When Cars Attack

...or at least a large Cubic Zirconia. I came across this on the schedule one night and tuned in because finding a cheesy title in the ABC lineup was such a rarity. ;-)

This being back in the days when Fox was becoming the megaloczar of disaster reality shows, I *was* intrigued by the idea of ABC spoofing them. What a find! Belzer's deadpan delivery of his very dry-witted commentary about cars turning on their owners kept me laughing through the entire show and reminded me of the best satires from the old National Lampoon radio show during his tenure with it.

Wonder if this gem is still viewable anywhere?

I can't believe this show wasn't more popular – it's like no one else has seen it. I saw it when originally broadcast on TV. I actually saw the commercial for it ahead of time and was eagerly awaiting its arrival. I was not disappointed. I love dead pan humor, and this was a protracted display of it. My wife asked me more than once if they were serious. LOL. The shaky "hidden" camera action showing car owners abusing the vehicles, ostensibly causing them to retaliate was genius. The whole thing was especially relevant given the shows that were popular at the time. Even better was the repeating zoom-and-enhance sequence where a distant picture of a car with the hood up is quickly revealed in high resolution clarity to have a mysterious car part that has never been explained – clearly fodder for the conspiracy theorists. The fact that I still recall so many parts of this show that I only saw once is a testament to how great it was. I'd love to get it on DVD.

Richard Belzer's deadpan approach (homage to Robert Stack) is perfect for this beautifully ridiculous satire of cop and weird animal quasi-documentaries. Consider it an American satire in the tradition of the classic British "The Rutles." OK, maybe that's a stretch but I saw it on probably its only broadcast and was in awe of its inspired absurdity. Belzer fused his great stand-up comedy skill with his excellent dramatic acting (as seen as Lt. Munch in Homicide:Life in the Streets) in being the ultra-serious host for this "reality" show. Houstonians will enjoy its use of an unfinished Houston freeway for some of the really bizarre car behavior. I feel honored to see the program as the odds are you will never see this as it is highly unlikely that it will ever be rebroadcast.

Just thinking about this show, you know you're getting older when nobody you know has ever seen or heard of this one. I was probably 18 years old when I saw this with my brother and we were both cracking up. Richard belzer was a trip with his narration, I think we laughed through the whole thing. I desperately want to find this and show to my wife, it's one of those things you just cant describe and get the point accross on how wacky the movie was and how serious Richard Belzer took it. I've exhausted all resources trying to find a copy of this movie, this is my last hope. Being that all these posts are much older than mine im figuring this will be the last dead-end. If anyone was able to find this please leave a message.

I remember watching this in college, having caught it midway through. My roommate and I stared in awe going "are they ******* serious?" thinking this was some show trying to actually claim this was real.

We soon figured out it was obviously a joke, but this didn't stop it from being funny. Non-stop laughter as you see re-dramatizations of cars actually attacking people and having "minds of their own." Beautifully narrated and told as if it were some crime show, you'll be cracking up as you see the actual cars attacking people.

My only regret is not having a copy of this and not being able to find it anywhere. If you have a copy or know where I can buy one, please let me know.