Fletch Lives (Part 1)

Episode 9: Fletch Lives (Part 1)

This week, Fletchcast takes a deep dive into the sequel to Fletch... Fletch Lives. After receiving an inheritance in Louisiana, Fletch heads to the Belle Isle plantation where he gets himself into hilarious trouble.  We  cover the Leon Capetanos original script, the on set struggles the 1988 writer's strike caused, the beginning of the notorious  Chevy Chase v. Howard Stern Feud (with Richard Belzer) and so much more.

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FletchCast is Your Ultimate source for everything Fletch: the books, the movies, & the latest news about our favorite journalistic reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher.... Making sure Fletch lives forever.
 

Host: James "Laker Jim" Kanowitz (@webguy911)
Co-Host: Jake Parrish (@jakelparrish)
Co-Host: Bob West


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P.S. Have a nice day. 

Fletch  & Fletch Lives are Copyright 1985, 1989 Universal Studios and distributed by MCA/Universal Pictures.  The Fletch Soundtrack is Copyright MCA Records. 
All images and sounds are the intellectual property of Universal Studios. They are used only with the intent of public appreciation of a great film and possible 
publicity for its place among the great comedies of our time. We imply no rights to the characters created by both Gregory McDonald and Universal. 

FletchCast is Your Ultimate source for everything Fletch: the books, the movies, & the latest news about our favorite journalistic reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher.

... making sure Fletch Lives forever!

Host: James "Laker Jim" Kanowitz (@webguy911)
Co-Host: Jake Parrish (@jakelparrish)
Co-Host: Robert "Big Bob" West


Follow Us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imfletchcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imfletchcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/imfletchcast


P.S. Have a nice day. 

Fletch  & Fletch Lives are Copyright 1985, 1989 Universal Studios and distributed by MCA/Universal Pictures.  The Fletch Soundtrack is Copyright MCA Records. Confess, Fletch is Copyright of Miramax with Paramount distribution. All images and sounds are the intellectual property of Universal Studios. They are used only with the intent of public appreciation of a great film and possible publicity for its place among the great comedies of our time. We imply no rights to the characters or intellectual property created by Gregory McDonald, Universal or Miramax and is used for educational purposes only. 

Transcript

FletchCast Intro 0:04

And the round of world from it. They are the backcast all the way. You are ultimately doing it for everything flat. And it's big reports. Forever. Forever. They don't shower much. It is flexible.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 0:48

Welcome, Fletch Band! I'm your host, Legacy Jim, and by that tweet is Southern Sound. That can only mean one thing. This is the Fletch Lived episode of FletchCast. Now, since we started the podcast, we've gotten requests for all different topics. Things the fans want us to cover or talk about. By far, nothing touches Fletch Lives. It is the most requested topic that the fans want to see for an episode. So, guys, here it is, the Fletch Lived episode. Now, Bob, I don't need to ask you first. I know how you feel about this movie. I love Fletch Lives. So, Jake, why don't you start us off on the sequel to Fletch, the 1989 classic.

Jake Parrish 1:37

Fletch Lives. I really like Fletch Lives. The only drawback I have from it is that it's not based on the book. But I didn't know that going into seeing Fletch Lives before I knew anything about the book. So just standing on its own two feet, I think it's really funny. I think there's a lot of great stuff in Fletch Lives. And going back and reading the books and then seeing the movie, although it's not based on a book, I could see it being a book. It's really interesting that Fletch is in a new situation in a new town. I like it. There's a lot of funny stuff. It's a little bit more, I think, slapsticky than the first one. A little bit more, you know, sight gags and disguises, a little bit more extreme, but still pretty funny stuff.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 2:30

Before we get started, and Bob, I know you're chomping at the bit because Fletch Lives is a big time favorite of yours. Let's take a listen to the trailer.

Fletch Movie Quote 2:41

He was America's greatest investigative reporter. And now he's back! Any mail for me? Fletch Lives. He's a master of disguise. Elmer Gantry, Elmer Foot Gantry. This house is obviously infested with reticularities, Mario Cuomo. But what's that? And a dedicated professional. I quit. Rumor has it that you have inherited a size of a piece of property. Mr. Fletcher? As hard as you know. What can I do for you? There's been a murder. But you're feeling all right last night. All right to me. And Fletch is the prime suspect. Did I make that statement? That's not what your country can do for you. That's what you can do for your country. Steven! Willing to try anything. Risk everything. And over. Ben, nice to meet you, Victor Hugo. And stop at nothing. Hold on, tight. Chevy Chase. Fletch Lives.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 3:58

So, in line with the Fletch history, Fletch Lives has its own little making of drama as well. So let's get started with that. So after the success of Fletch, you know, as we talked about in a previous episode, it was a financial success. And Chevy had already signed on for three movies. I found out he had signed on for three sequels.

Jake Parrish 4:20

Oh, okay.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 4:21

Yeah. So in 1986, Andrew Bergman, who wrote the first Fletch, well, wrote the first adaption of the script to Fletch, uh, got to work on Fletch 2, which was based on the book Fletch and the Man Who.

Jake Parrish 4:36

Yeah, that's a good book.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 4:37

That follows the story of Fletch becoming um sort of like a press liaison for a governor that's running for the president of the United States. Yes. Right, Jeff?

