The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh

In 27 years, has anyone managed to make a better astrological disco basketball comedy than The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh? I think not.

This 1979 bomb starred Julius "Dr. J." Erving, Meadowlark Lemon, Jonathan Winters and Stockard Channing. I remember seeing it at the dumpy old Shamrock 6 in Houston when it came out. Even if you can't stomach the plot in which the lowly Pittsburgh Pythons become contenders after assembling an all-Pisces roster at the behest of team astrologer Mona Mondieu, the ABA-on-LSD set design is a visual feast. The Thom Bell-produced soundtrack isn't bad, either.

Sadly, The Fish is unavailable on DVD and hard-to-find on VHS. Cable stopped showing it sometime during Reagan's first term. You can, however, check out this awesome tribute page.