It is difficult to overstate the impact The Hustler had on the game of pool in the United States. Released in October 1961, the movie saved the game of pool from “passing into oblivion,” according to pool historian Mike Shamos.[1] The Billiards Congress of America noted that after the movie came out “new rooms opened all over the country and for the remainder of the 60’s pool flourished.”[2]
The cultural resonance of the film was also immense. Since its release The Hustler has been referenced in dialogue or through imagery in more than 65 movies and television episodes, according to IMDB, including The Cincinnati Kid (1965); Wandering Ginza Butterfly (1972); The Odd Couple (1973); The Wanderers (1979); The Outsiders (1983); The Simpsons (1994); Trainspotting (1996); Poolhall Junkies (2002); Nip/Tuck (2007); and NCIS (2009), to name a few.
Certainly, one of the first cultural connections was The Dick Van Dyke Show episode, “Hustling the Hustler,” which aired just one year after the movie’s release, as part of the CBS sitcom’s second season. In fact, not only is the episode’s title a direct reference to the film, but also one of the characters in the episode mentions he’s seen “that movie with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason.”
As ‘60s television viewers will recall, The Dick Van Dyke Show ran for five seasons, garnering 15 Emmy Awards. Starring Dick Van Dyke as Rob Petrie, the head writer of the fictitious The Alan Brady Show, the series largely revolved around his work and home life. The series also starred Morey Amsterdam as Rob’s co-writer Buddy Sorrell and Mary Tyler Moore as Rob’s wife Laura.
In the episode “Hustling the Hustler,” Rob invites Buddy’s estranged yet charming brother Blackie (Phil Leeds) to his house for dinner and a friendly game of billiards in the Petrie household basement. But, Rob is unaware of Blackie’s pool hustling background, which had been established in an earlier strained exchange between Buddy and Blackie.
According to Rob, Laura gave him the pool table to “keep him off the streets.” Referring to her husband, Laura then warns Blackie (in another direct reference to The Hustler), “[Rob] is a real hustler. You’ve heard of Minnesota Fats. This is Illinois Skinny.”[3] Rob also jibes, “I’ll let my pool cue speak for me. This way, pigeon.”
Given the episode’s title, there’s no surprise how the game will unfold. As part of the upfront setup, Blackie plays the pool-fool, commenting on the “nice white ball” and guessing that chalking the cue helps reduce friction. Blackie then asks Rob if he’s a hustler, and Rob replies, “No, but I could have been. My wife won’t let me go to pool halls alone.”
Blackie then breaks, feigning unfamiliarity with the term “break” as well as with how to hold a cue. With some coaching from Rob, he successfully breaks, only to sink the 8-ball. (This scene, unfortunately, has two fundamental errors. First, it’s clear that assuming the balls were racked correctly, it was not the 8-ball that got pocketed. And second, Rob indicates that sinking the 8-ball on the break is an automatic loss, which is not accurate, per BCA rules.)
Rob wins a few and goes up 5-1, but ultimately, lets his overconfidence become his undoing, as he quickly amasses a $300 debt (equivalent to $2400 in 2016) to Blackie. The humor from the episode comes in watching Rob’s physical transformation. As one blogger noted, “the moment when Rob realizes what he’s gotten himself into offers yet another chance for [Dick Van Dyke] one of the masters of facial comedy to provide us with a pitch-perfect comic expression.”[4]
Of course, since The Dick Van Dyke Show was largely wholesome storytelling, the episode cannot end with Rob getting fleeced. Rather, Blackie tears up the $300 check to prove to his estranged brother that he is no longer the pool hustler he once was.
The full “Hustling the Hustler” episode is available to watch here.
[1] http://www.espn.com/page2/s/closer/020617.html
[2] A Brief History of the Noble Game of Billiards by Mike Shamos
[3] “Hustling the Hustler” would not be the last show to provide a comic twist on the name of Walter Tevis’ fictitious pool shark Minnesota Fats. In the 1970 “Armando and the Pool Table” episode of The Flying Nun, the Minnesota Fats of San Tanco plays the “Minneapolis Skinny of the Convent.” And, in 1971, Don Adams played Skittle Pool against “Wisconsin Skinny” in a memorable commercial for the toy game.
