Don Rickles

# Don Rickles

## Abstract

Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Enter Laughing (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Casino (1995). From 1976 to 1978, Rickles had a two-season starring role in the NBC television sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey, having previously starred in two eponymous half-hour programs, an ABC variety show titled The Don Rickles Show (1968) and a CBS sitcom identically titled The Don Rickles Show (1972).

A veteran headline performer at Las Vegas hotel-casinos and peripheral member of the Rat Pack via friendship with Frank Sinatra, Rickles received widespread exposure as a frequent guest on talk and variety shows, including The Dean Martin Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Late Show with David Letterman, and voiced Mr. Potato Head in the first three films of the Toy Story franchise (1995–2010). He won a Primetime Emmy Award for the 2006 documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project. In 2014, he was honored by fellow comedians at the Apollo Theater, which was taped and released on Spike TV, entitled Don Rickles: One Night Only.

## Career

### Early life

Rickles was born in Queens, New York City, United States, on May 8, 1926. He was Jewish. His father, Max Rickles (1896–1952), emigrated in 1903 with his Lithuanian parents from Kaunas. His mother, Etta Rickles (née Feldman; 1898–1984), was born in New York City to Austrian immigrant parents. Rickles grew up in Jackson Heights.

After graduating from Newtown High School in 1944, Rickles enlisted in the United States Navy and served during World War II on the motor torpedo boat tender USS Cyrene as a seaman first class. He was honorably discharged in 1946. Two years later, intending to be a dramatic actor, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and then played bit parts on television. Frustrated by a lack of acting work, Rickles began performing comedy in clubs in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. He became known as an insult comedian when he responded to his hecklers. The audience enjoyed these insults more than his prepared material, so he incorporated them into his act.

When Rickles started his career in the early 1950s, he started to call ill-mannered members of the audience " hockey pucks ". His style was similar to that of an older insult comic Jack E. Leonard, though Rickles denied Leonard influenced his style. During an interview on Larry King Live, Rickles credited Milton Berle 's comedy style for inspiring him to enter show business.

### 1930–1969

While working in the "Murray Franklin's" nightclub in Miami Beach, Florida, early during his career, Rickles spotted Frank Sinatra and remarked to him, "I just saw your movie The Pride and the Passion and I want to tell you, the cannon's acting was great." He added, "Make yourself at home, Frank. Hit somebody!" Sinatra, whose pet name for Rickles was "bullet-head", enjoyed him so much that he encouraged other celebrities to see Rickles's act and be insulted by him. Sinatra's support helped Rickles become a popular headline performer in Las Vegas. During a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast special, Rickles was among those who took part in roasting Sinatra, and Rickles himself was also roasted during another show in the series.

Rickles earned the nicknames "The Merchant of Venom" and "Mr. Warmth" for his poking fun at people of all ethnicities and all walks of life. When he was introduced to an audience or on a television talk show, Spanish matador music, "La Virgen de la Macarena", would usually be played, subtly foreshadowing someone was about to be metaphorically gored. As Rickles observed, "I always pictured myself facing the audience as the matador."

In 1958, Rickles made his film debut in a serious part in Run Silent, Run Deep with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Throughout the 1960s, he often appeared on television in sitcoms and dramatic series. Rickles guest-starred in Get Smart as Sid, an old war buddy of Max's, who comes to stay with him. In an episode of Run for Your Life, Rickles portrayed a distressed comedian whose act culminates in him strangling a patron while imploring the patron to "Laugh!" Rickles took a dramatic turn in the low-budget Roger Corman science-fiction/horror film X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes as a carnival barker out to exploit the title character (portrayed by Ray Milland).

Rickles appeared in the Beach Party film series. He recalled in his 2007 memoir that at a White House dinner, Barbara Bush teased him about his decision to appear in those films. Rickles's agent Jack Gilardi was married to Annette Funicello when Rickles was cast in the Beach Party films. He subsequently began to appear more frequently on television talk shows, first appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1965.

Rickles became a frequent guest and guest host, appearing more than 100 times on The Tonight Show during Carson's era. An early Carson–Rickles Tonight highlight occurred in 1968 when, while two Japanese women treated Carson to a bath and foot massage, Rickles walked onto the set. Rickles also made frequent appearances on The Dean Martin Show and became a fixture on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast specials.

In 1968, Rickles released a live comedy album titled Hello, Dummy!, which reached number 54 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The same year, he starred in his own variety show on ABC, The Don Rickles Show, with comedy writer Pat McCormick as his sidekick; the show lasted only 17 episodes and was replaced by a prime time version of the game Let's Make a Deal. During the 1960s, Rickles made guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Munsters, The Addams Family, The Mothers-in-Law, Gilligan's Island, Get Smart, The Twilight Zone episode " Mr. Dingle, the Strong ", The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., and I Dream of Jeannie.

### 1970–1999

In 1970, Rickles had a notable role as Crapgame in Kelly's Heroes, sharing the marquee poster with co-stars Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, and Carroll O'Connor. In 1972, he starred in The Don Rickles Show (his second series with that title), which lasted for 13 episodes. He also starred in a series of television specials. In his memoirs, Rickles acknowledged a scripted sitcom was not well-suited to his ad lib style of performing, as he had earlier said that he never writes down his jokes.

Starting in 1973, he became a popular dais comedian appearing on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast specials. In 1976–1978, he starred in C.P.O. Sharkey, which lasted two seasons. The series is remembered for the cigarette box incident when Johnny Carson made an impromptu visit during a Tonight Show taping to the adjacent TV studio during an episode's taping, feigning "incensed" ire that Rickles, an ex-smoker, broke Johnny Carson's wooden box, from 1967, on the previous night, while a guest on The Tonight Show, on which Bob Newhart was the guest host. The incident was often replayed in Tonight Show retrospectives and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the series. Rickles retorted that he would replace the box with an X-ray of Johnny Carson's lungs.

Rickles occasionally appeared as a panelist on Hollywood Squares and was depicted in comic-book form by Jack Kirby during his work on the Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen series (part of Jack Kirby's Fourth World).

