Best friends and nerds Lewis Skolnick and Gilbert Lowe enroll in Adams College to study computer science. The Alpha Betas, a fraternity that includes most of the Adams football team, carelessly burn down their own house and urged by Coach Harris, take over the freshman dorms, throwing the freshmen out into the street. Dean Ulich designates temporary living space in the gymnasium and allows the freshmen to rush the fraternities. Lewis, Gilbert, and several other nerds fail to join fraternities but obtain and renovate a dilapidated house near campus.
The Alpha Betas, led by star quarterback Stan Gable, are irked by the nerds' success, and Stan sets his fellow members to harassing the nerds, which includes throwing a rock through the window that says "Nerds, get out". The nerds complain to campus police who are constrained by the Greek Council that adjudicates all such pranks. Stan is currently president of the Council and largely controls its processes. The nerds decide to seek membership in the Greek Council by joining a national fraternity. After 29 rejection letters, the only one to consider them is the black fraternity Lambda Lambda Lambda (Tri-Lambs), led by U.N. Jefferson. After meeting the nerds, Jefferson is about to refuse their application when Poindexter notices the Tri-Lambs rulebook states that all applicants are given probationary membership. The nerds organize a large party with the Omega Mu sorority, similarly made up of nerdy and overweight women, including Gilbert's girlfriend Judy, and invite Jefferson to attend. The party is dull until Booger provides everyone with high quality marijuana. The Alpha Betas and the Pi Delta Pis, the sorority to which Stan's girlfriend Betty Childs belongs, then disrupt the party by bringing and releasing pigs. The nerds exact revenge on both groups by pulling pranks of their own. Impressed with the nerds' tenacity, Jefferson grants them full membership.
However, the harassment intensifies, and Stan prevents any attempts by the Greek Council to sanction Alpha Beta. The nerds realize the only way to get the Council to help is to put one of their own in as president, which they can do by winning the Greek Games during homecoming. Partnering with the Omega Mus and using their extensive scientific knowledge and creativity, the Tri-Lambs compete strongly with the Alpha Betas and Pi Delta Pis during the athletic events. At the charity fundraiser, the nerds heavily outsell the Alpha Betas by offering pies containing hidden nude pictures of Betty and other Pi Delta Pis. During this, Lewis, who has fallen in love with Betty, steals Stan's costume and tricks Betty into engaging in sexual intercourse with him. Finally, the nerds dominate the musical competition with a techno-computer-driven musical production, winning the overall games. Lewis immediately nominates Gilbert as the new Council president.
Julia Montgomery played Betty.
Coach Harris lambasts the Alpha Betas for losing to the nerds, and Stan leads them in vandalizing the Tri-Lamb house. The nerds become despondent, and Gilbert decides to barge into the middle of the Homecoming Pep Rally to voice his complaints. The Alpha Betas try to stop him, but Jefferson and a large group of national Tri-Lambs arrive to intimidate the Alpha Betas, offering Gilbert the opportunity to give a rousing speech about standing up to discrimination. Lewis and the other Tri-Lambs, many alumni, and Betty, who announces she is "in love with a nerd", join in cheering Gilbert, soundly shaming the Alpha Betas. An emboldened Dean Ulich instructs Coach Harris that the Tri-Lambs will now live in the Alpha Beta house, while the Alpha Betas will live in the gym until they can repair the Tri-Lamb house.
The movie was inspired by a Los Angeles magazine article, titled "Revenge of the Nerds", that describes computer programmers gaining respect in Silicon Valley.[6]
A scene of a Tri-Lambda convention in Las Vegas was deleted because a 20th Century Fox executive thought it was making fun of him.[6]
Production
The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, was chosen to film many of the exterior scenes. Bill J. Varney, the university's assistant vice president for administrative services, approved filming, particularly after 20th Century Fox agreed to make a large donation to the university.[7] Two weeks later, the university's administrators revoked permission to film on campus.[8] Dudley B. Woodard, university vice president for student affairs, said the movie would not "portray campus life in a representative way".[9] Allan Beigel, vice president of university relations, said there was nothing that would make them change their minds.[7]
After some negotiations, the university allowed filming on campus as long as the producers tried to schedule film shooting so as to not affect campus activities, not film anything "with a questionable nature with regards to taste", and accept advice from fraternities.[8] Film shooting on campus began in January 1984.[10][11]
The nerds' original residence, from which they were ousted by the Alpha Betas, was actually Cochise Hall.[12][13] Their subsequent residence was University of Arizona's Bear Down Gymnasium.[14][15] The original Alpha Beta fraternity house that is burned down was filmed at the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house (on University Boulevard).
