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** If the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' novel "[[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_Exodus Alien Exodus]]" had been published, it would've been CanonWelding of the highest order- a descendant of Curtis Henderson, Dale Hender, and a couple of allies would've escaped Earth as it was being taken over by computers (leading to what occurred in ''Film/THX1138''- Hender was to be the first of the THX series), only to fall into a hyperspace disturbance, into the ''Star Wars'' galaxy and onto what would eventually become Corellia (briefly facing a beat from ''Film/{{Willow}}'' as well). A further story then detailed how Dale's descendant, Cosmo Hender, eventually became the first of the Skywalkers.
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YMMV


* RetroactiveRecognition: For a big chunk of the cast.

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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.

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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: WhatCouldHaveBeen:
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Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.


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** Lucas wanted a few Elvis Presley songs, but with the soundtrack being absurdly expensive right from the start, they were the first on the list to go.
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** AFIS100Years100Movies10ThAnniversaryEdition: #62

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** AFIS100Years100Movies10ThAnniversaryEdition: AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #62
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* WagTheDirector: Creator/HarrisonFord refused to cut his hair in a 1950s style, so as a compromise he was allowed to wear a cowboy hat.



** Budgetary reasons meant that Creator/GeorgeLucas to drop the opening scene, in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist.

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** Budgetary reasons meant that Creator/GeorgeLucas to drop the opening scene, in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist.exist.
* WriteWhatYouKnow: The film was inspired by Creator/GeorgeLucas' teenage years.

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* CreatorCameo: When Wolfman Jack makes an on-air prank call to Pinky's Pizza, the voice on the other end belongs to Creator/GeorgeLucas.



* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Universal thought so little of the film (not knowing how to market it, and certain that as it had no stars it would flop), that it sat on the shelf for six months before the studio finally decided to release it. To their great surprise, it became enormously successful at the box-office.

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* ItWillNeverCatchOn: ItWillNeverCatchOn:
**
Universal thought so little of the film (not knowing how to market it, and certain that as it had no stars it would flop), that it sat on the shelf for six months before the studio finally decided to release it. To their great surprise, it became enormously successful at the box-office.box-office.
** Creator/RichardDreyfuss thought at the time that this was just another film.
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** And when the film was screened for a test audience, Universal Studios representative Ned Tanen told Lucas the film was unreleaseable, prompting an outraged Creator/FrancisFordCoppola (the film's producer) to offer to buy the film from Universal and release it himself while Lucas, burned out from the chaotic film shoot, could only watch in shock. Instead, Universal offered a compromise whereby they could suggest modifications to the film before release. It was not until 1978, after the success of ''Franchise/Star Wars'', that Lucas was able to re-edit and release the film as he originally intended.

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** And when the film was screened for a test audience, Universal Studios representative Ned Tanen told Lucas the film was unreleaseable, prompting an outraged Creator/FrancisFordCoppola (the film's producer) to offer to buy the film from Universal and release it himself while Lucas, burned out from the chaotic film shoot, could only watch in shock. Instead, Universal offered a compromise whereby they could suggest modifications to the film before release. It was not until 1978, after the success of ''Franchise/Star Wars'', ''Film/StarWars'', that Lucas was able to re-edit and release the film as he originally intended.
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** And when the film was screened for a test audience, Universal Studios representative Ned Tanen told Lucas the film was unreleaseable, prompting an outraged Creator/FrancisFordCoppola (the film's producer) to offer to buy the film from Universal and release it himself while Lucas, burned out from the chaotic film shoot, could only watch in shock. Instead, Universal offered a compromise whereby they could suggest modifications to the film before release. It was not until 1978, after the success of ''Film/Star Wars'', that Lucas was able to re-edit and release the film as he originally intended.

