The Cable Guy

The Cable Guy (1996)

Timing: 1:36 (96 min)

5.99/10
2318

7.062/10
63693

6.1/10
189000

All about film

Video 6

Photo 33

Actors and characters

Release date

1996-06-10

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Licht/Mueller Film Corporation, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment

Genre

Comedy, Drama, Thriller

Budget

$47 000 000

Revenue

$102 825 796

Website

Director

Ben Stiller

Actors

Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black, George Segal, Diane Baker, Ben Stiller, Eric Roberts, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Judd Apatow, Andrew Licht, Jeffrey A. Mueller, Brad Grey, Bernie Brillstein, Marc Gurvitz

Operator

Robert Brinkmann

Composer

John Ottman

Artist

Lori Rowbotham

Audition

Juel Bestrop

Editing

Steven Weisberg
All team (92)

• The scene in which Jim Carrey reenacts a moment from the thriller "The Silence of the Lambs" (Jonathan Demme, 1991) is an improvisation. You can see on Steven's face, played by Matthew Broderick, that he is barely holding back laughter.
• During the filming of the scene with Chip on the basketball court, it turned out that actor Jim Carrey dribbled the ball poorly and couldn't shoot it into the hoop. Director Ben Stiller instructed the actor to mime playing without the ball, which was then added to the shot during editing.
• The Cable Guy role was written for Chris Farley, however, he had to decline it due to commitments to other projects.
• Some of The Cable Guy's predictions about what cable would eventually bring to people have already come true – the Internet, the ability to play computer games online, telephony, and television.
• Jim Carrey's fee for filming the movie was $20 million – a new record for those years (the late 20th century).
• All participants of "The Ben Stiller Show" (1991-1992) made at least one appearance on screen.
• When preparing for negotiations about his fee, Jim Carrey insisted that his lawyer and both managers wear Ace Ventura costumes.
• Judd Apatow is credited as a producer in the credits, but he also contributed to the screenplay. The Writers Guild of America denied him authorship. Apatow disagreed with this decision. His authorship of the screenplay is properly reflected in the book written about the film.
• During a fight with the character played by Ouen Wilson, The Cable Guy throws him against the wall, saying, "It's going to hurt, Gene." This refers to Gene Okerlund, a wrestling ring announcer.
• Ben Stiller initially intended to play the Cable Guy himself. Shortly after filming began, he realized how difficult it was to combine the roles of director and actor.
• In one episode, Stephen says he feels "like Felix Unger." This refers to the character from Neil Simon's play *The Odd Couple*. Matthew Broderick later played this character in the 2005 Broadway production.
• When Jim Carrey's stunt double dunked a basketball, the backboard shattered and fell directly on him, although it was supposed to fall backward. The pyrotechnician who prepared the stunt was fired as a result.
• Chip's scream when he scores a basket is a reference to the fantasy action film "Highlander" (1986) by Russell Mulcahy. When Steven is fired, he goes down to the garage where all the parked cars start honking and flashing their headlights – also as in "Highlander".
• At the beginning of the film, a 1971 movie "Play Misty for Me" is shown on television, in which the hero, played by Clint Eastwood, is pursued by a mentally unstable woman. This concept is also repeated in the plot of "The Cable Guy".
• The only Ben Stiller film where he directs but does not play the main role.
• In one of Judd Apatow's drafts, Chip was supposed to die, but this ending was rejected.
• To discuss the script, Ben Stiller and Judd Apatow traveled to South Carolina, where Jim Carrey was filming "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" (Steve Oedekerk, 1995). During a conversation in a bar, Carrey came up with the idea to repeat the glass and chest scene from Alan Parker's drama "Midnight Express" (1978).
• Leslie Mann, who played Robin, auditioned with Judd Apatow, who read the lines of the character later played by Jim Carrey. A year after the release of "The Cable Guy," Apatow and Mann got married.
• Judd Apatow told reporters for The Los Angeles Times about scenes that didn't make the film: Chip shoots Steven with a furniture stapler and then stitches up his wound on his backside; Chip pretends to be a firefighter and throws a fire axe at Steven; Chip on horseback, resembling the Headless Horseman, rides up to Steven and jumps on him; Chip impersonates the Terminator on top of Steven’s car.
