Delta House
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Delta House was a short-lived follow-up to the smash 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House.
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[edit] Cast members from Animal House on Delta House
Several cast members from Animal House reprised their roles on Delta House: John Vernon (Dean Vernon Wormer), Stephen Furst (Kent 'Flounder' Dorfman), Bruce McGill (Daniel Simpson 'D-Day' Day), and James Widdoes (Robert Hoover).
[edit] The absence of John Belushi/John 'Bluto' Blutarsky
The most notable absence on Delta House was John Belushi and his character John 'Bluto' Blutarsky. In Belushi/Bluto's place came Josh Mostel as Bluto's brother Jim 'Blotto' Blutarsky. Despite Bluto's absence, the scriptwriters made running references to his character. In one episode, Blotto announced that he'd received a letter from his brother Bluto, prompting a Delta brother to respond "I didn't know Bluto could write!" and another Delta brother to riposte "I didn't know Blotto could read!" Delta House also served as an early vehicle for future star Michelle Pfeiffer, who played The Bombshell.
[edit] Production and scheduling problems
Delta House seemed to be doomed from the start. The main problem was the fact that Delta House was based on a raunchy and irreverent R-rated movie that was now being transferred to prime time, over-the-air television. Network television in 1979 simply couldn't afford to offer the bawdy humour, drug references, and obscenity-laced dialogue that helped make Animal House popular to begin with.
Another obstacle facing Delta House was its considerably poor scheduling. ABC scheduled Delta House at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday nights (typically a low rated night for television). In addition, the other two broadcast networks rushed onto the airwaves their own sitcoms that were "inspired" by Animal House: NBC's Brothers and Sisters and CBS' Co-Ed Fever.
Surprisingly, despite its shortcomings, Delta House did fairly well in the ratings. However, executive producers Matty Simmons and Ivan Reitman, who also produced the movie, had enough fights with ABC to doom the show after 15 episodes.
[edit] Theme song
The theme song was written by Jim Steinman and Michael Simmons. Steinman later reworked the lyrics into the song "Dead Ringer for Love", made famous by Meat Loaf and Cher from the album Dead Ringer.
In the episode Lady in Weighting, a song Pizza Man was performed during a beauty pageant talent showcase. It was taken from National Lampoon's Off-Broadway sketch revue Lemmings, a send-up of the Woodstock Festival where it was originally sung by actress Alice Playten.
[edit] Cast
- John Vernon .... Dean Vernon Wormer
- Stephen Furst .... Kent 'Flounder' Dorfman
- Bruce McGill .... Daniel Simpson Day (D-Day)
- James Widdoes .... Robert Hoover
- Josh Mostel .... Jim 'Blotto' Blutarsky (Bluto's Brother)
- Peter Fox .... Eric 'Otter' Stratton
- Gary Cookson .... Doug Neidermayer
- Richard Seer .... Larry 'Pinto' Kroger
- Susanna Dalton .... Mandy Pepperidge
- Wendy Goldman .... Muffy
- Brian Patrick Clarke .... Greg Marmalard
- Lee Wilkof .... Einswine
- Peter Kastner .... Prof. Dave Jennings
- Michelle Pfeiffer .... The Bombshell