Jake Parrish 4:47

That's accurate. I'm reading it again right now, actually.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 4:49

Which I think could have been a great vehicle for Chevy and Fletch. But unfortunately, Universal decided to go in a different direction. Uh, they rejected the Bergman script and decided to write a story that was unique and a non-Gregory McDonald story. Leon Capitanos, who only had previously written the script for the Richard Pryor movie Grease Lightning, was brought in to write the screenplay for the movie Fletch Saved. So Fletch Saved was the working title of the Capitanos script. So there was previous backlash from the movie and the religious community for The Last Temptation of Christ, the Martin Schwarzschese movie, The Last Temptation of Christ. So Universal didn't want the title to have any kind of religious overtones. Right. That makes sense. So they changed it to Fletch Lives. And uh here's Chevy on the title.

Chevy Chase 5:44

We just didn't want to call it Fletch 2 because uh there are so many other twos out. And I wanted to go ride to Fletch three, but the studio said you can't do that because two hasn't been made, it would confuse the public. Uh I had to agree with him on that score. Claude Car Claude is good. Henry.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 6:00

Henry Smoot. Smooth. Andrew Bergman the whole time was very vocal that this was a huge mistake going with going with an original script. And Chevy actually supported that as well. Chubby was very vocal that he didn't like the script at all.

Jake Parrish 6:12

Wait, he didn't like the script that he had written, the Fletch saved script. He didn't like. Did not like the Capitano script. I would love to get my hands on a script of Fletch and The Man Who. I would love to read that because it is a good book. Hopefully, we'll see an incarnation of it eventually.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 6:30

And you see a lot of political undertones in the background of Fletch, and Fletch lives too. A lot of political articles hanging in his cubicle. He's wearing political t-shirts at one point.

Jake Parrish 6:43

Yeah, doesn't he have like a McGovern shirt on in the sequel?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 6:46

Yeah, Fletch wears a McGovern 72 presidential campaign shirt, which obviously makes him a Democrat. The irony is during that election is when the Democratic National Committee headquarters were broken into, which turned out to be Watergate.

"Big Bob" West 7:01

Yeah.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 7:02

There are many, many Watergate references in Fletch, right behind Frank in Fletch's cubicle. There's a Nixon quits. There's G Horton Liddy.

Jake Parrish 7:10

Yeah.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 7:11

Nixon. What was the reference at the end of Fletch when when Frank's going through expenses? I know I mentioned it in a previous episode. Uh he mentions like a Bob Holdeman wig, I think. What when did he say that?

Fletch Movie Quote 7:25

That one I don't remember. Oh, this is getting absurd. One Bob Haldeman wig, a gorilla suit. That's a Gibbon suit. Tennis.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 7:34

Well, anyway, uh, whoever it was was the chief of staff for President Nixon and went to prison for the Wargate stuff. Yes. Wow. So so there's a lot of Wargate references and connections.

Jake Parrish 7:45

Well, and we talked about it in a previous episode about McDonald and his response to Fletch Libs was they went back and forth, and then in the end they just decided to own an original script, which is a shame.

"Big Bob" West 7:58

You know, talking too about uh his uh uh going back to his desk for a minute, you talk about seeing all these things, and I know that you're also talking about seeing things around the actual office. How much do you want that I want you to realize that Chevy is a massive Lakers fan with that cubicle? Laker Jim, I know that that's gotta be the cubicle of your dreams. I mean, every with the exception of I I looked at it, I looked at it recently, with the exception of a few pictures, everything is Lakers themed in there. He's got the the the backboard and the rim, he's got the the the locker with a ton of posters, pennants, everything is Lakers themed.

Jake Parrish 8:33

Isn't there a big watch hanging from one of the walls? A big Laker watch.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 8:39

Yeah, yes, yep, absolutely. My first couple watchings, my favorite early on when I was like 11 years old, 12 years old, was I love the championship Laker watch dialogue. Money's on the plane. That was my favorite exchange upon first couple watchings of Fletch Lives.

Fletch Movie Quote 8:57

That's an interesting watch you're wearing. Is it a prize of some sort? It's a championship Laker watch. Oh, are you a Laker? I used to date one. Only thing I have to remember him by.

Jake Parrish 9:08

It's the only thing that he has to remember him by. I laugh constantly at that scene because there's so many great lines in it. The fact that, you know, they clipped a Piper Cup.

Fletch Movie Quote 9:21

Oh, that's okay. I just saw him parachuting.

"Big Bob" West 9:23

I love when he tells her too to hold her breath. Because we've all been on a plane next to somebody who doesn't shut up. Uh and if you haven't had that situation, then maybe you can't appreciate it as much. But if you had, you know exactly what he's going through.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 9:35

And Jake, uh, it's so great you bring that up because there are so many things that how about when he he inclines himself, but the seat doesn't come with him. He just his body goes out of the seat.

Jake Parrish 9:45

And then she goes back too. She follows him back.

"Big Bob" West 9:49

There's he does a and that's the thing too with this movie. We talked about how it's not one of the books and it's an original thing. It feels like when they wrote this movie, they really wanted to play off of Chevy's physical comedy and and his portrayal of Fletch in the first movie. And that's and that's really where they went with this sequel. It was more of a Chevy Fletch movie than a Gregory McDonald novel movie, if you kind of understand what I'm saying.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 10:14

No, I totally agree. Um, one other thing I want to bring up. She mentions that she wishes she was getting off where Fletch is getting off, that she has two more stops. Who the hell books a flight with three stops? Where is she going?

