It was 45 years ago today, on March 22nd, 1978, when NBC aired one of the earliest true “mockumentary” films, All You Need Is Cash, the fake history of the rise and fall of the not-so-fab four, The Rutles. Before Spinal Tap ever cranked it up to 11, The Rutles were re-writing the rules about what a fake band could be.
The Rutles were fundamentally a parody of The Beatles, created some years before as part of a UK sketch comedy series produced by Neil Innes and Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame). Rutland Weekend Television (1975–76) foreshadowed the creation of the band in episode 3 where Neil Innes performed the song which later became Good Times Roll on the eventual Rutles eponymous debut album. The full group first appeared in a sketch later in 1975 in a mini documentary which would end up being something of a test flight for the concept. It was after George Harrison’s guest appearance on the series that Innes & Idle were encouraged to pursue the idea further. The Beatles were already fans of Neil’s Bonzo Dog Band, having had them do a guest spot on The Magical Mystery Tour TV special, and Harrison thought the parody concept had potential.
Things started to snowball towards producing the film when Eric Idle appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1976 and brought along a clip of The Rutles from the Rutland series. Lorne Michaels took an interest in the concept and offered to back a one hour TV movie about the group. Gary Weis was hired to direct and George Harrison became involved directly, both performing on screen as an interviewer and offering access to an as-yet unreleased Beatles documentary to Innes to use as reference material. Shot mostly in NYC, the special made use of many SNL cast members and also featured appearances by members of The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon & fellow Python, Michael Palin, among many others.
Musically, Neil’s mastery of The Beatles aesthetic is without peer. He so adeptly captures the nuances of their styles, from each of their eras, that he did, in fact, have to work to avoid being too “on the nose”, risking copyright infringement, something that could have happened even with the explicit support of the Beatles themselves. What Innes and Idle created overall stands the test of time remarkably well. I’ve watched it quite recently and was amazed at how timeless it is and how the humor it captures is so perfectly transcendent, even today. While there were a few examples of “mock documentaries” before this, All You Need Is Cash truly functions as a critical tent-pole in the development of the genre. Years later, projects like This Is Spinal Tap and The Comic Strip Presents fake band, Bad News, would rely heavily on the same kinds of techniques and methods which were fully implemented for The Rutles.
In terms of public reception, the NBC broadcast was notable for being a ratings disaster. It landed with a thud on the very bottom of the Nielsen rankings for its time-slot, though the few who did watch it were overwhelmingly supportive of it. It did much better in the UK when it aired on March 27th. Since its debut, however, it’s gone on to become a cult classic and Innes went on to revive the band in later years for touring and recording new albums. Neil Innes kept their spirit alive until his death in 2019. Since its release, the mockumentary genre has gone on to become a popular staple on both big and small screens. Countless films and TV series have been made which owe a debt to the visionary comedic genius of Neil Innes and Eric Idle.
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