''Coneheads'' is a 1993 American

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film from Paramount Pictures, produced by

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

, directed by Steve Barron, and starring Dan Aykroyd,

Jane Curtin Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for ...

and

Michelle Burke Michelle Burke (born Michelle Gray; November 30, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jodi Kramer in the 1993 Richard Linklater film '' Dazed and Confused'' and as Connie Conehead in the 1993 movie '' Coneheads'' ...

. The film is based on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

comedy sketches Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...

about aliens stranded on Earth, who have

Anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influenc ...

their Remulakian surname to "Conehead". Michelle Burke took over the role played by Laraine Newman on ''SNL''. The film also features roles and cameos by actors and comedians from ''SNL'' and other television series of the time. Three years after the release of ''Coneheads'', screenwriters Bonnie & Terry Turner and star Jane Curtin revisited the premise of aliens arriving on Earth and assimilating into American society with the TV show '' 3rd Rock from the Sun'', with Curtin instead playing a human character.

Plot

Upon discovering a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

in American airspace, the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

sends fighter jets to investigate, who fire on the unresponsive craft and cause it to crash into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, near

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The aliens from the planet Remulak aboard, Beldar Clorhone and his "genetomate" Prymaat, survive and quickly adapt to the human lifestyle, despite their conspicuous conical-shaped heads and metallic-sounding voices. Assigned by Highmaster Mintot to conquer Earth (a 'Protoid Re-fueling Station') as 'Fuel Survey Underlord of the Wilderness Planet at the end of the Noctolium Solar Chain', Beldar becomes an appliance repairman, and upon discovering his undocumented status, his boss Otto arranges for a false identity, which quickly alerts the INS. Meanwhile, after the couple discover from fellow Remulakian Marlax Zanthstrom that a rescue vessel will not arrive for seven "Zurls" (many years), Prymaat informs Beldar she is pregnant. Ambitious INS agent Gorman Sneedling and his assistant Eli Turnbull unsuccessfully attempt to capture the couple. Months later, Beldar has become a respected taxi driver, and the couple live in his boss, Khoudri's basement. After their daughter Connie's birth, they buy a home and move to suburban

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

, adopting the surname Conehead, where Beldar begins another new career as a driving instructor. Meanwhile, Gorman gets a promotion and decides to leave the Coneheads' case to his replacement, but the case's extreme expense forces him to ensure its closure. The now-teenaged Connie simply wants to fit in with her peers, though her father greatly objects, especially when she begins seeing auto mechanic Ronnie Bradford. This causes tension between Connie and Beldar, who strongly disapproves of Ronnie, even tearing the roof off of his car and threatening to kill him after he tries to make love with Connie, which irritates her. Despite this, Ronnie and Connie reconcile after talking. Meanwhile, Beldar is preoccupied with winning a golfing trophy at his country club, while Prymaat becomes concerned about his attractiveness to her due to one of his driving students, Gladys Johnson, flirting with him. Gorman and Eli track the Coneheads to their home, posing as Jehovah's Witnesses to enter. During the conversation, Prymaat discovers their communication device to Remulak is beeping and notifies Beldar that 'the Big Phone' has contacted him, causing him to promptly eject the two. He is then notified of their approaching rescue vessel. At a costume party that night, Beldar wins the golfing trophy. After Connie is told of their imminent rescue, she returns home with Ronnie, where she almost consummates their relationship using her parents' "senso-rings". Beldar and Prymaat discover them, just as the INS arrives to arrest the Coneheads. Ronnie helps stall the INS while the rescue vessel arrives just in time, and Gorman and Eli are taken aboard with the Coneheads. On Remulak, Beldar is welcomed home, presenting the Highmaster with various Earthly 'gifts', including Gorman and Eli as slaves. Initially satisfied with Beldar's accomplishments, Mintot notices that Beldar's teeth are capped (something Otto had advised Beldar to do to blend in), accuses him of treason and sentences him to fight the ferocious Garthok ("knarfle the Garthok"), greatly distressing Prymaat. After the Garthok easily and gruesomely kills other criminals sentenced to fight it, Beldar uses his Earthly golfing skills to save himself, killing the creature. Afterwards, he requests to return to Earth to oversee its conquest, taking Gorman back with him as a minion. Mintot agrees and hires Eli as his personal assistant, who quickly acclimates to his new role. Departing for Earth with Prymaat, Connie, and Gorman in tow, Beldar soon prioritizes Connie's feelings over planetary conquest by quickly faking an Earth attack, ordering his invasion force to retreat and proceed to their secondary target in another part of the galaxy, while making it look like a superior weapon has destroyed his spaceship. For rescuing him, Gorman agrees to give the Coneheads Green Cards due to Beldar's marketable talent. Ronnie arrives to take Connie to the prom. Beldar gives him 55 words of advice, and then uses a massive flash bulb arrangement on his home-built Polaroid camera to document the happy event. As Connie and a now-sunburned Ronnie depart, he and Prymaat review the oversized photo, saying, "Ah, memories. We will enjoy them".

