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Bad News Bears (1976 film)
Encyclopedia
The Bad News Bears is a 1976 comedy film
directed by Michael Ritchie
. It stars Walter Matthau
and Tatum O'Neal
. The film was followed by two sequel
s, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
in 1977 and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
in 1978, a short-lived 1979-80 CBS
television series, and a remake titled Bad News Bears. Also notable was the score by Jerry Fielding
, which is an adaptation of the principal themes of Carmen
.
), an alcoholic
and former minor-league baseball
player, is recruited by a city councilman and attorney who filed a lawsuit against an ultra-competitive Southern California Little League
which excluded the least skilled athletes (including his son) from playing. In order to settle the lawsuit, the league agrees to add an additional team - the Bears - which is composed of the worst players. Buttermaker becomes the coach of the unlikely team, which includes (among others) a near-sighted pitcher, an overweight catcher, a foulmouthed shortstop with a Napoleon complex
, an outfielder who dreams of emulating his idol Hank Aaron, and a motley collection of other "talent". Shunned by the more competitive teams (and competitive parents), the Bears are the outsiders. They play their opening game, and do not even record an out, giving up 26 runs before Buttermaker forfeits the game.
Realizing the team is nearly hopeless, he recruits a couple of unlikely prospects: First up, is sharp-tongued Amanda Whurlizer (Tatum O'Neal
), a skilled pitcher (trained by Buttermaker when she was younger) who is the 12-year-old daughter of one of Buttermaker's ex-girlfriends. At first, she tries to convince Buttermaker that she has given up baseball, but then she reveals that she had been practicing "on the sly". Before agreeing to join the team, Amanda makes a number of outlandish demands (such as imported jeans, modeling school, ballet lessons, etc.) as conditions for joining. Upon hearing her demands, Buttermaker asks, "Who do you think you are, Catfish Hunter
?" Amanda responds by asking, "Who's he?" Rounding out the team, Buttermaker recruits the "best athlete in the area," who also happens to be the local cigarette-smoking, loan-sharking, Harley-Davidson
-riding troublemaker, Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley
). With Whurlizer and Leak on board, the team starts gaining more confidence, and the Bears start winning games.
Eventually, the unlikely Bears make it to the championship game opposite the top-notch Yankees, who are coached by aggressive, competitive Roy Turner (Vic Morrow
). As the game progresses, tensions are ratcheted up as Buttermaker and Turner engage in shouting matches, and the players become more ruthless and competitive against each other. After a heated exchange between Turner's son (and Yankees pitcher) Joey (Brandon Cruz
) and the Bears at-bat catcher Engelberg (Gary Lee Cavagnaro), Turner orders his son to walk Engelberg, the only Bears hitter he cannot overcome, despite Joey's wish to give it a try. In response, Joey intentionally throws a wild beanball
nearly striking him in the head. Horrified, Turner goes to the mound and slaps his own son. On the next pitch, Engelberg hits a routine ground ball back to Joey who exacts revenge against his father by holding the ball until Engelberg has an inside the park home run. Joey then leaves the game dropping the ball at his father's feet. Buttermaker - realizing that he has become the ultra-competitive Roy Turner - puts the benchwarmers on the field, thus giving everyone a chance to play. After narrowly losing the game 7 to 6, Buttermaker gives the team free rein of his beer cooler, and they spray it all over each other. Although they did not win the championship, they have the satisfaction of trying, knowing that winning is not so important. The condescending Yankees congratulate the Bears telling them although they are still not that good, they have "guts." Tanner, the shortstop, replies by telling the Yankees where they can put their trophy. The other players cheer and yell, "Wait 'til next year!" The movie ends with a photograph of the team.
, primarily in the San Fernando Valley
. The field where they played is in Mason Park on Mason Avenue in Chatsworth, California. In the film, the Bears were sponsored by an actual company, "Chico's Bail Bonds." One scene was filmed in the council chamber at Los Angeles City Hall
.
The film was notable in its time for the amount of vulgarity (including profanity
and ethnic slurs) placed into the mouths of the various child actors who played the principal roles (specifically, a memorable Tanner Boyle, played by Chris Barnes, quoted as calling his teammates en masse "a bunch of Jews
, spics, nigger
s, pansies
, and a booger-eating moron"). Most of the questionable dialogue was used for comic effect. A true product of the mid-70s, it includes a scene that would most likely no longer be allowed in a PG-rated film today: an inebriated Buttermaker drives the players, who are not wearing seatbelts, in an open-top convertible.
In his 1976 review, critic Roger Ebert
called the film "an unblinking, scathing look at competition in American society."