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** And when the film was screened for a test audience, Universal Studios representative Ned Tanen told Lucas the film was unreleaseable, prompting an outraged Creator/FrancisFordCoppola (the film's producer) to offer to buy the film from Universal and release it himself while Lucas, burned out from the chaotic film shoot, could only watch in shock. Instead, Universal offered a compromise whereby they could suggest modifications to the film before release. It was not until 1978, after the success of ''Film/Star ''Franchise/Star Wars'', that Lucas was able to re-edit and release the film as he originally intended.
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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.

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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.movie.
** Budgetary reasons meant that Creator/GeorgeLucas to drop the opening scene, in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist.
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* CreatorCameo: When Wolfman Jack makes an on-air prank call to Pinky's Pizza, the voice on the other end belongs to Creator/GeorgeLucas.
* DawsonCasting: Charles Martin Smith (18) and Creator/RonHoward (18) were the only two real teenage principal actors of the film. Most of the remaining principal cast members were in their 20s with the exceptions of the 12-year-old Mackenzie Phillips, and Creator/HarrisonFord, who turned 30 during filming.


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* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Universal thought so little of the film (not knowing how to market it, and certain that as it had no stars it would flop), that it sat on the shelf for six months before the studio finally decided to release it. To their great surprise, it became enormously successful at the box-office.


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** When John and Carol are sitting at the red light, a car full of girls pulls up next to them. One of the girls throws a water balloon through the window and it hits Carol. It was scripted to hit the side window and drench Phillips' face, who was then supposed to act really angry. However, she was accidentally hit square in the face and unable to refrain from laughing. Still, she kept going, ad-libbed through the scene and Creator/GeorgeLucas kept it, as he did with many presumably garbled first takes in this movie.
** Wolfman Jack's line, "Sticky little mothers, ain't they," when shaking Creator/RichardDreyfuss's hand, was improvised.
** The scene after the drag race in which John admits to Terry that he was losing when Falfa's car lost control and rolled was improvised by Paul Le Mat and Charles Martin Smith. They had not had time to prepare for that scene, as it had been scheduled to be shot at another time.

* TroubledProduction: Although the shoot finished on time and on budget, it was no small miracle that it managed to do so:
** The day before shooting was due to begin, a key crew member was arrested for growing marijuana, and setting the cameras up for location shooting on the first day took so long that they did not start shooting until 2am, putting them half a night behind before a single scene had been shot.
** After a single night of outdoor filming in San Rafael, the city revoked their filming permit after a local bar owner complained that the road closures were costing him business, forcing them to move filming twenty miles away to Petaluma. On the second night, a local restaurant caught fire, and the noise of the fire engine sirens and the resulting traffic jams made filming impossible.
** Inevitably for a film featuring so many driving scenes, the cars and equipment required to film them in motion seldom behaved as planned. An assistant cameraman was run over after he fell off the back of the camera truck during filming of a road scene, while filming of the climactic drag race was hampered when one of the cars broke an axle, then broke the replacement axle, and then nearly ran over two cameramen lying in the road to film its approach.
** Among non-technical problems, Paul LeMat had to be rushed to hospital after suffering a walnut allergy flare-up, Creator/RichardDreyfuss had his forehead gashed after LeMat threw him into a swimming pool the day before his closeups were to be filmed, Le Mat, Ford, and Bo Hopkins were claimed (according to a biography on Lucas with no source citations) to be drunk most nights and every weekend, and had conducted climbing competitions to the top of the local Holiday Inn sign and one actor set fire to Lucas' motel room.
** And when the film was screened for a test audience, Universal Studios representative Ned Tanen told Lucas the film was unreleaseable, prompting an outraged Creator/FrancisFordCoppola (the film's producer) to offer to buy the film from Universal and release it himself while Lucas, burned out from the chaotic film shoot, could only watch in shock. Instead, Universal offered a compromise whereby they could suggest modifications to the film before release. It was not until 1978, after the success of ''Film/Star Wars'', that Lucas was able to re-edit and release the film as he originally intended.
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* NamesTheSame: The leader of the Pharoahs shares the same name with a [[{{Film/MightyJoeYoung}} giant gorilla]].
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* StarMakingRole: For Richard Dreyfuss. Also the first significant non-child role for Creator/RonHoward.
* TakeThat: is the result of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola stating that Creator/GeorgeLucas couldn't do a simple mainstream movie when Lucas was making ''Film/THX1138''.

