590
<i>I think P.J. was</i>
<i>the women's gym teacher.</i>

816
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:35,877
<i>Brian McConnachie doing</i>
<i>the optometrist club,</i>

817
00:42:36,054 --> 00:42:38,216
<i>and they're all,</i>
<i>sort of, listing to the side.</i>

818
00:42:38,389 --> 00:42:39,721
<i>It was a wonderful experience.</i>

819
00:42:39,891 --> 00:42:42,258
It was like producing
an independent movie.

820
00:42:43,770 --> 00:42:47,013
It was perfect for Doug
because he had simultaneously

821
00:42:47,190 --> 00:42:51,309
been just a regular high school guy
and Doug Kenney,

822
00:42:52,445 --> 00:42:54,402
<i>super brain,</i>
<i>watching from on high.</i>

823
00:42:55,198 --> 00:42:57,440
He wore his high school jacket
all the time, Doug.

824
00:42:57,617 --> 00:42:59,779
That was his natural costume.

825
00:42:59,952 --> 00:43:02,535
Doug used his own picture
as the dead student

826
00:43:02,663 --> 00:43:04,404
<i>that the yearbook</i>
<i>was dedicated to.</i>

827
00:43:05,083 --> 00:43:06,790
<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

828
00:43:08,503 --> 00:43:11,371
It was a work of
true satirical brilliance.

829
00:43:11,547 --> 00:43:14,381
There were 50 storylines

830
00:43:14,550 --> 00:43:16,667
<i>woven through it in all the different</i>

831
00:43:16,844 --> 00:43:19,757
sections of it.
It was really a comic masterpiece.

832
00:43:21,140 --> 00:43:23,553
Gross: <i>Doug was the personality</i>
<i>of</i> National Lampoon.

833
00:43:23,726 --> 00:43:25,217
<i>He understood...</i>

834
00:43:26,979 --> 00:43:28,140
...people.

835
00:43:30,650 --> 00:43:32,141
<i>(</i>music stops)

836
00:43:33,986 --> 00:43:37,900
Simmons: Michael O'Donoghue
in the office was like a time bomb.

837
00:43:38,366 --> 00:43:40,153
You never knew
when it was going to go off.

838
00:43:40,326 --> 00:43:43,785
Michael O'Donoghue was... Seemed
to be the world's angriest guy.

839
00:43:43,955 --> 00:43:45,196
Simmons:
<i>And he would scream and yell,</i>

840
00:43:45,373 --> 00:43:47,285
<i>and he would throw</i>
<i>telephone books.</i>

841
00:43:47,458 --> 00:43:49,040
And the phone,
he'd rip the phone out

842
00:43:49,210 --> 00:43:51,623
and throw it across the office,
narrowly missing people.

843
00:43:52,004 --> 00:43:54,587
He was prone to,
when you're stuck,

844
00:43:54,757 --> 00:43:57,124
<i>you turn around, you wanna</i>
<i>get angry at somebody.</i>

845
00:43:57,301 --> 00:43:58,587
<i>And you hit</i>
<i>the people closest to you.</i>

846
00:43:58,761 --> 00:44:00,343
<i>You start slapping</i>
<i>them around.</i>

847
00:44:00,972 --> 00:44:02,884
Hendra: <i>Michael was like</i>
<i>a bundle of dynamite.</i>

848
00:44:03,057 --> 00:44:05,800
For some reason, we hit it off
when I first came to the magazine.

849
00:44:06,227 --> 00:44:07,684
And we were friends
for a while.

850
00:44:07,854 --> 00:44:10,096
As everybody was
with Michael, for a while.

851
00:44:12,066 --> 00:44:15,150
Beatts: <i>Michael had gotten</i>
<i>into a giant feud with Tony</i>

852
00:44:15,403 --> 00:44:18,942
over the fact that Tony had slept
with Michael's then-girlfriend, Amy.

853
00:44:19,115 --> 00:44:22,233
Michael marched into my office
and said, "You gotta fire him."

854
00:44:22,994 --> 00:44:25,907
And he told me what happened.
I said, "Michael, the one thing

855
00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:28,788
I never want to do is get
involved with the personal lives

856
00:44:28,958 --> 00:44:30,449
of the people who work here."

857
00:44:30,626 --> 00:44:34,370
Matty gave Michael
the <i>National Lampoon Radio Hour</i>

858
00:44:34,547 --> 00:44:36,459
as a compensatory thing.

859
00:44:36,632 --> 00:44:40,171
Like, okay, they have <i>Lemmings,</i>
you can have the <i>Radio Hour.</i>

860
00:44:40,595 --> 00:44:43,588
<i>?(</i>theme music plays) ?

861
00:44:43,764 --> 00:44:45,847
<i>- (</i>knocking on door)
- Woman: <i>Who is it?</i>

862
00:44:46,017 --> 00:44:47,098
Man: <i>Tom the Baker, here.</i>

863
00:44:47,268 --> 00:44:49,305
Woman: <i>Oh, Tom. Come on in.</i>

864
00:44:49,478 --> 00:44:50,685
<i>(</i>door opens)

865
00:44:50,855 --> 00:44:52,312
<i>You're not</i>
<i>Tom the baker!</i>

866
00:44:52,481 --> 00:44:53,688
Woman 2:
<i>Watch out, he's got a knife.</i>

867
00:44:53,858 --> 00:44:55,315
<i>(</i>woman 1 gasping)
<i>Who are you?</i>

868
00:44:55,484 --> 00:44:56,770
Man: <i>I'm Bob the rapist.</i>

869
00:44:56,944 --> 00:44:59,106
- Woman: <i>Oh, Bob.</i>
- Woman 2: <i>Oh, Bob.</i>

870
00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:00,942
Woman: <i>Come on in,</i>
<i>have some coffee.</i>

871
00:45:01,115 --> 00:45:02,356
Woman 2: <i>Good to see you.</i>

872
00:45:04,827 --> 00:45:07,035
In the beginning of the <i>Radio Hour,</i>
I guess it was envisioned

873
00:45:07,205 --> 00:45:08,821
<i>that the editors</i>
<i>would be the writers.</i>

874
00:45:08,998 --> 00:45:10,705
<i>Michael had just sort of</i>
<i>written</i> Lemmings <i>off</i>

875
00:45:10,875 --> 00:45:12,082
<i>and everybody in it.</i>

876
00:45:13,085 --> 00:45:14,951
One day, Chris Guest was
supposed to come in and do

877
00:45:15,129 --> 00:45:16,665
<i>a Peter O'Toole imitation,</i>

878
00:45:16,839 --> 00:45:18,501
and he called up
last minute to cancel.

879
00:45:19,008 --> 00:45:21,500
And I said,
"John can do Peter O'Toole."

880
00:45:21,677 --> 00:45:23,794
<i>And that's how</i>
<i>everybody in Second City</i>

881
00:45:23,971 --> 00:45:25,678
<i>entered the</i> Radio Hour.

882
00:45:25,848 --> 00:45:29,091
Gilda Radner: <i>Hi, I'm your</i>
<i>host person, Gilda Radner,</i>

883
00:45:29,268 --> 00:45:31,806
<i>and I am going to read you</i>
<i>the people who contributed.</i>

884
00:45:31,979 --> 00:45:34,312
<i>John Belushi,</i>
<i>Brian Doyle-Murray,</i>

885
00:45:34,482 --> 00:45:36,690
<i>Bill Murray, Gilda Radner,</i>
<i>Harold "Rahmis",</i>

886
00:45:36,859 --> 00:45:38,191
<i>- Ed Subitzky.</i>
- Harold Ramis: <i>It's Ramis.</i>

887
00:45:38,361 --> 00:45:40,273
- Gilda: <i>What?</i>
- Ramis: <i>Ramis, not "Rahmis."</i>

888
00:45:40,988 --> 00:45:42,900
Hirsch: <i>These guys were</i>
<i>all Second City guys,</i>

889
00:45:43,074 --> 00:45:47,364
and they learned a craft,
which is writing sketches.

890
00:45:47,536 --> 00:45:49,698
- What's the point, Coach?
- The point is this, Shnobble.

891
00:45:49,872 --> 00:45:51,283
There are winners
and losers,

892
00:45:51,457 --> 00:45:53,244
but some guys don't even get
to finish the game.

893
00:45:53,417 --> 00:45:54,908
Yeah?
What are you talking about?

894
00:45:55,086 --> 00:45:57,203
There's a big coach
somewhere in the universe,

895
00:45:57,380 --> 00:45:58,746
and he's taking
one of us up.

896
00:45:58,923 --> 00:46:02,462
- Stefanski, you got Leukoplakia.
- Huh?

897
00:46:02,635 --> 00:46:04,718
The doc says you might
not last the season.

898
00:46:04,887 --> 00:46:07,470
<i>(</i>all moaning)

899
00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:10,348
I suppose that one of us
ought to say something, Coach,

900
00:46:10,518 --> 00:46:11,759
and as the defensive captain...

901
00:46:12,019 --> 00:46:13,260
Harold: Wait, that's not all.

902
00:46:13,437 --> 00:46:15,679
Luciano has
Huntington's Chorea.

903
00:46:16,023 --> 00:46:17,764
Shaffer and Collins,
you two have

904
00:46:17,942 --> 00:46:19,808
sickle cell anemia, highly advanced.

905
00:46:20,278 --> 00:46:23,442
Thomson, Carson and McNulty,
spinal meningitis.

906
00:46:23,614 --> 00:46:24,650
<i>(</i>all moaning)

907
00:46:24,865 --> 00:46:27,232
Okay, that's pretty good.
You can go on to the next one.

908
00:46:27,618 --> 00:46:30,531
Danny Abelson: <i>For human nerds, the</i>
National Lampoon <i>is like an obscure</i>

909
00:46:30,705 --> 00:46:33,823
<i>record label that first recorded</i>
<i>Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.</i>

910
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:37,084
You, sort of,
can trace extraordinary talent

911
00:46:37,253 --> 00:46:39,336
back to this one
little record label.

912
00:46:39,505 --> 00:46:42,339
But we do a fair amount
of music on the radio show.

913
00:46:42,508 --> 00:46:46,377
We do, um, often performed
by us because we're so awful,

914
00:46:46,554 --> 00:46:48,967
that we couldn't ever get
professionals to sound

915
00:46:49,140 --> 00:46:51,097
as bad as we wanted
the thing to sound.

916
00:46:51,350 --> 00:46:54,013
<i>? I wish I was a Negro ?</i>

917
00:46:54,186 --> 00:46:56,599
<i>? With lots of Negro soul ?</i>

918
00:46:57,189 --> 00:46:59,852
<i>? So I could stay true</i>
<i>to my ethnic roots ?</i>

919
00:47:00,026 --> 00:47:02,439
<i>? And still play rock'n'roll ?</i>

920
00:47:02,611 --> 00:47:04,944
<i>? If I was a funky Negro ?</i>

921
00:47:05,114 --> 00:47:08,073
<i>? Eating soul food barbecues ?</i>

922
00:47:08,576 --> 00:47:11,239
<i>? I wouldn't have to sing</i>
<i>the middle-class liberal ?</i>

923
00:47:11,412 --> 00:47:12,994
<i>? Well-intentioned blues ?</i>

924
00:47:13,164 --> 00:47:16,248
We get some reaction
from people accusing us

925
00:47:16,417 --> 00:47:18,033
of being racist or anti-Semitic,

926
00:47:18,210 --> 00:47:19,951
<i>or we even got complaints</i>
<i>from the Nazis</i>

927
00:47:20,129 --> 00:47:22,086
<i>that we were</i>
<i>anti-Nazi or something.</i>

928
00:47:23,507 --> 00:47:25,715
Kenney: <i>All of the editors,</i>
<i>I think, to a certain degree,</i>

929
00:47:25,885 --> 00:47:28,047
are unbelievable racists.

930
00:47:28,220 --> 00:47:30,462
You ask,
"Are we anti-Polack?"

931
00:47:30,639 --> 00:47:33,347
Of course, we're anti-Polack,
they're so dumb.

932
00:47:33,517 --> 00:47:35,304
Interviewer: What about racism
being dealt with

933
00:47:35,478 --> 00:47:36,810
in the way
it is in <i>Lampoon?</i>

934
00:47:36,979 --> 00:47:38,811
Oh, I suggest simply
the hotter the issue,

935
00:47:38,981 --> 00:47:40,517
the more they cool it
by hilarity.

936
00:47:40,691 --> 00:47:43,900
Why does one laugh? Laughter is
entirely a defense mechanism.

937
00:47:44,070 --> 00:47:46,983
Laughter is a defense
against hostility,

938
00:47:47,156 --> 00:47:48,647
a replacement
for hostility,

939
00:47:48,824 --> 00:47:52,192
a, uh, a defense mechanism
against guilt, embarrassment.

