Cable's Accidental Classics
Before streaming gave us thousands of choices, cable gave us whatever happened to be on. That meant certain modest 1980s comedies seemingly appeared over and over until viewers knew them by heart. Some remain famous. Others virtually disappeared. Here are the movies that might suddenly make you remember an entire Saturday afternoon.
Screenshot of Steve Martin in 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid' (1982), Universal Pictures, (enhanced)
Seems Like Old Times (1980)
Chevy Chase plays a writer forced by bank robbers to participate in a robbery before hiding at the home of his ex-wife, played by Goldie Hawn. Charles Grodin completes the wonderfully mismatched triangle. Directed by Jay Sandrich from a Neil Simon screenplay, this comedy was practically designed for repeat television viewing.
Screenshot from Seems Like Old Times, Columbia Pictures (1980), Modified
Used Cars (1980)
Before Back to the Future, director Robert Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale unleashed this wonderfully unscrupulous comedy about rival Arizona used-car dealerships. Kurt Russell stars alongside Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham, Deborah Harmon, and Frank McRae. Its anarchic gags made Used Cars (1980) considerably stranger than the average studio comedy.
Screenshot from Used Cars, Columbia Pictures (1980), Modified
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
Lily Tomlin plays an ordinary suburban woman who begins inexplicably shrinking after exposure to household chemicals. Joel Schumacher made his feature directing debut with this colorful satire, which also features Charles Grodin and Ned Beatty. The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) mixed broad comedy, consumer-culture parody, and surprisingly elaborate visual effects.
Screenshot from The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Universal Pictures (1981), Modified
The Cannonball Run (1981)
This one was hardly obscure at the time. Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise lead an enormous cast including Farrah Fawcett, Roger Moore, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jackie Chan in director Hal Needham's illegal cross-country race comedy. HBO alone aired The Cannonball Run (1981) 54 times during the 1980s.
Screenshot from The Cannonball Run, 20th Century-Fox (1981), Modified
So Fine (1981)
Ryan O'Neal plays a college professor who takes over his father's failing clothing business and accidentally creates a fashion sensation: jeans with transparent panels across the backside. Jack Warden, Mariangela Melato, and Richard Kiel co-star. Andrew Bergman's So Fine (1981) is exactly the kind of oddball comedy cable once kept alive.
Screenshot from So Fine, Warner Bros. Pictures (1981), Modified
Modern Problems (1981)
Chevy Chase plays an air-traffic controller who develops telekinetic powers after being exposed to mysterious nuclear waste. Naturally, he uses them terribly. Patti D'Arbanville, Dabney Coleman, Nell Carter, and Brian Doyle-Murray join him in director Ken Shapiro's Modern Problems (1981), a movie whose premise could scarcely be more early-1980s.
Screenshot from Modern Problems, 20th Century Fox (1981)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Steve Martin plays private eye Rigby Reardon in Carl Reiner's ingenious spoof of 1940s film noir. Newly filmed scenes with Martin and Rachel Ward were seamlessly combined with vintage footage featuring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, James Cagney, and other Hollywood legends. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) became perfect repeat-viewing cable material.
Screenshot from Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Universal Pictures (1982)
Zapped! (1982)
Scott Baio stars as a high-school science whiz who acquires telekinetic powers after a laboratory accident, while Willie Aames plays his opportunistic best friend. Directed by Robert J. Rosenthal, Zapped! (1982) belongs firmly to the era's teen-sex-comedy boom and became one of those movies many viewers encountered at home rather than in theaters.
Screenshot from Zapped!, Embassy Pictures (1982)
The Toy (1982)
Richard Pryor plays a former journalist working as a department-store janitor who is effectively hired as a plaything for a wealthy businessman's son , an uncomfortable premise the film turns into a story about friendship and absentee parenting. Jackie Gleason and Ned Beatty co-star. Richard Donner directed The Toy (1982), which became a familiar cable-era Pryor vehicle.
