See You Next Wednesday
Appearance
See You Next Wednesday is a fictional film that is the trademark of film director John Landis. He includes a reference to it in most, but not all of the movies he directs. Usually the reference is just a movie poster for the film in the background. See You Next Wednesday is never the same from film to film.
See You Next Wednesday was the name of the first screenplay that Landis ever wrote as a teenager. He took the title from a line in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
References
- In Landis' first film, Schlock (1973), SYNW is mentioned twice and shown as a poster. Brief casting and plot descriptions are given each time it is mentioned, making it clear that this is in fact two different films both entitled 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.
- In The Blues Brothers (1980), SYNW is glimpsed on a billboard which also features a huge gorilla.
- In An American Werewolf in London (1981), SYNW is a porn film being shown in a seedy London porno theater. Advertised as "A Non-Stop Orgy," scenes from the movie are actually shown as the characters talk in the theater. A poster of SYNW can also be seen on the wall in the London Underground Tube station.
- In Trading Places (1983), a poster for SYNW is glimpsed in Ophelia's (Jamie Lee Curtis) apartment.
- In the Michael Jackson video Thriller (1983), it is spoken by a police officer in the movie Michael and his girlfriend are watching.
- In Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), a German character says "see you next Wednesday" in German.
- In Spies Like Us (1985), an 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 Into the Night (1985), posters for the movie are shown.
- In Coming to America (1988), a poster for SYNW is shown on a subway station.
- In Innocent Blood (1992), SYNW is shown on a marquee.
- In Dream On (1990) TV Series, Episode 1 "The First One" Dir John Landis. Martin (Brian Benben) says to his maid (Marianne Muellerleile), "See you next Thursday", she corrects him saying, "Wednesday".
References in non-Landis works
- In the Babylon 5 episode "The Parliament of Dreams" one character tells another "see you next Wednesday." According to series creator J. Michael Straczynski the line was intended merely as a reference to the screening schedule (Babylon 5 screened on Wednesday nights), and not as a reference to Landis. When the coincidence was pointed out to him by fans, he stated that the line "was never meant to be a John Landis reference, and if I'd known it was (I'd never heard it before), would've changed it."
- In the Deus Ex videogame 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 videogame NetHack, the phrase "See you next Wednesday" can appear as graffiti on the floor.