In the early 1980s, Rickles began to perform with Steve Lawrence in concerts in Las Vegas. In 1983, the duo co-hosted Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders, an imitation of TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes. In 1982, he was in "Death of a Lodger", an episode of Archie Bunker's Place. In 1985, when Frank Sinatra was asked to organize and perform at Ronald Reagan 's second presidential inaugural celebration, he insisted Rickles be allowed to perform and do it unrehearsed. Rickles considered this performance the highpoint of his career.

In 1990, he appeared in the second-season episode of Tales from the Crypt titled "The Ventriloquist's Dummy". In 1992, he was cast in Innocent Blood, directed by John Landis. In his memoir, Rickles wrote that he recalled Landis was a "production assistant" to Brian G. Hutton during the filming of Kelly's Heroes. During the filming of Innocent Blood, Rickles would kid Landis by ordering him to get coffee or to run other errands befitting his one-time " gofer " status.

In 1993, Rickles starred in another short-lived sitcom titled Daddy Dearest, with Richard Lewis. In 1995, he played Billy Sherbert in the Universal Pictures film Casino and voiced Mr. Potato Head in the Disney and Pixar film Toy Story. He reprised his role as Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 2 (1999). Rickles starred as George Wilson in 1998's Dennis the Menace Strikes Again; that same year, he portrayed a film theater manager in Dirty Work and voiced Cornwall, one of the heads of a two-headed dragon, in Quest for Camelot. In 1999, he would briefly appear in a fictionalized form in The Simpsons episode " Viva Ned Flanders ", being caught in a poorly-planned demolition of the Monty Burns Casino and being flung into the air, as he was still inside the building as it was demolished, and while he would be hit by Homer's car when he fell back down, he would ultimately survive.

### 2000–2017

Rickles made a cameo appearance as himself in a recurring dream sequence in " Sub Conscious ", an episode of The Unit, which aired in February 2007.

On May 8, 2006, on his 80th birthday, Simon & Schuster released his memoir entitled Rickles' Book. Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, a documentary about Rickles directed by John Landis, made its debut on HBO on December 2, 2007. Rickles won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, besting a number of notable comics, including David Letterman, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. Rickles remarked, "Stephen Colbert's a funny man, but he's too young. He has got plenty of time to win awards, but this may be my last year and I think that I made it count. On second thought, it was probably just a mercy award for an old man." In 2009, Rickles appeared on Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and met Griffin's mother Maggie to fulfill one item on Maggie's "bucket list". In 2010, he appeared in a commercial during Super Bowl XLIV as a talking rose, and appeared on the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS TV on June 27, 2010.

He reprised his role as Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 3 (2010). In 2011, Rickles reunited with his Casino (1995) co-star Joe Pesci in a Snickers advertisement highlighting actors known for their "short fuses". Rickles also portrayed the late husband of Elka (Betty White) on Hot in Cleveland — a "surprise" because his character was believed dead.

On May 28, 2014, Rickles was honored by Spike TV 's "One Night Only: An All-Star Comedy Tribute to Don Rickles". Recorded live at New York City's Apollo Theater, Jerry Seinfeld was the master of ceremonies for the two-hour special, with live monologs by Johnny Depp, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Tracy Morgan, Brian Williams, Regis Philbin, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey. Recorded segments included bits from Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Jimmy Kimmel, and Eddie Murphy.

"The camaraderie and the comedy made the show a cross between a traditional roast and a dignified lifetime achievement award, spanning emotions ranging from admiration and gratitude to, well, degradation. And as the evening reached its climax, when Rickles got his say after all that had said about him and his nearly 60-year-long career, fittingly, he had the last laugh." – TV Week

He was still a frequent guest on late night talk shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson among others, during the later months of his life. On May 11, 2015, Rickles appeared as a guest on one of the final episodes of The Late Show with David Letterman. He also made a cameo appearance in Grandfathered.

In an interview in 2014, he dismissed thoughts of retiring, stating:

"I'm in good health. I'm working better than I ever have. The audiences are great. Why should I retire? I'm like a fighter. The bell rings and you come out and fight. My energy comes alive. And I still enjoy it."

Up until his death on April 6, 2017, despite being impeded by multiple surgeries following a bout with necrotizing fasciitis in 2013, he continued touring across the United States.

He was reportedly slated to reprise his role as Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 4 (2019), but he died without recording any of his lines of dialogue. With permission from his wife Barbara Rickles, Josh Cooley used unused archival audio from the previous three Toy Story films to honor him and dedicate to his memory.

### Personal life

On March 14, 1965, Rickles married Barbara Sklar of Philadelphia. He admitted to having a difficult time romantically in his 20s and 30s, meeting Sklar through his agent when he was 38 years old and falling for her when she failed to get his sense of humor. They had two children: Mindy, an actress, and Larry, a producer who died of pneumonia at the age of 41. According to Rickles's memoir, his grandchildren Ethan and Harrison Mann were much more impressed by his role as Mr. Potato Head than by any of his other achievements. Barbara died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma on March 14, 2021, exactly 56 years after the couple married. Rickles was an only child. Rickles befriended mobster "Crazy" Joe Gallo following a performance at the Copacabana in 1972. Gallo, whom Rickles had ribbed mercilessly during his set, despite being warned not to do so, accepted Rickles's ribbings in good humor and invited him to Umberto's Clam House after the show. Rickles declined the offer. That night, a gunfight erupted at Umberto's, killing Gallo. Rickles performed at the inaugurations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush with his friend Frank Sinatra, although Rickles himself was a "lifelong" Democrat. He considered Bob Newhart his best friend, and the two often vacationed together along with their wives, who were also close. Rickles and Newhart appeared together on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 24, 2005, the Monday following Johnny Carson 's death, reminiscing about their many guest appearances on Carson's show. The two also appeared together on the television sitcom Newhart and for previous episodes of The Tonight Show, where Newhart or Rickles were guest hosts. The friendship was memorialized in Bob & Don: A Love Story, a 2023 short documentary film by Judd Apatow featuring interviews with and home movies of both families..