940
00:47:52,370 --> 00:47:55,283
Michael did a thing about
Kentucky Fried Chicken,

941
00:47:55,456 --> 00:47:57,368
except, of course,
the Colonel was serving

942
00:47:57,541 --> 00:47:58,827
<i>Kentucky Fried black people.</i>

943
00:47:58,918 --> 00:48:01,626
<i>And you think, well,</i>
<i>that's beyond tasteless.</i>

944
00:48:01,796 --> 00:48:03,833
Except it's, sort of, true.

945
00:48:04,340 --> 00:48:06,206
We're a good,
humorous say anything which is true,

946
00:48:06,384 --> 00:48:08,376
which you would do
anything to deny is true.

947
00:48:08,552 --> 00:48:10,214
Kelly:
<i>So I wouldn't say the</i>

948
00:48:10,471 --> 00:48:13,214
<i>Kentucky Fried joke was</i>
<i>a racistjoke.</i>

949
00:48:13,391 --> 00:48:15,348
It was a joke against racism.

950
00:48:15,684 --> 00:48:19,177
Judith Belushi: <i>We had a very</i>
<i>disgruntled sponsor who dropped us.</i>

951
00:48:19,355 --> 00:48:21,438
And I remember the memo
we got after, it was from Matty.

952
00:48:21,607 --> 00:48:23,644
<i>"You can make fun</i>
<i>of poor people,</i>

953
00:48:24,026 --> 00:48:25,233
<i>you can make fun of Indians,</i>

954
00:48:25,361 --> 00:48:27,819
<i>you can make fun</i>
<i>of anything you want,</i>

955
00:48:27,988 --> 00:48:29,854
<i>but do not make fun</i>
<i>of the Jews."</i>

956
00:48:32,201 --> 00:48:34,363
It is the job of a satirist, okay,

957
00:48:34,537 --> 00:48:37,245
to make people in power
uncomfortable,

958
00:48:37,415 --> 00:48:38,951
really uncomfortable.

959
00:48:39,125 --> 00:48:41,833
To the point where they go,
"This has to be stopped."

960
00:48:42,086 --> 00:48:44,499
<i>? Well-intentioned blues ?</i>

961
00:48:50,219 --> 00:48:53,257
In the <i>National Lampoon,</i>
what really gets people angry?

962
00:48:53,431 --> 00:48:55,764
What do they...
What do they sue you about?

963
00:48:55,933 --> 00:48:59,426
Probably the most famous suit
we ever had was the Volkswagen suit.

964
00:49:01,230 --> 00:49:03,187
<i>We had a picture</i>
<i>of a Volkswagen.</i>

965
00:49:03,357 --> 00:49:05,440
<i>We said if Teddy Kennedy</i>
<i>had driven a Volkswagen,</i>

966
00:49:05,609 --> 00:49:09,148
<i>he'd be President today.</i>
<i>Which is true, of course.</i>

967
00:49:09,321 --> 00:49:10,687
<i>Teddy Kennedy</i>
<i>would be President</i>

968
00:49:10,781 --> 00:49:13,068
if he drove a car that floated.

969
00:49:13,993 --> 00:49:15,780
Well, the first thing we did,
and this was Matty,

970
00:49:15,953 --> 00:49:17,660
<i>he sent out</i>
<i>a news release,</i>

971
00:49:17,830 --> 00:49:20,868
along with the ad,
nationwide,

972
00:49:21,834 --> 00:49:23,871
saying that
Volkswagen was suing us.

973
00:49:24,044 --> 00:49:26,286
<i>It got picked up in</i>
<i>every newspaper in America.</i>

974
00:49:26,464 --> 00:49:29,707
<i>They ran the ad,</i>
<i>and the issue sold out.</i>

975
00:49:30,926 --> 00:49:34,044
I had let them get away
with things that even shocked me.

976
00:49:38,601 --> 00:49:41,344
<i>One day, I got a call from</i>
<i>the Vice President at NBC.</i>

977
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:46,185
<i>He said, "We have been talking about</i>
<i>doing a Saturday night satire show.</i>

978
00:49:46,358 --> 00:49:47,439
Would you be interested?"

979
00:49:47,610 --> 00:49:49,351
<i>We had all sorts</i>
<i>of things going on.</i>

980
00:49:49,528 --> 00:49:51,110
<i>We had live shows</i>
<i>on the road,</i>

981
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:54,648
<i>we had the magazine,</i>
<i>we had a book division.</i>

982
00:49:54,825 --> 00:49:56,282
It was the biggest radio show
in the country.

983
00:49:56,452 --> 00:49:57,909
<i>It was on 600 stations.</i>

984
00:49:58,078 --> 00:50:01,037
<i>We were the humor empire</i>
<i>in the United States.</i>

985
00:50:01,749 --> 00:50:04,992
I said, "I really appreciate it,
but it's too demanding."

986
00:50:05,836 --> 00:50:09,625
<i>National Lampoon</i> was
just a magazine, you know?

987
00:50:09,798 --> 00:50:13,508
<i>But suddenly, it was records</i>
<i>and actors and musicians.</i>

988
00:50:13,677 --> 00:50:15,213
Abelson: <i>There was</i>
<i>an extraordinary change</i>

989
00:50:15,387 --> 00:50:17,925
<i>in the sense that the spotlight</i>
<i>was suddenly being shared.</i>

990
00:50:18,098 --> 00:50:19,805
<i>Well, I remember Chevy</i>
<i>coming to the office</i>

991
00:50:19,975 --> 00:50:21,967
<i>and John Belushi coming</i>
<i>to the office, and those guys</i>

992
00:50:22,144 --> 00:50:23,726
<i>had an energy to them</i>
<i>that was very exciting.</i>

993
00:50:23,896 --> 00:50:25,853
And you felt that it must have
been difficult for editors

994
00:50:26,023 --> 00:50:28,106
who'd been around for a long time
to not be a part of that group.

995
00:50:32,655 --> 00:50:34,988
The more famous
and the more popular we got,

996
00:50:35,157 --> 00:50:38,366
the more people's egos
were doing this.

997
00:50:38,536 --> 00:50:40,027
Kelly: <i>Michael and Tony were</i>

998
00:50:40,204 --> 00:50:41,695
<i>heading in their</i>
<i>different directions.</i>

999
00:50:41,872 --> 00:50:44,580
It was very difficult,
especially because you couldn't

1000
00:50:44,750 --> 00:50:46,662
work for both of them
at the same time,

1001
00:50:46,835 --> 00:50:49,999
or they would consider you
a traitor and a Mordred.

1002
00:50:50,172 --> 00:50:51,413
We don't need this,
and this is supposed to be

1003
00:50:51,590 --> 00:50:52,797
fun and happy and what not.

1004
00:50:52,967 --> 00:50:54,799
We're getting paid to be
as silly as we can.

1005
00:50:54,969 --> 00:50:56,335
Simmons: <i>We're talking about</i>
<i>the smartest,</i>

1006
00:50:56,512 --> 00:50:59,596
<i>most curious,</i>
<i>free-spirited people.</i>

1007
00:50:59,848 --> 00:51:01,635
These were not
cageable people.

1008
00:51:01,809 --> 00:51:05,393
And people started
leaving the <i>Lampoon.</i>

1009
00:51:08,566 --> 00:51:10,979
O'Donoghue,
his girlfriend was Anne Beatts.

1010
00:51:11,151 --> 00:51:14,610
Beatts: <i>Matty had given</i>
<i>Michael Simmons my desk,</i>

1011
00:51:14,780 --> 00:51:16,146
<i>and I was furious.</i>

1012
00:51:16,323 --> 00:51:18,315
<i>It had taken me all</i>
<i>that many years to get a desk,</i>

1013
00:51:18,492 --> 00:51:20,233
and then suddenly I didn't
have it anymore.

1014
00:51:20,411 --> 00:51:22,403
He called me up
one morning, and he said,

1015
00:51:22,580 --> 00:51:24,412
<i>"I gotta talk to you,</i>
<i>Anne Beatts must have</i>

1016
00:51:24,582 --> 00:51:25,698
<i>an office at the radio show.</i>

1017
00:51:25,874 --> 00:51:27,740
<i>If you don't do this</i>
<i>I'm gonna quit."</i>

1018
00:51:27,918 --> 00:51:30,911
Matty said, "Well,
if she doesn't like it, she can quit,

1019
00:51:31,088 --> 00:51:32,750
and if you don't like it,
you can quit."

1020
00:51:32,923 --> 00:51:34,630
<i>And Michael said,</i>
<i>"I quit."</i>

1021
00:51:35,050 --> 00:51:36,291
And he quit.

1022
00:51:37,469 --> 00:51:38,710
And that was it.

1023
00:51:39,221 --> 00:51:41,178
Michael left,
never came back.

1024
00:51:43,809 --> 00:51:45,550
Gross: <i>I had been with</i>
<i>the magazine four or five years.</i>

1025
00:51:45,728 --> 00:51:47,560
<i>Rock'n'roll is</i>
<i>the best analogy.</i>

1026
00:51:47,730 --> 00:51:50,393
<i>You know, it's a band that</i>
<i>just started to go bad.</i>

1027
00:51:50,566 --> 00:51:51,773
So it was just time
for me to move.

1028
00:52:00,534 --> 00:52:01,866
Bill Murray: <i>Bless me Father,</i>
<i>for I have sinned.</i>

1029
00:52:01,994 --> 00:52:03,201
Brian Doyle-Murray:
<i>And how long has it been</i>

1030
00:52:03,329 --> 00:52:04,319
<i>since your last confession,</i>
<i>my son?</i>

1031
00:52:04,496 --> 00:52:05,703
Murray: <i>About four months,</i>
<i>I guess, Father.</i>

1032
00:52:05,873 --> 00:52:06,863
Doyle-Murray:
<i>Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.</i>

1033
00:52:07,041 --> 00:52:08,532
Murray: <i>Uh...</i>
<i>And I fucked this girl...</i>

1034
00:52:08,709 --> 00:52:10,245
<i>Uh...</i>
<i>Excuse my French, Father,</i>

1035
00:52:10,419 --> 00:52:11,751
<i>Uh... I went all the way</i>
<i>with this girl.</i>

1036
00:52:11,920 --> 00:52:13,081
Doyle-Murray:
<i>Don't be embarrassed, my son.</i>

1037
00:52:13,213 --> 00:52:14,329
<i>I've heard it all before.</i>

1038
00:52:14,506 --> 00:52:15,997
<i>I've heard much,</i>
<i>much worse than that.</i>

1039
00:52:16,258 --> 00:52:17,248
Murray: <i>You heard cunnilingus?</i>

1040
00:52:17,426 --> 00:52:19,008
Doyle-Murray: <i>I hear that from</i>
<i>second graders.</i>

1041
00:52:19,178 --> 00:52:20,714
Murray: <i>Wow. Wobbly warhead,</i>
<i>you heard that?</i>

1042
00:52:20,888 --> 00:52:21,924
<i>Slam the warhead at her?</i>

1043
00:52:22,097 --> 00:52:23,258
Doyle-Murray:
<i>Years ago, years ago.</i>

1044
00:52:23,432 --> 00:52:24,673
Murray: <i>Low clearance clit?</i>
<i>You heard that?</i>

1045
00:52:24,850 --> 00:52:26,807
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Dwarf cock.</i>
- Murray: <i>Bosom burger?</i>

1046
00:52:26,935 --> 00:52:28,517
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Scrotum breath.</i>
- Murray: <i>Albino beaver?</i>

1047
00:52:28,646 --> 00:52:30,262
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Iguana tits.</i>
- Murray: <i>Madam ovary?</i>

1048
00:52:30,439 --> 00:52:32,396
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Slime slit.</i>
- Murray: <i>Mashy nipple lick?</i>

1049
00:52:32,524 --> 00:52:33,765
- Murray: <i>Bug nuts.</i>
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Cock nose?</i>

1050
00:52:33,901 --> 00:52:35,312
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Vagina.</i>
- Murray: <i>Oriental crack?</i>

1051
00:52:35,444 --> 00:52:36,309
Doyle-Murray: <i>Superdome pussy.</i>

1052
00:52:36,445 --> 00:52:37,686
Murray: <i>Afterbirth on toast,</i>
<i>it's pizza.</i>

1053
00:52:37,863 --> 00:52:39,399
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Punk piss.</i>
- Murray: <i>Hillbilly snatch.</i>

1054
00:52:39,531 --> 00:52:41,397
- Doyle-Murray: <i>Boob puss.</i>
- Murray: <i>You heard Rhino Clit?</i>

1055
00:52:41,575 --> 00:52:43,737
Doyle-Murray: <i>Rhino Clit?</i>
<i>That's disgusting.</i>

1056
00:52:43,911 --> 00:52:45,072
<i>That's terrible.</i>

1057
00:52:45,245 --> 00:52:47,237
<i>Nice mouth, you kiss your</i>
<i>mother with that mouth?</i>

1058
00:52:47,414 --> 00:52:48,950
<i>You eat with that mouth?</i>

1059
00:52:49,291 --> 00:52:50,702
<i>Garbage mouth!</i>

1060
00:52:51,877 --> 00:52:54,290
Man: <i>Well, the</i> Nat Lamp,
<i>as it is affectionately called</i>

1061
00:52:54,463 --> 00:52:57,706
<i>by both its friends and enemies,</i>
<i>has taken its anarchism off its pages</i>

1062
00:52:57,883 --> 00:53:00,421
<i>and put it on the stage</i>
<i>in revue form.</i>

1063
00:53:00,678 --> 00:53:03,261
<i>They are the cast of the new</i>
National Lampoon <i>show,</i>

1064
00:53:03,430 --> 00:53:06,093
<i>which opens this Friday</i>
<i>at the new Palladium Cabaret</i>

1065
00:53:06,266 --> 00:53:08,508
<i>at 120 West 51st Street.</i>

1066
00:53:08,811 --> 00:53:10,803
I've given up a life
of comfort and wealth.