Jake Parrish 10:29

I mean, that's a great line, too. Jim, back to the script, and you were talking about the script and the fact that Chevy didn't like the script. Did Chevy have more input into the script to make it more, you know, to his liking?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 10:44

Ready? Chevy says, I fought the whole time against it. I said it's not gonna work. It was during a writer strike, and I couldn't write for it. We had no script. We had a director who was doing the writing, and he couldn't write. All I could do was go out there and improvise. Basically, I had to hold the whole picture together just by winging it. So, what happened was Chevy at the time was creating a production company called Cornelius Productions, and he wanted Fletch Lives to be the first movie under his production umbrella. So that really delayed the start of production. He mentions the writer's strike in 1988. Right after production begins on Fletch Lives, there's the longest writer's strike in the history of the Writers Guild. It lasted over five months. So what that means is no writers can write for anything in Hollywood. During movies, oftentimes, like the writers are called in to write little scenes and things like that. Michael Ritchie has said that during the first Fletch, he reached out to Andrew Bergman and said, Hey, I got an airplane hanger, write me a scene. We have it available for X amount of days. And he banged out the G Gordon Liddy airplane scene. You know, so those type of things happened that were not available during Fletch Lives. There was no writers available. So, like Chevy mentioned, Michael Ritchie was the one rewriting scenes and things like that. And like Chevy mentioned, very good director, but not a very good writer.

"Big Bob" West 12:17

It definitely you could definitely feel the writer's strike in 1989 because for the first part of the year, there's not a lot of good movies or or or successful movies that have come that do come out.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 12:27

Now it picks up in the summer, but Andrew Bergman continued to be very vocal against this and and came out and said that had they well, maybe this is in hindsight, I should say, had they stuck with his script, he really believes that Chevy could have made a lot, a lot of Fletch movies. That Flesh Lives ultimately killed it, but his script could have continued it.

"Big Bob" West 12:49

Do you know what uh kind of money Chevy was making for these movies? I I've already made $7 million off the two. I don't I don't know any of Chevy's numbers. I imagine if you are gonna sign a multi-year multi-picture deal, then you're gonna get pretty decent money.

Jake Parrish 13:02

This is totally off-subject, but I was thinking that Fletch and the Man Who would be a great sequel to Confess Fletch if they go in that route.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 13:11

In fact, I have Where does he where does it where does it follow?

Jake Parrish 13:13

It follows actually, so it's Confess, but then there's Fletch's Fortune, there's Fletch's Moxie, and then there's Fletch and the Man Who. But within those four books starting with the Fletch? Oh no, no, no. I'm just saying up to the point of Confess Fletch, and then afterwards. There's three more after that in succession, as far as timeline is concerned, until you get to the Son of Fletch books. But I think that I think that um a tile has a really good chance of doing us uh a trilogy of Confess, Fletch's Fortune, Fletch and the Man Who. I think that would be a fantastic Fletch trilogy. So yeah, because Fletch and the Man Who is such a great book.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 13:56

Because of the delays that the uh Cornelius Productions, which Cornelius, by the way, is Chevy Chase's real first name in case anyone didn't know that. Cornelius Productions delayed delayed it, they had this hiccup, and now they had a really um rush through production. They really had a rush through filming because they were on a a deadline.

Jake Parrish 14:18

It doesn't show though when you watch it, it's pretty well put together. The script is pretty concise. Yeah, there are some silly moments, but like I said, it's a funny movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 14:31

No, you're right. You really couldn't tell. And uh the fact that Michael Richie and Chevy were working together again, um, at least that was two of the ingredients that made the first Fletch so perfectly amazing. Uh here's a little uh here's a little funny banter between uh uh Chevy and Michael Ritchie on the set of Fletch Lives.

Chevy Chase 14:54

Michael Michael Ritchie is uh probably one of the most overrated directors uh in the country. Uh I don't know why I decided to work with him for the second time. Uh God knows if I'd ever find out what he was paying. Uh I'll have a word or two with universal. Hi, Michael. I've worked with every director in the business. Nobody touches me. Well, you know, Chad, there are a lot of big stars. A lot of people make more money than me. Yeah. But nobody who's better than you are. Are there really more that make more money than I can?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 15:27

See? Michael Richie has some comedic chops. But yeah, yeah, the uh the difference in storylines uh could have made all the difference in the world, to be perfectly honest. They went from a script that was political that would have um, you know, put Fletch in a position of political corruption. And I'm sure there's a murder involved in that book as well.

Jake Parrish 15:49

More than one, actually. Yes, more than one.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 15:52

You know, and they and they went, you know, a topic at the time which was hot, which was um, you know, probably a takeoff off of the the life and crimes of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, who were televangelists, and uh who um went to jail for for the uh yeah for for what they were doing. They also at the time had a heritage USA theme park, which I'm sure Bible land was uh you know a parody. Well, say that again. There was actually they actually had a theme park, a Christian Disneyland called Heritage USA.

Jake Parrish 16:25

They had a theme park, it was called Heritage USA. Oh my gosh, that's crazy. I thought that was really extreme when that was in the movie. Because I would always think, who would go to a religious? But I mean, that's just me.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 16:41

There was another televist, Peter Popoff, and uh he was another televangelist con man who got arrested for like fraud or embezzlement.

Jake Parrish 16:52

Wait a minute, I'm sensing a pattern here.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 16:55

He actually was caught uh receiving information through an earpiece from his wife on different ailments of people in the crowd. So they they really pulled that directly from a real life. So at the time, all these televangelists were all over the TV. People were getting scammed into sending money to them, and um Jim and Tammy Faye Baker and Peter Popoff and all these guys eventually got caught and went to jail. So at so I guess at the time it was like a hot theme for a movie, but over time it's dated, you know, it's it's dated, it's it definitely dated. We've spoken in the past that uh there's a lot of fletch lives that didn't age well, you know, certainly with today's times, today's can't cancel culture. So you guys remember that back in the day when we'd watch movies on HBO or whatever, they would they would say brief nudity, you know, language, whatever. I mean, we were always dying for the brief nudity, uh, you know, tag on the front of a movie. Um, but now they have a new tag on Fletch Lives in particular that says outdated cultural depictions. Wow. So it's it's it's a warning, uh, you know, before move, I'm sure not just Fletch Lives, but I mean I'm sure that's you know, it's a new warning.