Screenshot from The Toy, Columbia Pictures (1982)
The Man With Two Brains (1983)
Steve Martin stars as brilliant, preposterously named brain surgeon Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, who falls for a disembodied brain despite being married to Kathleen Turner's spectacularly awful Dolores. Carl Reiner directed and co-wrote The Man With Two Brains (1983), an absurd comedy that remains beloved by devotees but isn't mentioned nearly enough anymore.
Screenshot from The Man with Two Brains, Warner Bros. Pictures (1983)
Mr. Mom (1983)
Michael Keaton's laid-off automobile engineer becomes a stay-at-home father while his wife, played by Teri Garr, returns to work. Martin Mull and Ann Jillian co-star in director Stan Dragoti's comedy, written by John Hughes. The premise may seem at bit passe now, but at the time Mr. Mom (1983) was a cable-friendly snapshot of changing family and workplace expectations.
Screenshot from Mr. Mom, 20th Century Fox (1983)
Doctor Detroit (1983)
Dan Aykroyd plays a mild-mannered literature professor who is tricked into impersonating a flamboyant pimp named Doctor Detroit. Howard Hesseman, Donna Dixon, and Fran Drescher help make director Michael Pressman's Doctor Detroit (1983) a thoroughly peculiar artifact of the decade. The movie even got a memorable title theme performed by Devo, while James Brown appears performing “Get Up Offa That Thing/Doctor Detroit.”
Screenshot from Doctor Detroit, Universal Pictures (1983), Modified
Easy Money (1983)
Rodney Dangerfield stars as Monty Capuletti, a hard-living photographer who must give up drinking, smoking, gambling, and overeating for a year to collect a huge inheritance. Joe Pesci plays his best friend, while Jennifer Jason Leigh appears as Monty's daughter. James Signorelli directed the Dangerfield classic Easy Money (1983).
Screenshot from Easy Money, Orion Pictures (1983)
Johnny Dangerously (1984)
Michael Keaton spoofs old gangster movies as Johnny Kelly, a goodhearted man who becomes notorious mobster Johnny Dangerously to help support his family. Amy Heckerling directed an impressive comedy cast including Joe Piscopo, Marilu Henner, Maureen Stapleton, Peter Boyle, and Griffin Dunne. Johnny Dangerously (1984) deserves considerably more recognition today.
Screenshot from Johnny Dangerously, 20th Century Fox (1984)
All Of Me (1984)
Steve Martin's body becomes unwillingly shared with the spirit of a wealthy woman played by Lily Tomlin in one of Martin's great physical-comedy performances. Carl Reiner directed All of Me (1984), with Victoria Tennant and Richard Libertini co-starring. Its body-sharing premise gave Martin endless opportunities for inspired slapstick.
Screenshot from All of Me, Universal Pictures (1984), Modified
Moving Violations (1985)
John Murray, Jennifer Tilly, and Brian Backer play some of the hopeless motorists sentenced to traffic school under the supervision of an overzealous police officer played by James Keach. Neal Israel directed Moving Violations (1985), an unapologetically silly ensemble comedy that felt tailor-made for a lazy afternoon cable slot.
Screenshot from Moving Violations, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1985)
Just One Of The Guys (1985)
Joyce Hyser plays an aspiring teenage journalist who disguises herself as a boy after concluding that sexism cost her a newspaper internship. Clayton Rohner, Billy Jayne, Toni Hudson, and William Zabka co-star. Directed by Lisa Gottlieb, Just One of the Guys became a cable favorite despite relatively modest theatrical business.
Screenshot from Just One of the Guys, Columbia Pictures (1985)
Volunteers (1985)
Tom Hanks plays a spoiled gambler who escapes his debts by joining the Peace Corps and landing in 1962 Thailand. John Candy, Rita Wilson, Tim Thomerson, and Gedde Watanabe co-star in Nicholas Meyer's Volunteers. Hanks and Candy's later fame kept the comedy recognizable even as the movie itself faded.
