MovieChat Forums > Caddyshack II (1988) Discussion > Just say no to family values!!!!

Just say no to family values!!!!


Let's go ahead and get to the root of why Caddyshack II was such a miserable failure. It's the same thing that caused the break up of Cheech & Chong.

The 1980's were The Republican Era. The original Caddyshack was released in the last year safe for adult comedy before they came rolling in and started the nonsensical "war on drugs" AKA "the war on personal freedom" as the late GREAT Bill Hicks termed it.

Like it or not, a great deal of the humor of Caddyshack centered around kinky sex, partying, boozing and WEED, brotha. It was hip and edgy and pulled no punches.

"Do you do drugs, Danny?"
"Everyday."

" This is a hybrid. This is a cross, ah, of Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this is, that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that night on this stuff."

Caddy II was none of that. It was wiped sqeaky clean. The cool coming of age Danny Noonen was replaced by Johnathan Silverman's lifeless droid and given nothing of interest to do. Murray's crazed stoner greenskeeper Carl replaced with Akroyd's directionless whatever.

Lacking any subculture reference, they resorted to playing up some of the other comedic devices that were more subtle and far more effective. People's exhibit A: The difference between Al Cervik's funny Einstein-designed putter and Jack Hartounian's ridiculous laser-grid emitting travesty of the same gag.

1988 was not the time for a follow-up to Caddyshack. "P.C." for Caddyshack means Piece of Crap.

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A very interesting take on this film- good points indeed. Whoever green-lighted this (studio/execs/the so-called "brains" of hollyweird) was probably stoned themselves, thinking that the very name in the title would bring all the fans of the original back to see more crazy golf hijinks. Yes, it failed to have the same impact as the first. Not even close, actually. Wiped squeaky clean is a great way to put it. The only thing that made it chug along and actually warrant a DVD release (when so many "bad" or low budget movies are still not on DVD as of '04) was that it had some funny moments but of course not even close to the original. Chevy's return made many think that it may resemble the first one more but that didn't happen.

mmmm...steamed hams!

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I have to disagree with the "Family Values" argument because that would mean every comedy since that time period was not funny. Which, as we all know, is not true. CS2 was not funny because it was a bad script with actors who were not being funny. It had nothing to do with Reagan or family values or anything else. "Drug" jokes are still used and are still funny and successful. Remember "Friday"? That had drug jokes and was a big success.

The original "Caddyshack" would have been a success even today but with some modifications that would appeal to audiences of today.

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Friday (1995) Bill "I didn't inhale" Clinton-era (apple)
Caddyshack II (1988) Ron "My wife is Nancy No-no" Reagan/George Bush I era (orange)

Although there is no argument that CS2 ALSO suffers from crap actors with a crap script.

that would mean every comedy since that time period was not funny


Umm... no. It would mean comedies of that time period reflected the puritanical values of the times. (As we're now seeing raising its ugly head once more in the wake of Janet Jackson's boobgate.)

But it is accepted truth that mainstream movie comedy became white washed in the 80's and early 90's.

AND, blasphemer, Caddyshack is a timeless classic requiring no modifications whatsoever.

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other movies of the reagan era were still funny...just not this pos...or piece of *beep*

you must not have watched many 80s film if this is the only one that you could consider posting about moron

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other movies of the reagan era were still funny...just not this pos...or piece of *beep*

you must not have watched many 80s film if this is the only one that you could consider posting about moron


That's a lucid, well-constructed, and undeniably persuasive argument.


Oh, wait. No it isn't.

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Don't blame politics for this movie. I think the 80's had some of greatest comedies ever. Plenty of drug jokes in comedies then. Plus, way more nudity was shown in 80's movies, than since. So, I don't get your PC in 80's movies argument.


Rocky VI must happen! Sean Penn said so!

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Plenty of drug jokes in comedies then


name 'em. name a great counter-culture, drug-based humor comedy from the 1980's. and not 80-81. But solid, mid-80's thru the early 1990's.

something akin to a Cheech and Chong flick. something with a character like Fast Times's Jeff Spicoli, who's played for laughs and comes off uber-cool.

name ONE.

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Teen Wolf (1985) The Stiles character is the coolest guy in the movie, and he smokes pot, and it's not frowned upon.

Revenge of the Nerds 1 & 2, the Booger character smokes pot, and is not frowned upon, and he's probably the fan favorite of the series.


Rocky VI must happen! Sean Penn said so!

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Not even close. Read my criteria above. An incidental character who slipped through the cracks IS NOT akin to a Cheech & Chong drug romp, nor a Half Baked, in which drug use is CENTRAL to the story.

Worse yet, Revenge 2 was a PG or PG-13 flick, down from the R of the first, an example of standards getting more stringent. Don't recall if Booger tokes in 2, but I doubt it.

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"Rude Awakening" had a lot of drug use, certainly more than "Caddyshack". Very much a counterculture film. That's the only example I can think of from the era.

"Now this won't hurt a bit. Well, maybe just a little bit."
-The Tall Man

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You already named one. Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Other raunchy/drug movies from the era include:

Porky's

Bachelor Party

Police Academy (Which featured a similar slobs vs. snobs dynamic as Caddyshack)

Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams

The Breakfast Club

Revenge of the Nerds

Shall I go on?