Casting for extras, specifically for mean jocks, sorority sisters, and members of a black fraternity, was held at the University of Arizona's Drama Building and at a Tucson Hilton Inn.[8][16]
While working as a security guard during filming, an off-duty police officer found a vial with a small amount of cocaine in a dressing room. The police decided not to pursue an investigation because it would be impossible to determine whose it was.[17]
Different sources report the film's budget between $6million and $8million, low for a feature film of the time.[1][2][3]
According to producers Ted Field and Peter Samuelson, the two had to fight for the ending pep rally scene as others involved in the production wanted a more cathartic ending where the Nerds would get more violent revenge on the Alpha Betas including destroying their house.[19] Field and Samuelson further stated that the nerds' actions were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's usage of passive resistance.[19]
Ollie E. Brown, of Ollie & Jerry fame, wrote and performed the song "They're So Incredible" for the film, under the name Revenge. In the film, the song is performed by the Tri-Lambs at the final event of the Greek Games and contains different lyrics.[citation needed]
Revenge of the Nerds was panned by many reviewers at release. Lawrence Van Gelder for The New York Times wrote, "It is the absence of genuine comedy that exposes glaringly the film's fundamental attitude of condescension and scorn toward blacks and women, and a tendency toward stereotyping that clashes violently with its superficial message of tolerance, compassion and fair play."[23]The Hollywood Reporter said "Revenge of the Nerds is primarily the story of outcasts getting their just rewards, and that is always a satisfying movie ingredient. Nonetheless, this scattergun, often scatological film is filled with extensive racial stereotypes, which may offend some moviegoers."[24]The Atlanta Constitution said that Lewis's pursuit of a cheerleader "goes beyond being pathetic and becomes masochistic".[25]Newsday called it "another predictable and witless teenage sex comedy".[26]
Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times thoroughly enjoyed the movie, calling it "a delicious, gratifying underdog fantasy and a raunchy, uproarious satire set in the often cruel and inherently discriminating world of college fraternities and sororities".[27]
The film holds a 71% critics' approval rating film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 43 critics' reviews. Their consensus reads: "Undeniably lowbrow but surprisingly sly, Revenge of the Nerds has enough big laughs to qualify as a minor classic in the slobs-vs.-snobs subgenre".[38]
On Metacritic, it has a score of 44 out of 100, based on reviews from six critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[39]
Due to the influence of the film, a genuine Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity was founded at the University of Connecticut in 2006, and several chapters have launched. The "Tri-Lambs" (not an all-black fraternity as portrayed in the film, but open to all races and orientations) has six chapters in Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and Washington state.[41]
Controversy
About three decades after the film's release, commentators have looked at the film and considered some of the scenes, particularly when Lewis pretends to be Stan and has a sexual encounter with Betty, to be rape by deception and a misogynistic remnant of a male-dominated culture of that time.[42][43] William Bradley of The Mary Sue stated that after viewing the film again as an adult he "was immediately struck by the way the film plays sexual exploitation and assault for laughs".[44] Amy Benfer of Salon wrote that the Revenge of the Nerds scene, and a similar scene in John Hughes's Sixteen Candles, were evidence that at the time of these films' productions, "people were stupid about date rape".[45]
In an interview with GQ in 2019, director Jeff Kanew and writer Steve Zacharias expressed their regret regarding the rape by deception scene, with Kanew saying, "In a way, it's not excusable. If it were my daughter, I probably wouldn't like it".[46][47]
Filming took place in Atlanta, Georgia at Agnes Scott College, the Georgia State Capitol, and Inman Park.[50] Filming was originally scheduled to take place at Emory University, but university officials changed their minds after reading the script.[3][51] The film was shelved after producers found the movie difficult to shoot on the smaller Agnes Scott campus and studio head Peter Rice was disappointed with the dailies.[48]20th Century Fox personnel have stated that it is highly unlikely that a remake will be picked up in the future.[51]
A pilot for a Revenge of the Nerds television series directed by Peter Baldwin was produced in 1991, but was never aired and was not picked up for a series.[53][54] The aborted TV pilot was later included as a bonus in the DVD and Blu-ray release of the film.
