The Groove Tube (1974)

Sketch comedy films have been a dicey proposition since they first starting popping up in earnest in the 1970s. For every good sketch comedy movie like Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) or Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), there are at least a dozen halfhearted or outright terrible examples. A full year before he became the breakout star of SNL, Chevy Chase made his feature film debut in The Groove Tube (1974), a 75 minute progenitor to the much better sketch comedy films that followed. A reliance on commercial parodies plagues this flick, with a commercial running after seemingly every sketch. After an opening parody of the first 20 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, we get a sketch following the exploits of a hitchhiker—played by 70s music quasi-icon Buzzy Linhart—bringing the film’s first nude scene with him! Buzzy strips completely nude while chasing a woman through the woods, only to end up face to face with a cop! Stand-up comedian and future Law and Order: SVU star Richard Belzer pops up in several sketches as well, even briefly flashing his dick when he is shooed off a toilet by a guy! Look closely and you can see Belzer's dingaling just before he pulls up his blue briefs! The film’s final nude scene comes to us from Berkeley Harris, who bares his tan-lined tush having hardcore sex with a woman—the penetration is blurred out—all while a pair of rambunctious sportscasters provide colorful commentary! Sadly Chevy never takes it off, but he's hilarious nonetheless, and we think the boys of The Groove Tube might just help you get your groove back!