Sprockets (Saturday Night Live)

Title card from Saturday Night Live's Sprockets, with the title superimposed over the flash of a nuclear explosion.

Mike Myers as Dieter.

Sprockets was a recurring comedy sketch created by comedians Mike Myers and actor Dana Andersen, portraying a fictional West German television talk show. The sketch was created for the Second City Theatre, and became more widely known when Myers brought it to Saturday Night Live. The show parodied German art culture in the 1980s.

Development

The sketch parodied German stereotypes, especially those pertaining to German seriousness, efficiency, and precision. Myers later ported the character to television for the Canadian sketch comedy show It's Only Rock & Roll and the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.

Myers played "Dieter", a bored, disaffected West German expressionist and minimalist who would interview celebrities in whom he was demonstrably barely interested, and then invariably sought to bring the discussion around to his "limited" monkey, Klaus, seated on a platform atop a miniature column. Myers has stated he based the character on a waiter he encountered in Toronto^[1] as well as German musician Klaus Nomi.^[2]

Appearing effeminate (he'd later introduce his lover Helmut, played by Will Ferrell), and rotating his shoulders (he occasionally described becoming so excited that his genitals were sucked up into his body cavity), Myers' costume in the character of Dieter consisted of black tights, black turtleneck sweater, round, wire-rimmed glasses, and slicked back hair. On several occasions, the skit featured a section entitled Germany's Most Disturbing Home Videos, which showcased scenes of old men's heads spinning around, dying cats, ants, and other disturbing sights.

The theme song for the sketch was Kraftwerk's 1986 song "Electric Café", sped up by playing the 33⅓ rpm album at 45 rpm, then looped.

Recurring and memorable quotes from the sketches include:

• "You have disturbed me almost to the point of insanity...There. I am insane now."
• "Touch my monkey!" and "Liebe meine Abschminke!" ("Love my makeup remover!"—but it sounds like a plausible German word for monkey to English-only speakers), a recurring reference to Dieter's pet monkey, Klaus. Dieter told his guests that being allowed to touch Klaus was a privilege, but Klaus would often bite them when they tried to do so.
• "Your story (questions, setup) has become tiresome," whenever Dieter became - inevitably - bored with a guest.
• "I am as happy as a little girl.", while pinching his shirt.
• "I am filled with anticipation (remorse), and it is most delicious."
• "Your presence intimidates me to the point of humiliation."
• "Now is ze time on Sprockets vhen ve dance!" This was always uttered frantically at the end of the sketch, after which several Sprockets crew members dressed identically to Dieter joined him onstage to jerkily dance to techno music.

Some later sketches featured Dieter outside of his talk show environment starring in parodies of game shows, TV dance parties, and art films.

List of SNL episodes featuring Dieter

All appearances were in the form of Sprockets shows, except where indicated.

Karl-Heinz Shalke (Kyle MacLachlan) obliges Dieter's request to "touch my monkey".

• April 15, 1989 host: Dolly Parton (featuring Ben Stiller as Butch Patrick)^[3]
• May 20, 1989 host: Steve Martin
• September 30, 1989 host: Bruce Willis (featuring Dana Carvey as James Stewart)^[4]
• November 18, 1989 host: Woody Harrelson (featuring Harrelson as filmmaker Graus Grek, giving his plans for his new "EuroTrash" theme park)
• December 16, 1989 (in "Dieter In Space") host: Andie MacDowell
• March 17, 1990 (in "Dieter's Dance Party") host: Rob Lowe
• September 29, 1990 (in "Germany's Most Disturbing Home Videos") (featuring Kyle MacLachlan as Karl-Heinz Shalke, the wacky neighbor in Munich TV's hit sit-com Who are you to accuse me?)^[5]
• December 15, 1990 host: Dennis Quaid
• April 13, 1991 host: Catherine O'Hara
• February 15, 1992 (in "Love Werks") host: Jason Priestley
• May 16, 1992 host: Woody Harrelson (featuring Harrelson as filmmaker Gregor Voss)^[6]
• March 20, 1993 (in "Dieter's Dream") host: Miranda Richardson
• November 20, 1993 (in "Das Ist Jeopardy!") host: Nicole Kidman
• March 22, 1997 (in "The Insane Academy Awards") host: Mike Myers

Proposed film adaptation

The sketch was to be the basis for a film to be released in 2001, featuring Myers, Will Ferrell, David Hasselhoff, and Jack Black, but the project was abandoned in June 2000 after Myers became dissatisfied with his own script.^[7] Less than a week after Myers informed Universal Studios of his decision, the studio sued Myers for their $3.8 million in pre-production costs.^[7] One month later, Myers was hit with a second lawsuit, this time from Imagine Entertainment. "He claimed he had not approved the screenplay. Who wrote the screenplay--Myers," the Imagine lawsuit stated. Imagine claims Myers backed out after it and Universal agreed to his demands for more pay and millions of dollars were spent in pre-production. "This was not the first time Myers engaged in such conduct," the suit contended. "He has followed a pattern and practice of breaking his promises, betraying the trust of others and causing serious damage to those with whom he deals through selfish, egomaniacal and irresponsible conduct." The Imagine lawsuit sought more than $30 million in actual damages plus punitive damages.^[8] Myers subsequently countersued both parties,^[9] and eventually both lawsuits were later settled out of court.^[10]

References

External links

• "Studios See Green in Less-Than-Worthy 'SNL' Film Spinoffs", Los Angeles Times (1999-10-01)
• "Spielberg to mediate in Dieter dispute", The Guardian (2000-06-16)
• "Chris Tucker: $25M for 'Rush Hour 3'", Fox News (2006-05-11)