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
Larry the Cable Guy as the Command Center, as he explained during the program. In June 2012, Disneyland's California Adventure theme park's "Cars Land" features a ride called "Mater's Junkyard Jamboree" that features Whitney's voice as his character Mater from the Disney/Pixar "Cars" movies. Bektrom Foods of North Dakota developed a line of Larry the Cable Guy food products, such as boxed hamburger dinners, with some of the proceeds from its sales benefiting the "Git-R-Done Foundation". Whitney resides in Lincoln, Nebraska, on a farm. On July 3, 2005, he married his wife, Cara. They have two children together: a son named Wyatt (born August