The film inspired two sequels, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
, a TV series, and a 2005 remake.
Saturday Night Live
did a parody
of the film with Matthau as the guest host called The Bad News Bees with John Belushi
, Dan Aykroyd
and the rest in their recurring "bee" costumes. This subtly dealt with masturbation which was referred to as "buzzing-off".
American Film Institute
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Michael Ritchie
Michael Ritchie (film director)
Michael Brunswick Ritchie was an American film director.Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the son of Patricia and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie...
. It stars Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
and Tatum O'Neal
Tatum O'Neal
Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. She is the youngest to win a competitive Academy Award, at the age of 10, which she won for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon opposite her father Ryan O'Neal...
. The film was followed by two sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training is the 1977 sequel to the feature film The Bad News Bears.This film picks up the Bears' career a year after their infamous second-place finish in the North Valley League. However, after winning this year, they are left reeling by the departure of Buttermaker...
in 1977 and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan is a 1978 film release by Paramount Pictures and was the sequel to The Bad News Bears and the sequel to The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. It stars Tony Curtis, Jackie Earle Haley, and Regis Philbin...
in 1978, a short-lived 1979-80 CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television series, and a remake titled Bad News Bears. Also notable was the score by Jerry Fielding
Jerry Fielding
Jerry Fielding was an American radio, record, film and television composer, conductor, and musical director.-Childhood and education:...
, which is an adaptation of the principal themes of Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
.
Plot
Morris Buttermaker (Walter MatthauWalter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
), an alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and former minor-league baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, is recruited by a city councilman and attorney who filed a lawsuit against an ultra-competitive Southern California Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...
which excluded the least skilled athletes (including his son) from playing. In order to settle the lawsuit, the league agrees to add an additional team - the Bears - which is composed of the worst players. Buttermaker becomes the coach of the unlikely team, which includes (among others) a near-sighted pitcher, an overweight catcher, a foulmouthed shortstop with a Napoleon complex
Napoleon complex
Napoleon complex is an informal term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people, especially men, who are short in stature. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of...
, an outfielder who dreams of emulating his idol Hank Aaron, and a motley collection of other "talent". Shunned by the more competitive teams (and competitive parents), the Bears are the outsiders. They play their opening game, and do not even record an out, giving up 26 runs before Buttermaker forfeits the game.
Realizing the team is nearly hopeless, he recruits a couple of unlikely prospects: First up, is sharp-tongued Amanda Whurlizer (Tatum O'Neal
Tatum O'Neal
Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. She is the youngest to win a competitive Academy Award, at the age of 10, which she won for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon opposite her father Ryan O'Neal...
), a skilled pitcher (trained by Buttermaker when she was younger) who is the 12-year-old daughter of one of Buttermaker's ex-girlfriends. At first, she tries to convince Buttermaker that she has given up baseball, but then she reveals that she had been practicing "on the sly". Before agreeing to join the team, Amanda makes a number of outlandish demands (such as imported jeans, modeling school, ballet lessons, etc.) as conditions for joining. Upon hearing her demands, Buttermaker asks, "Who do you think you are, Catfish Hunter
Catfish Hunter
James Augustus "Catfish" Hunter , was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 15-year baseball career, he pitched from 1965-1979 for both the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees...
?" Amanda responds by asking, "Who's he?" Rounding out the team, Buttermaker recruits the "best athlete in the area," who also happens to be the local cigarette-smoking, loan-sharking, Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
-riding troublemaker, Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley
Jackie Earle Haley
Jackie Earle Haley is an American film actor. Establishing himself from child actor to adult Academy Award-nominee, he is perhaps best known for his roles as Moocher in Breaking Away, Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears, pedophile Ronnie McGorvey in Little Children, the vigilante Rorschach in...
). With Whurlizer and Leak on board, the team starts gaining more confidence, and the Bears start winning games.
Eventually, the unlikely Bears make it to the championship game opposite the top-notch Yankees, who are coached by aggressive, competitive Roy Turner (Vic Morrow
Vic Morrow
Victor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s TV series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and cinema dramas, and numerous guest roles on television...
). As the game progresses, tensions are ratcheted up as Buttermaker and Turner engage in shouting matches, and the players become more ruthless and competitive against each other. After a heated exchange between Turner's son (and Yankees pitcher) Joey (Brandon Cruz
Brandon Cruz
Brandon Edwin Cruz is an American former child actor and currently a punk rock musician, and also works in drug and alcohol rehabilitation. In the late 1960s, the freckled-faced Cruz came to prominence by playing Tom Corbett's charming and conniving son, Eddie Corbett, in the comedy-drama The...
