Yo Adrian

A couple weeks ago, I came across a show on the Biography channel about the making of the Rocky series, called The Rocky Saga: Going the Distance.  By the time I turned it on, they were discussing Rocky III.  I really wanted to see about I and II, and fortunately, it aired again a few days later.

I'm watching it now and I'm so glad I caught it.  It's full of interesting tidbits:

• Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay in three days in a spiral notebook.
• They considered Joe Frazier to play Apollo Creed, but in 11 seconds with Joe in the ring, Sly needed four stitches. 
• Carl Weathers was just as arrogant and pompous in real life as Apollo Creed was written to be.
• Adrian's brother Paulie was originally written to be Adrian's Jewish mother.
• Sly originally wanted Susan Sarandon to play Adrian, but they thought she was too sexy.
• The movie had a budget under $1M, with only $25K for the score.  And yet they ended up with one of the most enduring movie songs ever.
• Rocky and Adrian's first date was going to take place in a cafe.  Instead, they went ice skating.  And the reason it was set up that Rocky paid the guy to let them skate when the rink was closed was because they couldn't afford to pay any extras.  The end result was such a sweet and romantic scene.

As I'm watching, I realize that I completely adore this movie and I'm wondering why I don't own it.  I will remedy that soon.  I checked through Tivo and it doesn't look like Bio will be airing this documentary again in the next two weeks, however, if you want to see it, you're in luck!  I found the whole thing on YouTube!  Check it out if you can.