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50-447: The film was featured in an episode of The Canned Film Festival in the summer of 1986. Woody Woodrow, a country bumpkin whose family makes and sells moonshine in backwoods Tennessee, inherits a Las Vegas casino and plans to turn it into a country and western bar. The rundown establishment is WAY out of town, but country music is a novelty they figure they can successfully promote. On the plus side, buxom Boots Malone (Van Doren); who

100-494: A Lily Tomlin special, impressed with her work as founder and original member of The Groundlings. A year later, she became an original cast member on NBC 's Saturday Night Live , appearing on the show from its inception in 1975 through 1980. During her five years on SNL she became a close friend of co-star Gilda Radner , although there was also a degree of rivalry between them. The instant success of SNL propelled her to stardom very quickly. Newman recalled being stopped in

150-622: A Who! . Newman also appeared in episodes of Entourage , Brothers & Sisters , According to Jim , and Curb Your Enthusiasm . Newman provided her voice in Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and Wreck-It Ralph , and made guest voice appearances in SpongeBob SquarePants (as Plankton 's grandmother), Doc McStuffins , and Harvey Street Kids . She voiced Queen Jipjorrulac , the mother of Mark Chang, in The Fairly OddParents , and

200-501: A cameo in Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979). Newman continued to appear in film and television productions during the 1980s. Among these were Wholly Moses , Voltar The Invincible , Perfect , and Invaders from Mars . She also had a small role in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980). In 1986 she starred in the syndicated B-movie comedy series, The Canned Film Festival , playing

250-455: A deck of playing cards with a picture of Newman on the face of each card. Newman was photographed as a vampire by Francesco Scavullo for the July 1978 issue of High Times . The accompanying interview introduced Newman as the "Skinny spaced-out sex symbol of Saturday Night Live ." Newman is best known for her roles as Connie Conehead , proto- Valley girl Sherry , and Christie Christina ,

300-506: A few years later, the Canned Film Festival differed in that its comedy scenes occurred strictly during the commercial intermissions instead of adding peanut gallery type satire during the actual run of the movies. In addition, the script, although comic in nature, often reflected upon the serious contextual and cultural subjects contained in the featured movies, sometimes providing historical insight into their production. An example

350-401: A middle-aged aficionado of romantic drama stories, and Becky (Laura Galusha) a girl in her early twenties who offered a young feminist perspective to the movies. The men included Jack (F. Richards Ford), Fitzy (Patrick Garner), and Chan (Philip Nee). Jack, as well as the being the love interest of Becky, was also Limekirk's newspaper reporter who was required to review the movies. Together with

400-497: A myriad of TV commercial ads, also made cameos in television shows such as Monsters , Chappelle's Show , and Law & Order , and more recently in theatre, starred as Mr. Cunningham in the Broadway version of Happy Days The Musical . Rick Ford (identified as F. Richards Ford in the series credits) made appearances in episodes of Married... with Children and Mama's Family as well as movies like The Tattoo Chase and

450-598: A party in Los Angeles that was the last time Gilda Radner was with her original SNL co-stars. According to Bill Murray, when he heard Radner was about to leave the party, he and Dan Aykroyd carried her around the Los Angeles house where the party was held so that she could say goodbye to everyone. Radner died on May 20, 1989. Newman played the antagonist in Problem Child 2 (1991) and also appeared in 1993's Coneheads (in which Michelle Burke played Connie Conehead,

500-494: A rural trailer-home couple in search of intelligent life. Insulted by the country-folks' offer of a simple diet cola, a flash of light from the alien converted them to English-accented intellectuals wielding Diet Dr. Pepper bottles, and transformed their tasteless lawn ornaments to modern abstract art sculptures. Aside from providing advertisement for the show's main sponsor, the subtle movie references contained in these commercials may be another reason why they were aired alongside

550-659: A second season as evidenced by the first season end credits that solicited viewers to submit their favorite "best of the worst" movies via mail correspondence, it was not known how far these plans had progressed when the series was cancelled. Although the fictional setting for the show was in Texas, according to Rick Ford's biography in IMDb , scenes within the Ritz theatre were actually filmed inside an old movie house in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Overall,

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600-533: A year in Paris. She then moved to Los Angeles and became a founding member of comedy improvisational group The Groundlings . She was first hired by Lorne Michaels for a Lily Tomlin TV special in 1974. The next year Newman became one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live , working there from 1975 to 1980 and creating characters Connie Conehead , proto- Valley girl Sherry , and Christie Christina . In 2017, she and

