College is a time when many of us figure out what we want to do with our lives, but it’s also a time to have a lot of fun, too. Not all students are fresh out of high school. There are non-traditional students who don’t attend college until their later years.

Rodney Dangerfield portrayed one of those students in Back to School. He was a wealthy, but uneducated father who enrolled in college to show solidarity with his discouraged son.

Dangerfield’s character Thorton Melon was more interested in partying and having fun than he was studying. His son was a towel boy for the dive team and was treated very poorly by the star diver. He was so down about his school experience that he was going to drop out. That’s when Dangerfield’s character decided to enroll in college with his son.

His son’s popularity increases thanks to all the parties Dangerfield threw. They both even earned a spot on the college’s dive team. They were losing the championship dive meet, but Dangerfield was called on for a Hail Mary type of dive in an attempt bring home a win for the team. In spectacular fashion, he performed a dive that everyone thought was impossible!

So, give the man a little respect and see him perform The Triple Lindy:

It’s such an amazing dive that it’s almost unbelievable! Special effects aside, Rodney Dangerfield did deserve a medal for comedy.

Rodney provided lots of laughs in Back to School. As an older businessman, he had experience that his economics professor wasn’t used to dealing with. Rodney had to correct the professor on the reality of starting a business and dealing with corrupt individuals. The professor was more than a bit agitated, but that’s because as Rodney points out, he lives in “Fantasyland”!

Please share this if you think Rodney Dangerfield deserves some respect!

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