1067
00:53:10,979 --> 00:53:12,720
Surely you can send something.

1068
00:53:12,898 --> 00:53:16,266
A dime, a dollar,
a pair of socks,

1069
00:53:16,443 --> 00:53:19,561
some 50 caliber tracer bullets
or whatever you can to...

1070
00:53:19,738 --> 00:53:21,400
The Symbionese
Liberation Army.

1071
00:53:21,573 --> 00:53:22,984
That's the SLA in L.A.,

1072
00:53:23,158 --> 00:53:26,196
418 Tishman Building,
Los Angeles, California.

1073
00:53:27,746 --> 00:53:29,533
I was reading
the magazine.

1074
00:53:29,707 --> 00:53:31,414
I was very impressed
with the writing in it,

1075
00:53:31,583 --> 00:53:33,165
<i>so I looked up</i>
<i>on the masthead</i>

1076
00:53:33,335 --> 00:53:35,873
<i>and found Matty Simmons'</i>
<i>name and called him.</i>

1077
00:53:36,046 --> 00:53:38,914
He had seen the
<i>National Lampoon</i> show in Toronto.

1078
00:53:39,091 --> 00:53:42,084
Matty decided to do
another stage show,

1079
00:53:42,261 --> 00:53:44,878
<i>using Bill Murray,</i>
<i>Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis,</i>

1080
00:53:45,055 --> 00:53:47,593
<i>and much of the same talent</i>
<i>in the</i> Radio Hour.

1081
00:53:47,766 --> 00:53:49,052
So I said to Ivan,

1082
00:53:49,226 --> 00:53:52,014
<i>"Why don't you come in</i>
<i>and run it in New York?"</i>

1083
00:53:52,187 --> 00:53:56,682
And now the <i>National Lampoon</i>
<i>Radio Hour</i> single's bar of the air.

1084
00:53:56,859 --> 00:53:59,727
Your opportunity to meet some of
today's most beautiful, bright,

1085
00:53:59,903 --> 00:54:02,941
talented, sensitive, and unattached
young men and women.

1086
00:54:03,115 --> 00:54:04,697
Will that
perfect mate be you?

1087
00:54:05,743 --> 00:54:07,154
Hiya, fella.

1088
00:54:07,327 --> 00:54:09,068
Nice weather, isn't it?

1089
00:54:09,371 --> 00:54:11,954
I used to believe
in ethical culture,

1090
00:54:12,124 --> 00:54:13,706
but then I switched
to Zen.

1091
00:54:14,168 --> 00:54:17,536
My hobbies are plants,
and once I had an ant farm.

1092
00:54:17,713 --> 00:54:19,625
Ivan Reitman: <i>I showed up to one</i>
<i>of the early rehearsals,</i>

1093
00:54:19,798 --> 00:54:21,334
<i>and there was,</i>
<i>kind of, a discussion</i>

1094
00:54:21,508 --> 00:54:23,215
<i>about some little thing</i>
<i>that's going on.</i>

1095
00:54:23,385 --> 00:54:25,718
And I just naturally say,
"Well, wouldn't it be better

1096
00:54:25,888 --> 00:54:27,504
if you..."
I made some suggestion.

1097
00:54:27,681 --> 00:54:29,092
<i>And suddenly the whole</i>
<i>group stopped,</i>

1098
00:54:29,266 --> 00:54:30,632
<i>and they looked at me,</i>

1099
00:54:30,768 --> 00:54:33,431
this outsider, and wondered,
"Did he just say something?"

1100
00:54:33,604 --> 00:54:36,893
Did he have the nerve to actually
open up his mouth and direct us?

1101
00:54:37,816 --> 00:54:39,557
<i>Bill Murray,</i>
<i>always the bravest of the group,</i>

1102
00:54:39,735 --> 00:54:42,102
<i>sort of walked up</i>
<i>to me very calmly,</i>

1103
00:54:42,404 --> 00:54:44,896
put his arm around me
and patted me on my back,

1104
00:54:45,073 --> 00:54:49,317
got my winter scarf and wrapped it
very slowly around my neck.

1105
00:54:49,953 --> 00:54:53,287
And said, "Hey, thanks for
dropping in, we'll see you."

1106
00:54:53,457 --> 00:54:56,541
And he patted me,
and he ushered me out of the room.

1107
00:54:56,710 --> 00:54:58,542
It was very,
very embarrassing.

1108
00:54:59,171 --> 00:55:00,378
Better luck next time.

1109
00:55:00,547 --> 00:55:01,663
Rehearsal warm-up!

1110
00:55:01,840 --> 00:55:03,206
Let's take first
to the right eyebrow.

1111
00:55:03,383 --> 00:55:05,545
Ready, and one and two

1112
00:55:05,719 --> 00:55:08,712
and three and four
and five and six.

1113
00:55:08,889 --> 00:55:10,380
Now left, and two.

1114
00:55:10,557 --> 00:55:12,423
Come on! Up! Down!

1115
00:55:12,601 --> 00:55:14,843
And halt.
Cross, and...

1116
00:55:15,020 --> 00:55:16,852
Reitman: <i>Belushi was this sure</i>
<i>great performer.</i>

1117
00:55:17,022 --> 00:55:19,935
He was the center
of <i>The National Lampoon Show.</i>

1118
00:55:20,108 --> 00:55:22,316
<i>He, basically,</i>
<i>acted as the director.</i>

1119
00:55:22,486 --> 00:55:23,522
What are you doing here?

1120
00:55:23,779 --> 00:55:24,769
- Who me?
- Yeah.

1121
00:55:25,405 --> 00:55:27,647
<i>? Well, I'm a congressman</i>
<i>from Cleveland ?</i>

1122
00:55:28,158 --> 00:55:30,400
<i>? I took kickbacks</i>
<i>all the time ?</i>

1123
00:55:30,911 --> 00:55:33,119
<i>? Now I'm stuck here</i>
<i>in prison for them ?</i>

1124
00:55:33,705 --> 00:55:35,742
<i>- ? Doing 99 ?</i>
- Years?

1125
00:55:35,916 --> 00:55:37,202
- No, hours.
- Wow.

1126
00:55:37,376 --> 00:55:39,333
Ramis:
<i>? I'm a white collar criminal ?</i>

1127
00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:42,253
<i>? My wife's a debutante ?</i>

1128
00:55:43,173 --> 00:55:46,666
<i>? I'm stuck in prison farm</i>
<i>for as long as I want ?</i>

1129
00:55:46,844 --> 00:55:48,631
<i>? Whoa... ?</i>

1130
00:55:49,304 --> 00:55:51,466
Hendra: <i>What was really</i>
<i>remarkable about John was that</i>

1131
00:55:51,640 --> 00:55:53,848
he was the rock'n'roll
of humor.

1132
00:55:54,017 --> 00:55:57,727
<i>I mean, he represented those</i>
<i>two things in perfect combination.</i>

1133
00:55:58,856 --> 00:56:00,643
<i>? You know,</i>
<i>we gotta eat caviar ?</i>

1134
00:56:00,816 --> 00:56:01,897
Yeah!

1135
00:56:02,359 --> 00:56:03,850
<i>? We got a chauffeur</i>
<i>and a car ?</i>

1136
00:56:04,027 --> 00:56:05,313
Whoa!

1137
00:56:05,612 --> 00:56:07,899
<i>? We got a church</i>
<i>and a school ?</i>

1138
00:56:08,073 --> 00:56:11,191
<i>? We got a sauna</i>
<i>and a pool... Whoa! ?</i>

1139
00:56:11,368 --> 00:56:14,327
<i>? Six months</i>
<i>on prison farm... ?</i>

1140
00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:17,788
He was very focused on
the business side of it as well.

1141
00:56:18,041 --> 00:56:19,407
<i>He was the one who</i>
<i>would call me up every week</i>

1142
00:56:19,585 --> 00:56:20,996
<i>and say, "Hey, you're not</i>
<i>advertising enough"</i>

1143
00:56:21,169 --> 00:56:23,411
or "We should put
these quotes on."

1144
00:56:23,589 --> 00:56:24,921
<i>? My honey ?</i>

1145
00:56:25,090 --> 00:56:30,256
<i>? Told her to save</i>
<i>my tennis things ?</i>

1146
00:56:33,557 --> 00:56:36,220
Hirsch: <i>I think it was</i>
<i>Sean who said to Matty,</i>

1147
00:56:36,393 --> 00:56:40,228
put him on retainer.
Give him $500 a week

1148
00:56:41,356 --> 00:56:43,097
just to keep him here.

1149
00:56:43,317 --> 00:56:44,728
And Matty didn't do it.

1150
00:56:45,986 --> 00:56:47,272
Let's begin.

1151
00:56:48,989 --> 00:56:50,651
Repeat after me.

1152
00:56:51,325 --> 00:56:53,317
- I would like
- I would like

1153
00:56:53,493 --> 00:56:56,156
to feed your fingertips

1154
00:56:56,330 --> 00:56:58,413
- to the wolverines.
- to the wolverines.

1155
00:56:58,582 --> 00:57:00,244
<i>(</i>laughter)

1156
00:57:00,417 --> 00:57:03,251
- Next, I am afraid
- I am afraid

1157
00:57:03,420 --> 00:57:04,877
- we are out
- we are out

1158
00:57:05,005 --> 00:57:06,371
- of badgers.
- of badgers.

1159
00:57:06,548 --> 00:57:08,414
- Would you accept
- Would you accept

1160
00:57:08,592 --> 00:57:10,299
- a wolverine
- a wolverine

1161
00:57:10,469 --> 00:57:12,256
- in its place?
- in its place?

1162
00:57:13,680 --> 00:57:14,921
Next...
<i>(</i>gasps)

1163
00:57:21,355 --> 00:57:23,017
<i>(</i>gasps)

1164
00:57:23,190 --> 00:57:25,102
<i>(</i>applause)

1165
00:57:28,737 --> 00:57:30,399
<i>(</i>inaudible)

1166
00:57:31,323 --> 00:57:34,407
Live from New York,
it's Saturday Night!

1167
00:57:36,453 --> 00:57:38,410
Most of the cast
of <i>Saturday Night Live</i>

1168
00:57:38,580 --> 00:57:40,788
was taken right from
the first company

1169
00:57:40,999 --> 00:57:42,365
of <i>The National Lampoon Show.</i>

1170
00:57:42,501 --> 00:57:44,868
Announcer:
<i>Starring the Not For Ready</i>

1171
00:57:45,003 --> 00:57:46,494
<i>Primetime Players!</i>

1172
00:57:46,672 --> 00:57:50,882
The producer of <i>Saturday Night Live</i>
watched our show for about a month

1173
00:57:51,051 --> 00:57:52,758
and then hired
the people in the show.

1174
00:57:52,886 --> 00:57:54,593
Tom Snyder: You're talking about
Lorne Michaels, who produces?

1175
00:57:54,763 --> 00:57:55,799
Oh, yeah,
I forgot his name.

1176
00:57:55,973 --> 00:57:58,215
Lorne Michaels...
No, I know his name.

1177
00:57:58,392 --> 00:58:00,099
- Are you mad at him?"
- No, I'm not mad at him.

1178
00:58:00,268 --> 00:58:03,136
Since he has most of my actors
and many of my writers.

1179
00:58:04,356 --> 00:58:05,767
You could almost feel
the energy

1180
00:58:05,941 --> 00:58:08,729
sucked out of the magazine
and into that show.

1181
00:58:08,902 --> 00:58:10,609
It was written
by some <i>Lampoon</i> people.

1182
00:58:10,779 --> 00:58:12,611
It was starring some former
<i>Lampoon</i> people.

1183
00:58:12,781 --> 00:58:15,945
And it was very glamorous,
and it was a huge hit,

1184
00:58:16,118 --> 00:58:18,610
<i>from the beginning,</i>
<i>and I gathered pretty quickly</i>

1185
00:58:18,787 --> 00:58:20,574
<i>that if I liked</i>
Saturday Night Live,

1186
00:58:20,747 --> 00:58:21,737
<i>I should keep it to myself.</i>

1187
00:58:21,915 --> 00:58:23,907
Rick Meyerowitz: <i>Suddenly,</i>
<i>what the</i> Lampoon <i>offered</i>

1188
00:58:24,084 --> 00:58:27,122
<i>was available</i>
<i>to a much larger audience.</i>

1189
00:58:27,504 --> 00:58:30,212
The <i>Lampoon</i> lost its exceptionalism.