650-686: A year. By the age of 19, Newman returned to the United States , and moved to Los Angeles , where she did a brief stint at a secretarial school. Committed to continue performing, she was a founding member of the pioneering comedy improvisational group The Groundlings . At the same time, Newman was working for a booking agent who worked with rock bands, typing up contracts. Newman cites Eve Arden , Madeline Kahn and Richard Pryor as her first major influences, saying "They led me into my life of comedy, they led me into understanding 'The Art of Play'." In 1974, Lorne Michaels hired 22-year-old Newman for

700-756: Is a contributing editor for the online magazine One For The Table , and she is an occasional contributor to the Huffington Post . She has contributed articles for the Los Angeles Times , The Believer , and McSweeney's . She wrote the foreword to the book version of the UCB Production Worst Laid Plans . In March 2021, she published her audio memoir May You Live in Interesting Times on Audible . Newman has been nominated for awards numerous times, most notably for an Emmy in 1979 as

750-481: Is an Emmy Award–winning television writer. Newman attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California and graduated from there in 1970. Newman married actor-writer-director Chad Einbinder in 1991; their marriage ended after 25 years. Newman and Einbinder have two children, Spike and Hannah , who are both actors and comedians. The song " Never Let Her Slip Away ," written and recorded by Andrew Gold ,

800-669: Is in order of the original air date listed on the Internet Movie Database using the name of the featured B movie as the episode title, as no other naming format was suggested during the program run. Laraine Newman Laraine Newman (born March 2, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Newman was part of the original cast of NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from its inception in 1975 until her departure in 1980. Newman took an interest in improv at Beverly Hills High School. After graduating in 1970, she studied mime with Marcel Marceau for

850-438: Is seen during the episode featuring Project Moonbase , where female spaceship commanders were discussed as an accurate future prediction by the 1950s era movie, as were cordless telephones and big screen televisions . The featured B movies of the series were not full-length, and edited to fit the show's approximately two-hour timeframe per episode. The series plot was built around the fictional town of Limekirk, Texas, where

900-418: Is smarter than she appears; signs on as hostess and business manager. On the minus side, gangsters to whom the previous owners owed a sizeable amount of money keep coming around to collect; backed by huge "enforcer" Richard Kiel. Woody eventually manages to talk well-known country singers into appearing there; and pays off the debt. Woody then orders his staff to shower the gangsters with pies on their way out

950-659: The Canned Film Festival . The series may also be remembered as one of the many little-known works of Laraine Newman's acting career. While she performed in countless supporting roles throughout Hollywood following her tenure on NBC 's Saturday Night Live , her work with the Canned Film Festival is rarely credited. The careers of other noteworthy stars also include this show, such as Kathryn Rossetter who played support roles in movies, electronic media ( video games ), and television shows such as Law & Order , Cosby , Touched by an Angel , L.A. Law , and Kate & Allie . Patrick Garner, in addition to appearing in

1000-476: The Coke/Pepsi rivalry , mentioning only an Orwellian syndicate which manufactured a soft drink named "Clone Cola". At least two of the "Planet Dullzon" commercials incorporated alien bar scenes reminiscent of the famous "cantina scene" from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , and most of them included a Han Solo -like main character wearing a cowboy hat and accompanied by a short alien sidekick. Also aired were

1050-674: The Wicked Witch of the West in Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz , an animated direct-to-DVD film set during the events of the original 1939 film . On July 9, 2014, she appeared on Ken Reid 's TV Guidance Counselor podcast. In 2017, the original cast of Saturday Night Live (including Newman) was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame . Newman also works as a writer and editor. She

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1100-472: The 1978 CBS Children's Film Festival instead. Either way, due its 11-season run (as opposed to the single season Canned Film Festival ) it is clear that MST3K was much more successful in the B movie satire genre despite the lack of a large sponsor like the Dr Pepper Company. However, it is also possible that its success over the Canned Film Festival was due to it reaching a wider audience through

1150-419: The 1980s (although coincidentally, Max Headroom itself was also a television series which lasted only a short time in the 1980s). Those who remember the Canned Film Festival might recall the numerous Dr. Pepper television commercials aired concurrently with the show. These included the post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk -toned "Planet Dullzon" and "Cola Wars" ads alluding to (but never directly addressed)

1200-500: The 2000s Newman lent her voice to animated movie and TV characters in Danny Phantom , As Told By Ginger , Avatar: The Last Airbender , Metalocalypse and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius . She provided voice work for WALL-E , Battle for Terra , Ponyo , Jungle Junction , Cars , Up! , Finding Nemo , Monsters, Inc. , Barnyard , Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , Happily N'Ever After , and Horton Hears

1250-594: The Canned Film Festival can best be described as a curtailed advertising experiment by the Dallas-based Dr Pepper Company to break into the late-night television market in 1986, as the anticipated second season never materialized. It never gained the cult status that Mystery Science Theater 3000 did, nor did it match the Max Headroom advertising campaign run by the rival Coca-Cola Company in