) and the Bears at-bat catcher Engelberg (Gary Lee Cavagnaro), Turner orders his son to walk Engelberg, the only Bears hitter he cannot overcome, despite Joey's wish to give it a try. In response, Joey intentionally throws a wild beanball
Beanball
"Beanball" is a colloquialism used in baseball, for a ball thrown at an opposing player with the intention of striking him such as to cause harm, often connoting a throw at the player's head...
nearly striking him in the head. Horrified, Turner goes to the mound and slaps his own son. On the next pitch, Engelberg hits a routine ground ball back to Joey who exacts revenge against his father by holding the ball until Engelberg has an inside the park home run. Joey then leaves the game dropping the ball at his father's feet. Buttermaker - realizing that he has become the ultra-competitive Roy Turner - puts the benchwarmers on the field, thus giving everyone a chance to play. After narrowly losing the game 7 to 6, Buttermaker gives the team free rein of his beer cooler, and they spray it all over each other. Although they did not win the championship, they have the satisfaction of trying, knowing that winning is not so important. The condescending Yankees congratulate the Bears telling them although they are still not that good, they have "guts." Tanner, the shortstop, replies by telling the Yankees where they can put their trophy. The other players cheer and yell, "Wait 'til next year!" The movie ends with a photograph of the team.
Cast
| Adults | ||
|---|---|---|
| Morris Buttermaker | Walter Matthau Walter Matthau Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears... |
Coach of the Bears: A drunken, loud, ex-professional baseball pitcher and part-time pool cleaner, who drives a yellow Cadillac convertible; the protagonist Protagonist A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify... |
| Roy Turner | Vic Morrow Vic Morrow Victor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s TV series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and cinema dramas, and numerous guest roles on television... |
Coach of the Yankees and the antagonist Antagonist An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend... |
| Cleveland | Joyce Van Patten Joyce Van Patten Joyce Benignia Van Patten is an American stage, film and television actress.-Personal life:Van Patten was born in New York City, the daughter of Josephine Rose , an Italian American magazine advertising executive, and Richard Byron Van Patten, a Dutch American interior decorator.She is the younger... |
League manager |
| Bob Whitewood | Ben Piazza | City councilman and lawyer who sued the league to allow the Bears (in particular, his son) to play. He convinces (and pays) Buttermaker to coach the team. |
| Kids | ||
| Regi Tower | Scott Firestone | Another lightly developed character; has red hair. Plays third, then first base. Wears number 1. |
| Toby Whitewood | David Stambaugh | An unassuming boy who plays first base. He knows about the other players' personalities and at times speaks for the team. Son of councilman Bob Whitewood. Wears number 2. |
| Kelly Leak | Jackie Earle Haley Jackie Earle Haley Jackie Earle Haley is an American film actor. Establishing himself from child actor to adult Academy Award-nominee, he is perhaps best known for his roles as Moocher in Breaking Away, Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears, pedophile Ronnie McGorvey in Little Children, the vigilante Rorschach in... |
Local troublemaker who smokes and rides a Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression... motorcycle. Also the best athlete in the neighborhood. He alternates between left and center field and has a crush on Amanda. Wears number 3. |
| Timmy Lupus | Quinn Smith Quinn Smith Quinn Smith is an American actor best known for playing the shy, tormented, blonde haired outfielder named "Timmy Lupus" in the original The Bad News Bears. He also made an appearance in the beginning of the first sequel The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training.-External links:... |
A "booger-eating spaz;" plays right field and is considered to be the worst player on the team, but surprises everyone in the final game by making a key play to keep the Bears in the game. He is the most quiet and shy player, but showed the odd ability to properly prepare a martini for Coach Buttermaker while the team was assisting the coach with pool cleaning. Wears number 4. |
| Mike Engelberg | Gary Lee Cavagnaro | An overweight boy who plays catcher Catcher Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to... ; A great hitter, he frequently teases Tanner about his size, his jabs at rival pitcher Joey Turner ignite a rivalry. Wears number 5. |
| Jose Aguilar | Jaime Escobedo | Miguel's older brother who plays second base; doesn't speak English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... . Wears number 6. |
| Miguel Aguilar | George Gonzales | Jose's younger brother; mostly plays right field. He doesn't speak English either; so short that the strike zone Strike zone In baseball, the strike zone is a conceptual right pentagonal prism over home plate which defines the boundaries through which a pitch must pass in order to count as a strike when the batter does not swing.-Definition:... is non-existent. Wears number 7. |
| Jimmy Feldman | Brett Marx Brett Marx Brett Marx is an American movie and television actor.Best known as "Jimmy Feldman" in the Bad News Bears movies, Marx was born in Los Angeles, California. He has also appeared on television, in one episode each of Tales from the Darkside, My Two Dads and Party of Five... |
Fairly quiet third baseman with curly blond hair. Wears number 8. |