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* StarMakingRole: For Richard Dreyfuss.Creator/RichardDreyfuss. Also the first significant non-child role for Creator/RonHoward.
* TakeThat: is Is the result of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola stating that Creator/GeorgeLucas couldn't do a simple mainstream movie when Lucas was making ''Film/THX1138''.



* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.

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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.
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Please no Troper Tales. That is any edits with "I" or "me"in them. They are against the rules


** not sure about the above, but according to an OzComicCon panel I personally attended with Creator/RobertEnglund, he was auditioning for a role in ApocalypseNow (which he didn't get), when they suggested he walk across the hall for another, on-the-spot audition - Englund was in as soon as they mentioned 'George Lucas', because he and his best friend were both huge fans because of American Graffiti. He took the sides home and gave them to said best friend, who called up his agent as soon as Englund said the words 'George Lucas' (for the same reason). Englund didn't get Han Solo, but Mark Hamill was a lot more successful with his audition for StarWars.
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** not sure about the above, but according to an OzComicCon panel with Creator/RobertEnglund, he was auditioning for a role in Apocalypse Now (which he didn't get), when they suggested he walking across the hall for another audition - Englund was in as soon as they mentioned 'George Lucas', because he and his best friend were both huge fans due to American Graffiti. He took the sides home and gave them to said best friend, who called up his agent as soon as Englund said the words 'George Lucas' (for the same reason). Englund didn't get Han Solo, but Mark Hamill was a lot more successful with his audition for Star Wars.

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** not sure about the above, but according to an OzComicCon panel I personally attended with Creator/RobertEnglund, he was auditioning for a role in Apocalypse Now ApocalypseNow (which he didn't get), when they suggested he walking walk across the hall for another another, on-the-spot audition - Englund was in as soon as they mentioned 'George Lucas', because he and his best friend were both huge fans due to because of American Graffiti. He took the sides home and gave them to said best friend, who called up his agent as soon as Englund said the words 'George Lucas' (for the same reason). Englund didn't get Han Solo, but Mark Hamill was a lot more successful with his audition for Star Wars.StarWars.
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** not sure about the above, but according to an OzComicCon panel with Creator/Robert Englund, he was auditioning for a role in Apocalypse Now (which he didn't get), when they suggested he walking across the hall for another audition - Englund was in as soon as they mentioned 'George Lucas', because he and his best friend were both huge fans due to American Graffiti. He took the sides home and gave them to said best friend, who called up his agent as soon as Englund said the words 'George Lucas' (for the same reason). Englund didn't get Han Solo, but Mark Hamill was a lot more successful with his audition for Star Wars.

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** not sure about the above, but according to an OzComicCon panel with Creator/Robert Englund, Creator/RobertEnglund, he was auditioning for a role in Apocalypse Now (which he didn't get), when they suggested he walking across the hall for another audition - Englund was in as soon as they mentioned 'George Lucas', because he and his best friend were both huge fans due to American Graffiti. He took the sides home and gave them to said best friend, who called up his agent as soon as Englund said the words 'George Lucas' (for the same reason). Englund didn't get Han Solo, but Mark Hamill was a lot more successful with his audition for Star Wars.
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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.

to:

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.movie.
**not sure about the above, but according to an OzComicCon panel with Creator/Robert Englund, he was auditioning for a role in Apocalypse Now (which he didn't get), when they suggested he walking across the hall for another audition - Englund was in as soon as they mentioned 'George Lucas', because he and his best friend were both huge fans due to American Graffiti. He took the sides home and gave them to said best friend, who called up his agent as soon as Englund said the words 'George Lucas' (for the same reason). Englund didn't get Han Solo, but Mark Hamill was a lot more successful with his audition for Star Wars.
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* ThrowItIn: Toad crashing his moped into the trash can during the opening credits was an actual, unscripted accident.

