RUTLES, THE: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television "mockumentary" satirizes the career of the Beatles in the guise of "the Rutles," a fictitious British pop group. Eric Idle portrays the spoof's beleagured narrator. With the aid of bogus archival footage, Beatlesque pop tunes, and interviews with Rolling Stones' serpentine frontman Mick Jagger and diminutive singer/songwriter Paul Simon, the program traces the progress of the moderately-talented "pre-Fab Four" -- Dirk, Nasty, Stig, and Barry -- from their Liverpool roots to pop superstardom to their eventual break-up. Highlights include the following: the group is discovered by manager "Leggy" Mountbatten, a retail chemist from Bolton; their early, lean days in Hamburg; Jagger recalls his first meeting with the Rutles; the Rutles land an unlikely record contract and soon play a Royal Command Performance before the Queen; footage of the group performing on the "Ed Sullivan Show" as they attract tremendous popularity in America; the narrator travels to blues capital Louisiana to find the roots of the rhythm-based "Rutland sound"; their entrŽe into the cinematic world with "A Hard Day's Rut"; their 1965 performance at "ChŽ" Stadium; their experimentation with tea, which fostered the psychedlic sound of their "Sgt. Rutter's" album; their mystical influences; the group's ill-conceived Rutle Corps company; their unusual marriages, which hastened the group's break-up; and their post-Rutles lives. Musical selections include "Get Up and Go," "Piggy in the Middle," "Cheese and Onions," and "Let's Be Natural."
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: March 22, 1978 Wednesday 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:06:48
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T85:0291
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Rock music - Parody
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1978
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Lorne Michaels … Executive Producer
- Craig Kellem … Producer
- Gary Weis … Producer, Director
- Eric Idle … Director, Writer
- Neil Innes … Music by, Lyrics
- Eric Idle … Cast, Dirk McQuickly / Narrator / S.J. Krammerhead
- John Halsey … Cast, Barry Wom
- Rikki Fataar … Cast, Stig O'Hara
- Neil Innes … Cast, Ron Nasty
- Michael Palin … Cast, Eric Manchester
- George Harrison … Cast, the Interviewer
- Bianca Jagger … Cast, Martini
- John Belushi … Cast, Ron Decline
- Gilda Radner … Cast, Mrs. Emily Pules
- Dan Aykroyd … Cast, Brian Thigh
- Bill Murray … Cast, Bill Murray "the K"
- Gwen Taylor … Cast, Mrs. Iris Mountbatten and Chastity
- Ron Wood … Cast, a Hells Angel
- Terence Bayler … Cast, Leggy Mountbatten
- Henry Woolf … Cast, Arthur Sultan
- Mick Jagger … Cast, himself
- Paul Simon … Cast, himself
- Al Franken … Cast, Henchman #1
- Tom Davis … Cast, Henchman #2
- Jeanette Charles … Cast, a Queen of England
- Carinthia West … Cast
- Lorne Michaels … Cast
- Frank Williams … Cast
- Barry Cryer … Cast
- Robert Putt … Cast
- Jerome Green … Cast
- Bob Gibson … Cast
- Pat Perkins … Cast
- Bunny May … Cast
- Eunice … Cast
- Penelope Tree … Cast
- Tania Kosevich … Cast
- Vivienne Cohen … Cast
- Ollie Halsall … Cast
- Ray Tranter … Cast
- Debbie Waterson … Cast