MovieChat Forums > Creepshow (1982) Discussion > Something to Tide You Over

Something to Tide You Over


I always think of this segment of the movie in the summer. I just watched it recently and I remember Leslie Nielsen having the gun on Ted Danson and Ted Danson is trying to yell for help and nobody can hear him because the place is deserted. If I were Ted Danson, I would've never got in the hole and buried myself up to my neck. Leslie Nielsen was threatening to shoot him if he didn't. I would've charged him or would've tried to take a chance running. There's no way I'm getting in a hole on the beach. What did he think was going to happen once Leslie Nielsen had him in there trapped and unable to move? I remember when Ted Danson was finally buried and he asked him to try to move and Ted Danson couldn't. Leslie Nielsen just laughed because he knew he had him. In the beginning, Ted Danson is ready to get rough and Leslie Nielsen tells him that if anything happens to him, he'll never know where Becky is. Screw that. I would've beat the hell out of him until he talked or I would've called the police. I sometimes wonder what would've happened if Ted Danson never got in the hole. Leslie Nielsen says to him, "Then you force me to shoot you." I wonder if he would've shot him. Leslie Nielsen was such a sick psychopath, that if he just shot him, what fun would that be? It would've ruined his whole plan. He wouldn't have been able to make Ted Danson suffer and he wouldn't have had tapes of the both of them drowning to sit and enjoy. This episode is very dark, but it has some funny moments. In the end, when Leslie Nielsen is cornered, it sounds like he's crying and then it turns into hysterical laughter lol. It was also funny seeing Leslie Nielsen act so insane because I'm so used to seeing him as Frank Drebin.

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Yeah, most people remember him from Naked Gun, but Leslie Nielsen was really great at playing a total bastard when he wanted to.

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Wait a minute... who am I here?

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/Yeah, most people remember him from Naked Gun, but Leslie Nielsen was really great at playing a total bastard when he wanted to./

yes he was a very underrated actor

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Spectularly good at it — more so than I remember.
Critics often dismiss him as “hammy,” but he plays a hostile subtext very convincgly.
Especially here.

Did anyone notice Danson’s weak acting?
Really falls flat in spots where he needs to show some serious urgency.
Our boy Leslie acts circles around him throughout the episode.
I believe his character’s reality much more than I do Danson’s.

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Most people forget that before Naked Gun, Leslie Nielsen was mostly a serious actor.

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If you can hold your breath!

ha ha! Great segment. I also thought there is no way I would get in that hole. I woulda swung that shovel at him. Probably my second favorite segment after The Crate.








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He could have tortured him by shooting him in the knee cap, or ankle or somewhere else where he would have been in excruciating pain for a long long time!

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On the making-of documentary Tom Savini talked about how Leslie had one of those little fart toys, and would use it around crowds. Leslie could be a serious actor, but he was apparently always a comedian at heart. Guess that's why in his final years he's most known for comedies.

SOMETHING TO TIED YOU OVER might be my favorite segment of the film. And while it isn't credited, and I'm sure some people would disagree, I honestly suspect this one was very loosely based on King's short story THE LEDGE. It was adapted into the film CAT'S EYE with Leslie's AIRPLANE co-star Robert Hays. Both are about older rich men who discover their wives are having affairs, so they force the lover into a dangerous situation in exchange for the wife. I do mean loosely, but it couldn't be a coincidence. THE LEDGE was published in 1976, so I wouldn't overlook the possibility.


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First of all, Neilsen had a long career in dramatic roles. We sort of remember him now as Frank Drebin and all those spoof films, but he could play nasty guys too. He was also the murdered john in Nuts and the racist dad in Soul Man. Now, as to why Danson's character jumps in, Danson tries calling for help but it doesn't work because as Leslie said, the beach was private and he owned it all so no one would hear him.

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If I were Harry (Ted Danson), I would have tried to overpower Richard (Leslie Nielsen) by using the shovel. Although, at the time, Harry's main concern was finding out what Richard did with his wife, so he was willing to go along with what Richard told him to do rather than just have Richard shoot him. If he did try to overpower Richard, he probably would have been shot in the leg or somewhere else that wouldn't be immediately non-lethal, and then buried in the hole anyway. And it was definitely interesting to see Leslie Nielsen play the role of a psychopath, especially since when I saw this movie, I only knew him from comedic roles. He really was a very talented actor, because while he could play a funny character like Frank Drebin so perfectly, he could also play a character like Richard so convincingly.

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Harry's first mistake was letting Richard into his apartment. Most people in that situation say "ok, you won't leave, and you've made sinister threats about a person...I'm calling the cops."

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He wanted to find out what Richard had done with his wife.
Richard said that was the only way he’d ever know.

Harry could tell the cops what Harry said, but he’d have no proof and Richard would simply deny it.

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Yeah but when she ended up missing, Harry's testimony would be more interesting to the police and if Richard let her go, she'd go to the police. Harry should have called Richard's bluff but the thought of spending the day at the beach in corduroy was too overwhelming.

Plus it would be a boring episode if that happened 😃

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