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* ThrowItIn: Toad crashing his moped into the trash can during the opening credits was an actual, unscripted accident.accident.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Apparently, Creator/MarkHamill auditioned for a role in this movie.
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* ExecutiveMeddling / ReCut: Universal trimmed four minutes from the film for its initial release. When it was re-released to theaters in 1978, following the success of ''Star Wars'' and Lucas' resulting clout, the cut scenes (including Toad dealing with a [[HonestJohnsDealership fast-talking car salesman]] and Bob Falfa serenading Laurie with "[[SouthPacific Some Enchanted Evening]]") were put back in. Producer Coppola openly sympathized with Lucas over the matter, as he himself also dealt with executive meddling while shooting ''Film/TheGodfather''.

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* ExecutiveMeddling / ReCut: Universal trimmed four minutes from the film for its initial release. When it was re-released to theaters in 1978, following the success of ''Star Wars'' and Lucas' resulting clout, the cut scenes (including Toad dealing with a [[HonestJohnsDealership fast-talking car salesman]] and Bob Falfa serenading Laurie with "[[SouthPacific "[[Theatre/SouthPacific Some Enchanted Evening]]") were put back in. Producer Coppola openly sympathized with Lucas over the matter, as he himself also dealt with executive meddling while shooting ''Film/TheGodfather''.

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moved Merch from main


* NiceHat: Bob Falfa's cowboy hat exists because HarrisonFord refused to get a period-appropriate haircut and consequently be sidelined from working in other projects while waiting for it to grow back out.

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* TheMerch: There's a line of ''American Graffiti'' die-cast model cars. Selections include a [[TheEighties Dodge Aries]].
* NiceHat: Bob Falfa's cowboy hat exists because HarrisonFord Creator/HarrisonFord refused to get a period-appropriate haircut and consequently be sidelined from working in other projects while waiting for it to grow back out.
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* NiceHat: Bob Falfa's cowboy hat exists because HarrisonFord refused to get a period-appropriate haircut and consequently be sidelined from working in other projects while waiting for it to grow back out.
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* TakeThat: is the result of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola stating that Creator/GeorgeLucas couldn't do a simple mainstream movie when Lucas was making ''Film/THX1138''.
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* ThrowItIn: The part in the beginning where Terry crashes his moped into the trash can was unscripted and was left in.

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* ThrowItIn: The part in the beginning where Terry crashes Toad crashing his moped into the trash can during the opening credits was an actual, unscripted and was left in.accident.
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* AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #77
** AFIS100Years100Laughs: #43
** AFIS100Years100Movies10ThAnniversaryEdition: #62
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* BreakthroughHit: The film was a critical and commercial success and established Creator/GeorgeLucas as a film powerhouse. However, most people know him more for the later ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies instead (despite Lucas not expecting it to be better-known).
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* RetroactiveRecognition: For a big chunk of the cast.
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None

Added DiffLines:

