# How many Groundhog Days in the movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2001, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539 "2001-12-03T01:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/141 "2010-10-06T14:03:30Z")
How long does Bill Murray spend in Punxsutawney? [8 years, 8 months, and 16 days](http://www.wolfgnards.com/index.php/2009/06/16/how-long-does-billy-murray-spend-in-grou) apparently… ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/142 "2010-10-06T14:11:02Z")
Yeah, well that’s as much of a guess as any of the others here. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/143 "2010-10-06T15:09:02Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > How long does Bill Murray spend in Punxsutawney? [8 years, 8 months, and 16 days](http://www.wolfgnards.com/index.php/2009/06/16/how-long-does-billy-murray-spend-in-grou) apparently… And in my post #80, the director himself, Harold Ramis, directly refutes that Wolf Gnarls reckoning. Again it’s [here](http://www.neatorama.com/2009/08/19/harold-ramis-responds-on-groundhog-day/), and he says: **“I think the 10-year estimate is too short. It takes at least 10 years to get good at anything, and, alloting for the down time and misguided years he spent, it had to be more like 30 or 40 years … People have way too much time on their hands. They could be learning to play the piano or speak French or sculpt ice.”** ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/144 "2010-10-06T15:48:48Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Man, re-entry would be tough. After that long in a loop he’d be overwhelmed by new situations and new conversations. If he hadn’t gone crazy before, he would then. I agree with this, and I think they underplayed the moment when the loop finally ends. He re-adapts to normalcy much too quickly and easily, given what he’s been through. But the film’s supposed to have a happy ending, so you can understand the dramatic choice. To be more realistic (but not necessarily better), the film should have had him screaming with fright the instant Rita spoke and stretched her arm across him. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/145 "2010-10-06T15:53:28Z")
My DVD’s Special Features also informs me of a couple of scenes that were cut or they decided not to film. One was Phil taking everyone back to his boarding house, and I mean _everyone_ who’s in the movie, where he throws a wild party in which everyone trashes the entire place. I’m kind of glad they dropped that idea. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/146 "2010-10-06T17:57:25Z")
I received two emailed replies from Stephen Tobolowsky. He went to Punxsutawney last year for Groundhog day, but has no idea whether the town has the logistic capability to handle a cast crew reunion. He has no idea of whether the cast/crew would be interested or able (because of other commitments) to do a reunion. And he says that the idea of Ned being in his own time loop is interesting, so it may be that he hasn’t heard that one before. I will send him as gracious a reply as I am able. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/147 "2010-10-06T18:00:47Z")
Also, it now strikes me that having an event there in central Pennsylvania, on Groundhog day in the middle of winter, isn’t going to be appealing to anyone. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/148 "2010-10-06T20:48:13Z")
Why was I so positive that Tobolowsky had died last year? I wonder who I was thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/149 "2010-10-06T22:50:55Z")
Maybe because two years ago he broke his neck: > **[Stephen Tobolowsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Tobolowsky)** > > Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor and raconteur. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in Memento, as well as such television characters as Commissioner Hugo Jarry in Deadwood, Bob Bishop in Heroes, Sandy Ryerson in Glee, Stu Beggs in Californication and White Famous, "Action" Jack Barker in Silicon Valley, Dr. Leslie Berkowitz in One Day at a Time, Principal Earl Ball in The Goldberg ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/150 "2010-10-07T02:41:06Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Just saw the Bill Murray flick again, and wondered how many times Bill had to relive the same day in order to learn all he had to learn about the PA town Punk-something? From IMDB: > [@](#): > > On the DVD, Harold Ramis states that the original idea was for him to live February 2nd for about 10,000 years. Later he says that Phil probably lived the same day for about 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/151 "2010-10-07T04:06:20Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > > > Just saw the Bill Murray flick again, and wondered how many times Bill had to relive the same day in order to learn all he had to learn about the PA town Punk-something? > > From IMDB: > > > [@](#): > > > > On the DVD, Harold Ramis states that the original idea was for him to live February 2nd for about 10,000 years. Later he says that Phil probably lived the same day for about 10 years. Aha! That’s probably where I got my 10,000-years notion. I’d forgotten about that. But then, of course, Ramis later changed that to 30 or 40 years. I’m sticking with 10,000 years myself. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/152 "2010-10-07T14:11:36Z")
> [@snoopygal](#): > > Why, at the very end, does he say ‘We’ll rent first’? I thought Phil was just making a joke that he knew would go over Rita’s head. He’s been there for years and years already (how many is obviously open to debate) and knows _everything_ about the town and its people. If he likes it enough to stay, he’d buy, not rent. Renting, in this context, implies that he might learn something about the town that would make him not want to stay there. Fat chance of that. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/153 "2010-10-07T16:14:14Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I’ve seen that other movie (_SFW_). SFW also has one of the greatest soundtracks of that decade. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/154 "2010-10-07T22:13:15Z")
Its a MOVIE! you know the answer is going to be like a thousand years or something. But we will never know. Its a little thing movies do like what was in the suitcase in Pulp Fiction ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/155 "2010-10-08T00:14:59Z")
Purple bladed lightsaber, jeez. Everyone knows that. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/156 "2010-10-08T02:11:19Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > Its a MOVIE! you know the answer is going to be like a thousand years or something. But we will never know. Its a little thing movies do like what was in the suitcase in Pulp Fiction I know exactly what was in that suitcase. It was a MacGuffin. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/157 "2011-02-05T16:22:16Z")
A blogger does some calculating here: [http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/features/just-how-many-days-does-bill-murray-really-spend-stuck-reliving-groundhog-day.php](http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/features/just-how-many-days-does-bill-murray-really-spend-stuck-reliving-groundhog-day.php) He concludes the total is a shade under 34 years. I think some of his assumptions are faulty, but his approach is solid enough that I think his conclusion is in the right ballpark. Maybe it was 25 years, maybe it was 50, but it doesn’t seem to be 100 or 1,000. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/158 "2011-02-05T20:59:10Z")
I have nothing to add on the length of the loop, but want to say that Day 36, “Sexually harassing Ned”, was my favorite Day. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/159 "2011-02-05T23:11:34Z")
I’ve always felt that Phil’s line, “Let’s live here!” was too much like “He loved Big Brother.” It seems to indicate that his spirit has been broken by the ordeal. Imagine a guy in prison for 30 years. He does his time, he’s getting out, and… he doesn’t want to leave! He knows this world inside out and all the choices available to him on the outside are just too overwhelming. The scene where he goes joyriding on the railroad tracks is the only scene that even hints at why he became just a sulky, mean bastard in the first place. Apparently his parents made him sit up straight, eat his vegetables and refrain from hitting his sister. Wow, that’s rough, dude. Maybe there’s more to it than that, but in any case we see that Phil is a guy who can hold on to resentment like nobody’s business. He’s clearly not stupid, but his bad attitude keeps him from making progress towards becoming a nicer person. He must “waste” a _lot_ of time. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539/160 "2011-02-05T23:41:55Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I would love to see a sequel. Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell as they’ve aged now, and one day it starts happening again. For no discernible reason, of course. To \*both \*of them. That could be pretty damn cool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-groundhog-days-in-the-movie/96539.md?page=9)