History Trivia / TheCableGuy

* ThrowItIn: The scene at Medieval Times where Chip asks for Steven's chicken skin and then performs his [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lechter]] impression was all improvised. During one take, Creator/JimCarrey asked for the chicken skin out of nowhere. After doing the bit, Creator/BenStiller loved it and wanted to keep it in the film even though it wasn't in the script. If you look at Creator/MatthewBroderick's face during this scene, you can tell he is genuinely cracking up.

** Creator/JuddApatow gave The Los Angeles Times a list of excised scenes, including one where Chip shoots Stephen with a staple gun and stitches his butt in the shape of a television, another where Chip pretends to be a volunteer firefighter and hurls a fireman's ax at Stephen, and one scene shot in 40-degree rain in Griffith Park, where Chip rides up on a horse resembling the headless horseman and leaps at Stephen, who puts a rock to Chip's head and threatens him until Chip implores him to "go to the dark side of the force!" The latter was cut because "the evil in Jim Carrey's eyes looked too realistic." Another scene that was cut out because it didn't get big laughs and scared test audiences had Chip on top of Stephen's car acting like The Terminator.

* DoingItForTheArt: Once, when asked about the notoriously mixed reception the film got, Creator/JimCarrey replied that he was just honored to put the character of Chip Douglas on the screen, and was satisfied in having a great time making the film.

* PlayingWithCharacterType: Creator/JimCarrey is just as zany and over-the-top as always, but in the context of a creepy StalkerWithoutACrush rather than a living cartoon character like in ''Film/AceVentura'' and ''Film/TheMask''. This famously alienated audiences at the time and caused the film to fail at the box office.

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: Some of Chip's predictions about what cable will do for the future came true, like having the Internet, phone and TV through cable as well as having the ability to play video games online.

* TalkingToHimself: Creator/BenStiller plays twin brothers Sam & Stan Sweet. Eric Roberts plays them as well in a ShowWithinAShow "based on a true story" movie-of-the-week advertisement.

** Creator/JuddApatow gave The Los Angeles Times a list of excised scenes, including one where Chip shoots Stephen with a staple gun and stitches his butt in the shape of a television, another where Chip pretends to be a volunteer firefighter and hurls a fireman's ax at Stephen, and one scene shot in 40-degree rain in Griffith Park, where Chip rides up on a horse resembling the headless horseman and leaps at Stephen, who puts a rock to Chip's head and threatens him until Chip implores him to "go to the dark side of the force!" The latter was cut because "the evil in Jim Carrey's eyes look too realistic." Another scene that was cut out because it didn't get big laughs and scared test audiences had Chip on top of Stephen's car acting like The Terminator.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: In [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece/TheNineties The Nineties,]] the number of households with cable television was increasing. Since the late 2000s-early 2010s, streaming video services have led to cable's decline.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: In [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece/TheNineties The Nineties,]] the number of households with cable television was increasing. Now, streaming video services have led to cable’s decline.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece/TheNineties The Nineties.]] The entire plot of the film centers around the [[DeadHorseTrope already late]] {{Old Media Are Evil}} trope as a plot device, all the while ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'' blares from television sets, {{Grunge}} mostly sets the mood for the soundtrack, and [[TheInternet the "information superhighway"]] is stealthily taking public interest by storm. Also if Chip had done his suicidal stunt in the 2010s, it wouldn't have stopped people from finding out Sweet's verdict -- they would have just whipped out their cell phones to watch a news feed (unless hitting the dish cut out the cell service of the whole county... somehow).

* TechnologyMarchesOn: In [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece/TheNineties]], the number of households with cable television was increasing. Now, streaming video services have led to cable’s decline.

** Although most of these had already been ventured or existed at the time, they were just either in a very early form or not particularly widespread. So it was more Chip being mildly forward-thinking about what was being worked on being presented to a character that... basically just didn't care.

* ThrowItIn: The scene at Medieval Times where Chip asks for Steven's chicken skin and then performs his [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lechter]] impression was all improvised. During one take, Creator/JimCarrey asked for the chicken skin out of nowhere. After doing the bit, Creator/BenStiller loved it and wanted to keep it in the film even though it wasn't in the script. If you look at Creator/MatthewBroderick's face during this scene, you can tell he is cracking up. His reaction is a genuine laugh.

** The role of Chip was originally written with Creator/ChrisFarley in mind, but he declined due to schedule conflicts. Creator/AdamSandler was also considered.

* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/JuddApatow, a producer on the film, met his future wife Leslie Mann when she auditioned for this film.