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Sprockets (television)
Encyclopedia
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
with Canadian actor Dana Andersen
Dana Andersen
Dana Andersen is an Edmonton-based actor, improvisor, filmmaker, writer and director. He is an alumnus of The Second City, and has worked closely with Mike Myers, Ryan Stiles, and Joe Flaherty, among others. He currently serves as director of the live improvised soap opera Die-Nasty, and has been a...
for Second City Theatre
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
. Myers later ported the character to television for the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
sketch comedy show It's Only Rock & Roll
It's Only Rock & Roll (TV series)
It's Only Rock & Roll was a Canadian television variety show, which aired on CBC Television as a summer series in 1987. Produced by Joe Bodolai and directed by Allan Novak, Henry Sarwer-Foner and Joan Tosoni, the series mixed rock music-themed comedy sketches with live performances by real...
and the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
.
Myers played "Dieter", a character based on a waiter Myers encountered in Toronto, a bored, disaffected West German expressionist and minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
who would interview celebrities in whom he was demonstrably barely interested, and then invariably sought to bring the discussion around to his "limited" monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
, Klaus, seated on a platform atop a miniature column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
.
The sketch made fun of German art culture in the 1980s. Appearing asexual or effeminate, and rotating his shoulders (he occasionally described becoming so excited that his genitals were sucked up into his body cavity), Myers' costume in the character of Dieter consisted of tight black leotard
Leotard
A leotard is a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard ....
s, black turtleneck sweater, round, wire-rimmed glasses, and slicked-back hair. The skit itself featured, most notably, a section entitled Germany's Most Disturbing Home Videos, which showcased scenes of old men's heads spinning around, dying cats, ants, and other disturbing sights.
The theme song for the sketch is Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
's 1986 song "Electric Café
Electric Café
Electric Café is the ninth studio album by the electronic group Kraftwerk, originally released in 1986. In October 2009 it was re-released under its original working title, Techno Pop.-Background:...
", sped up by playing the 33⅓ rpm
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
album at 45 rpm
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, then looped.
Memorable phrases from the sketch that are well known by fans were "touch my monkey!" and "liebe mein affe-monkey!" ("love my monkey!"), a recurring reference to Dieter’s pet monkey, Klaus (to touch him was a privilege, Dieter would tell his guests), "your story has become tiresome" whenever Dieter became bored with a guest (as he invariably would), "I'm as happy as a little girl", and "now is ze time on Sprockets vhen ve dance!", which was always uttered frantically at the end of the show, followed by some techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
-dancing on the set.
Some later sketches featured Dieter outside of his talk show environment starring in parodies of game shows, TV dance parties, and art films.
List of SNL episodes featuring Dieter
All appearances were in the form of "Sprockets" shows, except where indicated.
- April 15, 1989 host: Dolly PartonDolly PartonDolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
(featuring Ben StillerBen StillerBenjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
as Butch PatrickButch PatrickButch Patrick is a former American child actor. He is widely known for his role on the TV show The Munsters where he played Eddie Munster, the son of Herman and Lily Munster...
) - May 20, 1989 host: Steve MartinSteve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
- September 30, 1989 host: Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
(featuring Dana CarveyDana CarveyDana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
as James StewartJames Stewart (actor)James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
) - November 18, 1989 host: Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
- December 16, 1989 (in "Dieter In Space") host: Andie MacDowellAndie MacDowellRosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
- March 17, 1990 (in "Dieter's Dance Party") host: Rob LoweRob LoweRobert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
- September 29, 1990 (in "Germany's Most Disturbing Home Videos") (featuring Kyle MacLachlanKyle MacLachlanKyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor. MacLachlan is best known for his roles in cult films Blue Velvet as Jeffrey Beaumont, Showgirls as Zack Carey, as Paul Atreides in Dune, and Ray Manzarek in the Oliver Stone film The Doors...
as Karl-Heinz Schelker, the wacky neighbor in Munich TV's hit sit-com Who are you to accuse me?) - December 15, 1990 host: Dennis QuaidDennis QuaidDennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
- April 13, 1991 host: Catherine O'HaraCatherine O'HaraCatherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
- February 15, 1992 (in "Love Werks") host: Jason PriestleyJason PriestleyJason Bradford Priestley is a Canadian-American actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role which catapulted him to recognition in the early 1990s....
- May 16, 1992 host: Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
(featuring Harrelson as filmmaker Gregor Voss) - March 20, 1993 (in "Dieter's Dream") host: Miranda RichardsonMiranda RichardsonMiranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
- November 20, 1993 (in "Das Ist Jeopardy!") host: Nicole KidmanNicole KidmanNicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
- March 22, 1997 (in "The Insane Academy Awards") host: Mike MyersMike Myers (actor)Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
Proposed film adaptation
The sketch was to be the basis for a film to be released in 2000, featuring Myers, David HasselhoffDavid Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
, and Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
, but abandoned on May 30, 1999 after Mike Myers became dissatisfied with his own script. Less than a week after Myers informed Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
of his decision, Universal sued Myers for their $3.8 million in pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
costs.
External links
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1437/is_/ai_n5939848 (1999-08)
- http://articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/01/business/fi-17370 (1999-10-01)
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2000/jun/16/news.stevenspielberg (2000-06-16)
- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195070,00.html (2006-05-11)