Bill Murray vs. Dan Ackroyd

Aykroyd should've been the Canadian-American Peter Sellers (but with fewer heart attacks, drug problems and wives, I guess). He seems content though.

Aykroyd vs Scorsese in the battle of permanently misspelled names

I'm not exactly a worshipper at either's altar, but that whack-ass Blues Brothers version of "Soul Man" is an automatic half a letter grade off from the start.

Ackroyd as Ray Stanz was all time mostly because of how he played him as an obsessed hobbyist that can't fathom why everybody isn't as fascinated as him about certain things. I liked him in Grosse Pointe Blank. Blues Brothers the movie was funny. pretty much every movie since Grosse Point Blank blurs into one 70 hour long megamovie that I can't remember.

Murray I enjoyed in a lot more, but you have indicated it's not about the size of the body of work. I just find his default to be funnier than Ackroyd. i haven't liked him in much in years.

in conclusion I vote....uh...who were we talking about again

and I fucked his name up too so FP ME NOW!!!

The range of Aykroyd's SNL sketch performances in '75-79 blew the rest of the original cast away, Murray included.

I've seen some of them but admittedly, not a lot. I bought my family SNL DVDs from those years but never got around to watching them myself.

but...then again, I was born in 1980 and consumed must entertainment in late 80s/90s by the time I knew who he was, so he was kind of a has-been by the time I got into him.

I think we can agree that people who called Bill "The Murray" should be eaten by wolves

I'm gonna assume Ray Stanz is the name of Dan's Ghostbusters character, the creation of which -- a mediocrity whose blockbuster success helped speed the death of American film comedy -- is the biggest blot on his resume.

(it's OK, I bet you don't know who Irwin Mainway was)

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMiNQifZcM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-68iTvhWNB0

the toy sketch is likely D.A. and Michael O'Donoghue's work, the Carter seems like Franken & Davis

Morbs otm. Ackroyd sort of went to seed after, but in that initial run, he was perfect

Morbs not otm. Ghostbusters is Ackroyd at his best, after which he went soft because Ray Stanz is a softie; it's got nothing to do with his performance in that film.

He's fine in Driving Ms Daisy and Grosse Pointe Blank, the latter his last sharp performance.

I am otm. How many DA sketches from Studio 8H have you seen, Alfred? The best fictive Nixon with the possible exception of Jason Robards.

literally everyone misspelling, but you won't break me

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/e-buzz-millers-art-classics/n8656

I've seen some of those perfs, yeah, and I'm not disagreeing with them. I disagree with this sentimental cry:

I'm gonna assume Ray Stanz is the name of Dan's Ghostbusters character, the creation of which -- a mediocrity whose blockbuster success helped speed the death of American film comedy -- is the biggest blot on his resume.

The thing with Ghostbusters is it's hipper, faster, loopier, and weirder than its imitators because uh Aykroyd co-wrote the script.

He's fine in Driving Ms Daisy and Grosse Pointe Blank, the latter his last sharp performance.

I want to say Aykroyd was good in ... The House of Mirth?

he also co-wrote The Blues Bros movie w/ Landis, also a lesser achievement

pure genius at 2-6 minutes

I want to say Aykroyd was good in ... The House of Mirth?

― Josh in Chicago,

I admire that movie but to look at him as Rosedale is to think, "Hey! What's Dan Aykroyd doing in The House of Mirth?!"

Reminds me of Jack Lemmon as a guard in the Branagh Hamlet.

er, Trenor

Aykroyd was, indeed, really good during his SNL years. But god he made a few terrible movies early on, when I was young enough and close enough to SNL that I'd see them. And surely he never did anything that approached Murray's work in Rushmore, Lost in Translation, Tootsie, and (minus, if that bothers you, all pretensions to being a serious actor) Stripes.

where does dennis perrin stand

Trading Places > Stripes

good canadian tell from ackroyd in trading places: 'do you know where i've bean?'

As you know, mook, DP is the biographer of SNL's first notorious writer. He admires both Aykroyd and Murray enormously.

fight pop was good

Too young to have seen Bill Murray doing anything but his Bill Murray impression or Dan Aykroyd (thanks Morbs!) do, to the best of my knowledge, anything at all.

that’s why i asked!

I have surprisingly little attachment to Aykroyd for someone who grew up on 80s comedy. Only seen a few of his SNL sketches (including, I think the Consumer Probe one linked upthread; its not viewable here) and have still never seen The Blues Brothers.

