The Bill Murray Classic On Netflix That Everyone Needs To See
Groundhog Day is streaming on Netflix.
Bill Murray has been in a lot of movies that are absolute classics, which any fan of comedy films needs to take the time to watch. Movies like Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Lost in Translation deserve a spot in any movie buff’s collection. But you won’t need a collection to watch one of his most famous movies, Groundhog Day, which is now streaming on Netflix.
Groundhog Day stars Bill Murray as a disgruntled weatherman who is forced by his TV station to travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the titular holiday. Hating the town and believing that covering the trivial holiday is beneath him, Murray’s character is distraught to discover that a freak snowstorm has trapped him in town. When he wakes up, he discovers that things are supernaturally worse than he thought, as he is forced to relive the same day over and over and over again.
Murray falls into despair, committing suicide multiple times in increasingly-hilarious ways before deciding to make the most of his situation. He learns multiple skills, memorizes everything that happens throughout the day, and eventually works to create a perfect day for everyone in town by preventing every negative incident and helping everyone he comes across. It’s this action — a choice to be completely selfless — that eventually leads to Murray breaking the loop.
Groundhog Day isn’t the first piece of media to feature someone trapped in a time loop — the 1915 novel Strange Life of Ivan Osokin explores a similar concept, and the 1939 episode of The Shadow called “The Man Who Murdered Time” involves the titular character being trapped in a single-day time loop by an evil scientist.
In fact, a lawsuit was filed concerning the similarities between Groundhog Day and the 1973 short story 12:01 P.M., which aired as a TV movie the same year that Groundhog Day was released. However, Groundhog Day is by far one of the most popular pieces of media to explore the concept, with almost all future time loop stories being compared to the Bill Murray film.
The very idea of a time loop became extremely popular after the release of Groundhog Day, to the point where the “Groundhog Day Episode” or “Groundhog Day Look” has become a well-known trope in TV and Film. Shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Xena: Warrior Princess, and even kids’ shows like The Thundermans and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic have episodes with the familiar time loop plot. Films like Edge of Tomorrow and Source Code also follow similar concepts — very likely influenced by the Bill Murray film.
While Groundhog Day undoubtedly had a major influence on films and television, its production resulted had a less-positive influence on the future of comedy films. Bill Murray infamously clashed with director and fellow Ghostbuster alum Harold Ramis, starting a rift that eventually led to Murray refusing to be involved in another Ghostbusters film until the 2016 remake, which didn’t begin filming until after Ramis’s death in 2014.
Tales about Groundhog Day‘s troubled development have since become legendary. There are unconfirmed rumors that Bill Murray and Kenny Ramis got into a physical fight on set, leading to Ramis shoving Murray against a wall. Murray also ended up hiring a deaf personal assistant who only spoke sign language, telling staff members (who didn’t know sign language) that the assistant was the only way they could contact Murray (who also didn’t know sign language)
Since then, allegations against Bill Murray have put the Groundhog Day actor’s behavior in a negative light. These claims range from reports of him getting in fights and literally dumping a 9-year-old child in a trash can behind the scenes at Saturday Night Live to claims about sexual assault and sexual harassment during the production of later movies. These claims led to the film Being Mortal halting production, with Murray allegedly paying a $100,000 settlement with a younger cast member for kissing and straddling her on-set.
Whether Murray’s actions will have a long-term effect on his career remains to be seen. It’s possible that the popular Groundhog Day actor will make a comeback in spite of the allegations, but only time will tell what the result will be.
