Daily Dialogue — January 5, 2015

Brian Fantana: I am… [sings] hung-over.
Champ Kind: Tell me about it, this morning, I woke up and I shit a squirrel, but what I can’t get is the damn thing is still alive. So now, I’ve got a shit covered squirrel running around my office and I don’t know what to name it.
Brick Tamland: Oh, I’m sorry, Champ. I think I ate your chocolate squirrel.

— Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), written by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Hangover.

Trivia: Adam McKay has said that in the first draft of the script, the story was about a planeload of news anchors who crash in the mountains and discover that the plane which they collided was carrying monkeys and martial arts equipment, leading to a battle between cannibalistic newsmen and star-throwing monkeys.

Dialogue On Dialogue: There are a surprising number of notable hangover scenes in movies, often leading to some very funny moments as here. My guess is the whole squirrel thing was improvised. From a writing standpoint, when a character is hung over, their defenses are down, so some surprising things can emerge via dialogue.

If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please post in comments — and thanks!