1300-507: The Japanese-inspired Godzilla commercials, in which the famous B-movie creature and his female counterpart craved billboard -sized cans of Dr. Pepper as a libation against destroying the city they were attacking. Perhaps motivated by the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (or its more recent 1984 sequel, 2010 ), a Diet Dr. Pepper commercial was aired during the series which included a monolithic -type alien spacecraft visiting

1350-491: The Oscar-nominated 12:01 PM , and is also very active in regional and professional theatre. Laura Galusha's acting career seemed to be brief, as she is recorded to have appeared on screen only once in an episode of CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1985, whereas Phil Nee (identified as Philip Nee in the series credits), in addition to working behind the camera as a writer and technical crew, has performed several cameos over

1400-459: The band did a guest spot in the fourth season of SNL . Newman and Mothersbaugh were a couple for years, during which time Newman played Donut Rooter in the band's We're All Devo VHS release (1984). In her memoirs, Newman claimed she was celibate for four years after the end of her relationship with Mothersbaugh. Prior to leaving SNL , Newman appeared in American Hot Wax (1978) and did

1450-519: The character Newman originated on SNL , while Newman appeared in a minor role as Connie's aunt Laarta). She appeared in episodes of Friends , 3rd Rock from the Sun , 7th Heaven , and in the 1994 film The Flintstones . She also started to focus on voice acting, on The Tick , Histeria! , CatDog , and Rugrats (in "All Growed Up", an episode which would form the basis of the spinoff All Grown Up! , for which she also provided voice work). In

1500-557: The ditzy co-host of E. Buzz Miller ( Dan Aykroyd )'s public-access television cable TV show. Using her own name, Newman also played a TV news reporter for Weekend Update when the segment was hosted by Chevy Chase (1975–1976) and Jane Curtin (1976–1980). Newman generally decided not to repeat her characters, and so has far fewer signature characters than some of her fellow cast members. Newman states when asked about her favorite Saturday Night Live character: "My favorite character ... which, I think, only pleased me and no one else,

1550-463: The door. This article about a musical comedy film is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Canned Film Festival The Canned Film Festival is a comedy -based motion picture television series that was nationally syndicated during the late night hours in the United States for a single season in the summer of 1986. With only a one-letter difference in the spelling,

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1600-408: The episode featuring the movie The Slime People where Laraine dreamt that Chan was possessed. What role Chan's character brought to the series is less clear, although he sometimes provided a childlike response to the episode plots, such as taking a spin in one of the lobby's clothes driers after being inspired by the outer-space setting of the featured movie Project Moonbase . Chan's muteness in

1650-574: The idea that what I saw—what other people saw—(meant) I wasn't so alone in my perspective. I hope this doesn't sound too overblown, but it really did feel like a Communion ." However, by her own account, Newman was unhappy for much of her time with the show. She disliked living in New York, and during her years on SNL , Newman had developed serious eating disorders , as well as a heroin addiction . She spent so much time in her dressing room playing solitaire that for Christmas 1979, castmate Radner gave her

1700-763: The lead role as Laraine the usherette. Additionally, she made appearances on Laverne & Shirley , E.T. and Friends (1983) (in which she reprised her role as Connie Conehead), Steve Martin's Best Show Ever (1981), St. Elsewhere , and Amazing Stories . Newman auditioned for the role of Masha in Martin Scorsese 's The King of Comedy (1983); the role was played in the film by Sandra Bernhard . By her own admission, Newman's career during this period languished as she struggled with depression and chemical dependency issues. She became sober in 1987, after 21 years of drug use. Newman celebrated her 36th birthday in March 1988 with

1750-513: The local Ritz theater was undergoing economic and cultural decline due to lack of a customer base. The owner and sole usherette, Laraine (Laraine Newman), took extreme measures to attract moviegoers by adding laundry facilities to the lobby and stocking a large collection of unusual confections . With the exception of popcorn and Dr. Pepper , these confections were completely fictional, with names like "Butter Lumps", "Chocolate Covered Lug Nuts", and "Diet-Free Nutra-Cal Bars", and were occasionally

1800-422: The middle-aged Fitzy, the two manifested the stereotypical male-oriented fascinations for lowbrow action, crude sexual innuendos, and took morbid pleasure in making fun of some of the movies' more macabre themes (such as nuclear warfare in the feature Rocket Attack U.S.A. ). Chan, in addition to being of Asian descent (as opposed to the rest of the cast being Caucasian), was a mute who never spoke except during

1850-518: The name is an intentional play on the name for the Cannes Film Festival , the annual world-renowned film-screening celebration in Cannes , France. Not to be confused with the latter, the Canned Film Festival featured B movies as the centerpiece for each television episode, and was composed of short vignettes interwoven throughout the films. Boasting the tagline "late night with the best of

