The project initially involved Scorsese, DiCaprio and Monahan; Scorsese departed, Todd Phillips briefly followed, and Wyatt and Wahlberg eventually took over. — Bill Simmons
Cooper is named first and seconded; another says it has to be Todd Phillips because he made 70 million dollars, which cannot be understated; Galifianakis became a star after this, but looking at what happened since, the case is made for Cooper.
A dissent says the others are wrong and Galifianakis clearly wins: the funniest character, going from a random dude in comedy circles to an A list comedy star right away, and still the funniest thing in it ten years later, though he never seemed to want that.
Asked whether the people who made it are embarrassed by it now, the hosts think Galifianakis is, being super douchey about it despite making two more, since the money was irrefutable for a guy on his North Carolina farm; Craig, asked who won, says Galifianakis, recalling the Facebook pages for every Galifianakis quote in high school, like 'it's a satchel, not a purse'.
Justin Bartha and Ed Helms doing The Office at the same time are offered first and answered 'two for two'; Cooper is a no; Galifianakis is weighed against Due Date.
One host votes Galifianakis and is once again confused by the category; Todd Phillips is a hundred percent yes, six years removed from Old School with School for Scoundrels a miss in between and everything after this a big deal, especially when you make 70 million on one movie; Galifianakis probably too, at the peak of success and creative cachet.
Rob Riggle is a yes, having had a CBS sitcom; the Dan Band is not, since Wedding Crashers is preferred and this repeats it; Ken Jeong is a yes, or Community, and one host does not care about him.
Whether Vegas itself hit Apex Mountain in 2009, more than Sinatra at the Sands, splits the room one to one: one host says no but wants the conversation and would take Casino over this, noting Vegas makes more money than ever; this was right after the housing crisis started but before it demolished casino projects, and another says yes because Vegas is like pop music, ever replenishing for young people, though it was in trouble five years ago; Vegas is therefore not listed as a yes.
Inspired by producer Trip Vinson's real missing bachelor party; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, a pulled dental implant; Helms shot The Office by day and the film by night; a prosthetic was used for the end-credits blowjob photo; the script sold for two million and was rewritten by Phillips and Jeremy Gerlach (as transcribed), who added Tyson, the tiger, the baby and the police cruiser; Caesars guests still quote the check-in lines; Galifianakis improvised the Holocaust ring line; Todd Phillips traded his fee for 16 percent of the film and made about 80 million
The story was inspired by a real event: Trip Vinson, a producer and friend of executive producer Chris Bender, went missing from his own bachelor party and woke up in a strip joint being threatened with a huge bill; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, not CGI, because he had a dental implant for a missing adult incisor since his teens and they pulled it out.
Helms was shooting The Office at the same time, flying from Vegas to Van Nuys at four in the morning to shoot all day and the film all night; he said that stretch of The Office shows him out of his mind, slurring with a fake tooth in and living on Red Bulls.
Asked whether they like Ed Helms, one host respectfully does not, except in this movie, disliking the type of guy he plays; he is nonetheless one of the most successful comedy actors of his generation, with Vacation, the Night at the Museum movies, We're the Millers, Tag and animated films, the CJ McCollum of actors nobody leads a podcast with.
For the explicit final photo of Zach getting a blowjob, a prosthetic penis was used and an old porn actor was found to perform on it, prompting 'what a great podcast'.
John Lucas (as transcribed) and Scott Moore sold the script for two million; it was rewritten by Jeremy Gerlach (as transcribed) and Todd Phillips, who added the Tyson, the tiger, the baby and the police cruiser, which led to a WGA credit dispute; the two songs were improvised.
The film had a major impact on Caesars, where guests still quote 'Did Caesar live here?' and the pager-friendly line at check-in; the hosts advise against it since the staff have heard it; Galifianakis improvised 'I didn't know they gave out rings of the Holocaust' (as transcribed) and the filmmakers debated whether to keep it.
Todd Phillips' deal is called almost too good for the segment: his fee was about six and a half million, Legendary wanted to cut the budget after losing the stars they expected, and instead of half his fee he took no fee for points, ending up with 16 percent of the movie and about 80 million dollars, probably still earning from streaming; the four then negotiated as a quartet for the next two.
Lindsay Lohan nearly cast as Jade but judged too young by Phillips; Jack Black turned down Alan; Paul Rudd turned down Phil; Jeremy Piven turned down Stu; Mike Tyson refused until he learned Phillips made Old School; Alan was written as a Jonah Hill-type younger brother and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was considered
Lindsay Lohan was almost cast as Jade; Phillips decided she was too young and is adamant about it, while Lohan's version is that she turned it down and it was the biggest regret of her career.