Aykroyd is good as Seymour Heller in Behind the Candelabra

Coneheads > Ghostbusters

Trading Places better than anything I've seen BM in personally, not that I don't like most his movies. I do like Stripes. Going with DA for sure here.

adore Bill with the exception of that ghastly trash Lost in Translation

aykroyd is as incomplete as most celebrated snl grads, good enough for a house party skit but kinda lazy about the edges imo

when hes not doing his fifties hardman rapid talking, hes a poor enough performer.

sometimes when he is, hes still poor enough.

stantz by sone distance his best stuff rly

murray is a better one-trick pony, hes better at his trick, its a better trick, his trick is reasonable rare

Good post

no!

im just glad we are having a robust debate tbh

Invite darraghmac to Manhattan for Lord Sotosyn-Morbs fap.

ha im not reffing nothing between youse biyiz

From memory, at least, I don't recall Murray being in as many outright/notoriously shitty movies as Aykroyd. Doctor Detroit, Nothing But Trouble, Exit to Eden, etc., those kinds of movies, But I imagine that has more to do with having a bad agent, or, vs. Murray, having an agent at all (or however Murray works). I'm sure had Murray been more conventional in his role-picking he'd have made just as many cash-in stinkers as Aykroyd or Chase or whomever.

Trading Places > Stripes

otm, though both follow mostly funny set-ups with really stupid finales. I love Trading Places, I hate all the shit on the train. I love Stripes, but I hate all the action movie shit at the end.

Aykroyd had his moments (a high school reunion sketch with Curtin comes immediately to mind) but deems kinda otm in his exegetic post.

Dan might've been better served with the SCTV crew.

I hate all the shit on the train.

noooo Gleason "I'll rip out your eyes and piss on your brain."

I love Stripes, but I hate all the action movie shit at the end.

Yeah I think this is agreed by most.

Whenever I watch Aykroyd on SNL, my takeaway is always that he's talented but really only within a limited range. The fact that he's in any way A Name can, I think, be largely chalked up to the luck of having been part of that inaugural cast. He's kind of a '70s Lovitz.

Stripes is a terrible movie

Stripes is half of a good movie (she says as that as someone who watched it once a week on HBO in high school).

Hates Stripes but can’t remember if it is as bad as (warning, slight derail ahead) Fletch.

oof fletch

lmao @ morbs's wholly unconvincing "I'm gonna assume Ray Stanz is the name of Dan's Ghostbusters character, I don't even own a TV, and I hope our team wins at sportsball!"

"He's kind of a '70s Lovitz"

*slap with glove*

Agree that the last half-hour of Stripes isn't much, but couldn't disagree more about the first half--love it, and not just because of Murray. I never went back to Trading Places a second time, so this is a 40-year-old reaction, but I thought it was supremely dumb at the time (and--I can barely bring myself to admit to having seen it--Doctor Detroit considerably worse).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDM0wT2-oAk

I own a TV, I can't afford reception/cable

I was out of college when Ghostbusters was released, I saw it once, expand yr mind

Stripes is two halves of a terrible movie that was so terrible I couldn’t believe how terrible it was

You don't own any Tito Puente albums, that's obviously the problem.

Trading Places is a much better movie than Stripes

Is that clip supposed to be... pro-Stripes?

My favorite SNL thing of Aykroyd's was always "Ask President Carter". He did the fast-talking huckster routine a lot but I always thought he was way funnier when performing exaggerated sincerity/mastery.

"Just remember you’re a living organism on this planet, and you’re very safe, just mellow out the best you can.”

I suspect P.J. Soles doesn't carry a lot of weight in this argument, either. I always thought Stripes was an automatic in the dumb-movies-you-have-lots-of-affection-for category, but evidently not.

But Warren Oates, though.

Feel like if you're making an argument in favor of a '70s SNL-er it's probably best to not bring up their impersonations.

or any of their work, really

Jimmy Carter didnt have a mustache?

xpost Trading Places starts out as a sharp(-ish) social satire, with good acting and characters, but then ends with a whole bunch of (imo not funny) costumed hamming shenanigans, and not just a guy in a gorilla suit but a gag about him being raped by a real gorilla. That's just so tacky (though very much of its time).

There are so many low-key gags I love in "Stripes," like the basketball through the window at the start, or the whole recruiting office scene. The Murray/Ramis dynamic really sets the stage for Ghostbusters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR9HuRUUTbs

"Would they send us someplace special?"--I love that scene.