1190
00:58:30,424 --> 00:58:33,383
<i>?(</i>music plays) ?

1191
00:58:43,687 --> 00:58:45,679
<i>? What would ya do ?</i>

1192
00:58:45,856 --> 00:58:48,564
<i>? If I sang out of tune ?</i>

1193
00:58:48,734 --> 00:58:50,145
<i>(</i>applause)

1194
00:58:50,318 --> 00:58:52,856
<i>? Would you stand up</i>
<i>and walk out on me? ?</i>

1195
00:58:53,030 --> 00:58:55,238
<i>? Oh, baby,</i>
<i>I get high ?</i>

1196
00:58:55,407 --> 00:58:58,115
<i>? With a little help</i>
<i>from my friends ?</i>

1197
00:58:58,285 --> 00:59:03,280
<i>? Oh, yeah, whoa... ?</i>

1198
00:59:03,457 --> 00:59:06,746
I've described the <i>Lampoon</i> as the
hippest place to be to write comedy.

1199
00:59:06,918 --> 00:59:08,204
And it was,

1200
00:59:08,378 --> 00:59:10,916
until the hippest place
to be to write comedy

1201
00:59:11,089 --> 00:59:12,751
became <i>Saturday Night Live.</i>

1202
00:59:14,092 --> 00:59:16,334
<i>Chevy Chase came over</i>
<i>to the</i> Lampoon <i>offices,</i>

1203
00:59:16,511 --> 00:59:18,173
and, chuckling, he said,

1204
00:59:18,346 --> 00:59:21,054
"Nobody gets laid writing for
the <i>National Lampoon</i> anymore."

1205
00:59:30,567 --> 00:59:33,025
This friend of mine
tells me that Michael Gross

1206
00:59:33,236 --> 00:59:34,852
is leaving the <i>Lampoon,</i>
the art director,

1207
00:59:35,030 --> 00:59:36,362
and I should apply for the job.

1208
00:59:36,656 --> 00:59:40,821
And, I walk into the conference room,
and Doug Kenney says to me,

1209
00:59:40,994 --> 00:59:44,783
<i>"Well, I have three questions:</i>
<i>Can you get us drugs?</i>

1210
00:59:44,956 --> 00:59:46,913
<i>Can you get us nude models?</i>

1211
00:59:47,084 --> 00:59:48,575
<i>And do you have some place</i>
<i>where we can go</i>

1212
00:59:48,752 --> 00:59:50,459
<i>with the drugs</i>
<i>and the nude models?"</i>

1213
00:59:51,671 --> 00:59:53,754
And I thought very seriously

1214
00:59:53,924 --> 00:59:58,544
and I said,
"Yes, yes, and yes."

1215
00:59:59,596 --> 01:00:02,213
<i>And Doug looked at me and he says,</i>
<i>"Well, I have no further questions."</i>

1216
01:00:02,557 --> 01:00:05,345
<i>?(</i>King Floyd's "Groove Me" plays) ?

1217
01:00:07,813 --> 01:00:09,429
Abelson:
<i>Peter had very little pretension</i>

1218
01:00:09,606 --> 01:00:11,893
in terms of art,
as did Michael Gross.

1219
01:00:12,359 --> 01:00:15,193
Totally different kind of person
but he got it, you know,

1220
01:00:15,362 --> 01:00:16,944
and that's the thing
that mattered.

1221
01:00:17,114 --> 01:00:20,073
He was a great looking guy who
was not afraid to approach

1222
01:00:20,242 --> 01:00:22,655
people of the opposite sex
and suggest

1223
01:00:22,828 --> 01:00:24,660
<i>that they might get</i>
<i>to know one another better,</i>

1224
01:00:24,830 --> 01:00:26,742
<i>which was somewhat fascinating</i>
<i>to all of us.</i>

1225
01:00:27,415 --> 01:00:30,374
Every 30 days we were putting out
this 100-page magazine.

1226
01:00:30,544 --> 01:00:33,503
<i>Didn't matter how dirty,</i>
<i>or how vile, or how perverted,</i>

1227
01:00:33,672 --> 01:00:36,540
or how sexual, or how twisted
or violent it was.

1228
01:00:36,716 --> 01:00:39,459
<i>If it was funny,</i>
<i>and if Doug liked it, it was in.</i>

1229
01:00:48,728 --> 01:00:50,310
Simmons:
<i>We knew all along that Doug</i>

1230
01:00:50,480 --> 01:00:51,971
<i>and Henry Beard and Rob Hoffman</i>

1231
01:00:52,149 --> 01:00:54,641
would ask us to buy them out
after five years.

1232
01:00:54,818 --> 01:01:00,610
However, the buyout said
that they would buy it out

1233
01:01:00,782 --> 01:01:05,072
at 21 times earnings,
which was outrageous.

1234
01:01:05,245 --> 01:01:07,783
They stood to make
a nice piece of change.

1235
01:01:07,914 --> 01:01:10,531
I owed them seven and a half
million dollars.

1236
01:01:11,293 --> 01:01:14,001
<i>So we met with them</i>
<i>and we sat down and we talked.</i>

1237
01:01:14,963 --> 01:01:18,877
For whatever reason,
any reasonable alternative

1238
01:01:19,050 --> 01:01:21,417
to the buyout was rejected.

1239
01:01:22,762 --> 01:01:25,220
So when push came to shove,
we shoved.

1240
01:01:25,390 --> 01:01:27,006
I don't think Matty
was prepared.

1241
01:01:27,184 --> 01:01:30,222
<i>I don't think Matty Simmons</i>
<i>really thought Doug and Henry</i>

1242
01:01:30,353 --> 01:01:31,343
<i>would go through with it.</i>

1243
01:01:32,647 --> 01:01:33,637
And they did.

1244
01:01:41,364 --> 01:01:45,699
Henry hinted a few times that,
you know,

1245
01:01:45,869 --> 01:01:49,488
this could be good for you guys.
Meaning Sean, Tony and myself.

1246
01:01:50,874 --> 01:01:53,708
O'Rourke: <i>Other people apparently</i>
<i>felt that they were stake holders.</i>

1247
01:01:55,253 --> 01:01:58,121
And, um, you know,
they weren't.

1248
01:01:59,132 --> 01:02:01,875
They all thought Henry had
promised them a lot of money

1249
01:02:02,052 --> 01:02:05,045
and he walked out of that office
the day the check was cashed.

1250
01:02:05,222 --> 01:02:07,680
<i>He stood up on a desk and said,</i>
<i>"I hated every minute of this.</i>

1251
01:02:07,849 --> 01:02:10,057
<i>Fuck you!" Then left.</i>

1252
01:02:11,186 --> 01:02:13,269
Kelly:
<i>When Henry got up and told us</i>

1253
01:02:13,438 --> 01:02:15,145
<i>that he was never going to talk</i>
<i>to any of us again,</i>

1254
01:02:15,315 --> 01:02:18,149
<i>it was such a shattering</i>
<i>experience for all of us</i>

1255
01:02:18,318 --> 01:02:20,856
because he was the one
we were trying to please.

1256
01:02:21,029 --> 01:02:22,611
I think the culture changed.

1257
01:02:22,781 --> 01:02:26,115
And you know, people grew up.
It had a lifespan.

1258
01:02:30,163 --> 01:02:31,449
Radio Announcer:
<i>Never send care packages</i>

1259
01:02:31,623 --> 01:02:33,205
<i>to the so-called starving families</i>

1260
01:02:33,375 --> 01:02:35,788
<i>in Europe because they're not</i>
<i>starving at all.</i>

1261
01:02:35,961 --> 01:02:38,419
<i>Can you afford to live in Europe?</i>
<i>No.</i>

1262
01:02:38,588 --> 01:02:40,079
<i>You can't even afford</i>
<i>to visit Europe.</i>

1263
01:02:40,257 --> 01:02:42,749
<i>And do you know what they do</i>
<i>with the care packages you send?</i>

1264
01:02:42,926 --> 01:02:44,383
<i>They whack them</i>
<i>with their polo mallets</i>

1265
01:02:44,552 --> 01:02:46,009
<i>and kick them into</i>
<i>their swimming pools.</i>

1266
01:02:46,888 --> 01:02:49,380
The first time I saw Doug
after the buyout,

1267
01:02:49,557 --> 01:02:52,174
I said, "What are you going to
do with all of this bread?

1268
01:02:52,352 --> 01:02:53,593
That's so great!"

1269
01:02:53,770 --> 01:02:55,727
And Doug said,
"I'm going to Disneyland."

1270
01:02:55,939 --> 01:02:59,057
<i>?(</i>rock music plays) ?

1271
01:02:59,234 --> 01:03:00,441
Doug was going to quit.

1272
01:03:00,610 --> 01:03:02,317
He was wealthy now
and he was going to quit.

1273
01:03:02,487 --> 01:03:04,524
And Matty was smart enough
to know that

1274
01:03:04,698 --> 01:03:06,405
<i>"Holy shit, if I lose Doug,</i>

1275
01:03:06,616 --> 01:03:08,699
<i>I'm going to lose the heart</i>
<i>and soul of this company."</i>

1276
01:03:09,077 --> 01:03:10,534
And so he said,
"Well, don't quit Doug,

1277
01:03:10,704 --> 01:03:13,287
we're going to make a movie."
And Doug went, "Really?"

1278
01:03:13,456 --> 01:03:15,948
Once I told Doug we were making a
movie, we had to make a movie.

1279
01:03:16,668 --> 01:03:20,036
Ivan then started coming up
with ideas with Harold Ramis.

1280
01:03:20,297 --> 01:03:22,084
Reitman: <i>I knew that the</i>
High School Yearbook

1281
01:03:22,257 --> 01:03:23,839
<i>was the most popular thing</i>

1282
01:03:24,718 --> 01:03:26,425
that the <i>National Lampoon</i>
had ever put out.

1283
01:03:26,594 --> 01:03:28,677
So I called up Doug Kenney
and said,

1284
01:03:28,847 --> 01:03:31,965
<i>"Hey, why don't you help Harold</i>
<i>write this high school movie?"</i>

1285
01:03:32,142 --> 01:03:33,724
<i>They started writing</i>
<i>a screenplay that was</i>

1286
01:03:33,893 --> 01:03:35,805
<i>Charlie Manson and his followers</i>

1287
01:03:35,979 --> 01:03:37,720
<i>back when they were still</i>
<i>in high school.</i>

1288
01:03:37,897 --> 01:03:40,890
There was so much sex
and drinking and what have you

1289
01:03:41,067 --> 01:03:45,061
involved with it that I said,
"We can't do this in high school.

1290
01:03:45,530 --> 01:03:46,520
We'll get lynched."

1291
01:03:46,698 --> 01:03:48,030
<i>?(</i>rock music plays) ?

1292
01:03:48,241 --> 01:03:51,359
So I spoke to Matty about shifting
away from high school to college

1293
01:03:51,828 --> 01:03:55,037
<i>and we were thinking of using</i>
<i>Chris Miller's stories.</i>

1294
01:03:55,206 --> 01:03:58,540
Simmons: <i>Chris Miller was the</i>
<i>most popular short story writer</i>

1295
01:03:58,710 --> 01:03:59,951
in the history of the <i>Lampoon.</i>

1296
01:04:00,128 --> 01:04:03,371
Reitman: <i>He specialized in stories</i>
<i>based on his Dartmouth years.</i>

1297
01:04:03,673 --> 01:04:05,209
Chris Miller:
<i>My stories were about college</i>

1298
01:04:05,592 --> 01:04:07,800
and getting loaded
and living a wild life

1299
01:04:07,969 --> 01:04:09,676
<i>and sex, drugs and rock'n'roll,</i>

1300
01:04:09,971 --> 01:04:11,678
<i>or the absence of those things.</i>

1301
01:04:12,474 --> 01:04:13,885
<i>Doug Kenney went crazy over it</i>

1302
01:04:14,142 --> 01:04:16,304
because they didn't do
shit like that at Harvard.

1303
01:04:16,478 --> 01:04:17,969
Simmons:
<i>Ramis, Kenney and Miller worked</i>

1304
01:04:18,146 --> 01:04:21,514
<i>for a full year on what became</i>
<i>a 114 page treatment.</i>

1305
01:04:21,691 --> 01:04:23,523
The biggest treatment
anyone's ever seen.

1306
01:04:23,693 --> 01:04:27,152
And so, that really
became <i>Animal House.</i>

1307
01:04:30,575 --> 01:04:31,816
<i>(</i>rock music stops)

1308
01:04:31,993 --> 01:04:35,703
After the buyout,
we bumped along until P.J.

1309
01:04:35,872 --> 01:04:37,829
<i>took the title of Editor-in-Chief.</i>

1310
01:04:37,999 --> 01:04:41,492
<i>?(</i>The Hombres
"Let It All Hang Out" plays) ?