Lohan in the movie would have felt very 2009 and not a good version of her; Heather Graham is perfect, and being a little older makes the part work better.
One host is not as much of a believer in the theory that Lohan was a great Goldie Hawn-esque movie star whose talent was frittered away. — Sean Fennessey
The reaction is 'Oh, how dare you?' and 'This is your worst take you've ever had', with Parent Trap offered as proof: she plays two people, one with an English accent, like a 17-year-old Meryl Streep in training; Freaky Friday is weaker.
The Heather Graham conversation runs License to Drive, Twins, Drugstore Cowboy, Six Degrees of Separation and Swingers, by which point one host was in love, then Austin Powers; she may have been his number one 90s crush, Ed Burns dated her, and Boogie Nights, Even Cowgirls Got the Blues, Diggstown, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Scream 2, Two Girls and a Guy and Bowfinger show she was always in good stuff and good at sending up her persona; another gets her confused with Terry Polo.
Her ABC show Emily's Reasons Why Not never worked; Grey's Anatomy is raised as a show she might have led, but she is a comic actress who thrives in comedy; she is good here and way better than Lohan would have been, her 35 making more sense than weird 25-year-old energy.
Jack Black turned down Alan, thank God, since he would have overpowered the other three; Paul Rudd turned down Phil and would have been doing Brian Fantana and Sex Panther while making fun of it, whereas you believe Cooper as a shit bag even greeting his wife at the wedding; Rudd has not played a guy like that outside Neil LeBute (as transcribed) plays.
Jeremy Piven turned down Stu, thank God, probably because he was at the height of Ari Gold; Stu is the third lead.
Mike Tyson refused to appear and changed his mind on learning Phillips directed Old School; the Galifianakis character was written as a younger brother-in-law of the Jonah Hill type until Phillips realized an older brother was funnier, and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was the other option, a different movie.
The soundtrack: generic, predictable songs that are perfectly executed and make sense with the plot, not a Dazed and Confused soundtrack but what guys going to Vegas then would be listening to; the music under the blackjack scene with the numbers is smart, and the T.I. song Live Your Life was huge and still is.
A tangent on which songs from this century have joined the wedding mix: Heya (as transcribed) by Outkast, probably the T.I. song, Bruno Mars, Adele, and 1901 by Phoenix heard at 18 weddings, pitched as a Ringer piece.
Todd Phillips' taste for hard rock, the Danzig song at the start and the Metallica in Old School; the Dan Band has also aged well, with future generations asking why they never played the Super Bowl halftime show, and the 'just the tip' setup turning inappropriate fast.
Rachel Harris as the girlfriend from hell is an incredible character, every stereotype put on steroids to make her the worst character of all time; the 'you fucked a waiter on a cruise' bit and Galifianakis's 'what did she say' after Helms walks away are singled out.
The elevator scene with Todd Phillips' cameo; his habit of going down on a woman in his own movies is his version of Hitchcock walking across the frame.
Alan reading the letter on the roof with 'that's why they call it Sin City'; the subtle cut where he is finishing a description of the Ted Danson and Magnum PI movie as they head to Heather Graham's hotel; and the 'it's not illegal, it's frowned upon, like masturbating on an airplane' exchange ending in 'thanks a lot, Bin Laden', the hardest one host laughed.
'Alan, you're the man' answered with 'you are too, Phil' shows he has no idea how to be one of the guys; his aping of Phil throughout is well done; the two made-up songs are enjoyed, and Ed Helms' piano song while they wait for the tiger to fall asleep was apparently ad-libbed.
Old-school, last-decade Vegas; every Alan line, especially 'this isn't the real Caesar's Palace, is it? Did Caesar live here?', and the pitch-perfect reaction of the woman at the desk.
How high Alan ranks in the pantheon of comedy characters: the criterion is someone who was not the star but stole the movie, so Frank the Tank, John Candy in Stripes, Bill Murray and Ted Knight in Caddyshack, Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters, Matt Dillon and Chris Elliott in There's Something About Mary, Michael Keaton in Night Shift, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd in Anchorman, McLovin, the Wedding Crashers character as the backfire case and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids as the perfect example.
Galifianakis belongs in that conversation as the breakout; John Candy in Stripes was like that for a host who knew him only as Ox and never watched SCTV; Galifianakis is named the big winner.
