All You Need Is Cash (also known as The Rutles) is a 1978 television film that traces (in mockumentary style) the career of a British rock group called The Rutles. As TV Guide described it, the group's resemblance to The Beatles is "purely – and satirically – intentional." See also: 1977 in television, other events of 1978, 1979 in television and the list of years in television. Events January 28 - The Doobie Brothers make a guest appearance on the television show Whats Happening!!. February 22 - The Police appear in a television commercial for Wrigleys chewing gum. ... Mockumentary (portmanteau of mock documentary. ... The Rutles (The pre-fab four), a parody of the Beatles, was created by Eric Idle with songs composed by Neil Innes. ... TV Guide is a weekly magazine about TV programming. ... The Beatles (L-R, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon), in 1964, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show during their first United States tour, promoting their first U.S. hit song, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject (individuals, organizations, states) often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ...

The film was co-produced by the production companies of Eric Idle and Lorne Michaels, and directed by Idle and Gary Weis. It was first broadcast on March 22, 1978 on NBC, earning the lowest [1] (http://www.rutlemania.org/aynic5.html), [2] (http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1039527_21_0_,00.html) ratings of any show on American television that week. It did much better in the ratings when it premiered in the U.K. on BBC2 less than one week later. Eric Idle as Stan/Loretta in the Monty Python film Life of Brian Eric Idle is a comedian, actor and film director, as well as an author and accomplished guitarist/songwriter. ... Lorne Michael Lipowitz, aka Lorne Michaels (born November 17, 1944) is a television producer and writer, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in Leap years). ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The 1986 Peacock logo, designed by Chermayeff & Geismar. ... BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC. History The channel was scheduled to begin at 7:20pm on April 20, 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts and...

The music and events in the lives of the Rutles paralleled that of the Beatles almost to the letter, spoofing many of the latter's career highlights. For instance, the animated Yellow Submarine is spoofed as Yellow Submarine Sandwich, and the song Get Back became Get Up And Go. Songs from the film were released on an accompanying soundtrack (in LP, cassette, and 8-track formats). Yellow Submarine is the title of a 1966 tune by the Beatles and a 1968 animated United Artists film based upon the music of The Beatles. ... This article is about the song. ... The Rutles (The pre-fab four), a parody of the Beatles, was created by Eric Idle with songs composed by Neil Innes. ... Generally speaking, the term soundtrack refers to the recorded sound in a motion picture. ... 33⅓ LP vinyl record album The vinyl record is a type of gramophone record, most popular from the 1950s to the 1990s, that was most commonly used for mass-produced recordings of music. ... For the meaning of cassette in genetics, see cassette (genetics). ... The 8-track cartridge is a now-obsolete audio storage magnetic tape cartridge technology, popular during the 1960s and 1970s. ...

Cast

The programme is notable for featuring a cross-section of both British and American comic talent, including those with ties to Monty Python, Saturday Night Live and the lesser-known but directly-related Rutland Weekend Television. The Monty Python troupe in 1970. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute comedy-variety show from NBC which has been broadcast virtually every Saturday night since its debut on October 11, 1975. ... Rutland Weekend Television was a television sketch show on BBC-2, written by Eric Idle with music by Neil Innes (formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, longtime songwriter for and performer with Monty Python, and later to be part of musical acts The Grimms, The World, and The...

The Rutles were played by Idle, John Halsey, Rikki Fataar, and Neil Innes. Former Beatle George Harrison appeared in the film as a reporter. Others in the film include Michael Palin, Bianca Jagger, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Gwen Taylor, Ron Wood, Terence Bayler, Henry Woolf, Jeannette Charles, Al Franken, Lorne Michaels, Tom Davis, Frank Williams, and Barry Cryer. The Rutles (The pre-fab four), a parody of the Beatles, was created by Eric Idle with songs composed by Neil Innes. ... Neil Innes (born December 9, 1944) is a British writer and performer of comic songs, best known for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles. ... George Harrison MBE (February 24, 1943 – November 29, 2001) was a popular British songwriter, musician and film producer best known as a member of the Beatles. ... Michael Palin as Pilate in Monty Pythons Life of Brian Michael Edward Palin (born May 5, 1943) is a British comedian who was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire. ... Bianca Jagger (born Bianca Perez Morena de Macias) is a social and political activist. ... John Belushi as Bluto in Animal House John Belushi (right) with Dan Akroyd in The Blues Brothers John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949–March 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. ... Dan Aykroyd (left) with John Belushi in The Blues Brothers Daniel Edward Aykroyd (born July 1, 1952 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) is a comedian, actor and screenwriter. ... Gilda Radners Live From New York LP cover Gilda Radner (June 28, 1946 - May 20, 1989) was an American comedienne and actress. ... William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American comedian, producer, film director and actor. ... Ron Wood (born June 1, 1947 in London) is a British rock guitarist and best known as a member of The Rolling Stones and The Faces. ... Leslie Nielsen and Jeanette Charles in Top Gun Jeannette Charles (born October 15, 1927) is best known as a look-alike actress as Queen Elizabeth II. She has played the role in numerous films and TV shows, including Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Naked Gun: From the Files of... A recent photograph of Al Franken (credit: Bill Hayward) Al Franken (born May 21, 1951) is a liberal American satirist, comedian, bestselling author, and radio host. ... Lorne Michael Lipowitz, aka Lorne Michaels (born November 17, 1944) is a television producer and writer, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Thomas Davis (born January 11, 1959), American School Teacher and Independent Composer An aspiring jazz composer from the idyllic Finger Lakes region in upstate New York, Tom Davis teaches music at a public high school while tending to a family of four. ... Barry Cryer (born in 1935) is a writer and comedian. ...

Playing themselves in uncredited roles were singers Mick Jagger and Paul Simon. Sir Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Mick Jagger (born July 26, 1943 in Dartford, Kent) is a British rock musician, actor, writer, composer, record and film producer and businessman. ... Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941 in Newark, New Jersey) is a renowned Jewish American songwriter, receiving Kennedy Center Honors in 2002. ...

Subsequent re-releases

The show has been released on DVD, originally in a 66-minute version incorporating cuts for syndication, later in a "special edition" restored to its full length of 72 minutes and with extras including a commentary by Idle. The full-length version replaces a spoof newsreel voiceover by Idle with an American-sounding announcer. DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast television programs to multiple television stations, without going through a broadcast network. ... A Newsreel is a documentary film that is regularly released in a public presentation place containing filmed news stories. ...

The soundtrack was reissued on CD. It included additional tracks from the original TV sessions remixed in stereo by Neil Innes. Innes, Fataar and Halsey returned in 1996 to record The Rutles Archaeology, but without the involvement of Eric Idle. 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

External links and references

• All You Need Is Cash (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077147/) at the Internet Movie Database
• Idle Thoughts (http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1039527_21_0_,00.html), an interview with Eric Idle from March 2005
• The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash DVD (http://www.rhino.com/store/productdetail.lasso?number=976641), from Rhino Entertainment
• All You Need Is Cash on NBC-TV (http://www.rutlemania.org/aynic5.html), part of an anonymous fan's website