Jake Parrish 18:14

Are they referring to this whole relationship with calculus and how that's I would I would assume so? Yeah, I think and there are the KKK is in there too.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 18:25

KKK, the racial, racial overtones. Um yeah.

"Big Bob" West 18:29

By the way, you know, if you watch the movies in the end, you you realize that he's just he's just playing up that that that personality, not that it's still okay, but but you also have the Nazis uh as far as the the the biker gang, Nazis from Nashville.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 18:43

I don't know if you guys remember in the first episode um that we're going through the Andrew Bergman um script drama, but he mentioned specifically that he wanted to remove sort of the characteristic characteristic of Fletch that he's sort of like a little crude to win a little like so he took that edge off him. And I feel like the edge went back in Fletch Lives. You know, he returned to that.

"Big Bob" West 19:07

That's kind of troublesome for that movie. Uh you know, the way some of the things he says to calculus is definitely, you know, he talks about picking cotton and stuff like that. That that definitely could be uh another problem as well.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 19:19

So I see why there's certainly a lot of cringe worthy dialogue and moments in Fletch Lives, but there are plenty of amazing Fletch parts in Fletch Lives. So let's talk about let's talk about the good stuff, let's talk about the great stuff. In case you haven't seen it in a while, let me refresh your memory. Fletch uh is at his wit's end, he hasn't had a vacation in a long time, and uh he receives a call that his great aunt Belle passed away, and she left him her plantation in Louisiana. Fletch quits the paper, tells Frank he can continue writing his Jane Doe column, and he travels down to Louisiana to live the life of luxury as a rich man. He gets there and he finds out that the mansion is a mess.

Jake Parrish 20:10

Your aunt would like to keep like to keep things in her natural state. She ever brush her hair.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:18

Now, Bell that now the actual Belle Isle is a real plantation. It's called Hummus House, and it's located in Darrow, Louisiana.

Jake Parrish 20:26

I've seen it on Google Maps.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:28

Yeah, 1810. Yeah, so it's a real plantation that you can actually visit.

Jake Parrish 20:32

I love the opening scene of Fletch Lives. I know we're going, I'm going back a little bit, but there's some funny stuff in that when he's undercover as the maid or whatever, and the old guy's following her into the into the bathroom. What's your name? Yeah. Peggy Lee. Peggy Lee Zorp. That's a pretty cute. Might have freshen up.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 20:55

By the way, Chevy is washing his face for like over a minute in that scene, like waiting for the old guy to come in. Uh, yeah, but that that scene has uh Richard Belzer in it. Chevy. Oh. By the way, we make that mistake a couple times in episode two. Me and you, we call Fletch Chevy. Yeah, I know.

Jake Parrish 21:11

Yeah, yeah. Can you pick up on that? We both do it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 21:14

Yes, Tito's Vandis is the old man saying, too. Fletch is investigating a Greek mafia or something, and Richard Belzer is in that scene. Now, I don't know if you guys are aware, but the huge feud between Howard Stern and Chevy Chase started over Fletch Lives. Richard Belzer was in the in the studio and he says, Hey, why don't we call Chevy on the set? Yeah, I remember that. They call him up. Chevy is not pleased at all with the conversation.

Jake Parrish 21:45

So this was during Fletch Lives. They were actually shooting Fletch Lives?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 21:48

They were actually shooting it. Yeah. When uh Howard calls the set, the girls who answer the phone are actually listening to the Howard Stern show. Then they're like, Oh my god, we're listening, we're listening. And he Like, hey, can you go get Chevy? So he's they're like, Oh, he's filming right now, but as soon as he's done, we'll we'll bring him up. So Chevy gets called off the set to talk to Howard Stern, who I guess had been talking, you know, had said some negative things about him, which Chevy wasn't happy about. And um, Howard like was kind of gonna confront them just to say, Hey, I didn't say that anything that bad, and but Chevy was in a grumpy mood, and uh Chevy was asking him about Julianne Phillips, who plays Becky Culpepper in the movie. And at the time she was married to Bruce Springsteen, and they were going through a divorce, they were going through a little bit of a messy divorce. So Howard asks Chevy, you know, have you hit on her yet? and all this kind of stuff. And Chevy really gets annoyed, and that started the feud between the long, long feud between Howard Stern and Chevy Chase. Let's take a listen to some highlights from that infamous call.

Speaker 3 23:00

Did anybody want to call uh Chevy Chase?

Speaker 9 23:02

Well, we've only talked about it for an hour.

Speaker 3 23:03

We'd better probably went to location as we speak. Chevy is editing Alphabet. So he's a little busy. Look at this, Dan.

Speaker 9 23:11

Oh, just a minute. Hello, hello.

unknown 23:14

Yeah.

Speaker 9 23:15

They're trying to find him. They're trying to find him. Yeah, I think it's hard to find them. Follow the money trail. He's hiding. He's the lead in the film, by the way.

Speaker 3 23:25

Yeah. He's the guy. He's called Fletch. Yeah. He's the one called Fletch.

Speaker 9 23:28

He's the guy. If he wasn't there, no one else on that set would have a job. Okay, thank you very much. Could you find him leave? Hello? Hello?

Chevy Chase 23:36

Who am I talking about? It's the bell, my darling. Richard, my sweet lover.

Speaker 9 23:40

How are you, my love? I love you, very low. I love you, sweetie. I hate to break you girls up. Yeah, who's this? Howard Stern.