1311
01:04:42,796 --> 01:04:46,210
I went to work as Matty's assistant
but I wound up as Editor-in-Chief

1312
01:04:46,383 --> 01:04:49,467
<i>because I had had some prior</i>
<i>publishing experience.</i>

1313
01:04:49,636 --> 01:04:52,629
I actually knew what on time
and under budget meant.

1314
01:04:52,806 --> 01:04:55,719
The era of P.J. being
the Editor-in-Chief,

1315
01:04:55,892 --> 01:04:58,680
<i>it was less high-brow</i>
<i>and more approachable.</i>

1316
01:04:59,104 --> 01:05:00,845
Editorial meetings
were way different.

1317
01:05:01,022 --> 01:05:04,015
<i>Before he was editor,</i>
<i>editorial meetings were hanging out</i>

1318
01:05:04,192 --> 01:05:05,808
<i>and trying to one-up each other</i>

1319
01:05:05,985 --> 01:05:08,068
<i>and consisted of</i>
<i>this free-flow of ideas.</i>

1320
01:05:08,905 --> 01:05:12,114
<i>When P.J. took over,</i>
<i>he was the chair of every meeting.</i>

1321
01:05:12,283 --> 01:05:13,524
<i>He had an agenda on his legal pad.</i>

1322
01:05:13,701 --> 01:05:15,112
<i>He would read us things</i>
<i>that he had written</i>

1323
01:05:15,286 --> 01:05:16,902
<i>that he thought were</i>
<i>particularly funny.</i>

1324
01:05:17,831 --> 01:05:20,995
P.J. was one of those people
that really worked hard.

1325
01:05:21,209 --> 01:05:23,496
<i>It was not an endearing quality.</i>

1326
01:05:25,588 --> 01:05:30,800
It needed a grown-up,
but frankly, it stopped being fun.

1327
01:05:34,681 --> 01:05:37,014
"How to talk your wife into oral sex:

1328
01:05:37,725 --> 01:05:42,641
<i>Beg, wheedle, plead,</i>
<i>moan, groan and whine.</i>

1329
01:05:42,814 --> 01:05:45,682
<i>The object being to have</i>
<i>her grab it in disgust</i>

1330
01:05:45,859 --> 01:05:48,772
<i>and perform the dirty deed</i>
<i>to shut you up."</i>

1331
01:05:49,946 --> 01:05:51,027
By John Hughes.

1332
01:05:51,197 --> 01:05:54,816
<i>?(</i>rock music plays) ?

1333
01:05:54,993 --> 01:05:57,076
Apatow: <i>I was always an</i>
<i>enormous fan of John Hughes.</i>

1334
01:05:57,245 --> 01:06:00,454
<i>He did all of this humor</i>
<i>about families and growing up</i>

1335
01:06:00,623 --> 01:06:03,411
and then really funny,
dirty stuff.

1336
01:06:07,172 --> 01:06:08,379
When I was running the magazine,

1337
01:06:08,548 --> 01:06:09,914
he was the best person
I had working for me.

1338
01:06:10,216 --> 01:06:13,926
<i>John could hue within,</i>
<i>sort of, one degree of reality</i>

1339
01:06:14,095 --> 01:06:15,176
<i>and make it hilarious.</i>

1340
01:06:15,847 --> 01:06:18,260
Peter Kleinman: <i>On the surface,</i>
<i>he was all-American, you know,</i>

1341
01:06:18,433 --> 01:06:20,425
<i>almost like this nice family guy.</i>

1342
01:06:20,935 --> 01:06:23,518
And then you'd start
reading his stuff,

1343
01:06:23,688 --> 01:06:27,056
and it was the most sick,
sexual, depraved,

1344
01:06:27,233 --> 01:06:28,815
<i>deviant stuff you've ever read.</i>

1345
01:06:31,821 --> 01:06:35,110
P.J. O'Rourke and John Hughes
and the kinds of articles they liked

1346
01:06:35,283 --> 01:06:37,775
<i>and wrote and edited</i>
<i>were politically different</i>

1347
01:06:37,952 --> 01:06:40,410
and culturally and socially different
than the stuff we had done.

1348
01:06:40,580 --> 01:06:42,697
<i>And the kinds of readers</i>
<i>changed also.</i>

1349
01:06:44,501 --> 01:06:46,458
Simmons:
<i>I knew no one in Hollywood,</i>

1350
01:06:46,628 --> 01:06:49,166
but this is one of those things
that has to happen.

1351
01:06:50,423 --> 01:06:54,508
You have to have luck
to go with talent.

1352
01:06:57,388 --> 01:07:01,052
I got a phone call about a week
later from a guy who said,

1353
01:07:01,226 --> 01:07:03,559
"Mr. Simmons,
I am the assistant to Ned Tanen

1354
01:07:03,728 --> 01:07:06,516
at Universal Studios,
and I just want you to know

1355
01:07:06,689 --> 01:07:10,308
that I'm a huge <i>Lampoon</i> freak
and if you ever want

1356
01:07:10,485 --> 01:07:12,101
to do a movie, please call me."

1357
01:07:12,362 --> 01:07:15,355
<i>We met with Ned Tanen and he said,</i>
<i>"I hate this.</i>

1358
01:07:15,532 --> 01:07:19,196
<i>Everybody's a drunkard, a womanizer,</i>
<i>they're doing drugs."</i>

1359
01:07:19,369 --> 01:07:22,533
<i>But he had two assistants:</i>
<i>Sean Daniel and Thom Mount,</i>

1360
01:07:22,705 --> 01:07:24,571
who had always thought
this project could work.

1361
01:07:24,707 --> 01:07:25,788
And they were pushing it.

1362
01:07:26,000 --> 01:07:27,241
As a <i>National Lampoon</i> fan,

1363
01:07:27,418 --> 01:07:30,001
<i>I just thought this is hilarious.</i>

1364
01:07:30,171 --> 01:07:33,005
<i>Not everyone thought it was</i>
<i>as funny as I did.</i>

1365
01:07:33,174 --> 01:07:36,508
<i>In fact, it was held</i>
<i>in total contempt.</i>

1366
01:07:37,303 --> 01:07:40,637
My deal was that if any part
of the <i>National Lampoon</i> show,

1367
01:07:40,807 --> 01:07:44,096
which I produced, sort of,
led to what was going to be

1368
01:07:44,269 --> 01:07:45,976
a <i>National Lampoon</i> movie

1369
01:07:46,145 --> 01:07:48,603
<i>then I was going to have</i>
<i>the opportunity to direct it.</i>

1370
01:07:48,773 --> 01:07:50,765
But the only film I had directed
up to that point

1371
01:07:50,942 --> 01:07:53,650
was, uh, <i>Cannibal Girls.</i>

1372
01:07:53,820 --> 01:07:55,402
Announcer:
<i>They love every man they meet.</i>

1373
01:07:56,531 --> 01:07:59,114
<i>First to death,</i>
<i>then for dinner.</i>

1374
01:08:00,493 --> 01:08:03,361
Universal said, "Well, you can
produce it but you can't direct it."

1375
01:08:03,705 --> 01:08:05,571
My girlfriend at the time
was working as

1376
01:08:05,748 --> 01:08:08,035
<i>a script supervisor</i>
<i>on</i> Kentucky Fried Movie.

1377
01:08:08,209 --> 01:08:10,326
She said to me
you have got to get to know

1378
01:08:10,503 --> 01:08:11,664
the director of this movie,
John Landis.

1379
01:08:13,548 --> 01:08:15,881
Sean approached me and said,
"Would you be interested

1380
01:08:16,050 --> 01:08:18,588
in making a film at Universal?"

1381
01:08:18,761 --> 01:08:21,469
And I was like,
"Duh", and, uh,

1382
01:08:21,639 --> 01:08:23,551
he gave me
the script to <i>Animal House.</i>

1383
01:08:23,725 --> 01:08:25,261
Ned Tanen took me
into his office and said,

1384
01:08:25,435 --> 01:08:27,973
<i>"Look, a lot of people</i>
<i>around here hate this</i>

1385
01:08:28,146 --> 01:08:29,387
<i>and don't think</i>
<i>we should be doing it.</i>

1386
01:08:29,564 --> 01:08:30,805
<i>But if you believe in it,</i>

1387
01:08:30,982 --> 01:08:32,974
go away and bring us back
a movie."

1388
01:08:37,238 --> 01:08:40,072
You can't spend your whole life
worrying about your mistakes.

1389
01:08:40,241 --> 01:08:42,608
You fucked up!
You trusted us!

1390
01:08:44,996 --> 01:08:46,407
I had never done a comedy,

1391
01:08:46,581 --> 01:08:49,369
and I just was so over
where my career was.

1392
01:08:49,542 --> 01:08:51,534
I was like,
"I have to be in this movie."

1393
01:08:51,711 --> 01:08:53,247
<i>(</i>loud crack)

1394
01:08:53,338 --> 01:08:54,795
Thank you, sir.
May I have another?

1395
01:08:56,674 --> 01:08:58,006
Bacon:
<i>I auditioned for John Landis</i>

1396
01:08:58,176 --> 01:09:00,543
and he said,
"Yeah, this guy is smarmy,

1397
01:09:00,720 --> 01:09:03,212
he's a smarmy guy.
Can ya do that?"

1398
01:09:03,598 --> 01:09:05,339
<i>I had no idea</i>
<i>what the word smarmy meant,</i>

1399
01:09:05,516 --> 01:09:10,102
so I just, kind of, made this face
and he was like, "That's great!"

1400
01:09:11,064 --> 01:09:13,852
My kid can't see, is it all right
if he stands in front of you?

1401
01:09:14,025 --> 01:09:15,015
No!

1402
01:09:16,903 --> 01:09:18,735
Landis: <i>I really wanted</i>
<i>the writers on set.</i>

1403
01:09:18,905 --> 01:09:21,147
Universal of course,
this is a low-budget picture,

1404
01:09:21,324 --> 01:09:22,815
told me to go fuck myself, so...

1405
01:09:23,368 --> 01:09:26,861
What I did, was I said,
"Look, get yourself to Eugene

1406
01:09:27,038 --> 01:09:29,371
<i>and I will hire you</i>
<i>every day as actors."</i>

1407
01:09:29,707 --> 01:09:31,790
Chris and Doug
being there was important.

1408
01:09:32,085 --> 01:09:35,920
<i>And Doug Kenney,</i>
<i>really important because,</i>

1409
01:09:36,130 --> 01:09:37,996
you know, we made up a lot
of stuff shooting.

1410
01:09:38,174 --> 01:09:40,416
What the hell
we supposed to do, you moron?

1411
01:09:40,593 --> 01:09:42,459
Doug was always the smartest guy
in the room,

1412
01:09:42,595 --> 01:09:44,757
you know, and the richest guy.
<i>(</i>chuckling)

1413
01:09:45,139 --> 01:09:46,721
And the one with the drugs.

1414
01:09:47,016 --> 01:09:50,054
<i>So, it was a real special time</i>
<i>because it was a chance</i>

1415
01:09:50,228 --> 01:09:52,686
<i>to meet all these people</i>
<i>that I had always revered.</i>

1416
01:09:52,855 --> 01:09:55,939
<i>You know, the</i> Lampoon
<i>and that Doug had founded it</i>

1417
01:09:56,109 --> 01:09:59,352
<i>and was as smart in person</i>
<i>and funny in person</i>

1418
01:09:59,529 --> 01:10:01,771
as the magazine was.

1419
01:10:01,948 --> 01:10:03,940
Landis: <i>I know that for Doug,</i>
<i>he was in heaven.</i>

1420
01:10:04,325 --> 01:10:05,532
<i>He had the time of his life.</i>

1421
01:10:07,995 --> 01:10:11,238
But Ned Tanen was very upset
about it and very concerned

1422
01:10:11,416 --> 01:10:13,658
and really we were in trouble
for a while.

1423
01:10:13,918 --> 01:10:15,454
When he saw the movie he just...

1424
01:10:15,920 --> 01:10:19,334
He didn't like it and, uh,
didn't find any of it funny.

1425
01:10:22,093 --> 01:10:23,755
Sean Daniel:
<i>Came time to preview the movie</i>

1426
01:10:23,928 --> 01:10:26,796
<i>in front of</i>
<i>an actual paying audience,</i>

1427
01:10:27,265 --> 01:10:29,257
the president
of the corporation came,

1428
01:10:29,434 --> 01:10:32,302
who had been one of
the non-believers.

1429
01:10:33,771 --> 01:10:36,354
And all of
the executives were there.

1430
01:10:36,524 --> 01:10:39,938
The time has come for someone
to put his foot down,

1431
01:10:40,987 --> 01:10:43,070
and that foot is me.

1432
01:10:43,573 --> 01:10:45,405
It was, you know,
you're sitting there very nervous,

1433
01:10:45,575 --> 01:10:46,565
"How will they like the movie?"