The movie stood up in total for a host without as much of a rewatchable relationship to it; the actual plot of what happened to them is well done, with Jade, Mr. Chow and the roof payoff; the brevity, about an hour thirty-five with no wasted section, makes it the last comedy before the two-hour-ten Apatow era.
The DVD's deleted scenes were anticipated; the end credit sequence has held up as a convention, 'they pretty much invented Marvel right there', though another host had it for what aged worst.
First nominee is the drive to Vegas, a fantastic five and a half minutes from the gas station stop through Galifianakis in the car to checking in at the hotel; Phil starts drinking as soon as he gets in the car, like the two guys at every bachelor party who get wrecked on the way there, and the others realize in the car that Galifianakis has 17 screws loose.
Waking up in the hotel room not knowing what happened is phenomenal: a nice camera move that follows a disoriented Ed Helms looking around, Galifianakis naked pissing next to a tiger he does not register for ten seconds, a chicken from nowhere, everybody sleeping on the floor and the woman sneaking out; a smart scene that sets up everything.
Brunch with Carlos the baby: Cooper's 'not at the table, Carlos' and the bit where he pretends to jerk off the baby hits one host's funny bone every time, so inappropriate it would never happen now; the hosts like that the baby is named Carlos and seeing him in the Bjorn.
From the Hollywood Reporter oral history: Galifianakis did the bit first with a doll while the shot was set up, Todd Phillips waited for the baby's mom to go upstairs and asked the dad, who answered that his wife would be gone for half an hour and asked them to do it in that window; it belongs in the conversation of all-time inappropriate throwaway laughs alongside Stripes and Caddyshack.
Further nominees: the stun gun scene, Tyson reviewing the security footage, getting the tiger out of the car with Bradley Cooper pretending to hump it from behind while calling it a beautiful majestic animal, the blackjack scene with the calculus floating in front of Galifianakis's face, and the wedding reception with the Dan Band and Ed Helms breaking up with his girlfriend, about ten minutes one host had forgotten the movie still had.
One host goes for the entire police precinct sequence, not just the stun gun but the payphone call, the kid taking a cell phone picture and the phone kicked out of his hands; it is called the funniest thing Rob Riggle has ever done, with 'in the face' recited.
Brian Callen's wedding chapel scene is added as an amendment to how he was treated on the Old School episode: the same character and Greek accent, greeting them as the craziest bastard he ever met, the first clue in putting the puzzle back together, plus the baby goat while he is on the phone pretending to be in Napa; the hosts think he never found the right role and that the Greek grifter should have his own series.
One vote goes to brunch with Carlos the baby together with the Bjorn elevator ride to the brunch, the speaker's favorite part of the movie.
About four weeks ago the speaker and his son were flipping channels when the movie came on during the drive, not as a planned viewing; the son did not see the closing credits, was dying laughing at everything Zach Galifianakis did, and also liked Ken Jeong's character. — Bill Simmons
Todd Phillips for one host: he is bigger than Apatow by box office though nobody thinks of him that way, his next film is a Joker movie, and he will probably be Oscar-nominated this year as a producer of A Star Is Born with partner Bradley Cooper; Cooper's Toronto premiere speech crediting Phillips's note of belief made Cooper Ali (as transcribed) and Phillips Jackson.
The Ringer ran a Mike Powell profile of Phillips at launch in summer 2016 with Cooper and others quoted going to bat for him; his real skill, learned from Ivan Reitman, is choosing people at the right time, as with Ferrell and writing for Vaughn; the vote is Todd Phillips.
Another host goes Vince Vaughn for variety, calling him incredible with every line quotable.
Tic-tac-toe, three different answers; sorry Luke Wilson; a joke about whether a note saying nobody believes in you like I believe in you should have been given in 2012 to the host then running the Triangle at Grantland.
A 2006 sequel script, Old School Dos (transcribed 'Dose'), by Scott Armstrong was turned down by Ferrell and Vaughn; Luke Wilson said in 2016 he would do it; Todd Phillips plays the man at the door; Ferrell streaked for real near a 24-hour gym and shot it in two parts; Patrick Cranshaw (transcribed 'Crenshaw') acted for fifty years, played the sheriff in the Air Bud films and died about four years later; the frat house is a real Pasadena house on Bushnell Avenue used in Back to the Future, Back to the Future 2 and Teen Wolf
In 2006 Scott Armstrong wrote a sequel, Old School Dose (as transcribed), about the aging fraternity going to spring break, turned down by Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn; Ferrell's 2008 explanation was that it had funny set pieces but felt like repeating the fraternity setting; one host would still have seen it, another does not need it after The Hangover 2 and 3.