Chevy Chase 23:47

Howard Stern. I've heard about you, Howard. But uh what do you what do you do for them? You sort of sit there and talk a lot? Yeah. Yeah, that's great.

Speaker 3 23:54

Yeah, but let me say something.

Speaker 2 23:55

No, let me put a good question. I just think you've been saying a lot of bad things about me.

Speaker 3 23:59

Okay, can I say something now?

Speaker 2 24:00

No, I just no, you can't.

Speaker 3 24:02

The thing is that I know you're filming Fletch 2. Yeah. And uh the the point is that uh I'm sure you're a fan of our show.

Speaker 2 24:08

Oh, yeah, I I turn it on whenever I get the chance.

Speaker 3 24:11

Anyway, hey, listen, Kevin, Julian Phillips is in this new movie you're doing? As far as you know, yes. So is did you put moves on her? Did anybody put moves on her yet? Uh what kind of moves, Alright? Well, I'm saying that anybody get to third base with her yet? What do you mean by that? You mean like playing baseball? You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 24:30

Does anybody come on to anybody?

Speaker 3 24:35

Come on, Chevy, tell the truth. I mean, she's uh you know, she's divorced from Bruce Springs.

Speaker 2 24:41

Not divorced, but I don't believe that's uh really any of the media's business, and if that's the kind of show you run, it's very sad. Very sad. Very sad.

Speaker 9 24:54

Right, he's right.

Speaker 2 24:55

The point is Bruce and I haven't seen each other for a couple of months. Oh another reference. That's that's not it.

Speaker 3 25:06

Is she walking around crying about it or something?

Speaker 2 25:09

Uh, what'd you say, Howard?

Speaker 3 25:10

Is she crying over it?

Speaker 2 25:12

Do you have any emotions, Alan?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 25:16

It's still uncomfortable to listen to because I love Howard Stern. I love Chevy Chase, and I always felt like I was uh their child in the middle, had to choose between the two of them. Uh, but that's what started an onslaught of 10 plus years of Howard just brutalizing Chevy until Chevy eventually, I think, waved the white flag and said enough to enough. And they actually became really good friends. And uh Chevy was at Howard's wedding and uh has had a lot of really, really good interviews on the Stern show lately. So if you haven't heard them, I'm sure you can find them somewhere. So I'm sorry, Jake. I just uh totally derailed your where you were going with that. You were you were talking about Chevy, uh I'm sorry, you talking about Fletch uh in the newsroom.

Jake Parrish 26:04

I like the scene also when he's back at the at the newspaper after the restaurant, and the same guy from the same reporter from the first one is sitting there typing, and he sits down next to him. It's really funny.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 26:19

I actually looked up his name.

Jake Parrish 26:20

Yeah, I love that I love that guy because he doesn't speak in either movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 26:26

The actor's name is Darren Dublin, and in the first fletch, he's credited as reporter. In the second fletch, he's credited as ancient copy boy. That's that's that's who he's that's who he is in Fletch Lives.

"Big Bob" West 26:42

He's got a much bigger part in Fletch Lives, he's got about four scenes.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 26:45

Yeah, well, like like Jake mentioned previously, Fletch walks by Frank and pinches his ass and points at him and blames him for it. Um, he has the scene where he talks to him and says, I think I'm getting my period. Yeah, but anyway, that guy's that guy's great. He's our new favorite guy, Darren Dublin. I looked him up. Bob, if you can find any information about him in a future episode, did the same thing, I'll try again. Let's do a good portion towards him. Um, he doesn't have much maybe a records room. Yeah, ancient copy boy, the records room. Yeah, he's just waiting for his big moment.

Jake Parrish 27:22

He's probably past the actor, unfortunately. I can only assume. I would think so by noting.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 27:27

Yeah, not that I'm hoping it on him, but I mean he's pretty old in that movie. Since we're mentioning Fletch Lives crossovers, there are only a few actors who are in both Fletch and Fletch Lives. Sure, some of them are obvious. Yeah, Fletch, Frank, Gillette, the ancient copy boy. Gillette is in both of them. And there's another one that I've just recently discovered.

Jake Parrish 27:54

I know where this is going, but I will let you talk about it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 27:57

When Fletch goes to in the Phil Hartman scene, when Fletch goes to uh uh speak to Phil Hartman at Bly, Phil Hartman has a woman next to him. Right, looks a little familiar, looks at he's she's giving Fletch a look like hmm, I've seen him before. You know why she's seen him before? Let me guess. Is she the uh nurse in the record room? She's Madeline Turner, Boyd's secretary, in the first movie.

Jake Parrish 28:28

But we're missing one too. You guys are missing one. Oh in the scene at the plantation when they're dancing. Remember, in the background, of course, Ted Underhill is in the background singing with his his his tennis racket, and his wife there too.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 28:47

So I'll give you a little I'll give you a little background on that scene.

Jake Parrish 28:50

Which by the way, I'm not a huge fan of that scene. I think that's almost too silly. The dream.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 28:56

And then we talk about we talk about the cultural uh depictions as well. You know, he refers to uh to let his like boy, yeah. So anyway, so Universal went to Disney uh to get the song, the song of the south, the zippity doodas scene. They had actually assumed that it was gonna cost them thousands to license that song. Disney came back and only charged them a few hundred dollars, so they had tons of money left over to put that into that scene, and that's where that whole they were able to hire hundreds of extras, bring in the underhills, and create that whole dance sequence. Uh, because Disney only charged them $300 to last.