1434
01:10:47,660 --> 01:10:49,822
<i>(</i>screaming)

1435
01:10:50,037 --> 01:10:51,118
They went nuts.

1436
01:10:51,372 --> 01:10:53,079
<i>(</i>cheering)

1437
01:10:54,751 --> 01:10:57,539
Suddenly the studio went,
"Oh, my God, this really worked."

1438
01:10:57,837 --> 01:10:59,419
Landis:
<i>And from that moment on,</i>

1439
01:10:59,589 --> 01:11:03,082
we went from being criminals...
Suspects to heroes.

1440
01:11:07,680 --> 01:11:11,139
I remember seeing it with my mom.
It was the first time I saw

1441
01:11:11,309 --> 01:11:13,517
<i>women's breasts</i>
<i>in front of my mother.</i>

1442
01:11:13,936 --> 01:11:15,802
I literally can remember how
many people were in the theater

1443
01:11:15,980 --> 01:11:19,018
and what it looked like
and my red shamed face.

1444
01:11:19,400 --> 01:11:22,893
And you have to remember that
<i>Animal House</i> created a genre.

1445
01:11:23,070 --> 01:11:25,437
<i>?(</i>Bobby Lewis
"Tossin' and Turnin'" plays) ?

1446
01:11:28,117 --> 01:11:29,403
So we figured,
"Wow, this is awesome."

1447
01:11:29,577 --> 01:11:31,034
<i>Everybody's going to love</i>
<i>the magazine now</i>

1448
01:11:31,204 --> 01:11:33,036
<i>and see that we're more</i>
<i>mainstream because of this movie</i>

1449
01:11:33,206 --> 01:11:34,788
<i>which was a huge success.</i>

1450
01:11:35,208 --> 01:11:36,699
<i>What we didn't anticipate</i>

1451
01:11:36,876 --> 01:11:40,620
was that Hollywood now would
rear it's voracious head

1452
01:11:40,797 --> 01:11:46,088
and take away all of our wonderful,
creative talent.

1453
01:11:46,719 --> 01:11:49,257
The second it came out somebody
hired me to write about

1454
01:11:49,430 --> 01:11:51,968
college kids drinking
and having sex in cars

1455
01:11:52,141 --> 01:11:54,884
and everybody wanted
to have a meeting even if...

1456
01:11:55,061 --> 01:11:56,893
And I had nothing to do
with the movie.

1457
01:11:57,063 --> 01:11:59,350
I just worked at
the <i>Lampoon</i> for a while.

1458
01:11:59,774 --> 01:12:03,768
<i>(</i>jet engine roar)

1459
01:12:10,117 --> 01:12:12,154
Chris Miller:
<i>Doug came out to Hollywood</i>

1460
01:12:12,328 --> 01:12:14,445
<i>and the search forjoy</i>
<i>and for ecstasy</i>

1461
01:12:14,622 --> 01:12:16,784
<i>was a major fact of life.</i>

1462
01:12:18,292 --> 01:12:19,408
It was what we did.

1463
01:12:19,919 --> 01:12:21,626
<i>?(</i>Bobby Blue Bland
"Turn On Your Love Light" Plays) ?

1464
01:12:23,840 --> 01:12:25,923
Beard: <i>I realized that this is</i>
<i>what he wanted to do.</i>

1465
01:12:26,092 --> 01:12:28,505
I mean, Doug Kenney
should be writing movies.

1466
01:12:28,678 --> 01:12:29,839
<i>He was a producer.</i>

1467
01:12:34,851 --> 01:12:37,514
<i>He seemed to be running</i>
<i>the whole show.</i>

1468
01:12:37,687 --> 01:12:39,974
<i>He was the engine that was</i>
<i>making the wheels turn.</i>

1469
01:12:40,147 --> 01:12:43,731
<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

1470
01:12:43,901 --> 01:12:45,767
Doug was just
an upward road to fame.

1471
01:12:48,781 --> 01:12:50,488
Beverly D'Angelo: <i>I remember</i>
<i>going to Doug Kenney's house</i>

1472
01:12:50,658 --> 01:12:51,944
<i>when I first came to Hollywood.</i>

1473
01:12:52,118 --> 01:12:53,359
They were having
the most fun in town.

1474
01:12:53,536 --> 01:12:55,118
<i>They were what was</i>
<i>going on in town.</i>

1475
01:12:58,124 --> 01:13:02,789
Belushi: There was that part of him
that enjoyed being a star.

1476
01:13:10,595 --> 01:13:12,962
Kleinman: <i>Doug and Chevy</i>
<i>had this great chemistry.</i>

1477
01:13:13,139 --> 01:13:15,552
<i>They could start going</i>
<i>and you'd just sit back</i>

1478
01:13:15,725 --> 01:13:17,307
and just watch the party.

1479
01:13:17,727 --> 01:13:20,265
He considered himself the most
handsome man in comedy.

1480
01:13:20,688 --> 01:13:22,645
He'd be in front
of the mirror and say,

1481
01:13:22,815 --> 01:13:25,649
<i>"Look the most handsome man</i>
<i>in comedy."</i>

1482
01:13:25,818 --> 01:13:29,061
And then I'd stand behind him
and go, "Almost."

1483
01:13:34,785 --> 01:13:36,617
Hendra: <i>Wherever Doug was</i>
<i>would be a party.</i>

1484
01:13:37,163 --> 01:13:40,497
<i>Just full of people,</i>
<i>studio heads and guys from Denny's.</i>

1485
01:13:40,666 --> 01:13:42,328
<i>You know, I mean,</i>
<i>just anyone he met.</i>

1486
01:13:42,501 --> 01:13:44,208
And it would go on for hours,
sometimes days.

1487
01:14:17,036 --> 01:14:18,493
Kleinman: <i>Doug's career was</i>
<i>really taking off,</i>

1488
01:14:18,663 --> 01:14:20,074
<i>and meanwhile back at the ranch,</i>

1489
01:14:20,247 --> 01:14:22,864
everyone was making
<i>Disco Beavers From Outer Space.</i>

1490
01:14:23,042 --> 01:14:25,625
<i>? Disco beaver ?</i>

1491
01:14:25,795 --> 01:14:28,412
<i>? From outer space... ?</i>

1492
01:14:29,048 --> 01:14:30,710
There was a giant beaver
walking around

1493
01:14:30,883 --> 01:14:32,715
throughout everything
eating the floors.

1494
01:14:32,885 --> 01:14:35,298
So in the middle of the sketch,
the floor would collapse

1495
01:14:35,471 --> 01:14:37,679
<i>and this beaver, who had eaten it,</i>
<i>would pop up.</i>

1496
01:14:39,642 --> 01:14:42,134
Do I really have to talk
about <i>Disco Beaver?</i>

1497
01:14:42,311 --> 01:14:44,052
<i>? Disco beaver... ?</i>

1498
01:14:45,982 --> 01:14:47,439
Somebody at the <i>Lampoon</i>
called me and said,

1499
01:14:47,608 --> 01:14:50,351
"Look we have a whole bunch of
kids coming in from Harvard...

1500
01:14:50,528 --> 01:14:55,114
<i>?(</i>rock music plays) ?

1501
01:14:55,282 --> 01:14:57,069
<i>...and we'd like you to come</i>
<i>to the magazine</i>

1502
01:14:57,243 --> 01:14:58,825
<i>and just, kind of,</i>
<i>tutor these guys."</i>

1503
01:14:58,995 --> 01:15:00,827
I thought, okay,
that sounds like fun.

1504
01:15:02,873 --> 01:15:04,489
Reiss: <i>My first week</i>
<i>at the</i> National Lampoon,

1505
01:15:04,667 --> 01:15:07,410
we were getting drunk at a park
with bagpipers there.

1506
01:15:07,586 --> 01:15:08,872
I saw a fistfight.

1507
01:15:09,171 --> 01:15:11,504
There was a man secretly
living in his office.

1508
01:15:11,674 --> 01:15:15,668
It was... It was a crazy place,
like nothing I had ever seen before.

1509
01:15:15,845 --> 01:15:18,258
And, you know, for a guy just
out of college this was a dream.

1510
01:15:18,431 --> 01:15:20,138
<i>You know, you were able to</i>
<i>actually write comedy for a living,</i>

1511
01:15:20,266 --> 01:15:21,222
<i>which was astounding to me.</i>

1512
01:15:21,392 --> 01:15:23,384
<i>One thing that Mike and I did early,</i>
<i>was these articles</i>

1513
01:15:23,561 --> 01:15:26,144
<i>about how to write. And we did</i>
<i>one that Thurgood Marshall,</i>

1514
01:15:26,313 --> 01:15:28,396
<i>the Supreme Court Justice did,</i>
How to Write Dirty,

1515
01:15:28,566 --> 01:15:30,728
<i>where he instructed you</i>
<i>how to write pornography.</i>

1516
01:15:31,444 --> 01:15:33,561
I had the thought
that Thurgood Marshall,

1517
01:15:33,738 --> 01:15:35,479
he would never see this article,
but if he did,

1518
01:15:35,656 --> 01:15:37,739
I thought maybe he would
even enjoy it, right?

1519
01:15:37,908 --> 01:15:41,026
He was so upset that
he called the FBI and said,

1520
01:15:41,203 --> 01:15:42,410
"What can I do to them?"

1521
01:15:42,913 --> 01:15:44,700
And the FBI said,
"Well, there's a thing

1522
01:15:44,874 --> 01:15:47,708
called Freedom of Speech,
Mr. Justice, it protects them."

1523
01:15:56,302 --> 01:15:57,793
McConnachie:
<i>After</i> Animal House,

1524
01:15:57,970 --> 01:16:00,462
Harold and Doug went up to
Florida and made <i>Caddyshack.</i>

1525
01:16:00,639 --> 01:16:03,256
<i>Caddyshack</i>
was not a <i>Lampoon</i> movie,

1526
01:16:03,434 --> 01:16:07,223
but it was a Doug Kenney movie
and Doug Kenney was the <i>Lampoon,</i>

1527
01:16:07,396 --> 01:16:09,934
<i>so obviously it was</i>
<i>a</i> Lampoon <i>movie.</i>

1528
01:16:10,107 --> 01:16:13,271
I mean, it may not have been
officially a <i>Lampoon</i> movie

1529
01:16:13,444 --> 01:16:17,028
<i>but with Chevy and Billy</i>
<i>and Doug and Brian,</i>

1530
01:16:17,198 --> 01:16:18,905
<i>I mean, it was a</i> Lampoon <i>movie.</i>

1531
01:16:19,075 --> 01:16:21,158
That was the spirit
of the <i>Lampoon.</i>

1532
01:16:21,577 --> 01:16:23,443
Doug was the producer
of <i>Caddyshack</i>

1533
01:16:23,621 --> 01:16:26,739
<i>but it all seemed</i>
<i>a little disorganized.</i>

1534
01:16:27,041 --> 01:16:29,283
<i>There was a kind of</i>
<i>haphazard quality</i>

1535
01:16:29,460 --> 01:16:32,544
to the way in which
the film was created.

1536
01:16:32,713 --> 01:16:34,079
Stop thinking.

1537
01:16:35,007 --> 01:16:38,466
Let things happen
and be the ball.

1538
01:16:41,180 --> 01:16:42,421
Danny? Danny?

1539
01:16:42,807 --> 01:16:45,424
It was only, like, my second movie
or something, I don't remember.

1540
01:16:45,601 --> 01:16:47,513
<i>Everybody was smoking pot.</i>

1541
01:16:47,686 --> 01:16:48,642
<i>(</i>coughing)

1542
01:16:48,813 --> 01:16:50,054
It's a little harsh.

1543
01:16:50,397 --> 01:16:53,811
It was a very nocturnal,
uh, movie.

1544
01:16:55,486 --> 01:16:56,567
<i>(</i>sniffing)

1545
01:16:56,779 --> 01:16:57,895
<i>?(</i>Kenny Loggins
"I'm Alight" plays) ?

1546
01:16:58,197 --> 01:16:59,859
Cocaine was just always there.

1547
01:17:00,991 --> 01:17:03,324
Matheson: <i>Cocaine wasn't bad for you.</i>
<i>You'd do this and you'd go,</i>

1548
01:17:03,494 --> 01:17:04,735
<i>"I can't believe</i>
<i>this isn't bad for me!"</i>

1549
01:17:04,912 --> 01:17:07,245
You know, 'cause it wasn't
considered, at that time,

1550
01:17:07,414 --> 01:17:10,873
to be a bad thing...
for a while.

1551
01:17:16,006 --> 01:17:17,167
He's got a beautiful backswing.

1552
01:17:17,341 --> 01:17:19,424
That's...
Oh, he got all of that one!

1553
01:17:19,760 --> 01:17:21,296
Judd Apatow: <i>I remember</i>
<i>when</i> Caddyshack <i>came out,</i>

1554
01:17:21,470 --> 01:17:22,802
<i>Newsday</i> gave it
two and a half stars,

1555
01:17:22,972 --> 01:17:25,965
and I'm like, "What?
This is like the best movie ever!"