### Death

On April 6, 2017, Rickles died of kidney failure at his home in Century City, California, 32 days before his 91st birthday. He was buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.

### Tributes

In 2014, a number of stars helped celebrate Rickles's 88th birthday with a televised special titled One Night Only: An All Star Tribute to Don Rickles. Those giving tributes following his death included David Letterman, Kathy Griffin, Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Nathan Lane, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Tracy Morgan, Johnny Depp, Brian Williams, and Regis Philbin. Also participating in taped appearances were Bob Newhart, Eddie Murphy, Jimmy Kimmel, and Bill Cosby. Seinfeld described him as a part of the "Mount Rushmore of Stand-up Comedy" with George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Cosby.

Upon hearing of Rickles's death, a number of television hosts paid tribute to his comedic talents, with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and David Letterman among them. Barbra Streisand, Billy Crystal, Mel Brooks, Toy Story (1995) filmmaker John Lasseter, Ron Howard, Chris Rock, Patton Oswalt, Jim Carrey, Ricky Gervais and even his Toy Story (1995) co-stars Tom Hanks (the voice of Woody), Tim Allen (the voice of Buzz Lightyear) and Whoopi Goldberg (the voice of Stretch in Toy Story 3) paid their respects on Twitter.

Bob Newhart said in a statement: "He was called 'The Merchant of Venom', but in truth, he was one of the kindest, caring, and most sensitive human beings we have ever known. We are devastated, and our world will never be the same. We were totally unprepared for this."

Martin Scorsese, who directed him in Casino in 1995, stated: "Don Rickles was a giant, a legend... and I can hear his voice now, skewering me for being so lofty. I had the honor of working with him on my picture Casino. He was a professional. He kept me doubled over with laughter every day on the set – yet he was a complete pro. We became friends over the years, and I had the honor of being roasted by him more than once – sometimes when I didn't expect it. He just started showing up at places and insulting me. Experiencing Don, and tuning into his mind, I witnessed the evolution of his comedy. It was like listening to a great jazz musician wail. Nobody else did what he did. He made comedy into an art form. And like all geniuses, comic or otherwise, he's irreplaceable. He was much loved. I'm really missing this man."

At the 90th Academy Awards, The Academy honored Rickles in its annual in Memoriam segment. The film Toy Story 4 was dedicated to his memory, as well as that of animator Adam Burke; while he would die before recording any dialogue, with the permission of Rickles's family he would still reprise his role as Mr. Potato Head posthumously with the use of unused archival footage.

### Discography

- Hello Dummy! (1968)

- Don Rickles Speaks! (1969)


# Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference

## Abstract

The Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference or MCHC is an ACHA Division 3 league made up of smaller colleges, universities, and community colleges in the Northeast United States. The league was originally formed in 1967-68 as the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Hockey League (MIHL). After a league name change to the BSMIHL (Bi-State Metropolitan Intercollegiate Hockey League) for the 1975-76 season, the league changed its name to its current moniker at the start of the 1976-77 season.

## Format

Teams play a 12-game league schedule with the top four teams advancing to the MCHC playoffs at the end of the regular season held during President's Day weekend in February.

## Conference Champions

- 2024 - Sacred Heart University

- 2023 - Sacred Heart University

- 2022 - Columbia University

- 2021 - Season Canceled Due to COVID-19

- 2020 - US Merchant Marine Academy

- 2019 - Fordham University

- 2018 - Fordham University

- 2017 - Ramapo College

- 2016 - Yale University

- 2015 - Stevens Institute of Technology

- 2014 - Fordham University

- 2013 - State University of New York Maritime College

- 2012 - County College of Morris

- 2011 - Wagner College

- 2010 - Fordham University

- 2009 - University of Albany

- 2008 - Farmingdale State College

- 2007 - University of Albany

- 2006 - Fordham University

- 2005 - University of Albany

- 2004 - Wagner College

- 2003 - County College of Morris

- 2002 - Wagner College

- 2001 - Wagner College

- 2000 - Stony Brook University

- 1999 - Wagner College

- 1998 - Wagner College

- 1997 - Wagner College

- 1996 - Marist College

- 1995 - Rutgers University

- 1994 - Rutgers University

- 1993 - Siena College

- 1992 - Marist College

- 1991 - Southern Connecticut State University

- 1990 - Rutgers University

- 1989 - Rutgers University / County College of Morris

- 1988 - Rutgers University

- 1987 - County College of Morris

- 1986 - Montclair State University

- 1985 - Manhattan College

- 1984 - Manhattan College / Southern Connecticut State University / Wagner College

- 1983 - Wagner College

- 1982 - Upsala College

- 1981 - Upsala College

- 1980 - Queens College

- 1979 - Queens College

- 1978 - Upsala College / Wagner College

- 1977 - Fairleigh Dickinson University / Iona College

- 1976 - Ramapo College / Rockland Community College

- 1975 - Fairfield University / Ramapo College

- 1974 - Fairfield University

- 1973 - Fairfield University

- 1972 - Nassau Community College

- 1971 - St. Francis College

- 1970 - St. Francis College

- 1969 - St. Francis College

- 1968 - Iona College


Wayde Butler

# Wayde Butler

## Abstract

Wayde Butler (born December 25, 1969) is a former American football wide receiver who played one season with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He was also a member of the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). Butler played in the East-West Shrine Game in 1993.

## Professional career

Butler was signed by the NFL's San Diego Chargers on May 4, 1993 after going undrafted in the 1993 NFL draft. He was released by the Chargers on August 30, 1993. He signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL in October 1993. Butler played in three games for the Eskimos during the 1993 season. He spent the 1994 off-season with the San Diego Chargers. He was released by the Chargers on August 22, 1994.


Bnei Herzliya Basket

# Bnei Herzliya Basket

## Abstract

Bnei Herzliya Basket (Hebrew: בני הרצליה, lit. Sons of Herzliya), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in the Sharon district in Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It has won the Israeli State Cup twice, most recently in 2022. The team was founded in 1985, and the team's colors are blue and white.

