10 Reasons Caddyshack is a Classic Comedy4

By Dan Berry, Apr 05, 2011 in Pop Culture

10 Reasons Caddyshack is a Classic Comedy

More than 30 years after its initial release, Caddyshack (1980) — the story of an exclusive golf course that has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive dancing gopher — is still regarded as one of the funniest comedies ever. Although Hollywood often prefers sports like football or baseball to represent America’s need to compete, every once in a while we get some gems from the lesser acknowledged sport of golf. Where would we be without golf comedies like Tin Cup, Caddyshack and most recently, In the Rough?

Mostly remembered for its many funny scenes, as opposed to the actual plot itself, Caddyshack is filled with an ensemble of great moments and a legendary ensemble cast with no true main character. As a result, the question must be raised as to whether those great moments and characters are enough to constitute a great comedic film? Well, the answer is a resounding YES, and here are ten reasons why Caddyshack is a classic comedy.

In The Rough – Green Fees

1. Rodney Dangerfield

Even with a cast that included such legendary funnymen as Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle Murray and Ted Knight, it can’t be denied that the star who stole the show was the immortal Rodney Dangerfield. Already famous for his stand-up comedy and numerous appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Caddyshack was Rodney’s second acting gig (his first was 7 years earlier in The Projectionist). But it didn’t matter how skilled he was as a thespian. All Rodney had to do was, well, be Rodney. And it worked. That herky-jerky twitch, uncanny timing and bottomless bag of outrageous one-liners left audiences in stitches, helped make the movie a classic, and secured the legendary Rodney a solid career in film.

2. Harold Ramis

Harold Ramis is one of the greatest comedic minds in the history of Hollywood. Having just found success writing the comedy classic National Lampoon’s Animal House (along with Doug Kenney and Chris Miller) and Meatballs (which starred frequent collaborator Bill Murray), Ramis was given the chance to direct his first feature film, Caddyshack (based on the screenplay he wrote with Brian Doyle-Murray). Harold’s hilarious words and work behind the camera are one of the primary reasons Caddyshack is a comedy classic, as are many of the films he went on to write and/or direct, including Stripes, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters II, Back to School, Groundhog Day and Analyze This, among numerous others.

3. “Cannonball it!”

You would think Chevy Chase and Bill Murray were friends considering they were both Saturday Night Live alums (Murray was added to the cast to replace Chase after he left the show following the first season), but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. When Chevy returned to host SNL, the two actually came to blows backstage. Still, this feud did not prevent the two from teaming up for one of the funniest scenes in movie history – Ty Webb (Chase) hits an errant ball into Carl Spackler’s (Murray) dilapidated living quarters and is forced to play through. Chase’s condescending remarks are a riot and Murray’s description of the “Carl Spackler’s Bench” grass that he invented is so ridiculous you might pee yourself.

4. Ty Webb Mentoring Danny Noonan

“You take drugs, Danny?”

“Good. Then what’s your problem?”

Zen master Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) teaching protégé Danny Noonan the art of life and getting what you want on the golf course is a classic scene that truly exemplifies why Chase is the master of wittiness. It also has a lot of great things to say about life in general, too.

“Don’t be obsessed with your desires Danny. The Zen philosopher Basha once wrote, ‘A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish.’ He was a funny guy.”

5. Bill Murray’s Improv Skills

Probably the most quoted bit of dialogue in a movie crammed full of constantly referenced lines was actually not even in the script. Rather, director Harold Ramis simply let the cameras roll and trusted that Bill Murray would come up with something to say. And boy did he ever. Unlike co-star Chevy Chase, who was not trained in improv, Murray was a master: “This crowd has gone deadly silent. A Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. Former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac… It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!”

READ: The 11 Most Awesome Bill Murray Moments in GHOSTBUSTERS

6. The Gopher

“Not golfers, you great fool. Gophers!”

It danced, romanced and, like any good gopher, made a mess of the golf course. But this wasn’t just any gopher (did I mentioned that it danced and romanced?). It’s the funniest gopher of all time. And so what if it looked about as real as Joan Rivers’ face—that only added to the comedic effect. Watching Carl Spackler go mad in his outrageous pursuit of the furry little varmint is verifiably absurd and leads to a truly “explosive” finale to the film. “

“I smell varmint poontang, and the only good varmint poontang is dead varmint poontang, I think.”

7. Brian Doyle-Murray

Not only did Brian Doyle Murray write the story and screenplay for Caddyshack (with Harold Ramis and Doug Kenney), but he also played the uproarious Lou Loomis, the no-nonsense caddymaster in the film. Furthermore, and possibly more importantly, Brian is the reason his little brother, Bill Murray, became an actor instead of a drug-trafficking doctor. That’s right. In 1970, Bill Murray dropped out of Regis University, where he was a pre-med major, after being arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for trying to smuggle nearly 9 pounds of marijuana. His older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, was already doing live improv at Chicago’s The Second City, and worried that Bill needed direction, invited him to audition. Bill did, and nailed it. And the rest is comedy history.

8. Judge Smails Losing his Sh*t

Judge Smails (Ted Knight) going crazy in his own house when he finds out his chosen protégé has slept with his niece in his own bedroom is comedy gold. It is also a prime example of why Ted Knight makes the movie. While Rodney Dangerfield steals the show, it is Ted Knight who is truly the heart of this film. Playing the only real villain, Knight performs a brilliant comedic role, playing the ultra uptight Judge with a control problem. Take Ted Knight out of this film and you don’t have an antagonist or the classic that this film is.

9. Carl Spackler and the Dali Lama

Carl Spackler recounting when he was once the caddy for the Dali-Lama is so insane it’s classically absurd. A very funny piece of writing that had to be re-shot because the original actor who was supposed to perform this scene apparently wasn’t very good. So, director Harold Ramis re-shot it, this time using Bill Murray, and he performed the hell out of it:

“So, we finish the eighteenth and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, ‘Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.’ And he says, ‘Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.’ So, I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.”

10. Caddyshack’s Humor is Timeless

Caddyshack is a comedy classic and remains a fan favorite with good reason. Let’s face it, most comedies are never as funny as they were the first time you saw them, and in most cases they aren’t particularly funny to begin with. They often grow stale and the jokes tend to turn into predictable ruses that often are not as funny as they were the first time around. But every now and then, a film comes along with staying power and stands the test of time. Caddyshack is somewhat of an anomaly. It is as funny now as it was back in 1980.

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Watch more episodes golf comedy IN THE ROUGH

Dan Berry began writing and performing stand-up comedy while drinking heavily and skipping class at New York University. An inexplicably instant success, he has since appeared in clubs and on college campuses nationwide, and is frequently featured on radio and television. Aside from creating the humor site “Jotter of a Rotter” and the internationally acclaimed website “The Prison Kite,” Dan has also lent his warped writing skills to a pair of failed pilots for FX and NBC, as well as to several current network shows that are somehow proving successful in spite of his crazed contributions.