See You Next Wednesday
See You Next Wednesday is a recurring gag in most of the films directed by John Landis, usually referenced as a fictional film. No version of See You Next Wednesday in any Landis film ever looks the same as it did in any previous Landis film.
Landis originally got the idea for See You Next Wednesday from the 1968 movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is the last line spoken by Frank Poole's father during Poole's videophone conversation with his parents.
References
- In Landis' first film, Schlock (1973), SYNW is mentioned twice and shown as a poster. Brief casting and plot descriptions are given each time it is mentioned, making it clear that this is in fact two different films both titled See You Next Wednesday.
- In the sketch comedy film The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), the film is a melodrama presented in "Feel-Around," a technique where an usher stands behind each movie patron and does things to them as they occur in the film, enhancing the movie-going experience, at least until the scene where the woman puts a knife to the man's throat.
- In The Blues Brothers (1980), SYNW is glimpsed on a billboard which also features a huge gorilla. It also appears on the cinema sign behind where the Nazi Pinto crashes through the road. The film is directed by the fictional Carl La Fong, a reference to the W.C. Fields comedy It's A Gift (1934) and a character name Landis has used as an anonymous credit on a number of his other films.[1]
- In An American Werewolf in London (1981), SYNW is a porn film being shown in a seedy London porno theater. Advertised as "A Non-Stop Orgy," scenes from the movie are actually shown as the characters talk in the theater. A poster of SYNW can also be seen on the wall in the Tube station.
- In Trading Places (1983), a poster for SYNW is glimpsed in Ophelia's (Jamie Lee Curtis) apartment. On this poster it is directed by William Wyler and stars Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon and David Niven (the real director and stars of the 1939 version of Wuthering Heights). The poster features the quote L'un des to meilleurs Films du Monde.
- In the Michael Jackson music video Thriller (1983), it is spoken by a deputy in the horror movie Michael and his girlfriend are watching, and also visible as a poster on the outside of the cinema as they leave.
- In Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), a German character says "see you next Wednesday" in German.
- In Spies Like Us (1985), an army recruiting poster can be seen behind Colonel Rhumbus (Bernie Casey) right after the vertical impact simulation scene that says "The army can teach you a skill. See You Next Wednesday."
- In Into the Night (1985), posters for the movie are shown.
- In Coming to America (1988), a poster for SYNW is shown on a subway station.
- In the Dream On (1990) series' first episode "The First One," directed by John Landis, Martin (Brian Benben) says to his maid (Marianne Muellerleile), "See you next Thursday", she corrects him saying, "Wednesday".
- In the Michael Jackson music video Black or White (1991) SYNW is shown on the window which Michael Jackson throws a garbage can through, the window is that of a company named "See You Next Wednesday Storage Co."
- In Innocent Blood (1992), SYNW is shown on a marquee.
- In The Stupids (1996), the phrase is seen on the back of the bus to which the kids chain their bikes.
- In the Masters of Horror episode "Family" (2006), the phrase is spoken by a cartoon character on TV.
References in non-Landis works
- In the "Video Pirates" segment of Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), pirates find a treasure chest filled with golden video cassettes; among the numerous in-jokes visible on the tapes, one of the cassette cases is labeled "See You Next Wednesday." (While Landis directed several segments of the overall film, the "Video Pirates" segment was directed by frequent Landis collaborator Robert K. Weiss.) The movie poster of the An American Werewolf in London version of SYNW (the Non-Stop Orgy) is in the Tower Records store in the last sketch of the movie.
- In the video game Deus Ex, an email found on Paul Denton's computer contains a notice from a movie rental company, mentioning the movies See You Next Wednesday and Blue Harvest.
- In the video game NetHack, the phrase "See you next Wednesday" can appear as graffiti on the floor.
- In the movie Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, when Pete (Topher Grace) is flipping channels while Rosalee (Kate Bosworth) is on a date with Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel), a TV advertisement shows Hamilton riding a motorcycle over a hill, then drinking a soda while a voiceover says "¡Hasta el próximo miércoles!"
- In the movie Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the film's name is on the marquee of a theater in the shot of a city street, but as "SEE YOU NEXT _ _ _ N _ SDAY".
- In a promotional video for the Mozilla future browser concept "Aurora," the phrase is said by a character at the end of the video.
- The video for Michael Bublé's song "Hollywood" features a cinema showing See You Next Wednesday.
- In the season six episode of Psych entitled "This Episode Sucks", SYNW is referenced.
External links
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0478568/