## History

The club was originally founded in 1985, under the name Hapoel Herzliya. In 2002, the club merged with Maccabi Ra'anana in a neighboring town, and was re-named Bnei HaSharon. The merger was entered into because of Maccabi Ra'anana's financial problems and Bnei HaSharon's relegation from the top-level Israeli Basketball Premier League, following the 2001–02 season.

At the end of 2010–11 season, the merger ended, and the team started playing only for the Israeli city of Herzliya. In 2012, the club was re-named Bnei Herzliya. In 2022, the club won the Israeli State Cup for the second time, beating Hapoel Tel Aviv 87:82 in the final.

## Titles and honors

### Domestic competitions

- Israeli State Cup

- National League (2nd)

## Players

## Notable players

- Paul Thompson 3 seasons: '92–'95

- Earl Williams 1 season: '93–'94

- John Hudson 3 seasons: '93–'96

- Steve Malovic 1 season: '95–'96

- David Thirdkill 1 season: '95–'96

- Lior Arditi 3 seasons: '95–'98

- Amir Muchtari 3 seasons: '95–'98

- Terence Stansbury 1 season: '96–'97

- Todd Mitchell 1 season: '96–'97

- Darnell Robinson 1 season: '97–'98

- Tal Burstein 3 seasons: '97–'00

- Terrence Rencher 3 seasons: '97–'99, '05–'06

- Augenijus Vaškys 1 season: '98–'99

- Petar Arsić 1 season: '98–'99

- Mark Dean 1 season: '98–'99

- Yaniv Green 3 seasons: '98–'00, '01–'02

- Norris Coleman 1 season: '99

- Greg Sutton 1 season: '99–'00

- Ufuk Sarıca 1 season: '01

- Tyson Wheeler 1 season: '01–'02

- Bryan Bracey 1 season: '01–'02

- Kenny Williams 1 season: '01–'02

- Andrew Kennedy 1 season: '01–'02

- Jarod Stevenson 3 seasons: '01, '02–'04

- Guy Pnini 4 seasons: '02–'06

- Meir Tapiro 3 seasons: '03–'04, '07–'09

- Alvin Young 1 season: '04–'05

- Nitzan Hanochi 5 seasons: '05–'08, '18–present

- Ugonna Onyekwe 3 seasons: '05–'06, '08–'10

- Ousmane Cisse 4 seasons: '05–'09

- Cookie Belcher 5 seasons: '05–'10

- Lee Nailon 2 seasons: '06–'07, '10–'11

- Jason Williams 3 seasons: '06–'08, '11–'12

- Erez Katz 6 seasons: '06–'12

- Shawn James 3 season: '08–'11

- Ira Newble 1 season: '09

- Isaac Rosefelt 4 seasons: '09–'13

- P. J. Tucker 1 season: '10

- Maceo Baston 1 season: '10–'11

- Dan Grunfeld 2 seasons: '10–'11, '13–'14

- Bryant Dunston 1 season: '11

- Ekpe Udoh 1 season: '11

- Tweety Carter 1 season: '11–'12

- Derrick Caracter 1 season: '12–'13

- Jumaine Jones 1 season: '12–'13

- Romel Beck 1 season: '12–'13

- Michael Umeh 1 season: '13–'14

- Oz Blayzer 2 seasons: '13–'15

- Josh Selby 1 season: '14–'15

- Julian Wright 1 season: '15

- Drew Crawford 1 season: '15–'16

- Karam Mashour 3 seasons: '15–'17, '18–'19

- Tom Maayan 3 seasons: '15–'18

- Taurean Green 2 seasons: '16–'18

- Jeff Adrien 3 seasons: '16–'19

- Orr Leumi 4 seasons: '16–20

- D'or Fischer


Wendy O. Williams

# Wendy O. Williams

## Abstract

Wendy Orlean Williams (May 28, 1949 – April 6, 1998) was an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the punk rock band Plasmatics. She was noted for her onstage theatrics, which included partial nudity, exploding equipment, firing a shotgun, and chainsawing guitars. Performing her own stunts in videos, she often sported a mohawk hairstyle. In 1985, during the height of her popularity as a solo artist, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Leaving home at 16, Williams hitchhiked to Colorado, earning money by crocheting string bikinis. She traveled to Florida and Europe landing various jobs such as lifeguard, stripper, macrobiotic cook, and server at Dunkin' Donuts. After arriving in New York City in 1976, she began performing in live sex shows, and in 1979 appeared in the pornographic film Candy Goes to Hollywood. That year manager Rod Swenson recruited her to the Plasmatics, and the two became romantically involved. The band quickly became known on the local underground scene, performing at clubs such as CBGB.

Three albums with Plasmatics later, Williams embarked on a solo career and released her debut album, WOW, in 1984. Albums Kommander of Kaos (1986) and Deffest! and Baddest! (1988) followed, before her retirement from the music industry. Williams made her non-adult film screen debut in Tom DeSimone 's film Reform School Girls (1986), for which she recorded the title song. She also appeared in the 1989 comedy Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog, television series The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, and MacGyver. On April 6, 1998, Williams fatally shot herself near her home in Storrs-Mansfield, Connecticut. She had attempted suicide twice in the years leading up to her death; allegedly she had also been struggling with deep depression.

## Life and career

### 1949–1976: Early life

Williams was born to Robert F. Williams, a chemist at Eastman Kodak, and Audrey Stauber Williams (1921–2008) on May 28, 1949, in Webster, New York. She studied clarinet at the Community Music School program of the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, and later was a clarinetist in her high school's concert band. At the age of six, she appeared tap-dancing on the Howdy Doody show as a member of the "Peanut Gallery".

She had her first run-in with the law at the age of 15, when she was arrested for sunbathing nude. Williams attended R. L. Thomas High School in Webster at least partway through the 10th grade, but left school before graduating. Her schoolmates and teachers recalled Williams as a "shy and pretty girl, an average student who played in the junior high band, paid attention to her hair and clothes, and who spoke so softly... you had to lean toward her to hear her."

