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37-498: In the (then-near future) year 1998, the United States has run out of oil. Many Americans are living in their now-stationary cars and using nonpowered means of transportation, such as jogging, riding bicycles, and rollerskating. Tracksuits have become a common attire, and paper money has lost all its value. All business transactions are now conducted in gold; even a coin-operated elevator explicitly states "Gold Coins Only." In

74-424: A bad guy?" In desperation, Roosevelt hires young television consultant Eric McMerkin to help produce a national raffle. However, they eventually decide that the only way to raise enough money to save America is to run a national telethon. They enlist the services of vapid TV celebrity Monty Rushmore to host it. Meanwhile, Presidential adviser Vincent Vanderhoff secretly plots to ensure the telethon's failure. His goal

111-572: A company). The federal government, now headquartered in "The Western White House ," a sub-leased condominium in Marina del Rey, California , faces national bankruptcy. The country is in danger of being foreclosed and repossessed when Birdwater publicly reveals on national television that he lent America billions of dollars and demands repayment. The alternative is foreclosure, with the country reverting to its original owners. Birdwater justifies his stance, stating, "Hey, I have to eat, too. Does that make me

148-666: A fabric that matches their official team, school, or country colors. The bottoms of tracksuits are also known as sweatpants . Sweatpants were first invented by French sportswear manufacturer Le Coq Sportif in 1920 to provide athletes with comfort and ease of mobility. As sweatpants became more common, Le Coq Sportif designed the "Sunday suit" as a combination of sweatpants and a matching top, for use in home relaxation or daily exercise. Tracksuits would become popular casualwear in 1967 when Adidas created their first piece of apparel and marketed it in collaboration with German footballer Franz Beckenbauer . The Beckenbauer Adidas collection

185-486: A few good one-liners, but the gag is too drawn out and watching the movie becomes like watching a TV variety show that goes on and on." Judith Martin of The Washington Post called the movie "a gross comedy that depends for jokes on President Carter's teeth, Governor Brown's psychoculture and other nationally recognized targets that anyone can hit blindfolded. Mostly, that film just whacks crudely away, although now and then it hits its mark with an impressive smack." The movie

222-632: A lesser extent in English-speaking countries. The terminology used to describe photo comics is somewhat inconsistent and idiosyncratic. Fumetti is an Italian word (literally "little puffs of smoke", in reference to word balloons ), which refers in that language to any kind of comics. Because of the popularity of photo comics in Italy, fumetti became a loanword in English referring specifically to that technique. By extension, comics which use

259-480: A marathon of American music dubbed "Americathon '84." Referencing the movie's futuristic premise itself, there were many societal or political forecasts woven into the storyline, and a number of these have become reality since the film's release, including: Tracksuit A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with a front zipper . Also known as sweatsuits or trackies , tracksuits are designed to keep

296-595: A mixture of photographic and illustrated imagery have been described as mezzo-fumetti ("half" fumetti). Meanwhile, the Spanish term fotonovela – referring to popular photo-comics melodramas in Latin America – was adapted in English as fotonovel or photonovel , and came to be associated primarily with film and television adaptations, which were marketed using those terms. Variations such as "photo funnies" and "photostories" have also been used. In Italian,

333-555: A photo comic is referred to as a fotoromanzo ("photonovel", plural: fotoromanzi ). In Spanish-speaking countries, the term fotonovela refers to several genres of photo comics, including original melodramas. There were attempts at photo comics in the early days of tabloids in the United States; as early as 1927 the New York Daily News featured Ziegfeld Follies stars Eddie Cantor and Frances Upton appearing in sequential photographs, telling jokes (presumably from

370-531: A regular feature of National Lampoon magazine beginning in the early 1970s. During the 1970s, lines of American paperback books were marketed as "Fotonovels" and "Photostories", adapting popular films and television shows. Although home video largely supplanted this market in the 1980s, a small number of photo comic adaptations continued to be produced as promotional tie-ins to the original work. Photo comics were common in British magazines such as Jackie in

407-437: A series of highly publicized fundraising events, all of which ultimately fail. His attention shifts to pursuing a relationship with Vietnamese American pop superstar Mouling Jackson. Real financial assistance comes in the form of loans from a cartel of Native Americans led by billionaire Sam Birdwater, who controls Nike (styled as National Indian Knitting Enterprises during the film's release when they were still emerging as

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444-571: A way for consumers to revisit motion-picture stories before the widespread availability of affordable home recording and video playback equipment such as VCRs. The widespread familiarity of fotonovelas in Spanish-language culture makes photo comics an effective vehicle for health promotion and health education. Since the small pamphlets can be traded among individuals, they possess an element of portability that traditional materials lack. Both health and non-health entities have utilized