Cast

* Dan Aykroyd as Beldar Clorhone (later Conehead) / Donald R. DeCicco *

as Prymaat Clorhone (later Conehead) / Mary Margaret Rowney *

as Conjaab "Connie" Clorhone/Conehead **Danielle Aykroyd as 3 year old Connie *

Michael McKean Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician known for various roles in film and television such as Lenny Kosnowski in '' Laverne & Shirley'', David St. Hubbins in '' ...

as INS Deputy Commissioner Gorman Sneedling, the

main antagonist Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

of the film *

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

as INS Agent Eli Turnbull *

Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...

as Ronnie Bradford * Sinbad as Otto * Michael Richards as Arnold *

Eddie Griffin Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom '' Malcolm & Eddie'', the title character in the 2002 comedy film '' Undercover Brother'', and Tiberius Jef ...

as Raymond *

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...

as Marlax Zanthstrom * Adam Sandler as Carmine Weiner * Mitchell Bobrow as Tanner * Jason Alexander as Larry Farber *

Lisa Jane Persky Lisa Jane Persky (born May 5, 1955) is an American actress, journalist, author, artist, and photographer. She played supporting roles in the films '' The Great Santini'' (1979) ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' (1986) and '' When Harry Met Sally...'' (1 ...

as Lisa Farber * Dave Thomas as Highmaster Mintot * Laraine Newman as Laarta, Prymaat's sister, Marlax's wife and Connie's aunt *

Garrett Morris Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980, and played Jimmy on ''The Jeffersons'' ...

as Captain Orecruiser *

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, '' The Drew Carey Show'', an ...

as Manny Manson *

Kevin Nealon Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1995, acted in several of the Happy Madison films, played Doug Wilson on the Showtime series '' Weeds'', and p ...

as Kevin *

Jan Hooks Janet Vivian HooksJan Hooks obituary
liteseyfh.com; accesse ...

as Gladys Johnson *

Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress and musician. Posey is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Satellite Award nomination and two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Posey made her film debu ...

as Stephanie *

Joey Lauren Adams Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in ''Chasing Amy'', for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller role ...

as Christina *

Julia Sweeney Julia Anne Sweeney (born October 10, 1959) is an American actress, comedian, and author, who gained fame as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1994. She played Mrs. Keeper in the film ''Stuart Little'' and voiced Brittany in ' ...

as Principal Eva Sweeney *

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

as Coach Rosa Scott *

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emm ...

as Manny Jones *

Peter Aykroyd Peter Jonathan Aykroyd (November 19, 1955 – November 6, 2021) was a Canadian actor, comedian, and writer. Biography Born to Lorraine (1918–2018) and Peter Hugh Aykroyd (1922–2020) in Ottawa, he was the younger brother of comedian Dan Aykr ...

as Highmaster Mentot *

Jonathan Penner Jonathan Lindsay Penner (born March 5, 1962) is an American actor, screenwriter, television personality, and film producer, known for producing and starring in the film ''The Last Supper'', as well as acting in the television series '' Rude Awa ...

as Air Traffic captain *

Whip Hubley Grant Shelby Hubley Jr., known as Whip Hubley, is an American actor. Early life and education Hubley was born in New York City, the son of Julia Kaul (née Paine) and Grant Shelby Hubley, an entrepreneur, oil investor, and writer. He attended th ...

as F-16 pilot *Mark Fulton (uncredited) as Toni *

Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz (; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Lovitz starred as Jay Sherman in '' The Critic'' and played a baseball scout in '' A League of ...