At the age of 16, Williams left her home and hitchhiked to Colorado where she earned money by selling crocheted string bikinis. Afterward, she headed for Florida, working as a lifeguard, and then to Europe, where she worked as a macrobiotic cook in London and as a dancer with a traveling dance troupe. Around that time, she was arrested on multiple occasions for shoplifting and passing counterfeit money.

In 1976, Williams arrived in New York City, where she saw an ad in the Show Business magazine that lay open on the floor of the Port Authority Bus Terminal station. It was a casting call for radical artist and Yale University graduate Rod Swenson's experimental "Captain Kink's Theatre". She replied to the ad and began performing in live sex shows. She later appeared in Gail Palmer 's adult film Candy Goes to Hollywood (1979), credited as Wendy Williams. She was featured as a performer on a parody of The Gong Show shooting ping pong balls across the set from her crotch.

### 1977–1983: Plasmatics

By 1977, Swenson had become Williams's manager and recruited her to join his newly formed punk rock band, Plasmatics. They made their debut in July 1978 at the Manhattan music club CBGB. The Plasmatics toured the world, although a concert in London was cancelled by the promoters due to safety reasons, causing the press to dub the band " anarchists ". During the shooting of an appearance on SCTV in 1981, studio heads decided they would not air Williams's performance unless she changed out of a costume that revealed her nipples. Williams refused. The show's make-up artists found a compromise and painted her breasts black.

In January 1981, police in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, arrested Williams for simulating masturbation on stage and charged her with battery to an officer and obscene conduct. She was cleared of all charges. Later that year in Cleveland, Ohio, Williams was acquitted of an obscenity charge for simulating sex on stage wearing only shaving cream; she subsequently covered her nipples with electrical tape to avoid arrest. In November, an Illinois judge sentenced her to one year's supervision and fined her $35 for attacking a freelance photographer who tried to take her picture as she jogged along the Chicago lakefront.

### 1984–1986: Solo career, WOW and Kommander of Kaos

Williams recorded a duet of the country hit " Stand by Your Man " with Lemmy of Motörhead in 1982. In 1984, she released the W.O.W. album, produced by Gene Simmons of Kiss. Kiss members Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Eric Carr, also perform on the album. Gene Simmons brought in Michael Ray to play lead guitar; Ray was previously auditioning on Creatures of the Night studio solos. Simmons himself played bass but is credited as Reginald Van Helsing. In 1985 Williams starred in The Rocky Horror Show at the Westport Playhouse in St. Louis. The show played for over six months, but a nationwide tour fell through.

In 1986, she starred in Tom DeSimone 's indie-film Reform School Girls. Neither she nor manager Rod Swenson liked the film when it came out, but at this point the producers had heard Kommander of Kaos (her second solo album) and wanted to include three tracks from the album in the movie score. They approached Swenson about producing the title track for the film and having Williams sing it. The band reluctantly agreed to do it. Uncle Brian from the Broc joined Swenson as co-producer and also played sax. He also appeared in the video that the film company had asked Swenson to produce and direct, playing the sax and wearing a tutu.

### 1987–1990: Reunion with Plasmatics and Deffest! and Baddest!

In 1987, Williams starred as the part-time friend/enemy in the underground spy world to the title character on Fox 's The New Adventures of Beans Baxter. The Plasmatics' last tour was in late 1988. Williams appeared in Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog, directed by Paul S. Parco, in 1990.

In 1988, Williams put out another solo album, this time a "thrash rap" album called Deffest! and Baddest! under the name "Ultrafly and the Hometown Girls."

Williams' last known performance of a Plasmatics song occurred due to the prompting of Joey Ramone. She performed "Masterplan" one final time with Richie Stotts, when Stotts' band opened for the Ramones on New Year's Eve, 1988.

### 1991–1998: Retirement and final years

In 1991, Williams moved to Storrs-Mansfield, Connecticut, where she lived with her long-time companion and former manager, Rod Swenson, and worked as an animal rehabilitator and at a food cooperative in nearby Willimantic. She explained her move by saying that she "was pretty fed up dealing with people."

## Personal life

Her teachers and other sources described Wendy Williams as a shy and soft-spoken child who was an average student, and who learned to play the clarinet very well in the junior high band—-although she herself at numerous times stated that she felt like an outcast and was misunderstood by her strict parents, whom she referred to as "cocktail zombies". Swenson recalled in an interview how Wendy told him there were attempts to have her institutionalised after she became a rebellious teenager. She was said to have "experimented with drugs and furious sex" in her teenage years (though years later as an adult woman in 1979 into the early 1980s she would go on to become a " teetotaler ", in the words of her partner).

While making the transition into early adulthood, after running away from her family at the age of 16 and leaving the U.S. to explore the world for several years, for a time Williams became interested in Far Eastern spirituality, religions, and gurus as well as experimenting with mind-altering substances like LSD and mescaline. She continued to try different jobs and lifestyles in order to discover somewhere where she felt she belonged, until eventually finding the show-business magazine ad for Rod Swenson's Sex Fantasy Theater in 1976—he would go on to form and manage their band, the Plasmatics; the two remained lifelong romantic partners until her suicide in 1998. Williams was strictly against sexism in the rock scene. Throughout her musical career, many of her songs featured anti-consumerist and anti-establishment messages. Swenson claims that Williams and he agreed together that they "didn't want to do things that sold, they wanted to do things that were interesting, new territory".

A vegetarian from 1966 until her death, Williams believed in leading a healthy lifestyle and aiming for self-improvement. She was once featured on the cover of the Vegetarian Times. In her later years, she gave up smoking (which she felt very strongly about and would not allow anyone to smoke in her changing rooms) as well as eventually stopping drinking entirely and never using any other drugs; she also became strongly opposed to the high sugar content in easily available processed foods. Swenson recalls that: "Wendy was a consummate professional, always working on her craft, working on the show. She would work out hours every day, she would run six miles a day. She was a total vegetarian, totally into health food. When we were on the road, she always made sure the band was well fed. No processed meats, no white bread". She was known for refusing to wear makeup products manufactured by companies that used animals for laboratory experimentation and she was completely against needless poaching. After leaving the music scene, Swenson and Williams moved to Storrs-Mansfield, Connecticut, in 1991 to live in the geodesic dome house that they built for each other. Williams worked at a food co-op and became a wildlife rehabilitator to help animals, which she loved since her childhood as she was known for taking in and helping wounded wild animals as a child.