• The film was made by Columbia Pictures, which paid $1 million for the screenplay—more than the competition.
• Kyle Gass played the bit part of the homebody whose television gets turned off. He is an actor, producer, screenwriter, composer, and musician, a member of the rock band Tenacious D.
• Ben Stiller played the roles of brothers Sam and Stan Sweaty, with Sam accused of murdering Stan. These characters were based on brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were sentenced to life in prison in 1984 for the murder of their parents.
• The film says nothing about Sam's sentence, but judging by the book, he was convicted of his brother's murder.
• The book, written based on the film, makes it clear that late at night, the Cable Guy calls Steven from the ventilation duct above the closet in Robin's apartment. (He is shown crawling through this duct in one of the earlier scenes of the film.) This explains why a harvestman spider crawls across his face and why Robin is taken hostage by him in the very next scene.
• According to the script, Rick is killed by Chip with a staple gun. This happens when Rick calls Steven to tell him that Chip was fired from the television company for harassing clients, that he was previously discharged from the US Marine Corps for insubordination, and that Chip's mother had been arrested for prostitution.
• The film could have had a different ending that would have more logically concluded the story of Sam and his trial. In this version, Chip would have confessed to Steven that he killed Stan, that he adored the TV show hosted by the Sweaty brothers, that Sam was one of the clients he stalked, and when Sam rejected him, Chip killed Stan and framed Sam.
• The scene in which Jim Carrey reenacts a moment from the thriller "The Silence of the Lambs" (Jonathan Demme, 1991) is improvised. You can see on Stephen's face, played by Matthew Broderick, that he's barely holding back laughter.
• All the participants of "The Ben Stiller Show" (1991-1992) appeared on screen at least once.
• During the fight with the character played by Owen Wilson, the Cable Guy throws him against the wall saying, "It's going to hurt, Gene." This refers to Gene Okerlund, a wrestling ring announcer.
• In one episode, Stephen says he feels "like Felix Unger." This refers to the character from Neil Simon's play "The Odd Couple." Matthew Broderick would later play this character in the 2005 Broadway production.
• Chip's scream when he scores a basket is a reference to Russell Mulcahy's fantasy action film "Highlander" (1986). When Stephen is fired from his job, he goes down to the garage where all the parked cars start honking and flashing their headlights – also as in "Highlander."
• At the beginning of the film, a 1971 movie called "Play Misty for Me" is shown on television, in which a character played by Clint Eastwood is pursued by a mentally unstable woman. This concept is also repeated in the plot of "The Cable Guy".
• To discuss the script, Ben Stiller and Judd Apatow traveled to South Carolina, where Jim Carrey was filming "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" (Steve Oedekerk, 1995). During a conversation in a bar, Carrey came up with the idea of recreating the glass and chest scene from Alan Parker’s drama "Midnight Express" (1978).
• Leslie Mann, who played Robin, auditioned with Judd Apatow, who read the lines of the character later played by Jim Carrey. A year after the release of "The Cable Guy," Apatow and Mann got married.
• At the entertainment center, knights reenact a scene from "Amok Time," the first episode of the second season of "Star Trek," which originally aired on NBC on September 15, 1967.
• Throughout the film, the Cable Guy introduces himself using different names – Chip and Ernie Douglas, Larry Tate, Ricky Ricardo. All of these are characters from television series. Chip and Ernie Douglas are characters from the sitcom "My Three Sons" (1960-1972), Larry Tate is a character from "Bewitched" (1964-1972), and Ricky Ricardo appeared in the sitcom "I Love Lucy" (1951-1957). His real name is never revealed to the audience. Even in the credits, Jim Carrey’s character is simply listed as "The Cable Guy."
• Jim Carrey's character parodies a scene from Jonathan Demme's film 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1990), for which he is arrested by a police officer played by Charles Napier. Napier played a police officer in 'The Silence of the Lambs' who is killed by Dr. Lecter in the very scene parodied in 'The Cable Guy'.