481-589: Is much like a bathing suit. Many people wear it for physical exercise sessions. A sauna suit is a specialized form of tracksuit made of a waterproof fabric such as coated nylon or PVC that is designed to make the wearer sweat profusely. Sauna suits are primarily used for temporary weight loss. The tracksuit is also known as a warm-up suit , or "warmups" for short, as they are intended for athletes to keep their bodies warm before or after competition, and during breaks (especially important in cold weather). In almost all cases, sports teams will wear these garments using

518-513: Is reading a list of "Government Approved" performers, the names of "Proctor & Bergman" (the co-authors of the original play) can be seen fifth on the list, credited as "Comics." Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor were members of the satirical comedy performance group Firesign Theatre. To promote the movie, Ted Coombs roller-skated across the United States and back and gained a place in the Guinness Book of World Records . A photo novel of

555-528: Is to allow representatives of the United Hebrab Republic, formed by the merger of Israel and the Arab states, to purchase what remains of the country when Birdwater forecloses. Dorothy Stratten appears, uncredited and in a brief non-speaking role, in a Playboy bunny style outfit during a scene where Meat Loaf's character donates blood. The Del Rubio triplets can be seen performing " America

592-547: The Chicago Tribune gave the movie one-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "'Americathon' is amusing in its first 20 minutes or so as it sets the stage for what's going on in 1998...But then it's 60 minutes of telethon, and frankly, even if you don't like Jerry Lewis , Korman's sendup wears awfully thin." Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times wrote "The film has a clever premise, some funny sight gags and

629-574: The Follies scripts) with speech bubbles superimposed. Photo comics emerged in Italy in the 1940s and expanded into the 1950s. (Actress Sophia Loren worked for a time as a model. ) The lurid Italian crime photo comic Killing ran from 1966 through 1969, and was reprinted in other countries; it has been reprinted and revived numerous times since then. The technique spread to Latin America, first adapting popular films, then for original stories. By

666-479: The Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards gave the first award for "Outstanding Photographic Comic". In 2010 and 2011 the bilingual photo comic Union of Heroes was nominated for the "Web-Sonderman"-Awards for the best German webcomic. In the 2010s, cartoonist John Byrne – inspired by 1970s photo comics adaptations of Star Trek episodes – produced a series of "photonovel adventures" which combined stills from

703-547: The 1960s, there were about two dozen fotonovela movie adaptations circulating in Latin America and nearly three times as many original works. They remained popular in Mexico into the late 1980s, when 70 million copies of fotonovelas were printed each month. Photo comics first became successful in the United States and Canada with Harvey Kurtzman 's Help! magazine, which ran humorous photo stories from 1960 to 1965. Similar "Foto Funnies" – often featuring female nudity – were

740-647: The 1980s, and a few are still published. There are a number of photo newspaper strips in the UK and the form was popular in girl's comics in the 1980s. Boy's comics of the early 1980s such as Load Runner and the relaunched Eagle also experimented with photo comics but without much success; when the Eagle was revamped, former photo comic strips such as Doomlord continued as illustrated strips. Online series such as Night Zero , A Softer World , and Alien Loves Predator are more recent examples of photo comics. In 2007,

777-434: The 2010s with " athleisure " trends. Beginning in the early-2000s, tracksuits have been associated with grime music in the UK and its related culture. This has led to the style of clothing being associated in the mainstream media with the country's gang culture , however grime musicians such as Stormzy have openly disassociated from them. Since 2006, prominent fashion designers have been asked to design tracksuits for

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814-469: The Beautiful " behind several posing bodybuilders. Director Neal Israel has a cameo as a protesting rabbi holding a picket sign reading "The President Is a Yutz" (Yiddish for "a stupid, clueless person"). John Carradine was cast as "Uncle Sam", but his scenes did not make the final cut. The soundtrack album, released August 18, 1979, features " It's a Beautiful Day " by The Beach Boys , "Crawling to

851-523: The USA" by Elvis Costello and "Get a Move On" by Eddie Money . In a scene that features a song by Vietnamese singer Mouling Jackson ( Zane Buzby , better known as a TV director and philanthropist), a large poster of actor Burt Kwouk can be seen. The photo is actually taken from the 1968 film The Shoes of the Fisherman , in which Kwouk played Chinese leader Chairman Peng. In a scene where Eric McMerkin

888-1020: The apparel for a particular country’s team across all competitions for both the Olympic and the Paralympic Games. Photo novel Photo comics are a form of sequential storytelling using photographs rather than illustrations for the images, along with the usual comics conventions of narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. They are sometimes referred to in English as fumetti , photonovels , photoromances , and similar terms. The photographs may be of real people in staged scenes, or posed dolls and other toys on sets. Although far less common than illustrated comics, photo comics have filled certain niches in various places and times. For example, they have been used to adapt popular film and television works into print, tell original melodramas , and provide medical education. Photo comics have been popular at times in Italy and Latin America, and to