Williams once described herself as a "marginal nymphomaniac and terminal exhibitionist ". Several sources state that she was struggling with deep depression for many years before her death, as the two suicide attempts prior to her death also indicate. Although some have retroactively referred to her as straight edge, and her lifestyle supports this as she never used drugs and stopped drinking/smoking at a certain point in her life, there is no known evidence to suggest that Williams identified as such. When Williams was promoting Kommander of Kaos during a televised interview with Joan Rivers, Rivers said Williams' favorite movie is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – which could either be a true statement or a simple reference to the Plasmatics' onstage stunts at their concerts, that regularly involved acts of destruction and chainsawing through guitars. In several interviews, Williams spoke about her passion for tattoos. On her brief appearance in the adult film Candy Goes to Hollywood, Williams was quoted as saying: "It was just like working in a donut shop, except you didn't wear a paper hat".

## Death

Williams first attempted suicide in 1993 by hammering a knife into her chest where it lodged in her sternum. However, she changed her mind and called Rod Swenson to take her to the hospital. She attempted suicide again in 1997 with an overdose of ephedrine.

Williams died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 6, 1998, when she was 48. Swenson, her partner for more than 20 years, returned to their home in the area where they had lived since moving to Connecticut from New York City. He found a package she left for him that contained some noodles he liked, a packet of seeds for growing garden greens, some Oriental massage balm, and sealed letters from her.

The suicide letters, which included a "living will" denying life support, a love letter to Swenson and various lists of things to do, caused Swenson to begin searching the woods for her. After about an hour, as dusk fell, he found her body in a wooded area with a pistol lying on the ground nearby. She had apparently been feeding wild squirrels moments before her suicide, as well as putting a bag over her head before shooting herself to spare her partner the horrible sight. "Wendy's act was not an irrational in-the-moment act," he said; for four years she had contemplated suicide. Swenson reportedly described her as "despondent" at the time of her death. This is what she reportedly wrote in a suicide note regarding her decision:

I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time. I do believe strongly, however, that the right to do so is one of the most fundamental rights that anyone in a free society should have. For me, much of the world makes no sense, but my feelings about what I am doing ring loud and clear to an inner ear and a place where there is no self, only calm.

Joey Ramone and many others issued statements at the time of her death. On Motörhead 's 1999 live album Everything Louder Than Everyone Else, before the song " No Class ", Motörhead vocalist Lemmy said that he wanted to dedicate the song to her.

A memorial was held at CBGB on May 18. Several of Williams' former Plasmatics co-members (Chosei Funahara, Richie Stotts, Wes Beech, Stu Deutsch, Jean Beauvoir and TC Tolliver) played a six-song set with four of them handling the vocals.

## Discography

- New Hope for the Wretched (1980)

- Beyond the Valley of 1984 (1981)

- Metal Priestess (1981)

- Coup d'etat (1982)

- Maggots: The Record (1987)

- Coup de Grace (2002)

- WOW (1984)

- Fuck 'N Roll (1985)

- Kommander of Kaos (1986)

- Maggots: The Record (1987)

- Deffest! and Baddest! (1988)

## Filmography

- Candy Goes to Hollywood (1979)

- SCTV – Fishin' Musician Sketch (John Candy) (1981)

- Hell Camp of the Gland Robbers (1985)

- Reform School Girls (1986)

- The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987)

- Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog (1990)

- MacGyver (1990)

## Trivia

- In 1981, People magazine put Williams on their best dressed style list.

- Wendy O. Williams was promoted in the number 72 July issue of Kerrang! magazine in 1984 while also being the first woman to be featured on its front cover.

- She also appeared on the cover of Vegetarian Times issue 83, in July 1984.

- Williams was featured in a Playboy pictorial in 1986, skydiving naked, where she was described as the "leather-clad queen of heavy metal".

- She participated in the U68 public service announcement series on safe sex and venereal diseases in 1985, where she coined the now somewhat iconic sentence: "If it's not clean enough to put in your mouth, don't take it home and sleep with it".

- Various sources have referred to Wendy O. Williams as the "Queen of Shock Rock", "High Priestess of Metal", "Queen of Heavy Metal", " Evel Knievelette ", "Dominatrix of the Decibels", etc.

- Williams was the namesake of Wendy O. Koopa, a recurring antagonist in the Super Mario series of video games.


Scary Movie

# Scary Movie

## Abstract

Scary Movie is a 2000 American comedy parody slasher film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Jon Abrahams, Carmen Electra, Shannon Elizabeth, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, Regina Hall, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, and Dave Sheridan, it follows a group of teenagers who accidentally hit a man with their car, dump his body in a lake, and swear to secrecy. A year later, someone wearing a Ghostface mask and robe begins hunting them one by one.

The film is a parody of multiple genres including the horror, slasher, and mystery film genres. Several 1990s films and TV shows are also spoofed, and the script primarily follows the plot of the slasher films Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Some films and TV shows like Halloween, The Shining, Friday the 13th, The Usual Suspects, The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, The Matrix and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were also parodied in some scenes.

Dimension Films released Scary Movie in the United States on July 7, 2000. The film grossed $278 million worldwide on a $19 million budget. It was the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year domestically in the United States. The film is the first installment in the Scary Movie film series, as well as being the highest-grossing film in the series. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with the film's humor dividing critics. It later spawned four sequels, starting with 2001's Scary Movie 2.

## Plot

On Halloween night, Drew Decker receives a threatening phone call while home alone. Chased outside by somebody dressed as Ghostface, she is stripped to her bra and panties before being stabbed in the breast, removing one of her silicone implants. Her father, who is distracted by receiving fellatio, accidentally hits her with his vehicle, and she looks at her murderer just before she is fatally stabbed.