| Alfred Ogilvie | Alfred W. Lutter | A bookworm who memorizes baseball statistics. He's mostly a benchwarmer who assists the coach with defensive strategy. A backup outfielder/first baseman. Wears number 9. |
| Rudi Stein | David Pollock David Pollock (actor) David B. Pollock is a former American child actor best remembered for his portrayal of Rudi Stein in the movie The Bad News Bears and its sequels in 1977 and 1978.He attended Montclair High School.-Filmography:... |
Nervous relief pitcher Relief pitcher A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter... with glasses who is a terrible hitter; often asked by Coach Buttermaker to purposely get hit by pitches so he won't try to swing. Also a backup outfielder. Wears number 10. |
| Amanda Whurlizer | Tatum O'Neal Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. She is the youngest to win a competitive Academy Award, at the age of 10, which she won for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon opposite her father Ryan O'Neal... |
12-year-old pitcher who feels insecure about her tomboy Tomboy A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the... image. She is proven to be a good pitcher. Her mother is Buttermaker's ex-girlfriend. Wears number 11. |
| Tanner Boyle | Chris Barnes | Short-tempered shortstop with a Napoleon complex Napoleon complex Napoleon complex is an informal term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people, especially men, who are short in stature. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of... ; after suffering a horrible loss on their first game, he picks a fight with the entire seventh grade from his school (and loses). He tends to curse more than the others, and often insults and bullies Timmy. Wears number 12. |
| Ahmad Abdul-Rahim | Erin Blunt Erin Blunt Erin Blunt is an American actor best known for his role as Ahmad Abdul-Rahim in The Bad News Bears, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan. He also appeared in numerous episodes of TV shows and films such as Car Wash and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a... |
An African-American Muslim Muslim A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable... who plays in the outfield and adores Hank Aaron; strips off his uniform in shame after committing errors, but is convinced to return to the team by Buttermaker. Wears number 44 in honor of his hero. |
| Joey Turner | Brandon Cruz Brandon Cruz Brandon Edwin Cruz is an American former child actor and currently a punk rock musician, and also works in drug and alcohol rehabilitation. In the late 1960s, the freckled-faced Cruz came to prominence by playing Tom Corbett's charming and conniving son, Eddie Corbett, in the comedy-drama The... |
The star pitcher for the Yankees (wears number 2 for that team). Coach Roy Turner's son. He has a rivalry with Engleberg and regularly bullies Tanner and Timmy. Allows Engleberg an inside-the-park home run, then quits the team after Roy slaps him in anger over a wild pitch. |
Production and success
The Bad News Bears was filmed in and around Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, primarily in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
. The field where they played is in Mason Park on Mason Avenue in Chatsworth, California. In the film, the Bears were sponsored by an actual company, "Chico's Bail Bonds." One scene was filmed in the council chamber at Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall, completed 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council...
.
The film was notable in its time for the amount of vulgarity (including profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
and ethnic slurs) placed into the mouths of the various child actors who played the principal roles (specifically, a memorable Tanner Boyle, played by Chris Barnes, quoted as calling his teammates en masse "a bunch of Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, spics, nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
s, pansies
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, and a booger-eating moron"). Most of the questionable dialogue was used for comic effect. A true product of the mid-70s, it includes a scene that would most likely no longer be allowed in a PG-rated film today: an inebriated Buttermaker drives the players, who are not wearing seatbelts, in an open-top convertible.
In his 1976 review, critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
called the film "an unblinking, scathing look at competition in American society."
The film inspired two sequels, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training is the 1977 sequel to the feature film The Bad News Bears.This film picks up the Bears' career a year after their infamous second-place finish in the North Valley League. However, after winning this year, they are left reeling by the departure of Buttermaker...
and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan is a 1978 film release by Paramount Pictures and was the sequel to The Bad News Bears and the sequel to The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. It stars Tony Curtis, Jackie Earle Haley, and Regis Philbin...
, a TV series, and a 2005 remake.
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
did a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the film with Matthau as the guest host called The Bad News Bees with John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
, Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
and the rest in their recurring "bee" costumes. This subtly dealt with masturbation which was referred to as "buzzing-off".
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs-nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
-nominated sports film - AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers-nominated