# Did anyone else miss Paul Schaffer in Spinal Tap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048 "2005-05-30T01:41:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/1 "2005-05-30T01:41:13Z")
The only thing I knew in advance about _This Is Spinal Tap_, which I rented over the w/e, was that Paul Schaffer was in it (along with the fact that Reiner directed it). So I was on the lookout for him the whole movie - not very long, just 85 mins. And I missed him. When what turned out to be his character appeared for his little cameo, I thought “That’s not Paul Simon, is it?” (as it looked a bit like him in _Annie Hall_). So, I left that puzzle unsolved and got back to the film. Credits roll, and he’s been it it, and I’ve missed him. I’m quite pissed off, as it happens. Then, my wife, who’s watched bits and pieces of the film (typical multi-tasker), says to me: “I told you when he was on”. I said “Really?” - I never heard you. She said, “Yes, I did - you weren’t listening as usual”. “Okay”, I said, “I’ll rewind it and you tell me when it’s him”. So I rewound, but too fast (x32), so I tried again at x16. “Stop!” she said. “That’s him.” “But you said that was _Paul Simon_”, I said. "Only at first, then I said ‘That’s him - that’s Paul’.“Right”, I said, still a bit disgruntled. It did sound like him when he does his banter with Dave, but it sure didn’t look like him. Still looked like Paul Simon as far as I was concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/2 "2005-05-30T01:57:53Z")
Not quite sure I’m following you here. Paul Shaffer had one of the bigger non-band parts in the movie. He always introduced himself as “Artie Fufkin…Polymer Records.” He had the lines “I fucked up the timing, I got no timing…” and “Do me a favor…just kick my ass! Okay? Kick this ass for a man!” at the Band’s ill-fated record store appearance. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/3 "2005-05-30T02:45:33Z")
Yes, but I’d only ever come across Paul in Letterman, with the bald pate and the affectatious glasses. It being a 1983 flim, I was expecting him to look different, but he was so different that he floored me. Especially, as his character’s appearance had me focusing at least as much on the Paul Simonesque quality as on what he was actually doing. Though I did get the bit about the “bottom”. As Basil Fawlty put it so well, everything’s bottoms with you Americans. (Thanks for the correct spelling - I thought I might have inserted an errant “c”.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/4 "2005-05-30T04:27:20Z")
> [@Roger Thornhill](#): > > Did anyone else miss Paul Schaffer in Spinal Tap? No I didn’t. Did you miss Fran Drescher and Dana Carvey, too? _the smirk of a true geek_ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/5 "2005-05-30T04:28:28Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > As Basil Fawlty put it so well, everything’s bottoms with you Americans. Hey, don’t look at us. Paul Schaffer’s a Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/6 "2005-05-30T05:01:51Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/7 "2005-05-30T05:36:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Hey, don’t look at us. Paul Schaffer’s a Canadian. Technically still an American. (Although I was actually refering to doper Mucielago.) So complicated, explaining everything… And, yes, I missed Dana Carvey (who I noticed on the closing credits - didn’t bother rewinding for him). But no, not the other bloke/bird, who I’ve never heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/8 "2005-05-30T05:52:05Z")
Let’s not forget Billy Crystal… “C’mon people, mime is money” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/9 "2005-05-30T06:09:34Z")
> [@Club 33](#): > > Let’s not forget Billy Crystal… > > “C’mon people, mime is money” 🙂 But he always looks the same, even covered in make-up and false noses. Plus, he’s in every Reiner film, so you’re expecting him to pop up. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/10 "2005-05-30T08:10:56Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Yes, but I’d only ever come across Paul in Letterman, with the bald pate and the affectatious glasses. It being a 1983 flim, I was expecting him to look different, but he was so different that he floored me. Try to get hold of some of the old Saturday Night Live episodes where he did Don Kirschner. I always kinda thought his Artie Fufkin had some foundation in his portrayal of Kirschner. These are worth watching anyway. His Kirschner was very funny. He even did it for Gilda Radner’s Broadway show. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/11 "2005-05-30T13:56:00Z")
How about Anjelica Huston (“I don’t understand. This is the piece.”), Bruno Kirby (“When you’ve loved and lost the way Frank has, you know what life’s about”), and Howard Hesseman (“We’re going to sit in the lobby and wait for the limo.”)? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/12 "2005-05-30T14:02:14Z")
Ed Begley, Jr. _was_ John ‘Stumpy’ Pepys, the drummer who died in a gardening accident. Patrick MacNee as Sir Denis Eton-Hogg was fun too. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/13 "2005-05-30T20:01:16Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > So complicated, explaining everything… Now you sound just like my SO. And yes, technically they are Americans but I’m betting most of them would rather you didn’t refer to them as such 😉 . > [@](#): > > And, yes, I missed Dana Carvey (who I noticed on the closing credits - didn’t bother rewinding for him). But no, not the other bloke/bird, who I’ve never heard of. No? Because I know you had “The Nanny” over there at some point as the first time my SO and I talked (we met online) he said he was terrified that I would sound like her (I was terrified he would sound like Prince Charles). He also said he was amazed they left the line “she was out on her fanny” in the theme song. But beyond that…you were watching the movie just to see Paul Schaffer?? Ya know, it’s pretty funny even when he’s not one screen… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/14 "2005-05-30T21:07:57Z")
S-h-a-f-f-e-r ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/15 "2005-05-31T00:44:06Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Yes, but I’d only ever come across Paul in Letterman, with the bald pate and the affectatious glasses. It being a 1983 flim, I was expecting him to look different, but he was so different that he floored me. 😕 Ummm…I don’t want to make you look stupid or anything, but Paul Schaffer looked quite a lot like, eh, Paul Schaffer in that movie. I really didn’t think there was any mistaking who he was. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/16 "2005-05-31T01:08:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 😕 Ummm…I don’t want to make you look stupid or anything, but Paul Schaffer looked quite a lot like, eh, Paul Schaffer in that movie. I really didn’t think there was any mistaking who he was. I do a decent job of it myself, so don’t worry. Actually, just to sort of clarify, I rented the DVD because of you wonderful guys on the SDMB. (“Pap” - I didn’t miss that - and the Princess Bride are two films I have been introduced to through the Dope.) I knew Shaffer was in it - I think it was mentioned on Letterman, when I still bothered watching it - so the little task I set myself as I watched the unfolding drama was to spot him. And at that, I’m afraid to say, I failed miserably. (Still think he looks like Paul Simon in Pap, and so did my watch, who instantly ejaculated “That’s Paul Simon”. So na-na-na-na-na! Blows raspberries all round.) ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/17 "2005-05-31T01:09:36Z")
“So did my watch”??? What sort of Freudian slip was that? Shit! I’m off to see my shrink… ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/18 "2005-05-31T02:51:21Z")
Apparently penis ensued. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/19 "2005-05-31T02:54:57Z")
Hey, who needs a penis when you’ve got an ejaculating watch? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-else-miss-paul-schaffer-in-spinal-tap/306048/20 "2005-05-31T03:47:08Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > Hey, who needs a penis when you’ve got an ejaculating watch? It’s a Solvil and Coitus.