|
"I've fallen- and I can't get up!" was a catchphrase of late 1980s and early 1990s popular culture based upon a line from a United States-based television commercial.
Mrs. Fletcher: "I've fallen, and I can't get up!"
Dispatcher: "We're sending help immediately, Mrs. Fletcher."
The source of the line
This line was spoken in a television commercial for a medical alarm and protection company called LifeCall, starting in 1989, up to 1990, when they went out of business. The motivation behind the systems is that subscribers, mostly senior citizens, would receive a pendant which, when activated, would put them in immediate contact with a dispatch service, without the need to use a phone or other household device. The service was designed to appeal particularly to seniors who lived alone and who might experience a medical emergency, such as a fall, which would leave them alert but immobile and unable to reach a telephone.
In 1989 LifeCall began running commercials which contained a scene wherein an elderly woman, identified by a dispatcher as "Mrs Fletcher" uses the medical alert pendant after having fallen in the bathroom. After falling Mrs Fletcher speaks the phrase "I've fallen and I can't get up" after which the dispatcher informs her that he is sending help.
Taken at its face value, the commercial portrays a dangerous situation for a senior, with perhaps dire consequences: an elderly person suddenly incapacitated at home, unable to get help, perhaps for hours or even days.
The "I've fallen and I can't get up" ad. had the double misfortune of being unintentionally campy and appearing often on cable and daytime television. The fact that the commercial was a dramatization (as clearly stated in the beginning of the commercial) using rather mediocre acting also contributed to the humor. The combination made "I've fallen... and I can't get up!" a recognized, universal punchline that applied to many comedic situations. All of these factors made the ad memorable, ensuring the line's place in pop culture history.
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, after first applying in October 1990, LifeCall registered the phrase "I've fallen and I can't get up" as a trademark in September 1992 until its status was cancelled in 1999.[1] In October 2002, the similar phrase "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!" became a registered trademark of Life Alert Emergency Response, Inc.[1] In June 2007, the phrase "I've fallen and I can't get up!" also became a registered trademark of Life Alert. Both phrases are currently used on their website as well as in their commercials.[2]
The actress
Mrs. Fletcher was portrayed by Bea Marcus[citation needed]. Mrs. Fletcher is referenced as being played by Edith Fore[3][4]. However, there are also references to one Dorothy McHugh [5], a former Ziegfield Follies dancer, playing the part. It is possible different actresses were used in different markets. The commercial's "Mrs. Fletcher" and her catchphrase became so famous that when McHugh died of a stroke on July 19, 1995, her death was newsworthy based on her appearance in the commercial alone. (Edith Fore died on July 31, 1997.[4]) (Bea Marcus died on September 18, 2000 according to imdb)
Notable uses
- In the bloopers section of the Clerks II DVD, Elias recites this line while lying on the ground in an awkward position.
- In an episode of Roseanne, Roseanne throws her back out and proclaims "I threw my back out and I don't have one of those things! I shouldn't have laughed at that old lady on TV!"
- The original Mrs. Fletcher voice clip was mixed into a series of commercials that was used in the "Weird Al" Yankovic parody song "I Can't Watch This."[6]
- A musical group, Slant 6 and the Jump-Starts, recorded a song about the character titled "Mrs. Fletcher" in the 1990s, using her voice uttering the line in between verses. The song became popular with listeners to radio's Dr. Demento Show, frequently getting enough requests to make the show's weekly "Funny Five" of most requested songs, and also was on the annual "Funny 25" list of most requested songs for the entire year of 1990.[7]
- The advertisement was satirized by Will Ferrell in the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, where he has several scenes based around his being injured and calling out for help in a manner similar to the advertisement, including one which begins "Help! I've fallen down a cliff, and I can't get up".
- In a Xena: Warrior Princess blooper, Kevin Smith (Ares) has trouble getting up from under debris and says "I've fallen and I can't get up".
- In the black comedy video game Crash Tag Team Racing, a slightly senile elderly woman recites a variation of the line, saying "I've fallen, and when I get up, I'm gonna beat ya to a pulp".
- Butt-head in the MTV cartoon Beavis & Butt-head made fun of Stewart's Dad at the Sperm Bank when he said "Huh-Huh, He's fallen, and he can't get it up."
- Michael J. Fox uses the line in the film For Love or Money as he turns the lights out for bed one night.
- In the film Suburban Commando, Shep Ramsey (Hulk Hogan) smashes a car alarm where afterwards, the broken alarm says the catchphrase.
- The television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air featured several sayings of the phrase during its run. These include star Will Smith saying it after (jokingly) falling down the stairs. Another instance is when Phillip throws his back out and his son, Nicky, calls out, "Mommy, Daddy's fallen and he can't get up!"
- Babs Bunny from Tiny Toon Adventures uses this line as one of her catchphrases.
- In the film Fido a commercial for the ZomCon Zombie Alert Heart Monitor features a little girl shouting "Help! Grampa's fallen and he's getting up!" as her grandfather returns from the dead as a zombie.
- In the video game Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Grampa Gohan says the line when he is defeated.
- In the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episode Sonic Breakout, Dr. Robotnik is parodied in a comic strip in which he cracks open like an egg and utters the line. Later on, at the end of the episode, his fortress is blown up and he is left lying on the ground, where he ironically utters the phrase again.
- In the video game True Crime: Streets of LA, when a certain civilian is killed by the player, he will recite the phrase, as he has fallen on the ground.
- In the educational video game Mario Teaches Typing 2, Mario (who appears as just a floating head) floats offscreen briefly at one point and says this line; after returning, he says, "That is my impression of American advertising."
- In the Family Matters episode "The Good, the Bad, and the Urkel", Urkel falls over the railing of the top of a staircase and utters this line.
- A musical group named 2 Intense recorded a house/techno song featuring a sample of the phrase, and other samples from the commercial, including an elderly man saying "I'm having chest pains" and a dispatcher saying "we're sending help immediately".
- In Terry Pratchett's Discworld, wherein vampires carry a kit described as A small dustpan and brush, a phial of animal blood and a card saying: Help I have crumbled and I can-t get up. Please sweep me into a heap and crush vial. I am a Black Ribboner and will not harm you. Thanking you in advance.
- In Phineas and Ferb Isabella mistakenly called Linda Flynn "Mrs. Fletcher"
See also
References
External links
|
