See You Next Wednesday

See You Next Wednesday is a recurring gag in most of the films directed by John Landis, usually referring to a fictional film that is rarely seen and never in its entirety. Each instance of See You Next Wednesday in Landis's films seems to be a completely different film.

Landis got the title See You Next Wednesday from the 1968 movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is the last line spoken by Frank Poole's father during Poole's video letter from his parents.[1]

References in Landis's works
  • In Landis's first film, Schlock (1973), SYNW is mentioned twice and is also shown as a poster. Brief casting and plot descriptions are given each time that it is mentioned, making it clear that this is in fact two different films, both titled See You Next Wednesday.
  • In the sketch comedy film The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), the film is a melodrama presented in "Feel-Around," a technique where an usher stands behind each movie patron and does things to them as they occur in the film, enhancing the movie-going experience, at least until the scene where the woman puts a knife to the man's throat.
  • See You Next Wednesday billboard as seen in The Blues Brothers
    In The Blues Brothers (1980), SYNW is glimpsed on a billboard which also features a huge gorilla. It also appears on the cinema sign behind where the Nazi Pinto crashes through the road. It also says under the title on the marquee "Starring Donald Sutherland". Since Sutherland took $50,000 cash for his role in the Landis film Animal House instead of the offered 15%, he lost millions when the film became a huge hit. The film is directed by the fictional Carl La Fong, a reference to the W. C. Fields comedy It's a Gift (1934) and a character name that Landis has used as an anonymous credit on some of his other films.
  • At the end of Coming Soon (1982) there is a series of clips from recent Universal Studios film trailers with the final being watercolor poster art for See You Next Wednesday, followed by Jamie Lee Curtis giggling at the inside joke.
  • In the Michael Jackson music video Thriller (1983), the phrase is spoken by a deputy in the werewolf film that Michael and his girlfriend are watching. It is also visible as a poster on the outside of the cinema as they leave.
  • In Spies Like Us (1985), a U.S. Army recruiting poster can be seen behind Colonel Rhumbus (Bernie Casey) right after the vertical impact simulation scene that says "The army can teach you a skill. See You Next Wednesday."
  • In the Michael Jackson music video Black or White (1991) SYNW is shown on the window which Michael Jackson throws a garbage can through, the window is that of a company named "See You Next Wednesday Storage Co."
  • In The Stupids (1996), the phrase is seen on the back of the bus to which the kids chain their bikes.

References in non-Landis works
  • In the "Video Pirates" segment of Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), pirates find a treasure chest filled with golden video cassettes; among the numerous in-jokes visible on the tapes, one of the cassette cases is labeled "See You Next Wednesday" (while Landis directed several segments of the film, the "Video Pirates" segment was directed by frequent Landis collaborator Robert K. Weiss). The movie poster of the An American Werewolf in London version of SYNW (the Non-Stop Orgy) is in the Tower Records store in the last sketch of the movie.
  • In the video game Deus Ex, an email found on Paul Denton's computer contains a notice from a movie rental company, mentioning the movies See You Next Wednesday and Blue Harvest.
  • In the video game NetHack, the phrase "See you next Wednesday" can appear as graffiti on the floor.
  • In the movie Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, when Pete (Topher Grace) is flipping channels while Rosalee (Kate Bosworth) is on a date with Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel), a TV advertisement shows Hamilton riding a motorcycle over a hill, then drinking a soda while a Spanish-language voiceover says "¡Hasta el próximo miércoles!" (until next Wednesday)
  • In a promotional video for the Mozilla future browser concept "Aurora", a character says the phrase at the end of the video.
  • In the season 6 episode of Psych entitled "This Episode Sucks", SYNW is referenced.
  • In the documentary American Grindhouse to which John Landis contributed, "See You Next Wednesday" is included in the end credit list of film clips used with the production company "miracle".
  • In the Brighton club scene, See You Next Wednesday (stylised C U NEXT WEDNESDAY or CUNW) is a popular student night, seemingly mocking the already present C U Next Tuesday club night.
  • It is the sign off slogan each week for The Soapbox Office Podcast.[3]
  • An 8.5 by 11 inch copy of the See You Next Wednesday billboard as seen in The Blues Brothers (1980) is seen on the fridge in the short comedy film Annulment.[5]
  • In Sharknado 5, a theater marquee displays "See You Next Wednesday", with showings at 1:30 and 6:00. The movie posters show a dancing couple, and the (apparent) stars of Price, Goodman, Kessler, and Hirsch (first names are not quite legible). These are the surnames of the four main characters in American Werewolf in London.
  • In Episode 61 of the Japanese version of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, King Dedede is shown eating potato chips and watching a vampire movie, where the vampire in question (although never shown), says this line; it was replaced with "How kind of you to drop in for a bite" in the dub.
  • In Babylon 5 season 1 episode 5, "The Parliament of Dreams", Jeffrey Sinclair asks Catherine Sakai, "See you next Wednesday?" as she leaves the station. This is not a nod to Landis but a minor reference to the day the show usually aired, with her reappearing in the next episode.[6]

See also

References
  1. 2001 Frank's Parents on YouTube
  2. Gaiman, Neil (2013-05-12). "It was. RT @meadrus: Was that a John Landis/Space Odyssey "See you next Wednesday"? I nearly did a spit take". @neilhimself. Twitter. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  3. "The Soapbox Office Podcast". Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  4. See You Next Wednesday #CUNW | Full Frontal with Samantha Bee | TBS on YouTube
  5. Annulment at IMDb
  6. Heerden, Bill van (2008-08-28). Film and Television In-Jokes: Nearly 2,000 Intentional References, Parodies, Allusions, Personal Touches, Cameos, Spoofs and Homages. McFarland. ISBN 9780786438945.
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