In the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jeff Spicoli says to his friend, “My dad’s a television repairman. He’s got this ultimate set of tools.” I call bullshit on that. Back then TVs were what, just bulbs and shit? What the fuck kind of tools would he have? Just a screwdriver and some parts. A carpenter has an “ultimate set of tools” because there’s a huge variety of jobs he has to do. A TV repairman in the 80s was too specialized to have a big pile of tools. Don’t believe me? Ask him yourself.
STREET CARNAGE: I’m right, right?
JOHN SPIRIDAKIS (who has been repairing TVs for over 30 years): About what?
Oh yeah, I forgot that these questions happened before I wrote the intro to the interview.
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Back in the 80s, what kind of tools did a TV repairman have?
Well, a technician’s basic tools were: screwdrivers, an ohm meter, a digital volt meter, a soldering iron, and an oscilloscope.
I could fit that in a children’s backpack.
It was not a lot of equipment. No.
What would be a typical repair? You’d just change a bulb or whatever, right?
Let’s see … set dead, problem with horizontal output transistor and / or flyback transformer. Line in the middle of screen, vertical out put transistor.
Nothing that requires a lot of tools.
Not really.
What about today?
Even less.
I FUCKING KNEW IT!
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STREET BONER 1321
Not sure what kind of voodoo mojo this guy is using but he just made a pile of gay shit look badass.
STREET BONER 1319
All Tomorrow’s Parties is a great place to see people passed out on couches while their favorite band plays down the hall.
Bad Behavior has blocked 2387 access attempts in the last 7 days.
I know how you feel.
12.03.09 at 11:17 am
pretty sure someone with a tv repair skillset would also have a wider knowledge for all things electrical-related therefore WOULD have more tools. case closed inspector gadget.
12.03.09 at 11:26 am
I think about stupid shit while high @ 3 a.m. too….can I have a job?
12.03.09 at 11:29 am
When I was a kid, I always pondered the absence of paperwork and bureaucracy in cop movies. Lethal Weapon, for instance. That movie should have ended after the opening coke-bust shoot-out. The fallout from that mess would have kept Mel Gibson occupied for weeks.
12.03.09 at 11:32 am
i know, right?
its like when ratner’s asking damone for some big-brotherly advice before his hot date & the last thing he tells him is to put on some led zeppelin IV.
cut to the next scene and it’s so obvious they’re CLEARLY listeing to physical graffiti. i mean, come on people, ever hear of a little thing called continuity – HELLOOO?!
i was really along for the ride up until this point but now this just takes me right out of it.
12.03.09 at 12:37 pm
Hahaha, good shit.
Especially the “I could fit that in a children’s backpack” part.
12.03.09 at 1:12 pm
Shit, my dad would just punch it on the side and the thing would work.
12.03.09 at 1:12 pm
SO GOOOOOOOOOD. laughing out loud
12.03.09 at 1:20 pm
Spiccoli was perma-fried. And, kinda like how “Cheech & Chong’s Nice Dreams” is pretty decent when you’re on brain’s death bed, it’s not really a clutch performer in the grand scope. So maybe the set SEEMED more ultimate than it was because it was seen through the eye of the guy who hung out with baked Eric Stoltz and had a bagel in his pants.
12.03.09 at 1:24 pm
How come I never see Pheobe Cates on tv anymore, but I can turn on the set at almost any hour and find fat ass Raven Symone rummaging for food like a feral hog?
Boy life is just so unfair.
12.03.09 at 2:23 pm
I’m pretty sure Vice took out a copyright on the expression “I call bullshit on ______” back in 2002 or so.
12.03.09 at 5:09 pm
Zippy, Phoebe Cates runs a boutique on the Upper East Side. You can go see her in the flesh. She’s still hot.
12.03.09 at 5:35 pm
Carpenters are specialists in wood. They frame and trim houses.
12.03.09 at 10:31 pm
Fuck everyone who doesn’t like this
12.04.09 at 12:19 am
Lauren White is actually right this once. People that are into fixing TVs always have basements and garages full of tools and machines that you didn’t no existed.
12.04.09 at 2:27 am
“my dad’s a television repairman, he’s got the ultimate set of tools…” They wrecked the car, “Televison” is the funny part. Did Lance write this? Fast Times at Ridgemont high is a movie about what all you bloggers are going through right now, even if you are 34 years old face it you suck and Fast Times at Ridgemont is about your life. That’s why this secne offends you. -Spicoli
12.04.09 at 5:49 am
the irony is that the tv repairman is irrelevant. spicolli ain’t fixing shit. its even better if the “ultimate set of tools” is just a screwdriver and a blowtorch or whatever. and the payoff that “fixing it” meant trashing it worse, spraypainting tags and shit all over it and parking on the entrance of the school was brilliant. you dont need tools for that kind of repair, you only need weed.
12.04.09 at 10:17 am
I gotta TV
You gotta TV
We all got TV’s
Big Fucking deal…
Boy, Iggy Pop made you think with that one.
12.04.09 at 10:41 am
It’s a euphemism you dipshit. “tools” get it? you’re an idiot!
12.04.09 at 11:39 am