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Tommy Davidson

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Coming to America The Rewatchables
Coming to America

Half-Assed Internet Research

Wendy's location for McDowell's; Murphy and Landis pay; Landis-Murphy feud; Twilight Zone accident; Armond White review; Buchwald lawsuit; CBS pilot; Zamunda origin; Return of the Jedi homage

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:57Read transcript
  • McDowell's was a Wendy's on Queens Boulevard that was about to close. — Bill Simmons
  • Murphy got $8 million plus 15% of film rentals, with weekly spending on a motorhome, trainer, valet and living allowance; Landis got $600,000 and 10% of gross. — Bill Simmons
  • Landis and Murphy feuded: Landis called the Coming to America-era star arrogant with an entourage, yet wonderful in the movie; Eddie's response was that Landis treated him like a kid and that he hired Landis when his career hung by a thread. — Bill Simmons
  • Murphy's appraisal of Landis's career is judged correct; a shot swooping into the dancing scene prompted a lookup of who directed it. — Bill Simmons
  • The Twilight Zone accident: a helicopter crash killed Vic Morrow and child actors, Landis was blamed and tried, and it reshaped rules for child actors. — Bill Simmons
  • Landis later directed Beverly Hills Cop 3, and Murphy crushed him in a 1999 Playboy interview. — Bill Simmons
  • Armond White called the movie a betrayal full of ethnic self-loathing; Murphy responded with a paid advertisement in the paper. — Bill Simmons
  • Armond White went down with the ship when Eddie was in the toilet; he meant that review, but he also liked Pluto Nash and killed Moonlight. — Wesley Morris
  • Agreeing, the reply adds that White then found value in the worst Eddie Murphy movies, perhaps after the ad, and is a real crapshoot. — Wesley Morris
  • Art Buchwald's 1982 treatment about a rich visitor to America was optioned by Paramount with Landis and Murphy attached, abandoned in 1985, then remade; Buchwald won the breach-of-contract case and was paid off on appeal with undisclosed terms. — Bill Simmons
  • A round-number guess for the Buchwald payout is about $5 million. — Bill Simmons
  • A CBS sitcom pilot with Tommy Davidson as the prince was not picked up. — Bill Simmons
  • Zamunda came from a Richard Pryor routine. — Bill Simmons
  • The king's line "I shall deal with him myself" is identified as a Return of the Jedi homage. — Van Lathan
Friday The Rewatchables
Friday

Casting What-Ifs

DJ Pooh was the original Smokey until New Line balked; Tommy Davidson and Chris Rock were considered for Smokey; Tommy Davidson was also to play Ezal; Angela Means's agents wanted her to pass on Felicia

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:21Read transcript
  • The script was written with DJ Poo (as transcribed) as Smokey, but New Line would not sign off because he was not a big enough star, which one host calls a smart move; Chris Tucker, not yet established but on the rise, auditioned for Cube and the rest is history.
  • Pooh as Smokey would not have worked, but he killed it as Red, a lovely part, especially the way he jangles back to the car after asking about his beach cruiser.
  • Tommy Davidson and Chris Rock were also considered for Smokey; Rock is rejected as too New York, more famous than Tucker in 1995 but not computing in the role, and his doing Tucker's physical comedy would look like overacting, Tucker reading as a younger, more exuberant spirit where Rock can be hardened.
  • Tommy Davidson was also supposed to play the crackhead Ezal; Angela Means, who plays Felicia, has said her agents wanted her to pass because she was so pretty and should have played the pretty girl, which one host finds fair.
  • A hypothetical recast: Viola Davis as Mrs. Jones, the comedic but strict mother Anna Maria Horsford plays; Davis rarely gets comedic, motherly roles and is pushed into intense crying parts, so the hosts wonder what the role would have looked like with her in 1995 or in a reboot, though whether she was old enough twenty years ago is questioned.
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