Bill Swerski's Superfans
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Bill Swerski's Superfans was a recurring sketch, about Chicago sports fans, on the American sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live.
[edit] Sketch History
The sketch first appeared on January 12, 1991 starring Joe Mantegna as Bill Swerski along with Chris Farley as Todd O'Connor, Mike Myers or John Goodman (after Myers' departure from SNL) as Pat Arnold and Robert Smigel as Carl Wollarski. Subsequent sketches starred George Wendt as Bob Swerski with occasional appearances by Beth Cahill as his daughter, Denise Swerski. (Mantegna's absence was invariably explained away by Wendt, saying his "brudder Bill" had just "had anudder 'eart attack."
The inspiration for the characters were radio hosts in Chicago during the 1970s and 1980s. The name "Bill Swerski" was likely derived from Bill Jauss, the moderator of the WGN radio panel show "The Sportswriters" (1975 - 1993)[1], and from WGN radio and WGN-TV sportscaster Chuck Swirsky [2].
The characters were typically shown in Mike Ditka's sports bar, drinking large amounts of beer and gorging themselves on ribs, Polish sausages, and similar foods. All of the characters wore dark sunglasses and thick mustaches to resemble Mike Ditka, the popular coach of the Chicago Bears at the time, and who was the idol of all the Superfans. The group would discuss upcoming sporting events and inevitably predict a victory for the Chicago team, using an exaggerated Chicago accent (a variety of Inland Northern American English), normally culminating in a uniform toast to "Da Bearss" and "Da Bullss" (and on a few occasions "Da Sox" or "Da Cubs").
Their predictions were likewise exaggerated and their topics of conversation often ludicrous. Typical debates concerned Mike Ditka versus a hurricane (in this particular debate, the Superfans believed that Ditka could defeat the hurricane, until it was revealed that the name of the hurricane was Hurricane Ditka); who would win in a competition for World Domination – "Da Bearss" or "Da Bullss"; Mike Ditka winning the Indianapolis 500 driving the Bears' team bus; or how many points Michael Jordan could score if he played an entire game by himself while sitting in a recliner. One episode asked the outcome of the Bulls/Pistons game where Todd said the Bulls would win 402-0, but Jordan would be held to under 200 points. Todd usually predicted shutouts. During another episode, he predicted that the Bears would defeat the New York Giants by a score of 79-0, claiming that "the Bears' defense is like a wall. You can't go through it." He then asked oddsmaker Danny Sheridan, played by Kevin Nealon who he'd take in matchup between Ditka and the Giants, to which Nealon's character replied, "I'd take the Giants by 800." One episode featured a Jeopardy!-like game show starring Bob Swerski as host and the other Superfans as contestants. All the questions dealt with the Chicago Bears, Chicago, or Mike Ditka. The Final Jeopardy! question was "Da Bears or Da Bulls?", which produced hilarious responses from the contestants.
The characters appeared in nine episodes in two years. With Ditka's departure from the Bears in 1993 and significant cast changes on SNL, the sketch and characters all but disappeared. The final appearance of the Superfans was on October 25, 1997 in an episode hosted by Farley. This sketch featured the second appearance by their idol Mike Ditka (he had appeared on an episode of SNL after his firing by the Bears), although he was at the time coaching the New Orleans Saints, much to the chagrin of the Superfans. Farley's death two months later ended the possibility of future Superfan sketches.
The Superfans made a special appearance at the celebration of the Chicago Bulls' 1991-1993 "Three-peat" championship victory. The NBC television network interrupted daytime television to broadcast the short speeches made by the Superfans. Bob Swerski and Carl Wollarski also made a special appearance during Michael Jordan's original jersey retirement ceremony at the United Center in 1994.
In 2003, Bart Swerski (Bob's nephew, played by Horatio Sanz) was introduced on a Weekend Update segment with his uncle, discussing the recent playoff failure of the Chicago Cubs. Instead of referring to the team as "Da Cubs," Bart said "De Cubs," but it was learned that this was due to a speech impediment.
In 2006, George Wendt returned in Superfan garb alongside Ditka for a sketch prior to Super Bowl XL.
With the Bears' return to the Super Bowl in 2007, a variety of Superfan-themed fan sites sprung up, including DaSuperfans.com, which gained significant media attention in Chicago and beyond.
Following the Bears' loss in Super Bowl XLI in 2007 to the Indianapolis Colts, the Superfans Bill Swerski, Bob Swerski, and Carl Wollarski returned in a TV commercial for Reebok, alongside Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri.
[edit] Trivia
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- Smigel originally wrote this sketch for an improvisational comedy show called Happy Happy Good Show that was performed in Chicago during the summer of 1988.
- Todd O'Connor has a piece of Polish sausage lodged in the lining of his heart.
- To date, Todd O'Connor has had at least fourteen heart attacks.
- To date, Carl Wollarski has had at least six heart attacks.
- John Goodman took over for Mike Myers as Pat Arnold, after Myers' departure from SNL. In the sketch, the change in Pat Arnold's appearance is attributed to massive weight gain.
- In one sketch, the Superfans discuss the possibility of more championships for the Chicago Bulls. Mike Myers' and Robert Smigel's characters jokingly say something to the effect of, "We're not talking repeat, threepeat, or even a fourpeat. We're talking a minimum eight-peat." This exaggerated claim actually had a reasonable chance of occurring, had Jordan not taken a season and a half off to pursue baseball. The Bulls won three in a row twice, before and after Jordan's first retirement. It gave the Bulls 6 titles in 8 years.
- In a 2007 SNL sketch, Donatella Versace said to David and Victoria Beckham, "If you guys were a football team, you would be Da Bores." The episode aired the night before Super Bowl XLI, in which the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29 to 17.
[edit] References
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