The Cable Guy

Name: The Cable Guy

Directed by: Ben Stiller

Written by: Lou Holtz, Jr.

Produced by: Judd Apatow Andrew Licht Jeffrey A. Mueller

Executive Producers: Bernie Brillstein Brad Grey Marc Gurvitz

Music by: John Ottman

Cinematography by: Robert Brinkmann

Film Editing by: Steven Weisberg

Production Design by: Sharon Seymour

Studio: Pixar Animation Studios

Producer/Release: 20th Century Fox

Budget: $47 million

Box Office: $102.8 million

Pixar Movie Number: 32

The Cable Guy is a 1996 American satirical comedy thriller film directed by Ben Stiller, starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick.

It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. The film co-stars Leslie Mann, Jack Black, George Segal, Diane Baker, Eric Roberts, Owen Wilson, Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, Andy Dick, Amy Stiller, and Bob Odenkirk.

Plot
After a failed marriage proposal to his girlfriend Robin Harris, Steven M. Kovacs moves into his own apartment. Taking advice from his friend Rick, Steven bribes cable guy, Ernie "Chip" Douglas, to give him free movie channels, which he does. Chip gets Steven to hang out with him the next day and makes him one of his "preferred customers."

Chip takes Steven to the satellite dish responsible for sending out television signals. Steven tells his problems with Robin to Chip, who advises him to admit his faults to Robin and invite her over to watch Sleepless in Seattle. Steven takes Chip's advice, and Robin agrees to watch the movie with him. Chip begins acting more suspiciously, running into Steven and his friends at the gym and leaving several messages on Steven's answering machine. When Robin arrives to watch the movie, the cable is out, due to Chip, who intentionally sabotaged Steven's cable. Chip fixes the cable under the condition that they hang out again, to which Steven agrees.

Chip takes Steven to Medieval Times, where Chip arranges for them to battle in the arena, referencing the Star Trek episode "Amok Time." Chip behaves aggressively, nearly killing Steven, who eventually bests him in combat. When they arrive at Steven's home, Chip reveals that he's installed an expensive home theater system in his living room. Chip and Steven later host a party and with Chip's help, Steven sleeps with Heather, who later Chip reveals is a prostitute and Steven throws Chip out.

Chip tracks down Robin, who is on a date with another man. When the man goes to the bathroom, Chip severely beats him and tells him to stay away from Robin. He later upgrades Robin's cable, saying that it is on Steven and Robin decides to get back together as a result. Steven tells Chip that they cannot be friends, which hurts Chip, which sets Chip on a series of vengeful acts. He gets Steven arrested for possession of stolen property, although Steven is released on bail.

During a dinner with his family and Robin, Steven is horrified to see Chip in attendance. Steven tells him to leave, but Chip tells him to play along or he will show everyone a picture of Steven with the prostitute. The evening goes from bad to worse, with Steven punching Chip after the latter implies he slept with Robin. Steven is fired from his job when Chip sends out a video of Steven insulting his boss that was recorded on a hidden camera in his apartment.

After doing some investigating, Rick tells Steven that Chip has been fired from the cable company for stalking customers, and uses the names of television characters as aliases. Chip calls Steven that night, telling him he is paying Robin a visit. Steven tracks them down to the satellite dish, where Chip holds Robin hostage. After a physical altercation and a chase, Steven is able to save Robin. As the police arrive, Chip goes into a speech on how he was raised by television and apologizes to Steven for being a bad friend. Chip dives into the satellite dish, knocking out the television signal to the entire town, just as the verdict in a highly publicized case involving a case like the "Lyle and Erik Menendez" killing is about to be revealed.

Chip survives the fall, but injures his back. As Steven and Robin reunite, Steven forgives Chip and asks for his real name. Chip jokingly replies "Ricky Ricardo." Chip is later taken to the hospital in a helicopter. When one of the paramedics addresses him as "buddy", Chip asks the paramedic if he is truly his buddy, to which the paramedic replies "Yeah, sure you are", causing Chip to smile deviously.

Voice Cast

 * Jim Carrey as Ernie "Chip" Douglas
 * Matthew Broderick as Steven M. Kovacs
 * Leslie Mann as Robin Harris
 * Jack Black as Rick
 * George Segal as Mr. Kovacs
 * Diane Baker as Mrs. Kovacs
 * Ben Stiller as Sam Sweet / Stan Sweet
 * Eric Roberts as himself
 * Owen Wilson as Robin's date
 * Charles Napier as a police officer
 * Janeane Garofalo as Medieval Times waitress
 * David Cross as the sales manager
 * Andy Dick as Medieval Times host
 * Amy Stiller as Steven's secretary
 * Bob Odenkirk as Steven's brother
 * Kyle Gass as couch potato
 * Allen Covert as himself (uncredited)

Media Release

 * The Cable Guy is available on VHS in December 3, 1996; this DVD is available in September 15, 1997.

Aspect Ratios

 * 2.35:1 (CinemaScope)
 * 1.85:1 (Widescreen and Full Open Matte)

DVD Main Menu

 * Play
 * Scene Index
 * Bonus Features
 * Languages and Subtitles
 * English
 * French
 * Mexican Spanish
 * Brazilian Portuguese
 * Dutch
 * German
 * Italian
 * Hungarian
 * Finnish
 * Danish
 * Norwegian
 * Swedish
 * Polish
 * Czech
 * Slovene
 * Japanese

VHS

 * Volcano Trailer (In Theaters April 1997)
 * Hercules Trailer (In Theaters June 1997)
 * The Hunchback of Notre Dame Trailer (Coming to Video)
 * Titanic Trailer (In Theaters December 1997)
 * The Cable Guy Motion Picture Soundtrack Commercial

DVD

 * Antz Trailer (In Theaters October 1998)
 * The Newton Boys Trailer (In Theaters March 1998)
 * The Mask of Zorro Trailer (In Theaters July 1998)

Quotes

 * The Cable Guy/Quotes