# Help me identify this 80's old school teen comedy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2016, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034 "2016-06-22T11:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/1 "2016-06-22T11:59:00Z")
OK, this particular scene keeps popping in my head. I know that it’s an older 1980’s comedy. It’s in a high school setting and there is a male student who is the protagonist. In this high school, there is a very pretty girl whom may not even have any lines in the film, but she is the key to this scene. She always has with her, a group of about 4 guys with her. Big, tough guys, who are like her silent guardians. Anytime anyone comes near her they will all stand up around and grunt and look ready to attack the person threatening their lady. And I recall also, I believe, that at one point the main protagonist accidentally does something that results in the girl getting her skirt or top ripped off and all her guys surround the main character and throw him into a trashcan or something like that. OK, any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/2 "2016-06-22T12:04:25Z")
Never mind, I’m pretty sure it’s Better Off Dead with John Cusack. Ah yes, a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/3 "2016-06-22T12:08:10Z")
What was the one where three teenaged boys became bell hops at a hotel in Miami Beach, and the hotel manager was only interested in having sex with his assistant? ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/4 "2016-06-22T14:10:20Z")
Yes, the movie in question is _Better Off Dead_. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/5 "2016-06-23T04:09:02Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > What was the one where three teenaged boys became bell hops at a hotel in Miami Beach, and the hotel manager was only interested in having sex with his assistant? Not kidding. Please identify. The assistant’s clothes fell off a lot, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/6 "2016-06-23T12:30:19Z")
In the summer of 1988 I came home from my first year of college to find my buddy had recently been promoted from store manager to district manager for a small local chain of video rental stores. He offered to hire me as a store manager for the small rental place in our sleepy New England town. I worked 45+ hours per week and had two part-time associates. We had a TV set up near the entrance of the store where we would play new or recent releases, but which also served to entertain whoever was working when the store was empty - which was often. Whoever was on duty could select what was playing (G or PG only!). Anyway, to skip to the point - I watched _Better Off Dead_ almost every day that summer. At one point I counted 34 times I had watched it beginning to end. So… yeah, trust me, that was the movie. I’m familiar with it. ETA: “I’ve been in high school for seven years. I’m no dummy.” ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/7 "2016-06-23T14:05:15Z")
Wow it’s funny what sticks out in your memory about a movie. To me that was such an insignificant part of the movie, I would not have easily guessed that. The key things to me that would make me guess Better Off Dead would be things like: Dancing hamburgers (to Van Halen music IIRC) high school skiing Movie about breaking up with girl Movie with Asian guys talking like Howard Cosell. Guy fixing up black Camaro David Ogden Stiers I want my two dollars! Newspaper boys foreign exchange student… What a great movie! ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/8 "2016-06-23T14:39:47Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Wow it’s funny what sticks out in your memory about a movie. > To me that was such an insignificant part of the movie, I would not have easily guessed that. > The key things to me that would make me guess Better Off Dead would be things like: > Dancing hamburgers (to Van Halen music IIRC) > high school skiing > Movie about breaking up with girl > Movie with Asian guys talking like Howard Cosell. > Guy fixing up black Camaro > David Ogden Stiers > I want my two dollars! > Newspaper boys > foreign exchange student… > > What a great movie! Yes! Better Off Dead is one of the greatest movies from the 1980’s. How about the mother who can’t cook for anything, but she cooks up a French themed dinner for the neighbor’s exchange student: “French… Fries. French… Bread. French… toast.” I also loved the younger brother who cut all the mail-order coupons from the cereal boxes to got the weirdest things, such as a book on how to pick up trashy women and a manual on how to build a space shuttle. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/9 "2016-06-23T16:10:08Z")
You would be wise to do as Mother says, Lane Meyer! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/10 "2016-06-23T16:16:36Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Wow it’s funny what sticks out in your memory about a movie. > To me that was such an insignificant part of the movie, I would not have easily guessed that. > The key things to me that would make me guess Better Off Dead would be things like: > Dancing hamburgers (to Van Halen music IIRC) > high school skiing > Movie about breaking up with girl > Movie with Asian guys talking like Howard Cosell. > Guy fixing up black Camaro > David Ogden Stiers > I want my two dollars! > Newspaper boys > foreign exchange student… That’s a real shame, when folks be throwin’ away a perfectly good white boy like that. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/11 "2016-06-23T18:01:39Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > What was the one where three teenaged boys became bell hops at a hotel in Miami Beach, and the hotel manager was only interested in having sex with his assistant? Could it have been [_Private Resort_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089839/) with a very young Johnny Depp and Rob Morrow? ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/12 "2016-06-23T18:03:34Z")
My first guess for the hotel / 3 boys movie was _Fraternity Vacation_, but not sure if that fits completely. I don’t think the guys in that one worked as bellhops. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/13 "2016-06-24T04:48:58Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > Yes! Better Off Dead is one of the greatest movies from the 1980’s. > > How about the mother who can’t cook for anything, but she cooks up a French themed dinner for the neighbor’s exchange student: > “French… Fries. > French… Bread. > French… toast.” And to wash it all down, Peru! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/14 "2016-06-24T08:26:35Z")
This thread reminds me of an '80s teen sex comedy I watched … late '80s? The hottest girl in school _knows_ she’s the hottest girl in school, and uses her hotness to get various guys in trouble. These guys band together to get revenge. Ultimately, it involves a plot that involves the hot girl getting voted prom queen. The guys conspire with some other, jealous girls, to sabotage the hot girl’s dress by stitching metal wires into it. The climax involves a huge electromagnet, turned on just as the hot girl is delivering her acceptance speech, causing her sabotaged dress to be ripped away and baring her titties to everybody. Can’t remember the name of that one. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/15 "2016-06-24T09:36:15Z")
Sounds like an inverse _Carrie_. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/16 "2016-06-24T13:02:35Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > This thread reminds me of an '80s teen sex comedy I watched … late '80s? > > The hottest girl in school _knows_ she’s the hottest girl in school, and uses her hotness to get various guys in trouble. > > These guys band together to get revenge. > > Ultimately, it involves a plot that involves the hot girl getting voted prom queen. > > The guys conspire with some other, jealous girls, to sabotage the hot girl’s dress by stitching metal wires into it. The climax involves a huge electromagnet, turned on just as the hot girl is delivering her acceptance speech, causing her sabotaged dress to be ripped away and baring her titties to everybody. > > Can’t remember the name of that one. [_Screwballs_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086264/) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/17 "2016-06-24T17:17:50Z")
Thanks for the suggestions. I checked out _Private Resort_ and _Fraternity Vacation_, and the represent the height of wit and sophistication compared to the bellhop movie I remember. There was already a girl bellhop at the hotel when the males arrived. I think they wanted to canoodle with her eventually. Re: _Private Resort_. Weird, but I couldn’t tell which was Rob Morrow and which was Johnny Depp. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Depp movie where he wasn’t coated with makeup. Also was left with the thought “so one of these fresh-faced young actors grew up to beat his women…” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/18 "2016-06-24T18:42:11Z")
My favorite scene from that movie: [the balloon jump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjGNTu-ais8) ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/19 "2016-06-24T18:45:48Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > My favorite scene from that movie: [the balloon jump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjGNTu-ais8) Love it! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034/20 "2016-06-25T00:25:06Z")
I have never seen _Better Off Dead_. I don’t think I’d even heard of it, nor heard anyone talk about it until a couple of years ago when all of a sudden everyone spoke of it as though it was a seminal 80s movie. It’s so odd. The same thing, incidentally, with _Monster Squad_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-80s-old-school-teen-comedy/758034.md?page=2)