Hans and Franz are characters in a recurring sketch called "Pumping Up with Hans & Franz" on the

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

sketch comedy show ''

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. ...

'', played by

Dana Carvey Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his seven seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1993, which earned him fiv ...

and

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 ...

, respectively.

Description

In the sketch, Carvey and Nealon play a pair of muscle-bound Austrian bodybuilders in the mold of Arnold Schwarzenegger, using padding for fake muscles, drab gray sweatsuits, weight belts, and speaking with Austrian accents. The background of the set includes several life-sized cutouts of Schwarzenegger during his competition years. The sketch's introductory and ending music featured mock Austrian

yodeling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from the ...

. "Pumping Up" primarily consists of Hans and Franz denigrating others for not being strong and as physically fit as they appear to be, striking bodybuilder poses to show off their "muscled" bodies, complete with strained facial expressions. Schwarzenegger made one guest appearance in the sketch (to much applause) in which he ridicules "his cousins" for being "girlie" and weak. Another sketch was done in response to recent sports news, where a "''Saturday Night Live'' editorial" showed Hans and Franz barking back at a recent remark by

Jimmy the Greek James George Snyder Sr. (born Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos Roberto Kurtz, September 9, 1918 – April 21, 1996), better known as Jimmy the Greek, was an American sports commentator and Las Vegas bookmaker. A regular contributor to the CBS prog ...

that African men were more apt to be muscular than European men. One sketch that did not have the pair in their signature sweatsuits and leather belts was a Halloween episode. Hans and Franz both dressed up as their idol, Arnold Schwarzengger, specifically Franz as the T-800 from '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' and Hans as the titular character from

the first film ''The First Film'' is a 2015 British documentary film about cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince, made by David Nicholas Wilkinson. It argues the case that Le Prince, rather than the Lumière brothers, was the true inventor of moving pictures, making ...

. The two compared how their Terminators were tougher, then derided other "girlie" costumes, even a boy who was Superman. Rather than hand out high sugar candy, Hans and Franz gave "treats" of Vitamin C pills, coconut oil, and

bee pollen Bee pollen, also known as bee bread and ambrosia, is a ball or pellet of field-gathered flower pollen packed by worker honeybees, and used as the primary food source for the hive. It consists of simple sugars, protein, minerals and vitamins ...

to encourage kids to stay in shape.

Development

The idea for the characters of Hans and Franz came in 1987 in a Des Moines,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, hotel room while Nealon was watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger television interview during Nealon's and Carvey's first comedy tour. The first sketch in which the characters appear occurred during the season premiere of the 13th season.

Other appearances

After Carvey left the show, the sketch was retired. However, a 1994 episode where Carvey hosted had Hans and Franz appearing as guest commentators as ''Weekend Update'', with the pair mentioning they took some time off and were dismayed at the show's crew for dismantling their set. Franz also considered the ''Weekend Update'' sketches were not good since they replaced the past anchor (also played by Kevin Nealon). A short sketch was filmed for the show's 1999 primetime ''25th Anniversary Special'' which spoofed VH1's ''

Behind the Music ''Behind the Music'' is a documentary television series on VH1. Each episode profiles and interviews a popular musical artist or group. The program examines the beginning of their career, their road to success, and the hardships they may have ...

'' specials, but time constraints prevented it from airing. It appeared in a later episode that season. In the sketch, Hans and Franz tell the story of how they were reunited in Hollywood when Franz unsuspectingly had his buttocks "read" by Hans. In 2014, the duo appeared in several State Farm commercials with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Proposed film

Starting in the early 1990s, a Hans and Franz film was in development, with the working title ''Hans and Franz Go to Hollywood''. In a 2010 interview on '' Conan'', Nealon and host Conan O'Brien discussed being holed up in a Santa Monica hotel room for a month with Carvey and

Robert Smigel Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his ''Saturday Night Live'' " TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic D ...

working on the script for what was then intended to be a musical. Carvey discussed the script under the title ''Hans and Franz: The Girlyman Dilemma'' during a 2016 interview with

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, '' The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terr ...

. Schwarzenegger expressed an interest and was at one point to co-produce, but ultimately declined to participate following the poor reception of his self-parodying vehicle ''

Last Action Hero ''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...

''. The disastrous box office performances of the ''SNL'' spinoff movies '' Stuart Saves His Family'' and ''

It's Pat ''It's Pat'' is a 1994 American slapstick comedy film directed by Adam Bernstein and starring Julia Sweeney, Dave Foley, Charles Rocket, and Kathy Griffin. The film was based on the '' Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') character Pat, created by S ...

'' likely hurt the film's prospects, but Schwarzenegger dropping out proved an insurmountable obstacle.

Cultural references

NASA's two crawler-transporters—large diesel-powered transport devices used since 1965 to carry heavy launch loads to the launch site, including fully assembled spacecraft from the Apollo, Skylab, and Shuttle eras—are also nicknamed "Hans" (CT-1) and "Franz" (CT-2). In the ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

'' episode "Planet of the Turtles" there are Hans and Fitz, two alien turtle wrestlers who act in the fashion of Hans and Franz. Later in the episode "Leonardo Cuts Loose", Hans and Fitz are two Austrian bodybuilding villains. In the popular MMO ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

'', Hans'gar and Franzok are twin brothers in the Blackrock Foundry raid. With a throwback to the ''Saturday Night Live'' characters, Franzok can be heard yelling "Hear me now and believe me later!" In the pop-culture comedy ''

Dude, Where's My Car? ''Dude, Where's My Car?'' is a 2000 American stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner. The film stars Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two best friends who find themselves unable to remember where they parked their vehicle after a nigh ...

'', there are two blonde Germanic spacemen who act in the fashion of Hans and Franz. In the FPS ''

Borderlands A borderland or borderlands are the geographical space or zone around a territorial border. Borderland or borderlands may refer to: Places * Borderland, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia * Borderland (ele ...

'', there are Hanz and Franz as bodyguards of one of the final game bosses, Baron Flynt. In ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'' Season 38 Episode 5, Hansel and Gretel introduce themselves and reference the Hans and Franz tagline "We just want to pump...you up!" changed to "We just want to throw...bread crumbs!" In the Marvel Comics story ''Incredible Hulk vs. Venom'' #1 (April 1994), the two titular characters go on a news show and taunt the villain of the story in the style of Hans and Franz, including threatening to "beat (clap) imup!" ''Incredible Hulk vs. Venom'' #1 (April 1994), Marvel Comics. Writer: Peter David. Artist: Jim Craig. German supermodel Heidi Klum nicknamed her breasts Hans and Franz. However, given the differing nationalities (Klum is German and Franz and Hans are Austrian), it has never been confirmed if this was in homage to the ''SNL'' sketch, nor has she made mention as such.

References