This week for Part 4 of the “LOUIE on TV” post, the focus is on two TV episodes that originally used a recording of LOUIE LOUIE for the initial broadcasts, but were removed when these episodes were repackaged for the DVD market.
Both these episodes paid homage to the beer-drinking antics of the 1979 ground-breaking comedy movie (NATIONAL LAMPOON’s) ANIMAL HOUSE.
Quantum Leap (NBC)
Season 2 / episode 12 / 1990-01-03
“Animal Frat”
The fandom.com webpage of this episode provides an overview of how this this episode began..
October 19, 1967: After nearly drowning in the Claridge Lake, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) very nearly drowns again, this time from leaping into the middle of his host’s beer chugging session. Sam has leapt into Knut “Wild Thing” Wileton (the leapee Knut is played by Jeff Benson), the head of the “Tau Kappa Beta” (TKB) fraternity in 1967, during one of their many parties. After immediately being vomited on, Sam finds his room, kicks two sexy ladies out of his bed, and tries to get some sleep.
As I watched a VHS dub of the original broadcast, I noticed that LOUIE LOUIE could be heard within 30 seconds of the opening. As Dr. Sam is transported to a crazy party where fraternity brothers are pouring an entire keg over Sam’s mouth, and the Kingsmen‘s recording of LOUIE LOUIE could be prominently heard.
On the official DVD of this show, the opening sequence no longer features the Kingsmen recording. Instead it’s a instrumental song by an anonymous band that features some familiar three chords, but it’s rearranged so it’s definitely not LOUIE LOUIE.
My Name Is Earl (NBC)
Season 1 / episode 16 /2006-02-09
“The Professor”
According to the IMDB page, this episode features a recording of LOUIE LOUIE in the soundtrack credits.
The Wikipedia page for this season provides a summary of the plot:
While Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) and Randy Hickey (Ethan Suplee) are trying to return a laptop they stole, they accidentally knock over a bus stop sign. Earl promises to fix the sign, but gets sidetracked by the laptop’s owner, the beautiful college professor Alex Meyers (Christine Taylor). Alex takes an interest in Earl and his List, and they begin dating. Earl soon notices that he is the target of bad accidents and random acts of violence, and remembers that he hasn’t fixed the bus stop sign yet, and Karma is punishing him. Meanwhile, Randy has taken an interest in college life and becoming a Frat Boy.
I haven’t seen the original broadcast, but there’s no version of LOUIE LOUIE on the official DVD release. Watching this show, it’s easy to spot where this music would easily fit in – Randy’s initiation into the frat house with yet another crazy beer episode.
Speaking of Animal House, this is a good time to send a shout-out for an obscure documentary that some of you might appreciate….
Animal House of Blues 33 1/3 is a documentary I saw when I attended the Animal House 40 Year Reunion and Toga Party last August in Cottage Grove, Oregon. The Eugene International Film Festival presented this documentary in conjunction with the Animal House event.
Here’s how they described the film:
The iconic movie “Animal House” was filmed in Eugene and Cottage Grove in 1977. While filming was underway, John Belushi would jam with local musicians on stage at the bar located in the Eugene Hotel where cast members were known to be hanging out. Belushi was inspired by the splinter group The Crayhawks, featuring Robert Cray on guitar, Eugene musician Curtis Salgado on harmonica and DK Stewart on piano, to form “The Blues Brothers.” Credit was given to them on national television for having inspired “The Blues Brothers” when Paul Shaeffer introduced Belushi’s new act to the world on Saturday Night Live. Salgado, Cray and Stewart all went on to celebrity careers of their own performing the blues. “The Blues Brothers” debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues is dedicated to Salgado. “Animal House of Blues” tells this story eloquently along with other behind the scenes revelations regarding the making of “Animal House.”
This documentary features two unique performances of LOUIE LOUIE by the Kingsmen. One performance is from a semi-recent concert, and the other is from a special event where the Kingsmen performed with The Cry (a band based in Portland, OR).
You can now purchase a special “Animal House of Blues” DVD CD Book combo, which was released after the big reunion- toga party.
As far as I know, no actual animals were harmed during the making of any of these products.
The houses, on the other hand, are another story entirely..
Reference Links:
Wikipedia – Quantum Leap
Fandom.com – Quantum Leap
Wikipedia – My Name Is Earl
IMDB page – My Name Is Earl
LOUIE road trip (August 2018- part 2)
Animal House of Blues Facebook page
IMDB page – Animal House of Blues
Eugene International Film Festival- Animal House of Blues page
Animal House of Blues DVD CD Book combo link