Cindy Campbell meets up with her boyfriend Bobby Prinze and her friends, Brenda Meeks, Ray Wilkins, Greg Phillippe, Buffy Gilmore, and Brenda's stoner brother Shorty. News teams, including hack reporter Gail Hailstorm, converge on the school because of Drew's murder. Gail seduces Buffy's intellectually disabled brother, Special Officer Doofy, to elicit information from him.

While in class, Cindy notices the killer watching her from outside before receiving an ominous note and realizes Drew was murdered exactly one year after she and her friends accidentally killed a man. After football practice, Greg finds a photo of his small penis on his locker saying "I KNOW" on it. Believing Ray took it, he nearly fights him.

Cindy tells her friends about the note, attempting to convince them to tell the police, but Greg beats her instead, fearing imprisonment for the murder of the previous year. At Buffy's beauty pageant that evening, the killer murders Greg in plain view, while the audience mistakes her pleas for help as part of her dramatic reading. Buffy eventually wins the pageant and forgets Greg.

The killer attacks Cindy while home alone but retreats when she contacts the police. Bobby arrives and is arrested after a cellphone, knife, and gloves fall out of his pocket. As Cindy spends the night at Buffy and Doofy's, she receives a call from the killer.

The following day, Bobby is released from jail. Buffy is beheaded by the killer with a cleaver. That night, Gail and her cameraman Kenny go to a makeout spot to get a murder on camera. After they film the killer murdering teenager Heather, he chases them into the woods and murders Kenny. Gail later gives a snot-filled apology to Kenny's family, a parody of a scene from The Blair Witch Project.

Later that night, Ray and Brenda go to the movies to see Shakespeare in Love, where he is stabbed through his ear in a bathroom stall through a glory hole. The killer chases Brenda, but angry movie patrons, weary of her talking during the film and her obnoxious behavior, stab her to death to silence her, as revenge for spoiling several films.

Meanwhile, Cindy has a house party, hoping for safety in numbers. One of her friends, Tina, is killed while getting beer from the garage. During the party, Cindy and Bobby go upstairs and have sex. The killer gets stoned with Shorty and his friends in the basement, but kills all but Shorty. After the pair has sex, the killer stabs Bobby and disappears. Cindy gets a gun from a drawer and Bobby follows. Shorty comes up from the basement warning about the killer, but Bobby shoots him. Ray arrives on the scene, still alive.

Bobby and Ray confront Cindy in the kitchen, announcing they will only kill her and her father, and that they are merely copying the real killer. Bobby admits to being gay, while Ray denies it. The plan backfires when Ray stabs Bobby repeatedly out of anger because his favorite show, The Wayans Bros., has been canceled after five seasons without getting a final episode. The killer abruptly arrives and stabs him, so Cindy kicks him out a window, employing moves from The Matrix. However, the killer vanishes before the police arrive, to Cindy's dismay.

At the police station, Cindy and the sheriff discover the killer was Doofy and not David Keegan, the man whom Cindy and her friends accidentally killed a year earlier. He was faking his disability and has escaped with Gail Hailstorm after removing his disguise, similarly to the ending of The Usual Suspects. Finding his discarded backpack with his Ghostface mask and knife in the street, Cindy begins screaming but is run over by a car as the sheriff walks away.

## Cast

- Kurt Fuller as Sheriff Burke (from Scream)

- Rick Ducommun as Neil Campbell (from Scream)

- David L. Lander as Principal "Squiggy" Squiggman (from Laverne & Shirley) parodying Principal Himbry (Henry Winkler from Scream)

- Andrea Nemeth as Heather

- Dan Joffre as Cameraman Kenny (from Scream)

- Marissa Jaret Winokur as Tina (from Scream)

- Keenen Ivory Wayans as Slave (from Amistad)

- Jayne Trcka as Miss Mann

- Kelly Coffield Park as Teacher

- Tanja Reichert as Miss Congeniality

- James Van Der Beek as himself (uncredited)

- Anthony McKay as Not Drew's Boyfriend (from Scream)

## Production

The screenplay was developed by Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans with Buddy Johnson and Phil Beauman, writers for the sitcom The Wayans Bros. At the same time, Miramax was developing a spoof of Scream scripted by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Due to a WGA decision, all six writers were credited, despite Friedberg and Seltzer not actually working on the filmed script.

Anna Faris had graduated from the University of Washington and planned to travel to London, but decided instead to go to Los Angeles and after meeting with some managers; she then auditioned for the film and booked her first acting job. Keenen had rejected many other actresses, and was willing to take the chance on Faris despite her lack of experience because of her instinctual performance. He said: "She had this natural innocence and was funny. Jenny McCarthy and Melissa Joan Hart auditioned for the part of Drew Decker, before Carmen Electra was cast.

### Parodies

Much of the humor of Scary Movie relies upon specific references to other contemporary films. Roger Ebert remarked in his review that "to get your money's worth, you need to be familiar with the various teenage horror franchises." The two films on which the script is most heavily based are Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) (both written by Kevin Williamson), using the general narrative arcs of both films, and featuring comedic recreations of key scenes. The backstory in which the teenagers are responsible for accidentally killing a man following a beauty pageant recalls the same plot point in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Major references to Scream include the identity of Ghostface and the murder of Drew Decker in the opening scene, a reference to the opening scene of Scream in which the same thing occurs to the character of Casey Becker, played by Drew Barrymore. Additionally, the characters of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer are mirrored in the film, and the title "Scary Movie" was originally the working title for the project that would eventually become Scream. At one point the title of this film was going to be "Scream If You Still Know What I Did Last Halloween". Although the Ghostface mask and costume was a replica, the original costume in the Scream series was used when Cindy notices the killer outside of the school.

