TMR 034 – The Cable Guy

This week on Total Movie Recall, Steve and Ryan light a candle for all the former child stars doing porn and robbing gas stations and lament the end of trashy 90s television — the genital warts of American society. We watched The Cable Guy and discovered that Americans would rather have their comedic heroes talking out of their rectums than critiquing our dumb media consumption. Put on your Doc Martens and pop in your Mazzy Star mix CD because we go back to a morally murky time — the 1990s.

The Cable Guy (1996)

d. Ben Stiller
Writer. Lou Holtz Jr.

Starring:
Jim Carrey
Matthew Broderick
Leslie Mann
Jack Black
Janeane Garofalo

Oddball cable installer Chip Douglas (Jim Carrey) attempts to strike up a friendship with customer Steven Kovacs (Matthew Broderick) by offering him premium channels at no cost. When Steven rebuffs Chip's frequent need for companionship, Chip goes from a mildly eccentric acquaintance to a full-fledged psycho stalker. Though it's increasingly apparent to Steven that the cable guy is dangerous, convincing his friends, family and the authorities of that is another matter entirely.

Things discussed in the show:

Free will / tabula rasa

F is for Fake (Orson Welles, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar, François Reichenbach)

Brain Smasher... A Love Story and Andrew Dice Clay vs. William Shakespeare (Albert Pyun, Teri Hatcher, Yuji Okumoto)

Daisey Ridley

Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich

The Last Dance (Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, David Aldridge, Chicago Bulls)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito)

Hurlyburly (Anthony Drazan, Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri)

Space Force (Steve Carell, Greg Daniels, John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz)

Veep (Armando Iannucci, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden)

Hyperdrive

Hannah - 2011 (Joe Wright, Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana)

David Lynch

Little Women - 2019 (Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh)

Anne of Green Gables (Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth)

Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach, Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Julia Greer)

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Uncut Gems (Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Idina Menzel)

Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (Tom Shadyac, Jack Bernstein, Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young)

The Mask (Chuck Russell, Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Riegert)

The Ben Stiller Show (Judd Apatow, Jeff Kahn, Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, John F. O'Donohue, David Cross)

Permanent Midnight (David Veloz, Ben Stiller, Maria Bello, Jay Paulson)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson)

Jenny McCarthy

Sonic the Hedgehog (Jeff Fowler, Pat Casey, Josh Miller, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Jim Carrey)

In Living Color (Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jim Carrey, Kelly Coffield Park, David Alan Grier, T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh, Tommy Davidson, Jamie Foxx, Damon Wayans, Jennifer Lopez)

Justin Beiber

Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field)

Matthew Broderick 1987 car accident

Daybreak (Aron Eli Coleite, Brad Peyton, Colin Ford, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Sophie Simnett)

The Warriors (Walter Hill, Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright)

WarGames (John Badham, Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood)

Project X (Jonathan Kaplan, Matthew Broderick, Helen Hunt)

The Menendez Brothers

The Andy Dick Show (Andy Dick, Paul Henderson, Lacy Livingston, Ashton Kutcher, Jason Biggs)

The Sarah Silverman Program (Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab, Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman, Brian Posehn, Steve Agee, Tig Notaro, Justin Roiland, Ron Lynch)

The Jerry Springer Show (Jerry Springer, Peter A Kelly, Steve Wilkos)

Trial By Murder / The Jenny Jones Show

The OJ Simpson trial

Our scary future of deepfakes

Sleepless in Seattle (Nora Ephron, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger)

Turner & Hooch (Roger Spottiswoode, Tom Hanks, Mare Winningham, Craig T. Nelson)

Mtv news / Tabitha Soren / Kurt Loader / Matt Pinfield

Liquid Television

Cable Guy soundtrack (Primative Radio Gods, Silverchair, Toadies, Porno For Pyros, Cracker, Cypress Hill)

Singles soundtrack (Alice in Chains, Chris Cornell, Paul Westerberg, The Lovemongers, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Paul Westerberg,  Jimi Hendrix, Screaming Trees, Smashing Pumpkins)

Gift (Jane's Addiction, Perry Ferrel)

Next week: Raising Arizona