This Is Spinal Tap - 35 Years Old

[McChesney Duntz]

What's even more amusing (to me, anyway) is that he's saying "fuck the napkin" to (the not-yet-famous) Anjelica Huston.

[Twed]

Anjelica Huston.

Well fuck my hat.

[McChesney Duntz]

Also - possibly common knowledge - there's the pre-SNL Dana Carvey as one of the caterer mimes near the beginning.

[a duncandisorderly]

Also - possibly common knowledge - there's the pre-SNL Dana Carvey as one of the caterer mimes near the beginning.

"mime is money!"

[Ferris]

"mime is money!"

Isn't that Billy Crystal?

[a duncandisorderly]

Isn't that Billy Crystal?

indeed it is. I don't remember carvey having much dialogue, but he's in that scene.

[Ferris]

indeed it is. I don't remember carvey having much dialogue, but he's in that scene.

That's news to me. Fuck my hat etc

[DrGreggles]

I'm guessing that Carvey would have been a bit-part performer on SNL at that point, so he would have been known to the Tap crew through that.
Don't think he became an SNL regular until a few years later.

[McChesney Duntz]

Naw, Dana was still several years away from SNL at the time (the film was shot in 1982, which should shush up any "Bad News got there first" naysayers) - around the time Tap was filmed, he was doing a sitcom with Mickey Rooney and Nathan Lane which made it to TV Guide's Worst Shows of All Time list (and gave Carney fuel for a pretty vicious Rooney impersonation later on).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_of_the_Boys_(TV_series)

[a duncandisorderly]

the film was shot in 1982, which should shush up any "Bad News got there first" naysayers

we were well & truly shut up anyway by the revelation of tap's genesis on rob reiner's tv show even earlier... a lot earlier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzuxUSab_7c

[McChesney Duntz]

we were well & truly shut up anyway by the revelation of tap's genesis on rob reiner's tv show even earlier... a lot earlier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzuxUSab_7c

And of course there's that. Shame the whole show that comes from is apparently nowhere to be found online - it's pretty great.

[a duncandisorderly]

And of course there's that. Shame the whole show that comes from is apparently nowhere to be found online - it's pretty great.

one of the comments says TVLand have it, despite it's having been shot as a pilot for a proposed ABC show originally. this means that it'll turn up on channel 5 before too long, knowing viacom...

[McChesney Duntz]

YouTube is a damned treasure trove of Tapiana (like tapioca, only heavier), and the 35th anniversary seems to bring newer and better gems by the day.

I was going to post this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsOzk0uKYgo...

...only to find that Don Giller, who has been putting up amazing, comprehensive compilations of Letterman segments, just put this one up a couple days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htulh78Q-MA

[McChesney Duntz]

one of the comments says TVLand have it, despite it's having been an ABC show originally. this means that it'll turn up on channel 5 before too long, knowing viacom...

That's where I first saw it, as one of their occasional Museum of Television & Radio archival specials back in 1999. Someone posted it to YT a while back, but it's long been eaten up by copyright gremlins. It'll turn up again some day, I imagine. Most everything does.

[a duncandisorderly]

YouTube is a damned treasure trove of Tapiana (like tapioca, only heavier), and the 35th anniversary seems to bring newer and better gems by the day.

I was going to post this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsOzk0uKYgo...

...only to find that Don Giller, who has been putting up amazing, comprehensive compilations of Letterman segments, just put this one up a couple days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htulh78Q-MA

excellent, cheers. I'll burn myself a DVD of these bits & stuff it inside the box with the nasty little goes-to-11 plastic marshall stack replica. :-)

[a duncandisorderly]

wow, the shearer/mckean mock corporate in the letterman compilation... these guys were good.

[McChesney Duntz]

wow, the shearer/mckean mock corporate in the letterman compilation... these guys were good.

They were indeed. And Guest is in there too, I'm sure you noticed, in his full proto-Corky St. Clair glory.

[a duncandisorderly]

They were indeed. And Guest is in there too, I'm sure you noticed, in his full proto-Corky St. Clair glory.

I had to do a double-take, but yes. magnificent.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

YouTube is a damned treasure trove of Tapiana (like tapioca, only heavier), and the 35th anniversary seems to bring newer and better gems by the day.

I was going to post this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsOzk0uKYgo...

...only to find that Don Giller, who has been putting up amazing, comprehensive compilations of Letterman segments, just put this one up a couple days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htulh78Q-MA

Bloody hell! That really is a labour of love. Thank you so much for sharing it.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

'Pop, Look and Listen' is an absolutely perfect spoof title for a mid-Sixties British music show.

Also, Rob Reiner looks exactly like Wille Thorne in that Letterman clip.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

This Letterman compilation is fascinating. Is Michael McKean drunk during his first Letterman appearance? He's usually quite laid back and droll, but he's weirdly hyper there. Probably just nerves. To clarify, I'm not slyly suggesting that he's coked up - that's not the sort of thing he would do, presumably.

Guest, by contrast, is typically deadpan and slightly awkward. Shearer is a pro. I also love the running gag of Paul Shaffer being allowed one day off to film his career-making Artie Fufkin scenes.

[kalowski]

'Pop, Look and Listen' is an absolutely perfect spoof title for a mid-Sixties British music show.

Weirdly enough, I had exactly the same thought last week.

[kalowski]

wow, the shearer/mckean mock corporate in the letterman compilation... these guys were good.

You're darn tooting! It's brilliant.

[Paaaaul]

I bought the Blu-Ray based on this thread. It's got Return Of Spinal Tap on it as well, which is a bonus. All I have watched so far is a shit talking heads documentary with Justin Lee Collins and Ricky Gervais being predictably awful and self aggrandising. There are loads of extras on it though, including the band talking about the menu in character and an interview with Reg Pressley for some reason

The version of Return Of Spinal Tap on the Blu-ray is severely butchered. It's about half of the length of the full film.

[phantom_power]

It's about an hour I think

[St_Eddie]

The full version clocks in at 1 hour and 48 minutes.

[a duncandisorderly]

'Pop, Look and Listen' is an absolutely perfect spoof title for a mid-Sixties British music show.

Also, Rob Reiner looks exactly like Wille Thorne in that Letterman clip.

reiner's surprisingly nervous, I thought, & inclined to quote chunks of the movie. odd.

[Jebus Sabes]

A certain nautical-themed torrent site has 'This is Spinal Tap (Collection)', which collates the film, the three audio commentaries (actors, actors in character, crew), the workprint, the 20-min demo reel, the 1h 48 'Return of Spinal Tap' and nearly all the extras previously available on the dvds or online.

[a duncandisorderly]

"well, it's... one lauda, isn't it?"