* ExecutiveMeddling / ReCut: Universal trimmed four minutes from the film for its initial release. When it was re-released to theaters in 1978, following the success of ''Star Wars'' and Lucas' resulting clout, the cut scenes (including Toad dealing with a [[HonestJohnsDealership fast-talking car salesman]] and Bob Falfa serenading Laurie with "[[SouthPacific Some Enchanted Evening]]") were put back in. Producer Coppola openly sympathized with Lucas over the matter, as he himself also dealt with executive meddling while shooting ''Film/TheGodfather''.
* StarMakingRole: For Richard Dreyfuss. Also the first significant non-child role for Creator/RonHoward.
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* HeyItsThatGuy: Let's see, [[HappyDays Richie Cunningham]]'s in it. And [[Film/{{Jaws}} Matt Hooper]]. And [[MelvinAndHoward Melvin Dummar]]. And [[Film/TheUntouchables Oscar Wallace]]. And [[LaverneAndShirley Shirley Feeney]]. And [[OneDayAtATime Julie Cooper]]. And [[{{Dynasty}} Matthew Blaisdel]]. And [[ThreesCompany Chrissy Snow]]. And IndianaJones / [[StarWars Han Solo]].
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* HeyItsThatGuy: Let's see, [[HappyDays Richie Cunningham]]'s in it. And [[Film/{{Jaws}} Matt Hooper]]. And [[MelvinAndHoward Melvin Dummar]]. And [[TheUntouchables Oscar Wallace]]. And [[LaverneAndShirley Shirley Feeney]]. And [[OneDayAtATime Julie Cooper]]. And [[{{Dynasty}} Matthew Blaisdel]]. And [[ThreesCompany Chrissy Snow]]. And IndianaJones / [[StarWars Han Solo]].

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* HeyItsThatGuy: Let's see, [[HappyDays Richie Cunningham]]'s in it. And [[Film/{{Jaws}} Matt Hooper]]. And [[MelvinAndHoward Melvin Dummar]]. And [[TheUntouchables [[Film/TheUntouchables Oscar Wallace]]. And [[LaverneAndShirley Shirley Feeney]]. And [[OneDayAtATime Julie Cooper]]. And [[{{Dynasty}} Matthew Blaisdel]]. And [[ThreesCompany Chrissy Snow]]. And IndianaJones / [[StarWars Han Solo]].
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* HeyItsThatGuy: Let's see, [[HappyDays Richie Cunningham]]'s in it. And [[Film/{{Jaws}} Matt Hooper]]. And [[MelvinAndHoward Melvin Dummar]]. And [[TheUntouchables Oscar Wallace]]. And [[LaverneAndShirley Shirley Feeney]]. And [[OneDayAtATime Julie Cooper]]. And [[{{Dynasty}} Matthew Blaisdel]]. And [[ThreesCompany Chrissy Snow]]. And IndianaJones / [[StarWars Han Solo]].

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* HeyItsThatGuy: Let's see, [[HappyDays Richie Cunningham]]'s in it. And [[Film/{{Jaws}} Matt Hooper]]. And [[MelvinAndHoward Melvin Dummar]]. And [[TheUntouchables Oscar Wallace]]. And [[LaverneAndShirley Shirley Feeney]]. And [[OneDayAtATime Julie Cooper]]. And [[{{Dynasty}} Matthew Blaisdel]]. And [[ThreesCompany Chrissy Snow]]. And IndianaJones / [[StarWars Han Solo]].Solo]].
* ThrowItIn: The part in the beginning where Terry crashes his moped into the trash can was unscripted and was left in.

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* HeyItsThatGuy: Let's see, [[HappyDays Richie Cunningham]]'s in it. And [[{{Jaws}} Matt Hooper]]. And [[MelvinAndHoward Melvin Dummar]]. And [[TheUntouchables Oscar Wallace]]. And [[LaverneAndShirley Shirley Feeney]]. And [[OneDayAtATime Julie Cooper]]. And [[{{Dynasty}} Matthew Blaisdel]]. And [[ThreesCompany Chrissy Snow]]. And IndianaJones / [[StarWars Han Solo]].

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\n* HeyItsThatGuy: Let's see, [[HappyDays Richie Cunningham]]'s in it. And [[{{Jaws}} [[Film/{{Jaws}} Matt Hooper]]. And [[MelvinAndHoward Melvin Dummar]]. And [[TheUntouchables Oscar Wallace]]. And [[LaverneAndShirley Shirley Feeney]]. And [[OneDayAtATime Julie Cooper]]. And [[{{Dynasty}} Matthew Blaisdel]]. And [[ThreesCompany Chrissy Snow]]. And IndianaJones / [[StarWars Han Solo]].

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