The Cable Guy won by Columbia Pictures at a price of $1 million. The role of the Cable Guy was originally written for Chris Farley, who turned it down due to scheduling difficulties. Jim Carrey joined the production, receiving a then record $20 million to star. Following Carrey's signing, Columbia hired Judd Apatow to produce. The studio rebuffed Apatow's interest in directing, but accepted his suggestion to invite Ben Stiller, star of his eponymous show on which Apatow had worked. The original screenplay by Lou Holtz, Jr. was a lighter comedy, described by Apatow as "a "What About Bob?" annoying friend movie" where
The Lonely Guy The Lonely Guy The Lonely Guy is a 1984 American romantic comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Steve Martin. The screenplay is credited to Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels (of "Taxi") as well as Neil Simon (for "adaptation"), and is based on the 1978 book "The Lonely Guy's Book of Life" by Bruce Jay Friedman. Martin portrays a greeting card writer who goes through a period of bad luck with women. In his despair, he writes a book titled "A Guide for the Lonely Guy", which changes his life. The film also stars Charles Grodin, Judith Ivey, and