I checked back on the comedy poll a few years back (good luck opening the thread--took me four tries and 10 minutes). Trading Places got 9 votes, finished in the #80s; Stripes got 5 (one from me, of course), finished around #130.

TP is less "sharp" social satire than "extremely broad" social satire

(also "whiskered" social satire, as an opposite in a slightly difft direction: it's a cartoon reboot of a very Twainish concept)

"Just remember you’re a living organism on this planet, and you’re very safe, just mellow out the best you can.”

Invite darraghmac to Manhattan for Lord Sotosyn-Morbs fap.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, January 30, 2020 7:23 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm not sure how much of NYC would be left standing, but I wanna watch that.

I say Bill Murray, but then I liked The Life Aquatic and The Limits of Control.

Phil Hartman was a much better SNL "glue guy" than Aykroyd and Bill Hader surpasses him as both an actor and impressions guy. Nixon with a mustache lol.

Jimmy Carter didnt have a mustache?

Nixon with a mustache lol.

fp x 2

hey Chevy didnt look like Ford

my point about Ghostbusters destroying comedy proved QED

btw Aykroyd IS a numbingly dorky paranormal nerd, he was playing himself in that movie

Ghostbusters is an entertaining movie with a bizarrely toxic fandom. There are too few good comedies being made to meet the demand for cultural content so the popular ones are getting increasingly cannibalized.

Of course Dan Aykroyd has been in some good films, but I have never once watched him and thought he either performed particularly well or was even particularly funny. He hasn't done much of note in the last 30 years, that's a long time.

yes, his film career has mostly been shit

like John Candy's

Aykroyd's fast-talking Army sergeant in Spielberg's "1941" has always been a favorite of mine.

What? Really?

The 1984 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 14, 1984, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1983, to May 2, 1984. The show was hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

I am otm.

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 30 January 2020 03:02 (twelve hours ago) link

so good

xpost Trying to think of equivalent 2020 hosts. Maybe like Ben Stiller and Sheryl Crow?

john candy is chevy chase bad, aykroyd is at least two levels above that (the intra-level is ooooh steve martin, say)

lol what

Aykroyd was surprisingly good in Behind the Candleabra -- I didn't even realize it was him until the end credits. But it was evidently a fluke, as his turn in Get On Up was clumsy and half-assed.

hes as good in tommy boy as anything else tbrr

Trading Places was better than Stripes, but Murray was funnier in the latter than Aykroyd was in the former. And Eddie Murphy was funnier than both.

deems, you just had to keep swinging until your ball wound up in the challopstrap, didn't u

Murray, and it isn't even remotely close

I think you all are failing to factor in Crystal Head Vodka:
https://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/smallbusiness/1105/gallery.celebrity_entrepreneurs_secret/images/da-aykroyd.jpg

always be asking:

is this trolling? am i being trolled?

if i am shitting on a beloved snl alumni then the answer is no you are not being trolled

probably

Here's the proper ranking btw:

Murray
Martin
…
…
…
erryone else being discussed itt

Like even if we're limiting discussion to the OG SNL cast (and perhaps even including honorary members like Steve Martin) I'd still say that even, like, Larraine Newman is a whole lot better than Aykroyd imo.

OL otm

(well, maybe not about Newman)

looks like it’s been well-covered itt but Ackroyd was clutch on early SNL, and has had some p great comic film performances (Gbusters, Trading Places, GPB), but gotta go w Murray.

I’ll allow the Cult of Murray in this century is kind of a boring ass dude thing.

Really, the ladies collectively kinda left the dudes in the dust.

max troll w/ Laraine, OL (who was fine but seldom got top material)

let's throw in the Kids in the Hall as long as we're trashing the greats of sketch TV

Would never trash the Kids, they are roughly 712% better than '75-'80 SNL.

I can't believe the thread is this long and no one's mentioned Nothing But Trouble, a masterpiece of comic timing and use of costumes.

https://orig00.deviantart.net/b4b9/f/2010/220/2/4/doctor_detroit_gif_by_polkashark.gif

hypnotic

Invite darraghmac to Manhattan for Lord Sotosyn-Morbs fap.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, January 30, 2020 7:23 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm not sure how much of NYC would be left standing, but I wanna watch that.

table for three, cocktails all night, everybody leaves tipsy but unruffled

I’ll allow the Cult of Murray in this century is kind of a boring ass dude thing.

