People We'll Miss: Harold Ramis

Harold Ramis 1944-2014

Comedian, actor, writer, director and producer Harold Ramis died yesterday, February 24, 2014. He has left an enormous legacy behind him having worked on countless films, television shows and even radio shows, where he got his start on National Lampoon's Radio Hour. You can read all about Harold's achievements on the web as he was an active force even up until his final days, but I won't go into any of that here. Suffice it to say that while he was alive he made many, many people laugh either directly or indirectly. So in tribute to this comedy legend, I present to you one of my favorite scenes from one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies, Heavy Metal (1981), in which Harold starred along with some his fellow SCTV alums, including John Candy, Eugene Levy and Joe Flaherty.

Geek Screen Gems: Wet Hot American Summer

More of a satire on 1980s summer-camp movies than a parody, Wet Hot American Summer was released in 2001 to hardly anyone, and for good reason. The producers of this hilarious take on Meatballs, and other similar teen films, are all alumni of the love-them-or-loathe-them comedy troupe, The State, who enjoyed a shaky three-year run on MTV, making their mark during the brief revival of sketch comedy in the 1990s, which included acts like the Upright Citizens Brigade, Mr. Show and Canadian comedy prodigies, The Kids in the Hall. Although widely panned by critics and audiences alike and grossing less than $300,000, Wet Hot American Summer's absurdist take on the whole National Lampoon genre is worth a second look for its twisted and bizzare gags, ridiculous premises and over-the-top characters all of which have helped this movie reach a comfortable cult-status on the home video market. Of course it didn't hurt to have a host of fantastic cast members on hand, many of which were relatively unknown at the time the film premiered such as Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Amy Poheler, Bradley Cooper and Judah Friedlander. Add a few established talents of the period, in this case Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon and David Hyde Pierce, and throw in a cameo performance by H. Jon Benjamin as a can of vegetables and you basically have a guaranteed hit. Except it wasn't.  So if you loved those cheesy 80s summer movies or just have fond memories of your own camp experiences, head on down to the video rental store and pick up a copy of Wet Hot American Summer (available on VHS and Beta) tonight!

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER ON NETFLIX

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER ON ITUNES

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER ON GOOGLE PLAY

My favorite scene.

Let's Talk Geek

While traversing the realms of magic, comedy and retro-hipness in the early 80s, one would be hard-pressed not to find magician/comedian/retro-hipster Harry Anderson sharing your cab a time or two. The multi-talented entertainer and self-professed Mel Tormé fan sporadically appeared as con man Harry the Hat on the long-running sitcom "Cheers" during its first few seasons and regularly on NBC's Saturday Night Live as a guest before taking a permanent role as Judge Harold T. Stone on the Emmy-award winning series, Night Court (1984-1992). While Anderson eventually went on to take the lead in yet another sitcom, the much more subdued and conventional Dave's World from 1993 to 1997, it was those unbridled early live appearances on SNL that cemented the name Harry Anderson into the collective mind of the American television-viewing audience. Probably the most memorable "bit" he performed on SNL, and featured in the video below, is that of his now-famous "needle through the arm" trick. A trick so famous, in fact, that you can buy it HERE. In it, Anderson begins with a short explanation of an alternate definition for the word "geek" and from there goes into his typical non-chalant delivery whist proceeding to  jab metal into his, well, arm. Back in the 80s this kind of stuff might have made some folks squeamish, but considering this post-Jim Rose freakshow of a world we live in I'm pretty sure you guys can take it. Enjoy.