Jake Parrish 29:39

I don't mind dream sequences, and we know we had one in the first ones with the sports, but this one was with the animated dog and the and the birds.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 30:00

But when uh Fletch is walking down the copy hall and uh is asking a girl to yeah, asking Betty to on a date to in an outburger, she's actually the one in the dream sequence that's bending with her boobs in it. That's right, yeah, yeah, yeah. I never put two and two together until really recently that that's the same person because it calls her Betty Lee. Yep, and her name's just Betty at the at the news at the she's not she's not in the original Fletch movie, right?

"Big Bob" West 30:31

I don't not that I'm aware of now. I want to think that she's Larry's lackluster replacement.

Jake Parrish 30:38

Because you know, if Larry if Larry was asked to in-and-out burger by Fletch, she would definitely have gone.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 30:43

When we covered Larry, we had mentioned the thought that maybe Fletch had not slept with her. But the more I think about it, at the very end, when Frank's going over the expenses and he says a nun's habit, six tubes of crazy glue. She says, Oh, that's personal. That's a good observation. And I almost feel like it was a sexual thing between her and Fletch. Yeah, that's a good point. You know, and now I'm now I'm thinking about it, I think they they did slip sleep together.

"Big Bob" West 31:11

That's actually a really good point.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 31:12

Yeah, yeah. All right, so Bob, why don't you get why don't you give us a little bit about the financials of Fletch Lives?

"Big Bob" West 31:17

Well, I thought you'd never ask it. I I uh went into it's funny that you mentioned the writer strike because uh I mentioned earlier, I'm gonna say it again, for the beginning of 1989, the last year in the decade, there was not much for three months uh going on in movie theaters. Now 1989 is truly the the year of movie sequels. Just to bring a couple to your attention, I'm not gonna go through the entire list, but you have Lethal Weapon 2, you have Back to the Future 2, uh, you have Indiana Jones 3. There's so many movies that Ghostbusters 2 was that summer. Ghostbusters 2 was the other one I was thinking of. So many, but I mean, there's a huge, it was a huge year for movie sequels. I'll get into what Chevy did other than and Fletch Lives as well, but the movie came out, it was March 17th, 1989. It only opened against uh two other movies, uh Leviathan and a movie called Slaves of New York. And it did open up number one. First weekend it did about eight million dollars, and that covered the budget, and it went on to do about 39 million dollars uh overall.

Jake Parrish 32:26

If I recall, the first movie opened around 7 million with inflation, yeah. So eight at that time was probably pretty comparable, which is in line with the first one. I'll be honest, in 89, I had already seen Fletch. I was 89, so I was what 13, 14 years old, and I was aware of Fletch, but for some reason I don't remember seeing a lot of promotion for Fletch Lives. And because in 89, I would have definitely seen it in the theater by then because I was a teenager, but I don't remember seeing any ads on television for it, and the first I had even heard of it was when I saw it in the video store.

"Big Bob" West 33:09

This is gonna blow both of your minds, and you're gonna think I'm making this up. But in 89, I remember I went to go see Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure with my grandmother and my cousin, and I remember one of the previews was for Fletch Lives, for Fletch Lives, and I had never seen Fletch, so I just remember seeing Chevy Chase, and I know that it had to be for Fletch Lives because that was the only movie that he would have been doing at the time, because the only other movie he did that year was Christmas Vacation. But yeah, I had seen a preview for it, and that's one of those things that I'll always remember about that year. But yeah, you're right. I you know, I I could never remember what was on TV at the time because I was so young, but I do remember that.

Jake Parrish 33:45

So 39 million is good for a movie in the late 80s for an $8 million budget.

"Big Bob" West 33:51

Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's movies that absolutely destroyed uh Fletch Lives in that year because it was such a big year. I mean, the summer alone had uh Star Trek V, Ghostbusters 2, Batman, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, uh Karate Kid Three, again, more sequels. I remember that summer.

Jake Parrish 34:09

I was in the movie theater almost every year.

"Big Bob" West 34:11

Yeah, it was a huge, huge, huge summer for movies. It just had so much competition. So it was never going to be the number one movie of the year.

Jake Parrish 34:19

But maybe that's why they released it before the summer season. Maybe that's why they released it in March.

"Big Bob" West 34:24

And that's exactly what I was thinking as well. You know, it was really an ideal time to release it. They didn't want to get too close to the summer because talking about the writer's strike coming off of that, it wasn't a lot of competition, and that might have played into why it did so well. I mean, you're talking about prior to that, the only movies that did better were Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and the Burbs.

Jake Parrish 34:43

I wonder how how much, I don't know if you have the numbers for Flesh or Flesh lifts. I'm just curious how well these movies played overseas. What the box office revenue is.

"Big Bob" West 34:55

Oh, yeah, I do have that. It did it did 33 33 million dollars domestically and 39 million um, 39 additional or six million for the third. Six million different. Okay, so it only did about six million dollars overseas. I don't know if that's good or bad for 1989. It almost that almost makes up the budget for the movie. But yeah, I think Fletch Libs did a lot better overseas, but not much better.

Jake Parrish 35:19

And I shouldn't say a lot better. It's interesting. We've now released a few podcasts now. I love to see where we're getting the downloads, and we're getting a lot of downloads here in the States, but we're also getting a fair amount of downloads from the UK. So I'm just curious how it played in the UK as well.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 35:40

But Fletch Lives at least opened at number one, which is something the original fletch did not do.

"Big Bob" West 35:44

It did open at number one, and a little fun fact: guess what movie also came out in 1989? Didn't even come close to topping Flex Lives the numbers. What's that? July 28th, Babar of the movie. It only did it only did 1.3 is that with two B's?

Jake Parrish 36:03

I'm not sure.

