Since the Holiday Season is upon us, I sat down recently to indulge in a little Christmas tradition of mine that has gone by the wayside the last few years. Of course, I mean a Yuletide viewing of that most beloved of Christmas movies: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This has been my favourite holiday movie ever since it was first released in 1989. For those of you keeping track, I would have been 10 years old at the time. Chevy Chase and a stellar ensemble cast lead us on a fun and frantic festive romp that never fails to fill me with holiday cheer. The adventures of Clark Griswold and his wacky extended family tend to put everything in perspective for me. While much of the holiday trouble they encounter is self inflicted, they always persevere and manage to find the silver lining in every situation. Some of my favourite moments include: The remarkable Christmas light display that Clark creates for his family, Cousin Eddie's trademark holiday tag line as he empties his RV's septic tank into the storm sewer "Merry Christmas, Shitter was full." Clark's pool side fantasy, the Swat Team Invasion, and of course who could forget the squirrel in the Christmas Tree. These and many other moments in this film have always made me laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of the whole scenario, and having seen it as often as I have, I was under the impression that there were no surprises left in this movie for me. This last viewing proved me wrong.
Right from the start of the movie, as the Griswold's are driving the family station wagon out into the country to obtain the perfect tree, I noticed something for the very first time. The young son Rusty looked very familiar.
I suddenly knew that I recognized him from somewhere, but it took a moment before it dawned on me. I will admit that regardless of how many times I had seen this film, I had never thought to take note of the name of the young actor playing Rusty, as at the time, he wasn't immediately recognizable as someone I was familiar with from other roles. Fast forward 23 years and that has changed dramatically. I had to check the final credits to be certain, but Rusty is played by none other than Johnny Galecki. Okay, so that name may not mean a whole lot to some of you, but I guarantee that you will recognize the name Leonard Hofstadter, from The Big Bang Theory.
This revelation floored me! Here was someone that I have I enjoyed watching every week on one of the top rated comedy sitcoms on TV, and while I knew he had appeared on Roseanne as Darlene's boyfriend, David, I had no idea that I had been enjoying his work for over 20 years. Galecki's current work with the ensemble of Big Bang Theory is hands down some of the funniest stuff on TV right now, and the Leonard/Penny/Sheldon dynamic is simply pure genius. This little discovery really made my day so I thought I should share.
Merry Christmas.
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