925-490: The athletes of various Olympic teams, usually all the athletes representing one country. For example, designer Ralph Lauren created the USA uniforms for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony. The sportswear company Adidas hired Stella McCartney to be the Creative Director for the 2012 GB Olympic Games (by Adidas)—the first time in the history of the games that a leading fashion designer has designed

962-404: The body warm during and after athletic activity. It was originally intended for use in sports , mainly for athletes to wear over competition clothing (such as running shirt and shorts or a swimsuit ) and to take off before competition. In modern times, it has become commonly worn in other contexts. The tracksuit was one of the earliest uses of synthetic fibers in sportswear. A descendant of

999-421: The common uses of photo comics has been TV and film adaptations, usually abridged for length. Still frames from the film or video are reproduced, often in simple grids but sometimes with creative layouts and cropping, overlaid with balloons with abbreviated dialogue from the screenplays. They are a cost-effective way to adapt films and TV series into comics without the expense of commissioning illustrations, and were

1036-467: The late 1980s. This trend was short-lived, lasting only a few years. In the United Kingdom , tracksuits became popular due to Tommie Smith and John Carlos' black power salutre during the 1968 Olympics and Bob Marley 's Jamaican tracksuit. Young white working-class men in the UK often wore tracksuits to football games during the 1980's and the clothing was associated with football hooliganism at

1073-432: The low points of my entire movie-going career." Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote "The premise of Americathon is strong enough to sustain a 15-minute skit, but the movie has the ill fortune to drag on for an hour and a half." Dale Pollock of Variety stated "With a slow 85 minutes of Americathon to endure, film audience may go out and contribute to a fund to stop more pix like this from being made." Gene Siskel of

1110-458: The most used form of fabric on a tracksuit. Hip-hop culture would also contribute to the tracksuit's mainstream success. In 1986, Run DMC released the song My Adidas , with a music video featuring the group prominently wearing Adidas tracksuits, further associating tracksuits with hip-hop. The trend of wearing athletic clothing continued into the early 1980s. Tracksuits were eventually replaced by shellsuits, which were made out of nylon, in

1147-426: The movie was released in 1979, and the musical soundtrack was released on both vinyl and audiocassette by Lorimar Records. Roger Ebert gave the movie half of one star out of four and called it "a puerile exploitation of one very thin joke during 98 very long minutes." On his Sneak Previews program with Gene Siskel , Ebert said, "At times, it is a savage affront to the intelligence," and "It's not funny. It's one of

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1184-499: The search for leadership, Americans elect Chet Roosevelt as the president of the United States. Roosevelt, a "cosmically inspired" former governor of California, is modeled on California governor Jerry Brown . Despite wearing a three-piece tracksuit with a vest , Roosevelt shares little in common with historical figures like Theodore Roosevelt or Franklin D. Roosevelt , apart from his name. Roosevelt, an overly optimistic man who frequently quotes positive affirmation slogans, organizes

1221-420: The series with original digitally rendered background illustrations and new dialogue, to produce new stories featuring the characters. Software applications such as Comic Life, Comic Strip It, and Strip Designer, which allow users to add word balloons and sound effects to their personal photos and incorporate them into storytelling layouts, have revived some interest in the medium. In the United States, one of

1258-399: The time. In the late 1990s, tracksuits made a comeback in mainstream fashion for both men and women. They returned to the fabrics of the 1970s, most notably polyester. The trend continued into the 2000s, where velour made a comeback, by the likes of Juicy Couture and other brands. This continued for most of the decade. Tracksuits briefly went out of fashion in the late 2000s, resurfacing in

1295-406: The tracksuit, the shell suit , which arrived in the late 1980s, was popular with the hip-hop and breakdancing scene of the era. They were manufactured from a mix of cellulose triacetate and polyester making them shiny on the outside, with distinctive combinations of colours. Most tracksuits have a mesh interior which allows the user to wear them without any undergarment such as underwear. This

1332-470: Was followed by instances of depictions of tracksuits in pop culture, such as Bruce Lee wearing tracksuits in Longstreet and Game of Death . Tracksuits were associated with the youth culture of the time, particularly hippies and university students. Tracksuits at the time were made out of cotton, polyester, terry cloth, or a mix. In the late 1970s velour became popular, so much so that it became

1369-494: Was made available on VHS and laserdisc in the 1980s by Lorimar Home Video, both of which are now out of print. The home video rights passed to Warner Bros. in the late 1980s as part of their purchase of Lorimar. Warner Home Video made the movie available in January 2011 on DVD in widescreen (1.85:1) format as part of its Warner Archive Manufacture-on-demand collection. In 1984, New York City public radio station WNYC sponsored

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