Many scenes and jokes parody or reference other films outside the horror film genre. The fight between Cindy and the killer heavily mimics The Matrix, particularly its use of bullet time. The final scene, in which Doofy stops feigning his disability and drives away with Gail, is a takeoff of the final scene of The Usual Suspects. When asked about her favorite horror movie, Drew answers " Kazaam " due to Shaquille O'Neal 's acting. Cindy becomes aggressive and roars "Say my name!" during sex with Bobby, similar to the sex scene between Michelle and Jim in American Pie. The movie theater scene shows a screening of Shakespeare in Love and a trailer for a fictitious sequel to Amistad titled Amistad II with elements of Titanic also appears in the movie theater scene. When Gail and her cameraman are attacked by the killer, she partakes in a parody of the famous scene in The Blair Witch Project where Heather records an apology to her friends' parents.

The film also makes other pop culture references beyond the scope of film, such as the parodied version of Sarah Michelle Gellar 's character Helen Shivers in I Know What You Did Last Summer being named Buffy, which is a reference to her character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Others include a brief references to Dawson's Creek, Candid Camera, Big Momma's House, Candyman, Friday the 13th and a parody of the Whassup? ad campaign by Budweiser.

The tagline for the movie's poster was "No Shame. No Mercy. No Sequel." When Scary Movie 2 was released a year later, the tagline for the sequel was "We Lied."

- I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997): Main parody

- Scream (1996): Main parody Scream 2 (1997): Brenda's death parodies Maureen Evans' in the opening theater scene, and Cindy's chase scene references CiCi Cooper throwing a bicycle down the stairs, as well as the killer falling over a chair from Sidney Prescott's chase scene. Scream 3 (2000): Post video of Shorty giving advice what to do in a sequel.

- Scream 2 (1997): Brenda's death parodies Maureen Evans' in the opening theater scene, and Cindy's chase scene references CiCi Cooper throwing a bicycle down the stairs, as well as the killer falling over a chair from Sidney Prescott's chase scene.

- Scream 3 (2000): Post video of Shorty giving advice what to do in a sequel.

- The Sixth Sense (1999): Character of Shorty says "I see dead people".

- The Blair Witch Project (1999): Gail Hailstorm references famous "I'm so scared" scene.

- Halloween (1978): The scene in which Cindy spots the killer outside her classroom window is a direct parody to the scene from Halloween, in which Laurie Strode first spots Michael Myers outside her classroom window.

- Friday the 13th (1980): Killer says "ch ch ch ah ah ah", a famous sound effect in the Friday the 13th franchise.

- The Shining (1980): Killer says "Redrum".

- The Matrix (1999): Climax references several fight scenes.

- The Usual Suspects (1995): Ending parodies the twist ending.

- Psycho (1960): Bobby references the Norman Bates line when he says "we all go a little crazy sometimes", imitating Billy Loomis in Scream.

- Candyman (1992): Ray tells Cindy that she "branded the Candyman" after Bobby was released from jail.

## Music

The soundtrack to Scary Movie was released on July 4, 2000, through TVT Records and consists of a blend of hip hop and rock music.

- "Too Cool for School"- 2:27 (Fountains of Wayne)

- "The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope"- 3:53 (Bloodhound Gang)

- "Stay"- 3:56 (Radford)

- "The Only Way to Be"- 3:20 (Save Ferris)

- "My Bad"- 3:22 (Oleander)

- "Punk Song #2"- 2:46 (Silverchair)

- " Everybody Wants You "- 4:11 (Unband)

- "Superfly"- 2:55 (Bender)

- " I Wanna Be Sedated "- 2:31 (The Ramones)

- "Scary Movies"- 3:56 (Bad Meets Evil)

- " All Bout U "- 4:34 (2Pac, Top Dogg, Yaki Kadafi, Hussein Fatal, Nate Dogg & Dru Down)

- "I Want Cha"- 4:37 (Black Eyed Peas)

- "What What"- 5:03 (Public Enemy)

- "Feel Me"- 3:49 (Rah Digga, Rampage & Rock)

- "I'm the Killer"- 3:57 (Lifelong & Incident)

## Release

### Home media

Scary Movie was released on DVD and VHS on December 12, 2000 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment (under the Dimension Home Video banner).

## Reception

### Box office

Scary Movie opened theatrically in the United States and Canada on July 7, 2000, on 1,912 screens, and debuted at number one at the US box office, grossing $42,346,669 during its opening weekend. It went on to break Air Force One ' s record for having the biggest opening weekend for any R-rated film. The film ultimately grossed $157,019,771 in the United States and Canada, surpassing Good Will Hunting as Miramax's highest-grossing film in that market. It grossed $121,000,000 in other markets, for a worldwide gross of $278 million.

### Critical response

Scary Movie received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 117 reviews, with an average score of 5.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Critics say Scary Movie overloads on crudity and grossness to get its laughs." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 48 based on 32 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Joe Leydon of Variety said that the film was "unbounded by taste, inhibition or political correctness" and that "the outer limits of R-rated respectability are stretched, if not shredded". Leydon concluded the film is "practically guaranteed to make you laugh until you're ashamed of yourself". Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying it "delivers the goods", calling the film a "raucous, satirical attack on slasher movies." However, Ebert was critical of the film for not being as innovative as other films, saying it lacked "the shocking impact of Airplane!, which had the advantage of breaking new ground."

Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution felt that the film's crude humor detracted from the film, saying that Scary Movie "dives so deep into tasteless humor that it's a wonder it landed an R rating instead of an NC-17." Other reviewers, such as A.O. Scott of The New York Times, argued that the jokes were "annoying less for their vulgarity than for their tiredness." Scott remarked "Couch-bound pot smokers, prison sex, mannish female gym teachers, those Whassssup Budweiser commercials—hasn't it all been done to death?"

Peter Howell of The Toronto Star wrote that the film "doesn't just push the gross-out envelope, it folds, spindles, mutilates and mails it to your mama." He adds, however, that " Scary Movie has a nasty side to it that negates much of the humour. Many jokes are just plain sexist, racist, homophobic, violent... and not funny. A scene where a woman is knocked to the ground by an angry man who then proceeds to brutally kick her is sickening to watch. The film's frequent use of profanity also seems gratuitous, even by these standards, but that may be beside the point. By the time you realize the four-letter word count is running high, the plot itself has become repetitious and forced."