The Rise and Fall of Mr. Pauly Shore

Isn't he dreamy? Sigh...

1968
Pauly is born. True story: While on her way to the hospital to give birth to Pauly, his mother was yet undecided on a name for her child. She passed the Paulee Body shop and a Montgomery Ward, and that's how Pauly got his name.

1988 to 1990
Pauly starts small in the movie industry with bit parts in such films as the body-swapping 18 Again! and the cult... well, not classic, but it is cult... flick Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge.

Critic Quote about Phantom of the Mall: "Pauly Shore fans, both of you, take note. He tricks a security guard out of his booth by mooning the camera." (eFilmCritic)

Stone-y Cold

1990 to 1993
Pauly becomes an MTV prodigy (as if that was hard) starring in the series "Totally Pauly" for four years. His unique verbal skills and colorful grunge attire swept a nation with apathy. In 1991, Shore dates Savanah, a famous porn star who committed suicide in 1994.

1992
Encino Man ($40.6 million at the box office). For better and definitely for worse, Pauly breaks into his first big starring role, alongside Sean Astin and Brendan Fraser. Critics immediately begin warding crosses and throwing pints of holy water at the silver screen, but nothing doing: the Weasel had landed, and incomprehensible speech smothered the nation. Factoid: Shore was originally offered the part of the caveman, but turned it down and rewrote the best friend role as his own part.

Critic Quote: "Just gear for a summer of Pauly-speak, and God help us all." (Rolling Stone)

Ambassador Shore In S.D.

1993
Son In Law ($36.4 million). Probably Shore's most likable effort, if the word "effort" can be applied to shrieking like a loon and offending the great state of South Dakota. Brendan Fraser briefly reprises his caveman role in college, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen gives us something pretty to look at, and we all learn the valuable lesson that annoying slackers actually have a better grasp on how to live life to the fullest than responsible folk. Sickening Fact: Pauly claims to have hooked up, in the biblical sense, with Thiessen (and admitted it on Howard Stern).

Critic Quote: "Unfortunately, Shore is among the least-watchable personalities in Hollywood, and it requires herculean self-control to sit through ninety-plus minutes of his irritating, juvenile antics." (James Berardinelli )

1994
In The Army Now ($28.8 million). Beginning his descent into madness, Pauly starts to back away from his weasel routine to develop an acting style I'd like to call "bland, pathetic oatmeal." Despite the hilarity of starring alongside master thespian Andy Dick, ITAN fails to do anything noteworthy with its material and quickly fizzles. And yes, Brendan Fraser makes another pointless cameo. This was the end of a three-picture deal with Disney.

Critic Quote: "Maybe the point of the Pauly Shore character is that he's cool and unengaged most of the time. Bombs explode all around him, but he's laid back and doesn't let anything get to him. Instead of laughs, we get to see him having a good time." (Roger Ebert)

1995
Jury Duty ($17 million). Pauly continues his straddling the line between his old annoying (but sometimes funny) ways and the more wholesome (yet dry as toast) man of the hour. Starving for material, Shore looks at the success of bunkmate Jim Varney's 1990 Ernest Goes to Jail and decides that there is still scraps of hilarity to be found in the courtroom. There are not. Jury Duty becomes even more forgettable than In The Army Now.

Critic Quote: "Shore is one of the lamest comics in Hollywood history." (Peter Stack)

Pauly's Response To Critics: "Oh, and by the way, f**k those faggot critics anyway." (Pauly Shore.com)

It's no prison bars, but it's a start

1996
Bio-Dome ($26.7 million). AKA "The Movie That Finally Killed The Weasel." Scared and fleeing for his career, Shore returns to his early 90's roots to play an all-out obnoxious fool, stuck with Brendan Fraser-wannabe Stephen Baldwin inside a self-contained bio-dome for a year. Bio-Dome's release and the following massive revolt by the peoples of the world proved that mob justice still worked. Shore received an indefinite penalty check in the comedic arena. Fun fact: Pauly actually dated Kylie Minogue for a few months after this flick.

Critic Quote: "Not only is Bio-Dome not even remotely funny; it could possibly be the worst Hollywood movie I’ve ever seen." (Apollo Movie Guide)

1997
Bleeding from the cuts of a thousand movie critics, Pauly runs to the last haven of the bad actor: the Fox network. Fox's "Pauly" -- about a pampered slacker -- premiered in March of 1997, and was cut for The World's Crankiest Geezers in April of 1997. They filmed seven episodes, and aired just five.

Pauly Speaks Out After His Film Streak Ends: "Well, whatever. People should stop poking fun at other people and worry about themselves. The reality is that my movies all have made money—it helps that they've all cost under $10 million—and a lot of people liked them. Blacks and Mexicans loved Jury Duty. Little kids loved Bio-Dome. The mainstream liked Son In Law. You know what I mean? They are what they are, and hopefully when I'm 50, I'll look back on them and I'll have done so many other things that are more critically acclaimed. It's part of a 30- to 40-year career, which I'll hopefully have." (from The Onion A.V. Club)

Crazy like a fox

2000
Pauly reprises his 1995 voice work from the then-enjoyable A Goofy Movie to the selling-out An Extremely Goofy Movie. Better than that, though, Pauly breaks into the video store discount rack with a five-minute bit in The Bogus Witch Project.

2001
Pauly masterfully returns to the screen in the hit classic The Wash. His role? "Man in Trunk." Really.

2003
Pauly directs and acts in his self-made You'll Never Wiez in This Town Again (celeb cameos include Andy Dick, Todd Bridges, and Carrot Top -- really). Sick of all the bad publicity that's hounded him for the past decade -- some much deserved, some... well, sort of deserved -- Pauly fakes his own death at the advise of ghost of Sam Kinison and becomes famous in Hollywood post-mortem. Unfortunately, that probably won't stop him from making more movies.

By the way, you absolutely MUST visit Pauly Shore's Official Website, as long as you have a strong stomach. There are some of the most disturbing pictures on there that simply cannot be put into words (like this one, this one, the one at the bottom of this page, and finally this one with Celine Dion.