1556
01:17:26,142 --> 01:17:28,634
<i>Caddyshack</i> is not about the
Mikado's daughter-in-law elect.

1557
01:17:28,811 --> 01:17:31,394
It's about as rotten a movie as has
slopped the screen this summer.

1558
01:17:33,899 --> 01:17:34,980
Tim Matheson:
<i>Doug was very distraught</i>

1559
01:17:35,151 --> 01:17:37,814
<i>and upset that</i> Caddyshack
<i>wasn't as big as</i> Animal House.

1560
01:17:37,987 --> 01:17:39,523
I said, "Jeez, you know,
<i>Animal House</i> is a homerun.

1561
01:17:39,697 --> 01:17:42,690
So let's just say <i>Caddyshack</i> is a
double or a triple. But who cares?"

1562
01:17:42,867 --> 01:17:44,403
Chevy Chase:
<i>But I was at Dangerfield's</i>

1563
01:17:44,577 --> 01:17:46,239
<i>with Billy and maybe Harold</i>

1564
01:17:46,412 --> 01:17:49,780
promoting the picture
and somebody came up to me after

1565
01:17:49,957 --> 01:17:51,994
and he said, "You know,
Doug is really..."

1566
01:17:52,168 --> 01:17:55,286
And I could see that Doug
was like asleep on a table

1567
01:17:55,462 --> 01:17:59,172
back there starting to get
loaded at noon or whatever.

1568
01:17:59,341 --> 01:18:01,583
I had seen him depressed before
but this was like

1569
01:18:01,760 --> 01:18:04,252
he had achieved a level of
depression that was impressive

1570
01:18:04,430 --> 01:18:06,422
to me and I'm good
at being depressed.

1571
01:18:06,765 --> 01:18:08,097
<i>And it was about the movie.</i>

1572
01:18:09,310 --> 01:18:12,769
He'd spent a year and a half of
his life or something on this thing

1573
01:18:12,938 --> 01:18:17,057
<i>and what I got is like</i>
<i>a talking gopher for Christ's sake.</i>

1574
01:18:19,403 --> 01:18:23,147
It actually did fine, it kind of
hit the mark a lot of films do.

1575
01:18:23,490 --> 01:18:25,026
It just wasn't his mark.

1576
01:18:25,326 --> 01:18:28,694
<i>So I guess that's probably part</i>
<i>of what happened to Doug,</i>

1577
01:18:28,871 --> 01:18:30,783
<i>just feeling it should</i>
<i>have done better...</i>

1578
01:18:32,750 --> 01:18:33,911
...he could have done better.

1579
01:18:37,254 --> 01:18:39,246
Sean Kelly: <i>At that point</i>
<i>the magazine was on the skids</i>

1580
01:18:39,632 --> 01:18:40,918
<i>in terms of its sales,</i>

1581
01:18:41,175 --> 01:18:43,918
and it was believed
by management

1582
01:18:44,094 --> 01:18:49,806
that the way to get it back to being
a best-seller was to have more tits.

1583
01:18:49,975 --> 01:18:54,060
<i>?(</i>rock music plays) ?

1584
01:18:56,899 --> 01:18:59,983
Al Jean: <i>They had this mandate that</i>
<i>every sixth issue or second issue</i>

1585
01:19:00,152 --> 01:19:02,439
or every issue had to be
a sex issue.

1586
01:19:08,118 --> 01:19:11,202
And we couldn't
afford B-List tits.

1587
01:19:11,455 --> 01:19:14,289
We had like D and E-List tits.

1588
01:19:16,085 --> 01:19:17,917
<i>And the more tits and ass</i>
<i>we put on the cover,</i>

1589
01:19:18,087 --> 01:19:20,955
the more 7-11's and everybody
put it under the counter

1590
01:19:21,173 --> 01:19:22,505
so it didn't matter
what was on the cover.

1591
01:19:27,179 --> 01:19:29,842
Then the phone rang and they
said, "Do you want to quit

1592
01:19:30,015 --> 01:19:31,426
your job and come to Hollywood?"

1593
01:19:31,600 --> 01:19:33,466
And we said,
"Yes, who is this?"

1594
01:19:33,727 --> 01:19:37,095
The kids left to go
write <i>The Simpsons</i>

1595
01:19:37,356 --> 01:19:39,188
<i>and every other thing</i>
<i>that's huge.</i>

1596
01:19:39,358 --> 01:19:41,441
<i>We were in something</i>
<i>of a death spiral.</i>

1597
01:19:46,573 --> 01:19:48,815
Chris Miller: <i>I was working on</i>
<i>a movie called</i> Club Sandwich.

1598
01:19:48,993 --> 01:19:50,905
<i>We had to have a meeting</i>
<i>with our producers</i>

1599
01:19:51,078 --> 01:19:54,913
<i>and that was Michael Shamberg</i>
<i>and Allen Greisman and Doug.</i>

1600
01:19:55,082 --> 01:19:56,323
<i>And in comes Doug,</i>

1601
01:19:56,709 --> 01:19:59,122
and behind him
comes this coke dealer.

1602
01:19:59,795 --> 01:20:03,414
And, um, Doug says,
"I'll be right with you guys!"

1603
01:20:04,133 --> 01:20:08,673
He lays a rail of this coke
along his arm, and he goes...

1604
01:20:08,846 --> 01:20:10,007
<i>(</i>snorting)

1605
01:20:10,180 --> 01:20:12,593
And the entire amount of cocaine
goes up his nose.

1606
01:20:12,850 --> 01:20:15,183
And then he says, "Okay,
we're having a meeting now?"

1607
01:20:15,352 --> 01:20:16,593
And, uh...

1608
01:20:17,146 --> 01:20:21,140
I had been as big a drug abuser
as anybody,

1609
01:20:21,400 --> 01:20:23,642
and I had hung around
with Doug a lot.

1610
01:20:23,819 --> 01:20:27,153
I had never seen Doug do
something like that at 9:00 a.m.

1611
01:20:27,406 --> 01:20:29,398
<i>when a business meeting</i>
<i>was about to be held.</i>

1612
01:20:30,242 --> 01:20:31,983
Tim Matheson: <i>You know Hollywood</i>
<i>is one of those things.</i>

1613
01:20:32,161 --> 01:20:34,369
They don't care what you do.

1614
01:20:35,122 --> 01:20:37,910
Just as long as you show up
to work and you're okay then.

1615
01:20:38,083 --> 01:20:40,666
<i>Whatever you do on your own time,</i>
<i>that's what you do on your own time.</i>

1616
01:20:41,712 --> 01:20:42,828
<i>(</i>phone ringing)

1617
01:20:43,005 --> 01:20:45,338
Man: <i>Hello, this is</i>
<i>a recorded message</i>

1618
01:20:45,507 --> 01:20:47,669
<i>from your suicide</i>
<i>prevention phone.</i>

1619
01:20:48,135 --> 01:20:50,343
<i>Now first of all why not stop,</i>

1620
01:20:50,554 --> 01:20:53,342
<i>take a deep breath</i>
<i>and think for a minute.</i>

1621
01:20:53,599 --> 01:20:55,841
<i>Can things really be all that bad?</i>

1622
01:20:56,602 --> 01:20:59,686
<i>Sure, the road of life can be</i>
<i>pretty bumpy sometimes</i>

1623
01:20:59,855 --> 01:21:04,145
<i>but isn't thatjust part in parcel</i>
<i>of that rich tapestry we call living?</i>

1624
01:21:04,318 --> 01:21:05,354
<i>- (</i>gunshot)
<i>- (</i>gasp and thud)

1625
01:21:05,527 --> 01:21:07,940
<i>You know, a wise man once said,</i>

1626
01:21:08,113 --> 01:21:10,901
<i>"Today is the first day</i>
<i>of the rest of your life."</i>

1627
01:21:20,250 --> 01:21:22,037
Peter Kleinman: <i>I mean,</i>
<i>you know, I'm not a doctor</i>

1628
01:21:22,211 --> 01:21:24,203
but I guess Doug was an addict.

1629
01:21:24,880 --> 01:21:27,668
He had the disease of addiction,
right?

1630
01:21:28,133 --> 01:21:30,341
Doug couldn't not be high.

1631
01:21:31,470 --> 01:21:34,008
Coming out to L.A.
was very bad for Doug, I think.

1632
01:21:34,181 --> 01:21:37,049
The cocaine out here was
everywhere and, uh...

1633
01:21:38,560 --> 01:21:40,893
Doug just went for it, uh...

1634
01:21:42,106 --> 01:21:45,565
as hard as anybody
has ever gone for it.

1635
01:21:49,488 --> 01:21:53,823
Doug wasn't...
He wasn't as happy

1636
01:21:53,951 --> 01:21:58,696
as I thought I might be
if I had, you know,

1637
01:21:59,248 --> 01:22:00,989
that kind of success

1638
01:22:01,208 --> 01:22:04,246
and that kind of notoriety
and money.

1639
01:22:05,421 --> 01:22:08,289
He was sort of, an emptiness,

1640
01:22:08,924 --> 01:22:10,961
like, there was like a sadness.

1641
01:22:11,593 --> 01:22:12,709
He was having trouble.

1642
01:22:13,679 --> 01:22:15,636
And they said, you know,
take him away, or...

1643
01:22:15,806 --> 01:22:17,138
for a week or something.

1644
01:22:17,474 --> 01:22:19,636
<i>So Doug and I</i>
<i>went off together.</i>

1645
01:22:19,810 --> 01:22:21,847
<i>I took him to Hawaii.</i>

1646
01:22:22,396 --> 01:22:26,185
I think that he and Chevy were,
at that time, um...

1647
01:22:27,067 --> 01:22:29,150
battling their
attraction to drugs.

1648
01:22:29,570 --> 01:22:32,654
I remember at one point
we were at the hotel

1649
01:22:32,823 --> 01:22:35,281
<i>on Maui on like the 15th floor.</i>

1650
01:22:37,453 --> 01:22:38,944
I went to his room,
and I told him

1651
01:22:39,121 --> 01:22:42,410
I just couldn't take it anymore,
I was so depressed.

1652
01:22:44,293 --> 01:22:46,785
<i>Then I went back to my room</i>
<i>and I took my boots off</i>

1653
01:22:46,962 --> 01:22:51,548
and left them right by the fence,
the terrace,

1654
01:22:51,758 --> 01:22:54,296
and then just went,
"I got, uh, ah!"

1655
01:22:55,387 --> 01:22:59,973
The sound of somebody falling
from the terrace or jumping.

1656
01:23:00,517 --> 01:23:02,634
<i>And he came running and,</i>
<i>of course, I'm hiding</i>

1657
01:23:03,729 --> 01:23:06,016
and for a second he really
actually looked.

1658
01:23:07,024 --> 01:23:08,515
<i>(</i>chuckling)

1659
01:23:14,781 --> 01:23:16,317
I'm telling you
all this about Doug

1660
01:23:16,492 --> 01:23:18,859
because I miss him very much,
he was my best friend.

1661
01:23:25,959 --> 01:23:27,791
I had to come back
to work finally,

1662
01:23:28,003 --> 01:23:30,370
back to California,
and I left him in Hawaii.

1663
01:23:30,881 --> 01:23:36,673
I got a call
from Doug's girlfriend, um...

1664
01:23:36,845 --> 01:23:37,835
<i>(</i>clearing throat)

1665
01:23:38,055 --> 01:23:40,798
And he was missing and did
I know where he was

1666
01:23:40,974 --> 01:23:42,215
and I had no idea.

1667
01:23:42,392 --> 01:23:45,260
One day I was talking to him
and the next day he was missing.

1668
01:23:50,234 --> 01:23:53,727
Doug being missing
wasn't that unusual

1669
01:23:53,904 --> 01:23:56,112
but this time
it didn't feel right.

1670
01:23:56,657 --> 01:23:58,068
I flew back out.

1671
01:23:58,242 --> 01:23:59,983
We found Doug but he was
at the bottom of

1672
01:24:00,786 --> 01:24:03,449
what they call
the Grand Canyon in Kauai.

1673
01:24:20,764 --> 01:24:22,255
John Weidman: <i>I don't</i>
<i>want to suggest for a minute</i>

1674
01:24:22,432 --> 01:24:24,298
<i>that what happened</i>
<i>to Doug was expected.</i>

1675
01:24:24,476 --> 01:24:26,092
<i>It was awful</i>
<i>when I got the news,</i>

1676
01:24:26,270 --> 01:24:32,983
but it was not entirely incompatible
with the life he had been living.

1677
01:24:34,069 --> 01:24:38,188
It was a tragic loss.
He was the first person I knew

1678
01:24:38,365 --> 01:24:39,901
that I considered a drug casualty.

1679
01:24:40,617 --> 01:24:42,859
John Landis: <i>Was he stoned</i>
<i>and fell off the cliff?</i>

1680
01:24:43,203 --> 01:24:46,412
Was he suicidal
and jumped off the cliff?

