Fails the Bechdel test
The Cable Guy
1996. Directed by Ben Stiller, written by Lou Holtz Jr..
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Steven Kovak has been kicked out of his apartment by his girlfriend. Steven has a new apartment, and decides to slip the cable guy (Chip) $50 for free cable. Steven then fakes an interest in Chip's line of work. However Chip takes this to heart trying to become Steven's best bud. When Steven no longer wants to be Chips friend the man who can do it all goes on an all out assault to ruin Steven's life. In the backdrop is the delicate sub-plot of the trial of a former kid star for murdering his brother.
- Released
- 14 Jun 1996
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Cable Guy 336 lines, man
- Steven 311 lines, man
- Robin 106 lines, woman
- Rick 43 lines, man
- Earl 18 lines, man
- Ray 10 lines, man
- Steve 10 lines
- Mr. Daniels 9 lines, man
- Steven'S Mother 8 lines, woman
- Host 6 lines, man
Full cast, 83 people
- Jim Carrey as Cable Guy
- Matthew Broderick as Steven
- Leslie Mann as Robin
- Jack Black as Rick
- George Segal as Steven's Father
- Diane Baker as Steven's Mother
- Ben Stiller as Sam Sweet
- Eric Roberts as Eric Roberts
- Janeane Garofalo as Medieval Waitress
- Andy Dick as Medieval Host
- Harry O'Reilly as Steven's Boss
- David Cross as Sales Manager
- Amy Stiller as Steven's Secretary
- Owen Wilson as Robin's Date
- Keith Gibbs as Basketball Player
- Tommy Hinkley as Basketball Player
- Shawn Michael Howard as Basketball Player
- Jeff Kahn as Basketball Player
- Suli McCullough as Basketball Player
- Jeff Michalski as Basketball Player
- Joel Murray as Basketball Player
- Andrew Shaifer as Basketball Player
- Cameron Starman as Cable Boy
- Kathy Griffin as Cable Boy's Mother
- Greg Hopla as Medieval Times Fighter
- John Ferdinand as Medieval Times Fighter
- Misa Koprova as Heather
- Paul Greco as Raul
- Aki Aleong as Karaoke Party Guest
- Dona Hardy as Karaoke Party Guest
- Lloyd Kino as Karaoke Party Guest
- Sara Lowell as Karaoke Party Guest
- Cynthia Mason as Karaoke Party Guest
- Michael Rivkin as Karaoke Party Guest
- Harper Roisman as Karaoke Party Guest
- Sandra Thigpen as Karaoke Party Guest
- Sean Whalen as Karaoke Party Guest
- Marty Zagon as Karaoke Party Guest
- Cynthia Lamontagne as Restaurant Hostess
- James O'Connell as Bathroom Attendant
- Douglas Robert Jackson as Bathroom Patron
- Charles Napier as Arresting Officer
- Christopher Michael as Arresting Officer
- Charles Robinson as Steven's Lawyer
- John F. O'Donohue as Prison Guard
- Lydell M. Cheshier as Jail Inmate
- Jason Larimore as Jail Inmate
- Ahmad Reese as Jail Inmate
- Emilio Rivera as Jail Inmate
- Bob Odenkirk as Steven's Brother
- Julie Hayden as Steven's Sister
- Annabelle Gurwitch as Steven's Sister-in-Law
- Blake Boyd as Steven's Brother-in-Law
- Liza D'Agostino as Newsroom Researcher
- Tabitha Soren as Tabitha Soren
- Rikki Klieman as Rikki Klieman
- Robert Simels as Robert Simels
- Leonard O. Turner as Sam Sweet Judge
- Carlo Allen as Sam Sweet Court Judge
- Conrad Janis as Father ('Double Trouble')
- Thomas Scott as Sam @ 8 yrs.
- Steven Scott as Stan @ 8 yrs.
- Christine Devine as Anchor Woman
- Mark Thompson as Newsroom Reporter
- Wendy L. Walsh as Reporter Outside Courtroom
- Marion Dugan as Robin's Neighbor
- Kyle Gass as Couch Potato
- David Bowe as Helicopter Paramedic
- Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc as Pilot
- Tress MacNeille as Cable Boy's Mother (voice) (uncredited)
- Jeremy Applegate as Serf #4 (uncredited)
- Barbara Babbin as Bar Patron (uncredited)
- Adam Consolo as Serf #2 (uncredited)
- Hal Dion as Lead Officer (uncredited)
- Mark Fite as Medieval Times Knight (uncredited)
- Shann Johnson as Extra (uncredited)
- Alex D. Linz as Tony (uncredited)
- John C. Moskoff as Karaoke Party Guest (uncredited)
- Robert Lyon Rasner as Serf #3 (uncredited)
- Raydeen Revilla as Karaoke Video Dancer (uncredited)
- David Stepkin as Partygoer (uncredited)
- Don LaFontaine as TV Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
- Tony Robbins as Oliviera (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 144
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 13 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 25 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 45 |
| 19 to 21 | 9 | 12 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 10 |
| 25 to 27 | 7 | 31 |
| 28 to 30 | 9 | 74 |
| 31 to 33 | 4 | 49 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 26 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 26 |
| 40 to 42 | 8 | 20 |
| 43 to 45 | 5 | 33 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 22 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 3 |
| 52 to 54 | 4 | 31 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 4 |
| 58 to 60 | 11 | 14 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 9 | 30 |
| 67 to 69 | 7 | 15 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 15 |
| 73 to 75 | 8 | 42 |
| 76 to 78 | 9 | 18 |
| 79 to 81 | 11 | 49 |
| 82 to 84 | 12 | 21 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 9 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 5 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 6 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 15 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 6 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 9 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 6 |
| 115 to 117 | 1 | 7 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 1 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 1 |
| 124 to 126 | 6 | 22 |
| 127 to 129 | 2 | 22 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 0 |
| 136 to 138 | 0 | 0 |
| 139 to 141 | 0 | 2 |
| 142 to 144 | 0 | 4 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 15 are women's.
132 lines from women, 757 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
18 women and 46 men in the cast. 8 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 19 of 934.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 64 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (1,219), men 88% (8,747). Women have 15% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
0
Two men
63
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ben Stiller (man)
- Written by
- Lou Holtz Jr. (gender not listed), Ben Stiller (man), Judd Apatow (man)
- Produced by
- Jeffrey A. Mueller (man), Andrew Licht (man), Judd Apatow (man)
- Shot by
- Robert Brinkmann (man)
- Edited by
- Steven Weisberg (man)
- Music by
- John Ottman (man)
- Production design by
- Sharon Seymour (woman)
- Costumes by
- Erica Edell Phillips (woman)
- Cast by
- Juel Bestrop (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 13 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Leslie Mann 24, Janeane Garofalo 31, Diane Baker 58
Men
Jack Black 26, Ben Stiller 30, Andy Dick 30, Jim Carrey 34, Matthew Broderick 34, Eric Roberts 40, George Segal 62
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $47 million
- Box office
- $103 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 144 scenes and 934 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