Screenshot from Volunteers, Tri-Star Pictures (1985)
One Crazy Summer (1986)
John Cusack stars as an aspiring cartoonist spending the summer on Nantucket, where he becomes involved with a singer played by Demi Moore and an assortment of eccentrics. Bobcat Goldthwait and Curtis Armstrong add to the chaos. Savage Steve Holland directed One Crazy Summer, his follow-up to Better Off Dead (1985).
Screenshot from One Crazy Summer, Warner Bros. (1986), Modified
Armed And Dangerous (1986)
John Candy and Eugene Levy play mismatched security guards who stumble onto corruption inside their own company. Meg Ryan, Robert Loggia, Kenneth McMillan, and Brion James round out the cast. Directed by Mark L. Lester, Armed and Dangerous combined buddy comedy and action in an extremely cable-friendly 88 minutes.
Screenshot from Armed and Dangerous, Columbia Pictures (1986)
Outrageous Fortune (1987)
Bette Midler and Shelley Long play rival actresses who discover they're dating the same supposedly perfect man, played by Peter Coyote. When he apparently dies, they uncover something far stranger. Arthur Hiller directed Outrageous Fortune, a substantial box-office success that doesn't have nearly the cultural footprint today that its stars suggest.
Screenshot from Outrageous Fortune, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (1987)
Like Father Like Son (1987)
Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron switch bodies after accidentally consuming a mysterious potion, forcing a workaholic surgeon and his teenage son to live each other's lives. Sean Astin and Catherine Hicks co-star, and Rod Daniel directed. The film arrived just before Hollywood became briefly obsessed with body-swapping comedies.
Screenshot from Like Father Like Son, Tri-Star Pictures (1987)
Who's That Girl (1987)
Madonna plays an ex-con who drags straitlaced attorney Griffin Dunne across New York while trying to prove she was framed. John McMartin and Haviland Morris co-star in director James Foley's movie. The film disappointed critically and commercially, but its famous star and title song helped keep it circulating.
Screenshot from Who's That Girl, Warner Bros. (1987)
Moving (1988)
Richard Pryor plays a New Jersey engineer who moves his family across the country for a new job, only for practically everything about the relocation to go disastrously wrong. Dana Carvey steals scenes in multiple roles, with Beverly Todd and Randy Quaid also appearing. Alan Metter directed.
Screenshot from Moving, Warner Bros. (1988)
Funny Farm (1988)
Chevy Chase plays a sportswriter who leaves New York with his wife, played by Madolyn Smith, expecting idyllic small-town life in Vermont. Their new home instead produces one catastrophe after another. George Roy Hill directed the film whose reputation has quietly improved among fans.
Screenshot from Funny Farm, Warner Bros. Pictures (1988)
Disorganized Crime (1989)
Fred Gwynne assembles a team of criminals to rob a Montana bank, then gets arrested before he can tell them the plan. Lou Diamond Phillips, Corbin Bernsen, Ed O'Neill, Ruben Blades, and Hoyt Axton populate Jim Kouf's Disorganized Crime (1989), the sort of ensemble caper comedy cable programmers could drop almost anywhere.
Screenshot from Disorganized Crime, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (1989), Modified
Why Cable Made Them Stick
Cable television needed enormous quantities of programming. HBO had become a national 24-hour service by the end of 1981, while Cinemax, Showtime, and The Movie Channel offered still more places for movies to resurface. Repetition mattered: you didn't deliberately choose Doctor Detroit for the sixth time. You discovered it was on and watched anyway.
Screenshot from Doctor Detroit, Universal Pictures (1983)
Familiar Like Old Friends
That environment also favored comedy. Missing the first ten minutes wasn't necessarily fatal, and familiar jokes rewarded repeat viewing. Today those same movies compete with vast on-demand libraries, while licensing can scatter older titles among changing services. Cable once made relatively minor movies feel ubiquitous simply because they kept coming back.
Screenshot from Just One of the Guys, Columbia Pictures (1985)
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