Daily Dialogue — January 6, 2012
Dr. Ray Stantz: Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here.
Walter Peck: They caused an explosion!
Mayor: Is this true?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes it’s true. [pause] This man has no dick.
— Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Walter Peck (William Atherton), Mayor (David Margulies) Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ghost Busters (1984), written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is snappy answers to dumb questions, suggested by Richard who also suggested Ghost Busters.
Trivia: According to Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis in the DVD Commentary, in Dan Aykroyd’s original rough draft of the movie, the story was going to take place in the future and that there would be teams of Ghostbusters like there are paramedics and firefighters (thus explaining basing the Ghostbusters HQ in a firehouse). According to Reitman, such a film would cost “at least $300 million in 1984 dollars”. So Harold Ramis was brought in to rewrite the script and bring it into modern times.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Is there any contemporary actor who can deliver lines like this any better than Bill Murray? Originally the role of Venkman was written with John Belushi in mind. He was one of the great comic actors of his era, but I doubt even Belushi could have given the line “This man has no dick” the same type of detached snark that Murray manages.