― A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Chooglin (will), Thursday, January 30, 2020 4:05 PM (seventeen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

def not a dude exclusive thing at all in my experience. the only ppl i knew irl like this were women.

ha, was going to say exactly that!

I think you all are failing to factor in Crystal Head Vodka

my 1st thought, as a dilettante/non-film-watcher/person who likes to feel "in" on the jokes in Wes Anderson films, was Murray, but over xmas...

1. someone gave us a bottle of Crystal Head Vodka, p. drinkable, bottle looks quite cool (so tacky it's kinda good or just tacky? I mean probably the latter really but I'm tacky too so I'm going to put a plant or some fairy lights or something in it when it's done)
2. we watched Caddyshack and winced and prayed for death through the entire Murray gopher routine and most of the 2nd half tbh

so on the strength of my most recent encounters with each, maybe Aykroyd after all

Ackroyd was absolutely the glue that held the original SNL together to say that Murray was on his level of importance to the show is hogwash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSxv6IGBgFQ

Nothing But Trouble is a masterpiece of ugly.

And dick noses.

I can't believe the thread is this long and no one's mentioned /Nothing But Trouble/, a masterpiece of comic timing and use of costumes.

Correct answer is Chevy Chase

Bob Hope

Well yeah

Neither of these lads are very funny

I will never ever understand why anybody thinks Ghostbusters is a comedy or a film of any merit tbh

Bruce Dern in The Burbs is funnier than either of these cunts

Tell'em about the Twinkie.

"memoirs... by Richard Nixon... Nineteen dollars and 95 cents..."

Eric Idle of Monty Python said that Aykroyd's ability to write and act out characters flawlessly made him the only member of the SNL cast capable of being a Python.

yeah, go 'head

it's sort of rare to care too much, or even have seen that much, of 70s snl if you're not a boomer/boomer light (gen xer), so hard to answer this in a way which would be acceptable to morbius. judging purely on their filmography this is bill murray by a country-mile.

eric idle habitually full of shite tbf

^^^

imo aykroyd was much funnier on SNL 45 years ago but no question that Bill Murray is funnier overall, as much as I want to roll my eyes at the bacon/zombie ppl who boringly stan for him today

i feel your roll

judging Aykroyd by his filmography is like judging Buster Keaton by his TV appearances

adieu

cool, will just judge him by his discography then

Vodkagraphy

https://img.discogs.com/T5OUl_W13tXRNiBm-nZT6tWeXxY=/fit-in/562x559/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1800358-1244172660.jpeg.jpg

vs.

https://img.discogs.com/iXMGiG9l-SFjcLx8nG0W51ARrJ0=/fit-in/600x542/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-10941576-1506899964-3358.jpeg.jpg

I am imagining Aykroyd showing up at a bar/wedding to ironically serve drinks like Murray does these days and everyone giving him the bum's rush.

these days I imagine Aykroyd unironically serving drinks

frederik b. godt (jim in vancouver) at 11:53 30 Jan 20

judging purely on their filmography this is bill murray by a country-mile.


∆∆∆ I would agree w this, but I think it gets ppl to overrate him on SNL because of his post career

i agree with morbs. i'm not even a huge SNL fan but aykroyd was the most talented member of the original cast by some distance, consistently funny even when the material wasn't that great. i think his mostly disappointing movie career has overshadowed that, unfortunately. (admittedly i find the "fifties hardman rapid talking" thing to be pretty funny.) the comparison with sellers is a good one; it's hard to imagine aykroyd doing something like dr strangelove or being there but those performances probably would've been unimaginable to someone hearing sellers do his wacky voices on the goon show. aykroyd just doesn't seem to have gotten much of an opportunity to stretch his talents since SNL.

i agree with morbs. i'm not even a huge SNL fan but aykroyd was the most talented member of the original cast by some distance, consistently funny even when the material wasn't that great.

gilda radner?

she was great too!

Anyone who hasn't watched the Mike Nichols-helmed concert film Gilda Live recently, or ever, needs to fix that right now.

It wasn't a concert exactly, but a solo Broadway show (also directed by Nichols).

what's gonna be funny is when someone tries to find the Murray vs Aykroyd thread in 5 years and can't find it cos none of us but Morbs know how to spell it so they inadvertently create this thread again and we do this all over again from square one, only now Bill Murray has been in new Wes Anderson films where he plays an aging community theater producer and a door to door vacuum salesman.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

cinderella story, i guess

Dan Sunkroyd

morelike daaaamn aykroyd u took a beating

dan awkroyd amirite

da nocred