July 19,
2004
Today is the day to grapevine followed by a pivot.
The BYT is still around, don't worry.
The BYT Answers the Toughies
Dear BYT,
OK. Chevy Chase and Adam Sandler. They've made a pact with the devil, right?
As for Chevy Chase, I'd say the pact expired in 1985, after Fletch. He likely signed it in 1980, when he made Caddyshack (for which we know that director Harold Ramis also made a pact with the devil; I mean, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, and Ted Knight). And note that Vacation (also the cunning, pact-with-devil-wielding Mr. Ramis) was made right in the middle, 1983. European Vacation was made in 1985, which fits safely at the end of the pact, evidence that sequels were not excluded from the agreement. Yet, Fletch Lives, from 1988, was nowhere near the movie that the original was, and the career goes nowhere but down from there. Talk about hell on earth: from Caddyshack to Doritos ads.
I'm actually not sure what to say about Adam Sandler. He just released a new album, and chances are it's pretty funny. If he made such a pact with the devil, chances are it's still in effect.
Ramis's pact lapsed in 2000 with his autobiopic Bedazzled. Fine print
of the pact reads: "In RAMIS'S last picture, RAMIS shall be played
by Brendan Fraser; DEVIL shall be played by Elizabeth Hurley." Once
again, the devil proves he has a wicked sense of humor.