All of which made safely within the decade that you seem to think was a prisoner to moral values and 1950s paternalism.

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Porky's - 1982; very early 80's. Ball isn't really rolling on the "just say no" era. And not really much drug use.

Bachelor Party - 1984. Okay. Some raunch, to be sure. Not a "great" film - doubt seriously Tom Hanks highlights it on his resume. More boozing than drug use, from what I recall.

Police Academy - 1984 on. Snobs vs. slobs, okay. But a counter-culture drug-based humor movie?

Nice Dreams - 1981. Too early & more or less the last C&C drug movie.

The Breakfast Club - 1985. Does include some pot smoking and is a classic. Do most think of this as a drug comedy? Debatable. Maybe more proof of the exception to the rule, but okay.

Revenge of the Nerds? 1984. Still not quite the late 80's & 90's era that I'm really talking about. First term Reagan, we still have term 2 and the Bush years to go. And again, not really primarily counter-culture.



I don't think these hit the mark as a counter argument. And don't really address whether the family values thing is at play with CS2.

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But, Caddyshack wasn't a drug comedy. I think that's something you seem to be pushing, Blazer420(name's no coincidence, huh). All those movies listed seem more to be just comedies with some drug references. The movies in entirety weren't about drugs. The early Cheech & Chong movies were drug comedies. Half-Baked and Friday were drug comedies. The original Caddyshack was a comedy with some drug references.

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[deleted]

I agree with you but I think the OP is onto something. I have never really thought about it before only that there were less "wild comedies" as time went on. You see it in Caddyshack II. In European vacation there's quite a bit more nudity than the original but no references to drugs and no underage drinking. Christmas vacation is totally scrubbed clean of drugs and nudity although I still find it funny. Even Real Genius which takes place at Caltech of all places where there is surely a culture of drug experimentation shows none whatsoever.

I'm trying to think of one big comedy from 1985-1992 that showed drug use in a positive or humorous light and not as something cautionary. After 1992 I can think of several: Friday, Half Baked, Harold & Kumar, American Beauty, Big Lebowski, Dazed and Confused, Knocked Up, , the series Weeds, . Even Cheech Marin's movies after 1984 seem to be scrubbed of recreational drug use or riffing on aging hippies.

Oh, just thought of one: Down and Out in Beverly Hills. That was from 1986 and shows plenty of drug use and counterculture. And I think Teen Wolf as well. That's it.

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name 'em. name a great counter-culture, drug-based humor comedy from the 1980's. and not 80-81. But solid, mid-80's thru the early 1990's.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090849/

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If a barely seen, 4.9 rated (with 1/10th the vote numbers of the "great" HALF BAKED), Troma cult movie is the best we can do...



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The true appeal of Caddyshack, and others like it, is the whole slobs vs. snobs theme. An almost anarchic comedy style that ain't afraid to spit in the faces of our hypocritcal government, religious institutions, and our two-faced society as a whole. Some of the best examples come from the 70s and 80s: the aformentioned Caddyshack, Up in Smoke, Animal House, Blazing Saddles, Used Cars, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Police Academy, etc. Nothing by today's standards measures up. The only one I remember coming close was Old School which started off strong but fell apart in the end. The slobs "cleaned up their act" and cowed down to the snob by playing his game. What do they get in return? The snob ends up screwing them over anyway! The slobs only succeed in the end thanks to a string of lame-ass, unfunny contrivances. Compare that to Animal House where the slobs retaliate against the snobs by literally tearing the whole damn town apart in the end! That's how it's done! A blast from start to finish. Old School on the other hand was like a kick-ass party cut short by your host suddenly pussing out on you. Just like some kid running around yelling at everyone to put their clothes on and hide the beers and bongs because he just remembered his parents will be home any minute. A damn disappointment.

Drug jokes, sex jokes, fart jokes are just so-so on their own. The real key is having something substantial to hang 'em on, something all people can relate to: stickin' it to the Man! We need movies like this today, now more than ever. After eight years of Bush and close to a full year of Obama, this whole country is on the verge of shriveling up and blowing away in the wind. We need to find our souls and our balls, flip these punks the bird, and learn how to bite the hand that feeds us all over again, without fear or care.

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I really don't think that argument holds any water when it comes to debating the quality of Caddyshack II. Quite frankly, nobody remembers Caddyshck cause of the drug references, and if they do, then those people are looking for very shallow things in comedy. No, they remember it for being the perfect slob vs snob comedy that was well balanced due to its well acted cast, and decent amount of one liners. Those reasons can be applied to any comedy from any decade that doesn't contain large amounts of swearing, nudity or drug references. And quite frankly, those things would not have improved Caddyshack II. It sucked because not only did it copy the story structure of the first movie wholesale, but it also raised a magnifying glass on what made the first one work: the actors. It seemed like the producers did their best to emulate the more notable, shallow characteristics of the key comedic actors in Caddyshack, but not actually understand that those performances worked cause of what the original actors put into them. Chevy Chase was somewhat consistent with Ty Webb in the first, but That's only cause he plays dry and caustic pretty well. And quite frankly, the jokes were just piss poor, R rated or not, and besides, PG of the 80s is not what Pg is now, and like someone said earlier. There have been good PG comedies from that era, so don't confuse R rated adult tropes with quality

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