1900-481: The production booth via a microphone. Laraine's mother was never actually named nor completely seen during any of the episodes, but sometimes communicated by pounding on the walls or playing musical tunes (presumably with an instrument or a sound device in the booth and transmitted through the theater's sound system). The supporting characters, five in all, were split roughly along gender lines, with three men and two women. The women included Doris (Kathryn Rossetter),

1950-457: The rest of the original cast members of SNL were among the honorees of the Television Academy Hall of Fame . She appeared in Stardust Memories , Problem Child 2 , Coneheads , and The Flintstones . She is also a voice actor in both TV and movies, including Pixar films Finding Nemo , WALL-E , Up , and Inside Out . In 2021 her memoir May You Live in Interesting Times

2000-460: The rest of the series run. The series starred Laraine Newman of Saturday Night Live fame, whose main character, Laraine the usherette, wore an old-fashioned maroon ushers uniform and ran the Ritz with such strict organization as to assign every patron a seat despite the theater's constant near-empty attendance. Laraine ensured that each movie started exactly on time as scheduled, cuing her mother in

2050-533: The show was only implied, leaving it up to the audience to decide whether or not he could physically speak (although he did laugh on occasion), or if his condition was simply a language barrier written into the script. Prior to merging with the Seven Up Company in May 1986, Dr Pepper brand development conceived The Canned Film Festival as means to reach a target audience of consumers between ages 12 and 24 by promoting

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2100-414: The soft drink as a novel and unconventional refreshment that stood out against the larger cola rivals of the time. David Millheiser, manager of brand development for Dr Pepper at the time, hoped to attract a young audience who would view the featured films as "wonderfully bad". However, the effort was short-lived, as the series lasted for only one season in the summer of 1986. Although plans were made for

2150-429: The source for minor script material. As the story maintains during the opening sequence of each episode, the most successful of Laraine's business ventures to rejuvenate the Ritz was, by far, the screening of strange and unusual films that resulted in the series' namesake. Laraine, together with her mother who ran the projector booth, succeeded in attracting several new customers who became regular characters throughout

2200-504: The street in New York City by John Lennon and Yoko Ono , who introduced themselves to her. Newman admits that she was "never a good improviser," but when in character, like an angry Jewish poet, a flight attendant, an eccentric chef, or a British groupie, she was "free". Commenting on her early experiences during Saturday Night Live she said: "When I first performed (my characters) and the audience responded, I felt like crying, I mean

2250-512: The then-nascent cable TV market, and aired at more suitable hours for its intended audience. The following is an episode list for The Canned Film Festival . 13 episodes were produced, and due to the nationally syndicated nature of the program, exact air dates for local television broadcasts are not precisely known. Generally, the program aired on the weekends during the late night time slot on both independent stations and network affiliates from June through September 1986. The list below

2300-470: The worst", the series was promoted and sponsored by the Dr. Pepper Company , whose then-tagline "out-of-the-ordinary" echoed the show's collection of odd and strange movies. The series was created by Young & Rubicam , developed for television by Chelsea Communications, and distributed by LBS Communications . Although similar in style to the successful Mystery Science Theater 3000 series shown on cable TV

2350-563: The years following the series in both movies and television. The Canned Film Festival's genre-based similarity to Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) did not stop with the show format. Following its 1988 debut, MST3K featured many of the same films as the Canned Film Festival did two years earlier in 1986. While this coincidence might suggest that the Canned Film Festival was a source of inspiration for MST3K s creator, Joel Hodgson , such assertions would be false. In fact, Hodgson states that his vision for MST3K actually came from

2400-419: Was Lina Wertmüller (based on the actual Lina Wertmüller )." Newman's post- SNL film career has been in both leading and supporting roles, as well as a voice artist in television and features. In her memoirs, Newman recounted dating Dan Aykroyd , Warren Zevon , Peter Cook , Phil Hartman , and P.J. O'Rourke . She was also in a relationship with Mark Mothersbaugh of the new wave band Devo years after

2450-613: Was about Newman. The two were a couple at the time. The song hit #5 on the UK charts in 1978. Newman took her first improvisational theatre classes when she was 15. After finishing high school she auditioned for four acting schools in England including the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and Bristol Old Vic . She was not accepted to any of them, so she went to Paris to study mime with Marcel Marceau for

2500-475: Was released on Audible . She is the younger sister of writer and musician Tracy Newman , and the mother of actress and comedian Hannah Einbinder and actor Spike Einbinder. Newman was born on March 2, 1952, in Los Angeles , California , the granddaughter of a cattle rancher from Arizona . Her family is Jewish. She is the youngest of four children and has a twin brother Paul. Her sister, Tracy Newman ,

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