"Big Bob" West 36:05

Wait a minute, yeah, they are 1989 was really just a dominant summer movie. I mean, geez, there's so many great movies that we love that come out in 1989 that we could do podcasts on those movies as well, but the summertime just absolutely destroyed.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 36:21

Let's talk about some of our favorite parts of Fletch Lives. Bob, what what favorite scenes stand out to you as your favorites of all of them?

Jake Parrish 36:29

Yeah, you're a huge Flesh Lives fan.

"Big Bob" West 36:31

Look, I I I could definitely understand how it's it's it's an inappropriate movie uh for today. I I get it. But at the time, you know, being ignorant of all the issues that we'd see in 2021, it definitely made me laugh. Um, my favorite scene overall for the movie, there's a lot of them. I absolutely uh love the scene where he's in Bly. And just the character he plays, Elma Fudgantry is one of my favorite Fletch characters. This is a secure area.

Speaker 11 37:03

Well, I'm very happy for you. Most people live in terrible neighborhoods.

Speaker 4 37:06

I'm very sorry, sir.

Speaker 11 37:07

And you are I are pissed! Oh, I've been spitting up blood, pissing blood, bleeding. Go through five of these two today. I am not a big man.

"Big Bob" West 37:18

Yeah, but but but oh and Phil Hartman absolutely kills it in that scene. But also, you know, the Peter Lemon Jellow uh scenes are probably my my spiritual favorite. What I think I'm expecting to get. And actually, that's probably my favorite uh Fletch alias out of all of them. Really? I just love it.

Speaker 5 37:36

Bobby Ralph, Peter Lemon Jellow, your house is on fire. What they told me to tell you your house is on fire, I'll take over. God bless you, and God bless you for believing this shit.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 37:50

Bob used to be Peter Lemonjello on the old boards.

Jake Parrish 37:54

Yeah, that was Peter Lemon Jello's board.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 37:56

That's true.

Jake Parrish 37:57

I think about it, and I there are a lot more disguises. Would you agree that there are a lot more disguises compared to the first one?

Speaker 13 38:05

Or he uses disguises uh when he has to. His house is obviously infested with reticularmies, Mario Cuomo. He also does something else, which is intrinsic to that. He uses them when he doesn't have to.

Speaker 5 38:17

Name's Ed. Ed Harley. Are you sure you're in the right place? I think so. I think so. Yes.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 38:26

Yeah. One one that he uses a reused disguise, the the Gordon Lady character, yeah, as the Bloodbusters, right?

Jake Parrish 38:32

It's reused as the uh Billy Jean King.

"Big Bob" West 38:34

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly the same thing, right? Really getting a lot of miles out of those novelty teeth.

Jake Parrish 38:41

It's a different movie, but it's still just such a funny movie. There are so many scenes that stand out that are really, really funny. I love the the G Gordon Liddy scene when he's talking to the cop and he's like, they multiply by masturbation. I mean, that's a great line. And when he says it's pretty terrible. I oh, I seem to drop it in your ear. Okay, that's really funny.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 39:05

Tells him squeal like a pig.

Jake Parrish 39:07

Yeah. Hang on, I want to I want to say something about that cop.

"Big Bob" West 39:10

Yeah. That cop that he's making squeal like a pig is also the exact same cop that arrests him and hauls him off out of uh Amanda Ray Ross's house. Yes. Oh yeah. So he that that cop literally got duped by novelty chief. That tells you a lot about the officers. Well there's Thibodeau, Louisiana.

Jake Parrish 39:25

With um Randall text cob, the scene in the in the jail is really funny.

"Big Bob" West 39:30

Well, another thing, too, there's a there's a callback to the original Fletch in that scene, too. He he bashes his head once again on the jail bars in both movies. He does it when he's with the chief in the first movie, and then he when he's getting thrown towards the jail cell and Fletch lives, he also does it.

Jake Parrish 39:47

There's a great line when he says, What are you in for?

Fletch Movie Quote 39:51

Molesting a dead horse. Oh, there's no crime in that. You're right as an American. I'm trying to cut down myself.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 40:00

You know, it's funny. If you're if you remember back to the website, I actually looked up what the penalty was. I think I remember that for having sex with a dead animal in Louisiana. Was there any crime in that? I think I think the Ben Dover scene is um it's definitely a scene that is one of the first you think of. You think of Randall Tex Cobb. Ben Dover.

Fletch Movie Quote 40:25

Ben, nice to meet you. Victor Hugo.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 40:27

You know, upon watching it, you know, again, you I didn't realize how much Randall Cobb is in it besides that scene.

"Big Bob" West 40:35

Yeah, that scene kind of sets up the it kind of frames the town itself, the how small the town is, because the fact that you keep running into the same cop, the same criminal, the same people everywhere you go shows that I don't know if the town is called Bell Isle or if that's the uh if it's Thibodeau or what, but you know, it it it shows how small the town is, right?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 40:54

Because Randall Tex Cobb reappears working in the morgue, and he also reappears in the biker scene.

Jake Parrish 41:00

You really shouldn't wear so much eye makeup, it makes you look cheap. I feel that is probably the weaker scene in the movie. That whole the whole motorcycle thing. I'm not a huge fan of that that whole chase scene. I I thought that was just it wasn't necessary. I'm not some funny scenario. It's a green line.

"Big Bob" West 41:20

You know, the the the the the whole scene in the bit where he's doing uh Ed Harley has got a lot of funny, funny.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 41:27

Bob and I, and also our other friends, uh feeling a little horny Ed, like that's a quote we say a lot. Like, you know, whenever somebody says something about a girl or something about something, we always nail them with a feeling a little horny ed. Yeah, uh, yeah. Ed Harley, a funny uh connection to that biker bar, a little fun fact, is the same biker bar from Pee Wee's Big Adventures. Oh, they shot it in the same place. The famous Pee-wee dance scene. Uh the famous tequila dance scene from Pee Wee's Big Adventures film in the same bar. And uh just a little observation about Randall Tech's Cobb in the morgue, which I happened to notice upon last watching.