Of the era's comedies, Old School 2 is the sequel one host would most want; great comedy sequels are rare, Austin Powers aside, Caddyshack 2 was a tragedy, Wayne's World 2 is defended as genius after it came up with McKay, Anchorman 2 will have a life once off Epix, and both Anchorman films have hours of alternate footage.
Luke Wilson was ready in 2016, saying he would do it at the drop of a hat; Todd Phillips plays the man in the curly wig who knocks on Luke Wilson's door for the gangbang, a role he reprises in most of his films including The Hangover.
Will Ferrell ran naked for real, horrifying locals at a 24-hour gym; the streak was filmed in two parts, the second in front of everyone during the Snoop Dogg performance, and he needed to get a little drunk first.
Patrick Crenshaw (as transcribed), who played Blue, had acted in films for fifty years before this role made him famous, played the sheriff in all the Air Bud films, and died about four years after the film.
The fraternity house is a real residential house in Pasadena on Bushnell Avenue, obviously LA, used in three Michael J. Fox films; the hosts guess Doc Hollywood and The Secret of My Success before landing on Back to the Future, Back to the Future 2 and Teen Wolf, and joke about Redfinning it as more attainable than the Boogie Nights house, though it may be a two-block stretch rather than one house.
There is nothing to report: little information exists, the part was written for Vaughn, and despite the oral-history boom there is no Old School oral history because there was no drama, just everyone in the right place at the right time; a sequel script was written but Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell did not want to do it, and it would have been a spring-break film.
Earlier: Scott Armstrong and Todd Phillips, the writing partners, wrote the part of Bernard (as transcribed) with Vince Vaughn in mind, a comeback for him seven years after Swingers.
Luke Wilson disrobing when frisked at the airport, about a year and a half after 9-11, was the first time anyone had fun with TSA, set to Ryan Adams's To Be Young, called one of the best songs of all time; Ellen Pompeo, about to become one of the most bankable TV stars of forty years, is a baby here with an under-written part; Perry Reeves looks the same as in Entourage and Kicking and Screaming and should have had a bigger career.
Earmuffs will probably win the category; the Dan Band swearing through the wedding song is great, especially the cut to Vince Vaughn with his hand up and the freeze-frame reactions of Will Ferrell and Perry Reeves when the first 'fucking' drops.
The Dan Band are in The Hangover and other Todd Phillips films, were LA legends who played bigger bars and Jimmy's show, a host's wife went to five or six shows, and Dan the leader co-wrote a song in the Netflix film Dumplin'.
Snoop Dogg is caught at a great moment with Cocaine and Warren G as DJ and Don Magic Wand (as transcribed) at his side, reportedly doing the music to get into Starsky and Hutch; a four-minute performance in the film is odd, and Melissa McCarthy's Life of the Party lifts the structure with a Christina Aguilera performance.
Craig Kilborn is fun to see, maybe the first person to appear in both aged best and aged worst: a memorable shitheel character in two scenes and the credits, yet he reads lines the way he read The Daily Show and cannot act next to professionals, which is presumably why he has not kept acting; as stunt casting it worked.
The closing credits have aged the best for one host: Kilborn crashes while smoking, goes over a bridge and kills a fly-fishing Jeremy Piven, two and a half minutes of credits story; Porky's and Cannonball Run bloopers are recalled, and The Hangover's Polaroid credits are called the best ever.
The soundtrack is a murderers' row of weird music: Papered Up, Paid in Full, Dust in the Wind, Hungry Like the Wolf, Gonna Make You Sweat, The Sound of Silence, Total Clips of the Heart (as transcribed), Lady, Metallica, and Here I Go Again played about four times.
This and Tenenbaums are called the alpha and omega of Luke Wilson, a good everyman for a while; the fuller Luke Wilson conversation is saved for unanswerable questions.
The film launched Will Ferrell, who has made one host laugh more than anyone since 2000; earmuffs is settled on as what aged best because people still say it as ordinary conversation rather than a movie line, like Kleenex.
A late addition: You're My Boy Blue, along with earmuffs, is in the lexicon and deserved a shout-out, as does the running bit of repeatedly calling some random guy Spanish; the clip of Blue is played.
