I remember March 6, 1982 like it was yesterday. That's the day I heard that John Belushi had died of an overdose, the day I cursed the drug culture out loud for claiming yet another of my favorite entertainers. Now, all these years later, Showtime is ready to debut a new documentary on Belushi's life - and death.
Many of the people who knew him best participated in the film, so I'm hoping that it will be an honest, no-holds-barred, look at the man and the reckless lifestyle he and his friends were living in the early '80s. Among those who shared cocaine with Belushi on the last night of his life were Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, but they are barely the tip of the iceberg. I've read some of the books about Saturday Night Live and others about Belushi's life, but somehow, seeing Belushi in a documentary makes it seem even more real to me.
I'm not a Showtime subscriber, so I may have to time a 7-day free trial just right in order to get a look at this one.
This is the way I like to remember John:
"I give so much pleasure to so many people. Why can I not get some pleasure for myself?" - John Belushi
Oh! I loved seeing this SO much! Thank you. They were both so brilliant as The Blues Brothers. I'm smilin'!
ReplyDeleteSo happy you enjoyed the video, Nan. I watched a lot of Saturday Night Live in those days just hoping that the Blues Brothers would perform. They were amazingly accurate in their homage to soul music.
DeleteYes, they were! We really didn't watch it after the original crew left.
DeleteUs either. Every new generation of comics on the show seemed to make a steady decline...with an individual exception or two, but the overall decline was obvious, and it's virtually unwatchable today.
DeleteThey were so good!
ReplyDeleteThey really were, weren't they, Jen. I even bought their music in LP format, as I recall.
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