Jake Parrish 42:07

He's eating I know exactly where this is going, and living in Texas, I know where you're going with this. He's eating exact potato chips.

"Big Bob" West 42:15

Those chips are so good, I love them.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 42:19

There is a flavor called voodoo, which I believe I don't know, I can't describe it other than it it combines every flavor of chip that you can possibly think of salt and vinegar, barbecue, spicy, it's got everything combined. It is incredible. Jake, you'd have to run a couple miles just to burn off this bag, but it'd be worth it.

Jake Parrish 42:44

I'm on a pretty strict diet, but if I see those, I buy them.

"Big Bob" West 42:51

No, there's another Easter egg. There's another Easter egg in that morgue scene as well. Um on the chalkboard, you know, the the way that the uh what do you call the the things that the bodies are the the the little refrigerators that the bodies are? I think that's what they're called. There's a little uh chalkboard uh behind behind Cleveland Little Behind Calculus, and on one of the names it actually says a farmer. Oh, nice.

Jake Parrish 43:16

Does it really?

"Big Bob" West 43:18

Yeah. Yeah, reference to the year before he had made funny farm, Andy Farmer. Yeah, love that movie.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 43:24

Um I'm gonna and also on Tex Cobb's desk, two Happy Meals, two McDonald's happy meals. Yeah, a little strange. Like maybe he can watch the prizes or the toys. Maybe maybe it was the uh maybe it was Monopoly money. Maybe it was the Monopoly when he was collecting the Monopoly pieces.

"Big Bob" West 43:40

You know, and he and and and Ramble, um Randall. What's what's his actual name on the movie?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 43:46

Well they credit they credit him as Ben Dover, even though that's not his name. I didn't know that. Everybody like refers to him as Ben Dover. He tells Fletch to bend over. In the credits, he's credited as Ben Dover as his name, Ben Dover.

"Big Bob" West 44:00

He actually plays a bigger part in the movie too. He's clearly working for um Hamilton because he's the one that takes the shot at Fletch in the in the swamp. Remember when he drops the Lager Watch? Yes. And Chevy does that Fletch does the Twilight Zone.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 44:17

The Coon Hunt, the Coon Hunt is another another part of the movie that you know is a little cringe-worthy considering the reference to uh calculus not coming from the Coon Hunt.

Jake Parrish 44:27

Yeah, that's pretty bad. The KKK scene is but Fletch has some funny lines when he's in with them.

"Big Bob" West 44:38

Um one of the lines is another Easter egg, too. Uh when he says Gene Hackman kicked your ass. Do you guys know what that's a reference to? The year before Gene Hackman did a movie called Mississippi Bridge.

Jake Parrish 44:51

Okay, oh, that's right. Yeah, okay.

"Big Bob" West 44:56

I don't know if he's an FBI agent or a detective, but he's taking on the Klan. He's fighting the Klan, you know, on his own in the south. And yeah, that's why he says Gene Hackman. Something like if they see the movie, they might see the case.

Jake Parrish 45:09

There was nothing going on at the Rotary Club, so he decided to come there. It's like, what? And they can and the young KKK members they call him Klukies.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 45:19

Yeah.

Jake Parrish 45:19

Klukies, yeah. California thing.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 45:25

I love when he smacks the KKK guy and says California thing. Can we can we talk for a second? We're jumping all over, but can we talk about Amanda Ray Ross? So Amanda Ray Ross is Fletch's lawyer, I guess, right? Representing the property. He goes back to her house the first night meeting her and they sleep together. You know, she's she's murdered by someone, we don't know at that point who, but you know, if you woke up next to a dead body, number one, the body have you ever seen a dead body that in a matter of hours turns out?

Jake Parrish 45:59

Yeah, like bluish gray or something.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 46:01

Yeah, can't say I've ever seen any dead body, but how how long have they been sleeping? That she she is starting to decay.

Jake Parrish 46:08

Another line I love when he says, um, your toothbrush would have used your razor, but it looks like you've been doing some gardening with it.

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 46:16

I have probably said that to every girlfriend I've ever had. I've waited for the moment where where her razor was in play and uh and dropped that line.

Jake Parrish 46:26

And what was the response?

"Laker Jim" James Kanowitz 46:28

Uh yeah. No confusion. Not sure. Oh yeah. Play Buckwee. Buckwheat Zatco, everybody. Well, that about sums up part one of Fletch Lives for Us. There's so much still left to cover. There's so much we haven't talked about. I mean, we're just to the night where Pam so subtly put it, Fletch pork the Mandarin Raw. So there's still so much more to talk about. We haven't even mentioned Jimmy Lee Farnsworth, we haven't even touched the soundtrack. I mean, we're literally gonna ride the ride to Bible land on a future episode. So look for Fletch Lives Part 2 sometime in the future, and uh continue to listen, please continue spreading the word, leave us reviews, rate us, follow us on social media. Our handle is at imfletchcast, the letter I, the letter M Fletchcast, for the same handle across the board. Call in on the hotline, we'd love to hear from you. I'm not even gonna bother mentioning the phone number, you won't write it down, but it's listed in the show notes, it's listed on social media. You'll find it somewhere. Give us a call, call in, leave us a message, we want to hear from you. Topics, suggestions, criticism, compliments. We want to hear it all. So, like I said, thank you for listening. For Jake, for Bob, I'm Laker Jim. I'm gonna go catch the last ten minutes of Fletcher lives. See ya.