Perhaps this is a question for IMHO. However, like many a Monty Python fan I am sure, I was sickened to see Eric Idle play a third rate role in a third rate sitcom called Suddenly Susan. What has happened to him? I cannot believe that such a great actor could dumb down so much. Has he just faded into oblivion so much that no-one even remembers him?
Very sad, but on a par with this garbage. And while we’re asking "what the hell happended to their careers, here’s a disaster movie for John Cleese and Eddie Murphy at the same time :(.
Very sad, but on a par with this garbage. And while we’re asking "what the hell happended to their careers, here’s a disaster movie for John Cleese and Eddie Murphy at the same time :(.
Idle has been having the most trouble finding good projects of any of the Python crew. He seems to be stuck in a terrible Disney channel show these days, and was in the abysmal “Nearly Departed,” one of the worst comedies ever broadcast.
Well, if yo uasked Idle why he does so many awful shows, he’d probably tell you straightforwardly, “Because the money is so good.”
You and I may agree that “Nearly Departed” was garbage, but Idle would probably tell you that his few weeks on that show paid him a lot more than the entire run of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”
I don’t mean sad for him I mean sad for us. Not only would he say he did these poor projects for money, he has said it - often - and I don’t criticise him for it. He’s not alone among actors taking the work that pays after all.
Michael Caine has often been criticised for doing bad work (or work that the critics didn’t rate at least), but his response is to list what he spent the money on.
Uh, I dunno. The Pit? IMHO?
Let’s go with IMHO for now.
Better yet, Cafe Society.
Maybe, but that doesn’t account for the fact that other Monty Python people have some pretty good projects to their credit, but Idle does not.
Paying the mortgage.
“Suddenly Susan?” Is that like Hamburger Helper?
You’re saying somebody is eating Eric Idle???
I’ve told you once.
If you go to Epcot at Disney World, you’ll find Eric Idle’s on tape doing a gig for the “Imagination Institute”. I would guess then that he’s got some kind of contract with residuals going on with Diz.
Of course, if at the same theme park you go to the Exxon-Mobil ride/exhibit on energy, you’ll see Ellen DeGeneres (with Alex Trebeck, Bill “Science Guy” Nye, and Jamie Lee Curtis) doing an edu-tainment video presentation. Ellen has it over on Eric in that she also has an “Animatronic” likeness performing as well. (The dummy is an exceedingly poor likeness, though.)
Slumming.
I must confess that in spite of my earlier post, I don’t really have a clear mental image of how bad Suddenly Susan is, since it barely makes an impression on our schedules. So maybe it’s even worse than Splitting Heirs.
All the same, I like Eric, and it doesn’t stop me liking him that he hasn’t done lots of good work recently. There’s even an Eric Idle Appreciation Society, which I think is A Good Thing. I think he should take it as a compliment that some of us would like to see more of him, because I could give you a list of people I’d like to see less of on my TV/local cinema, only there’s a limit to post length of 16,777,215 characters.
And if you don’t know why we should want to see more of his best work, here’s what John Cleese has to say about him, and what he has to say about himself in reply.
Seeing your past stars perform crappy roles is a sad thing, but pretty common i guess in show business.
I think Idle has taken some of the worst parts, but so has Cleese. I think it would be great if they got back together and wrote something, because they really were comic geniuses. Holy Grail is the funniest movie of all time-- no exaggeration.
Actually, it should be how bad “Suddenly Susan” WAS since the show was canceled a couple years ago.
As for Idle, he’s just carrying on the great tradition of British/Irish performers like Richard Burton, Michael Caine, Peter O’ Toole, Dudley Moore, Lawrence Olivier, et al., who, after doing great work early in their careers, cashing in on their past reputation by doing whatever piece of dreck that will offer them the most money.
(Slight hijack to correct grammar.)
BTW, that should be:
“…cashed in on their past reputations by doing whatever piece of dreck that offered them the most money.”