(uncredited) as Dr. Rudolph, dentist * Tom Arnold (uncredited) as Tommy In addition to Jane Curtin appearing as a regular cast member, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman, Julia Sweeney, Kevin Nealon, and Laraine Newman all appeared as guest stars on '' 3rd Rock from the Sun'', which was created by ''Coneheads'' co-writers Bonnie & Terry Turner and featured a similar premise of aliens making efforts to assimilate into American society. Additionally, co-writer Terry Turner cameos in the film as the sketch artist that Seedling describes Beldar to. Dan Aykroyd's real life daughter Danielle and brother Peter appear as 3-year-old Connie and Highmaster Mentot respectively.

Production

Tom Davis, who created the characters on ''Saturday Night Live'', wrote the first version of the screenplay. He was unhappy with choices made by the producers, including setting the Remulak scenes in a gladiators' arena, rather than the suburban environment that he envisioned. While there are some differences, ''Coneheads'' mostly follows the same plot as in the animated special that was created ten years earlier. Similarities include the Coneheads being stranded on Earth, Beldar working as an appliance repair man, and Connie dating an earthling named Ronnie. The film mostly takes place in

. Some scenes were filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

towns of Jersey City and Wrightstown.

Reception

The film debuted at No. 6 on its opening weekend, while its domestic box office grossed $7,100,501. By the end of its domestic theatrical run, the film had grossed $21,274,717. ''Coneheads'' received mostly negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives the film a low score of 35%, based on 31 reviews with a consensus that reads, "Listless, crude, and overall uninspired, ''Coneheads'' offers further evidence that stretching an ''SNL'' sketch to feature length can be tougher than narfling a garthok." Roger Ebert gave the film stars out of 4, describing ''Coneheads'' as "dismal, dreary and fairly desperate" and the actors as unable to overcome an uninspired screenplay.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said the film "has its dopey charms", and that it is suitable for people who found '' Wayne's World'' too demanding. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called it "an unusually companionable jape; in this world it makes perfect sense that the Coneheads' friends and neighbors never really register that there's anything terribly different about them. They're all-American eccentricseven if they happen to come from the planet Remulak". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F. The film received some critical re-evaluation during the 2010s, with multiple writers noting its satirical take on an immigrant family experience and immigration enforcement (meant as an exaggeration of Reagan-era politics) became eerily politically relevant following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for ''Coneheads'' was released on July 20, 1993 by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It features the songs "

Tainted Love "Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synthpop duo Soft Cell in 1 ...

" by

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their pla ...

, "It's a Free World, Baby" by

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

and "

Soul to Squeeze "Soul to Squeeze" is a song by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers that was originally recorded during the production of their fifth studio album, '' Blood Sugar Sex Magik'' (1991). Although it was not featured on the record and was use ...

" by the band

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

which would go on to reach 22 on the

US Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in ...

. The album itself would peak at 162 on the US

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of ar ...

chart.

Track listing

None of David Newman's score was included on the above album, but it was issued on a 2015

Intrada A prelude (german: Präludium or '; la, praeludium; french: prélude; it, preludio) is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction t ...

album paired with his scores for ''

Talent for the Game ''Talent for the Game'' is a 1991 film directed by Robert M. Young and starring Edward James Olmos, Lorraine Bracco, Terry Kinney, Jamey Sheridan, and Jeff Corbett. The plot concerns a baseball scout. Scenes were filmed on the Palouse in the s ...

'' and '' Itsy Bitsy Spider''.

References

External links

* * * * {{Steve Barron 1993 films 1990s science fiction comedy films 1990s satirical films 1993 comedy films Alien invasions in films American science fiction comedy films American space adventure films American satirical films 1990s English-language films Fictional trios Films scored by David Newman Films directed by Steve Barron Films produced by Lorne Michaels Films with screenplays by Dan Aykroyd Films with screenplays by Tom Davis (comedian) Films with screenplays by Bonnie and Terry Turner Films set in New Jersey Films using stop-motion animation Paramount Pictures films Saturday Night Live films Saturday Night Live in the 1990s 1990s American films