In the mid-2000s, Armstrong and Carradine had devised an idea for a reality television show based on nerds competing against each other in challenges, inspired by Revenge of the Nerds. However, the idea was rejected at the time, due to the competing Beauty and the Geek show. Six years later, Armstrong and Carradine shopped the idea around and were able to get the show greenlit on TBS in 2012. King of the Nerds ran for three seasons from 2013 to 2015, with Armstrong and Carradine hosting.[55]
Robert Reed Carradine is an American actor. A member of the Carradine family, he made his first appearances on television Western series such as Bonanza and his brother David's TV series, Kung Fu. Carradine's first film role was in the 1972 film The Cowboys, which starred John Wayne and Roscoe Lee Browne. Carradine also portrayed fraternity president Lewis Skolnick in the Revenge of the Nerds series of comedy films.
Lambda Lambda Lambda is a national collegiate co-ed social fraternity founded on January 15, 2006 on the main campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. Tri-Lambs does not discriminate based on race, gender, religion, class, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
Lambda Chi Alpha (ΛΧΑ), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initiates. It has almost 8,700 current undergraduate members affiliated with chapters and associate chapters at 166 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Its members may be known variously as Lambda Chis, LXAs, LCAs, Lambdas, Chops, or Choppers at different campuses.
Ted McGinley is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom Married... with Children and as Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith. He was a late regular on Happy Days, Dynasty and The Love Boat and is known for playing the villainous role of Stan Gable in the film Revenge of the Nerds and several made-for-television sequels.
The North American Interfraternity Conference is an association of intercollegiate men's social fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began at a meeting at the University Club of New York on November 27, 1909. The power of the organization rests in a House of Delegates in which each member fraternity is represented by a single delegate. However, the group's executive and administrative powers are vested in an elected board of directors consisting of nine volunteers from various NIC fraternities. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, the NIC has a small professional staff.
Dartmouth College is host to many fraternities and sororities, and a significant percentage of the undergraduate student body is active in Greek life. In the fall of 2022, 35 percent of male students belong to a fraternity and 36 percent of students belong to a sorority. Greek organizations at Dartmouth provide both social and residential opportunities for students and are the only single-sex residential option on campus. Greek organizations at Dartmouth do not provide dining options, as regular meal service has been banned in Greek houses since 1909.
Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise is a 1987 American comedy film, a sequel to Revenge of the Nerds (1984), and the second installment in the Revenge of the Nerds series. Its cast features most of the main actors from its predecessor, including Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Curtis Armstrong, Larry B. Scott, Timothy Busfield, Donald Gibb, and Andrew Cassese. This film also provided an early starring role for Courtney Thorne-Smith. Other cast members include Bradley Whitford, Ed Lauter, and Barry Sobel.
Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation is a 1992 American made-for-television comedy film and a sequel to the 1984 hit comedy film Revenge of the Nerds, produced by Robert Engelman, directed by Roland Mesa, that stars Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, and Morton Downey Jr. It is the third installment in the Revenge of the Nerds series. The subtitle is a reference to the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was then at the height of its popularity.
Delta Lambda Phi is an international social fraternity for gay, bisexual, transgender and progressive men. The fraternity was founded in 1986 in Washington, D.C. It offers a social environment and structure similar to other Greek-model college fraternities. It was the first, and as of 2013 the only, national fraternity with an emphasis on gay and bisexual men.
Jeffrey Roger Kanew is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer and film editor who early in his career made trailers for many films of the 1970s and is probably best known for directing the film Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and for editing Ordinary People.
Sigma Mu Sigma (ΣΜΣ) is a former American college fraternity founded in 1921 at Tri-State University. Sigma Mu Sigma was historically an all-male social fraternity open originally to Master Masons, and later open to all undergraduate male students. As a national fraternity, Sigma Mu Sigma dissolved in 1935 when it was absorbed by Tau Kappa Epsilon. Sigma Mu Sigma was later revived, developed another dozen chapters, and several of these were absorbed by Kappa Sig, Acacia and others. A few remaining chapters of Sigma Mu Sigma transformed into a co-ed service fraternity in 1984 but went defunct around 2020.
Alpha Lambda Tau (ΑΛΤ) was a men's college fraternity founded in 1916 at Oglethorpe University. For its first decade Alpha Lambda Tau permitted expansion only within the southern states. At the start of its fourth decade, in 1946, the national organization of Alpha Lambda Tau dissolved; the majority of its chapters affiliated with Tau Kappa Epsilon.
Beta Sigma Tau (ΒΣΤ) was a social fraternity founded at Roosevelt University in May 1948. In 1960, most of its active chapters were absorbed into Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.
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