1681
01:24:46,832 --> 01:24:48,824
Or was he in fact murdered
in a drug deal,

1682
01:24:49,001 --> 01:24:50,367
which is what a lot of people think.

1683
01:24:50,752 --> 01:24:53,369
They said that there was a sign
at the cliff where he died,

1684
01:24:53,547 --> 01:24:54,754
that said,
"Do not go beyond this point."

1685
01:24:55,257 --> 01:24:59,297
<i>And as soon as I heard that</i>
<i>I just saw Doug read it and say</i>

1686
01:24:59,469 --> 01:25:00,585
"You mean here?"

1687
01:25:04,641 --> 01:25:06,473
He wrote me a chatty letter
from Hawaii,

1688
01:25:06,643 --> 01:25:09,010
and told me he looked forward to
seeing me when he came to L.A.

1689
01:25:09,229 --> 01:25:10,515
He wanted to talk about something.

1690
01:25:11,315 --> 01:25:12,931
So I don't think he was...

1691
01:25:13,775 --> 01:25:15,141
I don't think he killed himself.

1692
01:25:15,319 --> 01:25:18,403
He was never a guy
to take his life.

1693
01:25:19,072 --> 01:25:24,067
And having thought about it
all this time over the years,

1694
01:25:24,745 --> 01:25:27,362
I think that he...
he slipped.

1695
01:25:27,789 --> 01:25:29,030
Which is stupid.

1696
01:25:29,958 --> 01:25:35,499
And, um... uh, it killed him.
So... that was that.

1697
01:25:39,092 --> 01:25:42,506
I've heard every version
of this and I have no idea.

1698
01:25:43,472 --> 01:25:46,055
Chris Miller very brilliantly said,

1699
01:25:46,808 --> 01:25:50,347
"Doug was looking for a better place
to jump from when he slipped."

1700
01:25:51,396 --> 01:25:54,639
<i>(</i>laughing)

1701
01:26:11,291 --> 01:26:12,407
Henry Beard: <i>Had he lived,</i>

1702
01:26:12,626 --> 01:26:14,959
Doug Kenney would have
been kind of force

1703
01:26:15,128 --> 01:26:17,040
in American movie making,
directorial force

1704
01:26:17,214 --> 01:26:19,672
that John Hughes was,
the kind of movies he made.

1705
01:26:19,841 --> 01:26:21,252
Dad, whoa!

1706
01:26:21,385 --> 01:26:22,592
<i>? Walley World! ?</i>

1707
01:26:24,596 --> 01:26:27,964
Matty Simmons: <i>John Hughes wrote</i>
<i>the short story</i> Vacation '58.

1708
01:26:28,266 --> 01:26:29,222
I called him in,
and I said,

1709
01:26:29,393 --> 01:26:31,009
<i>"John, I'm gonna make</i>
<i>a movie of this."</i>

1710
01:26:31,436 --> 01:26:32,552
<i>(</i>tires screeching)

1711
01:26:34,606 --> 01:26:36,393
I think you're
all fucked in the head.

1712
01:26:36,942 --> 01:26:39,810
We're ten hours from the fucking
fun park and you wanna bail out!

1713
01:26:39,986 --> 01:26:42,694
Judd Apatow: Vacation <i>was my family.</i>
<i>I went on those trips,</i>

1714
01:26:42,864 --> 01:26:46,448
and it was that heinous,
you know, every single time.

1715
01:26:46,618 --> 01:26:48,405
Chevy: We're all gonna have
so much fucking fun

1716
01:26:48,578 --> 01:26:51,195
we'll need plastic surgery
to remove our goddamn smiles.

1717
01:26:51,665 --> 01:26:54,533
You'll be whistling <i>Zip-a-Dee-</i>
<i>Doo-Dah</i> out of your assholes!

1718
01:26:55,502 --> 01:26:56,492
<i>(</i>laughing)

1719
01:26:56,670 --> 01:26:58,161
It was rated R!

1720
01:26:58,422 --> 01:27:01,540
<i>Dogs are being killed,</i>
<i>adultery is being flaunted.</i>

1721
01:27:01,800 --> 01:27:06,511
<i>There's elderly abuse, incest,</i>
<i>masturbation, kidnapping.</i>

1722
01:27:06,722 --> 01:27:09,305
That's a lot of stuff that
you wouldn't think of as

1723
01:27:09,474 --> 01:27:14,560
being present in what has become
like a beloved family film.

1724
01:27:15,605 --> 01:27:18,143
- Good talk, son.
- Good talk, Dad.

1725
01:27:18,817 --> 01:27:21,685
I think Matty said something like,
"Well, this is <i>National Lampoon."</i>

1726
01:27:25,115 --> 01:27:26,981
Peter Kleinman:
<i>If there was a golden age,</i>

1727
01:27:27,242 --> 01:27:29,950
<i>and a silver age,</i>
<i>and a platinum age,</i>

1728
01:27:30,370 --> 01:27:33,408
this would probably be
the moldy rye bread age

1729
01:27:33,623 --> 01:27:34,989
<i>of the</i> National Lampoon.

1730
01:27:38,378 --> 01:27:40,995
<i>We were doing this horror</i>
<i>and fantasy issue</i>

1731
01:27:41,173 --> 01:27:43,381
and we were trying to come up
with the most horrible,

1732
01:27:43,550 --> 01:27:45,007
<i>gruesome, funny ideas.</i>

1733
01:27:45,343 --> 01:27:48,336
And I said, "What about
a baby in a blender?"

1734
01:27:48,513 --> 01:27:51,381
And everybody was like, "Aah,
that's so funny, baby in a blender!"

1735
01:27:54,644 --> 01:27:58,604
There was supposed to be
a satire of a famous old saying

1736
01:27:58,774 --> 01:28:00,857
that went something like,

1737
01:28:01,026 --> 01:28:03,109
"It's a worse mess
than a baby in a blender."

1738
01:28:03,278 --> 01:28:05,440
So, we decided we would do it.

1739
01:28:05,614 --> 01:28:09,699
And I took a picture of a baby crying
and took a picture of a blender

1740
01:28:09,868 --> 01:28:11,700
and we actually
stripped them together

1741
01:28:11,787 --> 01:28:13,824
<i>so it looked like the baby</i>
<i>was in the blender.</i>

1742
01:28:13,997 --> 01:28:17,616
<i>And we put Satan's finger</i>
<i>on the puree button.</i>

1743
01:28:21,880 --> 01:28:23,667
Matty Simmons: <i>There was a group</i>
<i>called the Christian Coalition</i>

1744
01:28:23,757 --> 01:28:25,840
<i>which hated us because</i>
<i>we made fun of groups</i>

1745
01:28:26,009 --> 01:28:27,466
<i>like the Christian Coalition.</i>

1746
01:28:29,638 --> 01:28:32,847
They organized a group
of right wing zealots

1747
01:28:33,016 --> 01:28:34,006
<i>and they sent letters around</i>

1748
01:28:34,184 --> 01:28:36,801
and we lost almost
all our national advertising.

1749
01:28:42,651 --> 01:28:46,611
And it went downhill from there,
and I'm gonna end it on that note.

1750
01:28:54,454 --> 01:28:56,537
<i>?(</i>David Bowie "Changes" plays) ?

1751
01:29:12,430 --> 01:29:14,387
The things that happened to us
when we are young

1752
01:29:14,558 --> 01:29:17,266
just seem so much more important
than other things

1753
01:29:17,435 --> 01:29:18,846
<i>because they're happening</i>
<i>for the first time.</i>

1754
01:29:19,688 --> 01:29:21,099
Anne Beatts:
<i>You know, looking backwards</i>

1755
01:29:21,273 --> 01:29:22,935
<i>is always a dangerous position.</i>

1756
01:29:23,108 --> 01:29:24,849
<i>You could really</i>
<i>throw your neck out,</i>

1757
01:29:25,026 --> 01:29:26,892
<i>but when I do look back</i>
<i>at all of this,</i>

1758
01:29:27,112 --> 01:29:28,148
I feel lucky.

1759
01:29:29,364 --> 01:29:31,071
Ivan Reitman: <i>The</i> National Lampoon
<i>really changed my life.</i>

1760
01:29:31,241 --> 01:29:33,733
<i>It introduced me to this</i>
<i>extraordinary group of performers</i>

1761
01:29:33,910 --> 01:29:37,699
that were really the finest
comedic actors of their generation.

1762
01:29:40,667 --> 01:29:42,784
Tony Hendra: <i>Some people might think</i>
<i>this is an egregious comparison,</i>

1763
01:29:42,961 --> 01:29:46,750
but I would say that
my years at the <i>Lampoon,</i> um,

1764
01:29:47,090 --> 01:29:49,582
were not unlike the Paris
of the twenties

1765
01:29:49,843 --> 01:29:52,381
that Hemingway describes
in <i>A Moveable Feast.</i>

1766
01:29:52,637 --> 01:29:56,426
<i>Wherever two or more</i>
Lampoon <i>people got together</i>

1767
01:29:56,600 --> 01:29:59,308
<i>in those years,</i>
<i>something explosive happened.</i>

1768
01:30:03,857 --> 01:30:06,850
Janis Hirsch: <i>I felt like I</i>
<i>snuck in some magical clubhouse.</i>

1769
01:30:07,485 --> 01:30:09,568
With those people there,
you knew you were never

1770
01:30:09,696 --> 01:30:11,028
going to see people
like that again.

1771
01:30:13,241 --> 01:30:14,573
Sean Kelly:
<i>At the end of the year</i>

1772
01:30:14,743 --> 01:30:16,860
<i>when I'm talking to students</i>
<i>who are about to graduate,</i>

1773
01:30:17,037 --> 01:30:21,532
I say I wish them,
that they get maybe five years

1774
01:30:21,708 --> 01:30:23,370
in their whole working lives

1775
01:30:24,252 --> 01:30:25,788
<i>like the five years I got,</i>

1776
01:30:25,962 --> 01:30:29,296
where you're doing something,
frankly, you would pay to do,

1777
01:30:29,883 --> 01:30:31,499
except you're getting
paid to do it.

1778
01:30:37,390 --> 01:30:38,847
Henry Beard:
<i>It's a time of dial telephone.</i>

1779
01:30:39,017 --> 01:30:40,849
<i>There's no Internet,</i>
<i>there's no computers.</i>

1780
01:30:41,019 --> 01:30:43,056
<i>There wasn't that much</i>
<i>that was shared,</i>

1781
01:30:43,355 --> 01:30:45,642
<i>but what was shared</i>
<i>was shared by everybody.</i>

1782
01:30:45,815 --> 01:30:48,182
They absolutely
had everything in common

1783
01:30:48,401 --> 01:30:50,438
and in a way that never
will happen again.

1784
01:30:50,820 --> 01:30:52,231
Michael Gross:
<i>I'm just so super proud</i>

1785
01:30:52,405 --> 01:30:55,523
<i>of that period of our life,</i>
<i>not to mention blessed.</i>

1786
01:30:56,576 --> 01:31:01,116
I somehow was part of
the greatest band of an era.

1787
01:31:06,670 --> 01:31:09,378
Really what is important,
I think, is just those people.

1788
01:31:11,883 --> 01:31:14,671
They became
all of modern comedy.

1789
01:31:15,679 --> 01:31:17,261
<i>?(</i>music continues) ?

1790
01:31:50,505 --> 01:31:53,748
Doug always had a predilection
for sticking his dick in girls' ears.

1791
01:31:54,134 --> 01:31:57,468
Uh, it was something that
he would surprise everybody

1792
01:31:57,637 --> 01:32:00,380
by doing in the middle of
a cocktail party or something.

1793
01:32:00,557 --> 01:32:03,300
There would be Doug with
his dick in some girl's ear.

1794
01:32:03,643 --> 01:32:07,762
And he used to say to me,
"Chris, I hope that somehow

1795
01:32:08,023 --> 01:32:11,232
I'll go to heaven and I'll be
able to stick my dick

1796
01:32:11,401 --> 01:32:13,017
in the ear
of Eleanor Roosevelt."

1797
01:32:13,319 --> 01:32:17,404
And so when Doug died, I figured
he definitely got into heaven

1798
01:32:17,574 --> 01:32:20,237
and probably,
probably even right now,

1799
01:32:20,410 --> 01:32:22,823
he's sticking his dick
in the ear of Eleanor Roosevelt.

1800
01:32:24,873 --> 01:32:28,708
<i>?(</i>Lindsay Buckingham
"Holiday Road" plays) ?

1801
01:34:29,247 --> 01:34:31,113
<i>(</i>dog barking to beat)

1802
01:34:33,418 --> 01:34:35,876
<i>(</i>indistinct chatter)

1803
01:34:37,589 --> 01:34:39,546
<i>(</i>squeaking)

1804
01:34:44,804 --> 01:34:46,716
Man: <i>(</i>in Scottish accent)
<i>You've been listening to</i>

1805
01:34:46,890 --> 01:34:49,678
The National Lampoon
Radio Hour.