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‘Saturday Night Fever’ With Bill Simmons and Jimmy Kimmel

December 7, 2021 · Saturday Night Fever (1977) · Drama · Music · 1:31:46

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 30:20Opening credits, first dance club sequence with Disco Inferno, first coffee scene with Tony and Stephanie
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 30:22Opening credits (extensively discussed), Tony in underwear popping out of bedroom doing Al Pacino impression to grandmother

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 41:34John Travolta — Travolta's solo dance scene (disco 'You Should Be Dancing' scene)
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 44:37Opening credits scene

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 45:08Multiple picks: the soundtrack (Bee Gees songs and other disco tracks), Tony's room with classic movie posters (Serpico, Bruce Lee, Rocky, Farrah Fawcett), Donna Pescow's performance, the iconic white suit poster, Annette and Tony's relationship dynamic, Tony's friend group dynamics, mid-70s distressed New York as movie location, and the Airplane parody scene
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 45:20Agreed on soundtrack (especially Bee Gees songs), Tony's room posters, the realistic friend group dynamics, mid-70s New York setting showing Brooklyn vs Manhattan separation, and added Mad Magazine's Saturday Night Fever parody

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 54:54Sexual assaults, rapes, racism, homophobia, misogyny - plus issues with Karen Lynn Gorney's casting (age gap, poor dancing, bad accent) and the PG version with awkward TV edits
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 54:42The relationship with various women in the movie, the rapes, and random homophobia like the scene harassing gay men under the bridge for no reason

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:50Barry Miller — Barry Miller (who plays the guy who dies at the end, gets his girlfriend pregnant, also in Fame)
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:03:21Robert Costanzo — Robert Costanzo (the customer at the paint store at the beginning)

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:05:09Carrie Fisher — Suggests Carrie Fisher or Fran Drescher for Karen Longoria role
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:05:31Cher

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:05:48Shared extensive trivia including: filmed entirely in Brooklyn, 2001 Odyssey Disco was demolished during filming, production harassment by gangs/mafia, Donna Pescoe's genuine reaction to bridge scene, Travolta's ad-libbed hair line, first mainstream movie to use 'blowjob', Travolta's girlfriend Diana Hyland's influence and death, early Steadicam usage, family members in cast, Bee Gees' career revival, and Karen Gorney's career struggles
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:06:16Provided commentary and follow-up questions throughout, confirming true/false answers, sharing personal filming experiences with union issues, asking about Bee Gees' career timing, and noting Karen Gorney's recent appearance in Clifford movie

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:11John Travolta — Travolta (Grease), Karen Lynn Gorney (yes), Old Brooklyn as pop culture location (Welcome Back Kotter), Brooklyn Bridge (tie with Woody Allen), Disco (yes), John Badham (yes), All the guys in this movie (yes)
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:13:31John Travolta — Travolta (agrees with Grease, specifically one week after it opened), Dysfunctional Italian family dinners (they never go away, always apex)

Picking Nits

Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:03The dance contest should have been better - wanted more from it and it should have been the best scene in the movie with an incredible face-off
Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:44No revenge against the Barracudas - that storyline just goes away, and the police questioning after Bobby's death was unrealistic
Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:47The $500 dance contest prize money amount was questionable - unsure if too much or not enough
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:17:31They screwed up the easy part with the dance contest - Travolta can dance but there's no Rocky moment
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:17:51They should have lost the fight with the Barracudas - winning the fight was the mistake
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:19:08The $500 prize should have been more - it's only $250 split between partners and given the $4 raise was a joke, should have been $1500

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:23:14Discussed seat belt safety issues and three-seat front car design problems
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:23:06No one wears a seat belt ever in this movie

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:25:09John Travolta — John Travolta - acknowledges other possibilities like the Bee Gees and Robert Stigwood, but firmly concludes Travolta wins
Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:25:51John Travolta — John Travolta - agrees with the choice, noting the role seemed written for him and no one else could be imagined in the part

Movies Referenced (30)

Staying Alive (1983)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel▶ 44:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Annie Hall (1977)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel▶ 8:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mean Streets (1973)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 12:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rocky (1976)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel▶ 8:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Carrie (1976)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Grease (1978)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 8:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fargo (1996)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 53:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Goodbye Girl (1977)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel▶ 24:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

A Special Day (1977)

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 24:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

All the Right Moves (1983)

1 mentions · Jimmy Kimmel▶ 1:20:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chinatown (1974)

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 41:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinderella (2015)

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 26:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (5)

Woody Allen

5 mentions · Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Simmons · Known for Annie Hall, Deconstructing Harry▶ 23:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Badham

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for WarGames, Short Circuit, Saturday Night Fever▶ 1:00:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dead or Alive

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The A-Team▶ 45:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Martin Scorsese

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Taxi Driver, Killers of the Flower Moon, Mean Streets▶ 12:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tony Scott

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Unstoppable, True Romance▶ 1:31:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (45)

Fran Drescher

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel · Known for Hotel Transylvania▶ 20:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Travolta

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel · Known for Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Saturday Night Fever▶ 2:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Karen Lynn Gorney

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel · Known for Clifford the Big Red Dog▶ 7:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Bee Gees

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel · Known for Ready Player One, Virtuosity▶ 3:22IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Al Pacino

6 mentions · Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Simmons · Known for Dog Day Afternoon, The Godfather▶ 32:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Donna Pescow

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel · Known for Saturday Night Fever▶ 22:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sammy Davis Jr.

5 mentions · Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Simmons▶ 9:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Carrie Fisher

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi▶ 1:00:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Denny Dillon

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 35:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ellen Travolta

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Grease▶ 1:08:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Farrah Fawcett

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel · Known for Logan's Run▶ 18:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fifth Harmony

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for How to Be Single▶ 46:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (4)

Attica Locke

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Jimmy Kimmel▶ 37:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 14:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

David Shire

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Zodiac, Short Circuit▶ 46:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jeffrey Katzenberg

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Shrek, Just Like Heaven▶ 1:01:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