Chairman of the Board is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Alex Zamm, and starring Carrot Top in his only lead role in a feature-length film. In the film, a surfer and inventor named Edison inherits and runs a billionaire's company. It was poorly received by both critics and audiences and was a box office bomb.[2][3] Both Carrot Top and Raquel Welch received Golden Raspberry Award nominations for their roles in the film.[4]
It is the only film directed by Zamm to receive a theatrical release.
Plot
Edison (Carrot Top) is a poor, failed inventor and surf bum who has spent his rent money on another unsuccessful invention. After failing to make money at a variety of jobs, Edison soon runs into a wealthy business magnate Armand McMillan (Jack Warden), whose car has broken down on the side of the road. After Edison uses his inventions to assist Armand, the old man becomes impressed with his ingenuity, and the two go surfing together and quickly become friends.[5] When Armand passes away shortly thereafter, he leaves Edison 45% of the shares in his large invention corporation, and leaves Bradford (Larry Miller), his jealous nephew and only living relative, a surfboard as his only inheritance. Bradford attempts to derail Edison's success by stealing his formula for glow in the dark, which does not exist in the world of the film. Bradford shares it with a consumer who covers himself in it and alleges that Edison's prize invention—a portable TV/TV dinner combo—leaks radiation. When Edison reveals that radiation causes sickness and death, but not a literal glowing, the company is saved, Bradford is arrested, and Grace Kosik (Raquel Welch) makes a deal with the company to testify against Bradford. In the end, Edison appoints his girlfriend Natalie Stockwell (Courtney Thorne-Smith) to run the company.
Phillip Goldfine, who served as senior VP of Trimark Pictures, is credited with green lighting the film.[6] The film was shot in Southern California whereas Carrot Top himself comes from Florida.[7]
On May 15, 1997, Courtney Thorne-Smith made a guest appearance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien to promote two projects she was involved in: the season finale of Melrose Place and Chairman of the Board. Comedian Norm Macdonald was a fellow guest on that night and, sitting next to Thorne-Smith, he heckled both Carrot Top and the film Thorne-Smith was promoting, incredulous that Thorne-Smith had left Melrose Place to star in a film with Carrot Top. When O'Brien asked Thorne-Smith the name of the film, Macdonald interjected, "If it's got Carrot Top in it, do you know what a good name for it would be? Box Office Poison."[2] After Thorne-Smith revealed the Chairman of the Board title, O'Brien challenged Macdonald to make fun of it; Macdonald immediately quipped, "I bet 'Board' is spelled 'B-O-R-E-D!'"[2] Macdonald said he apologized to Carrot Top, saying he "felt kind of bad after that" and that he had not considered that Carrot Top might have been watching that night.[3]
Following Macdonald's death in 2021, Courtney Thorne-Smith later told Vanity Fair,
Every once in a while, I'll run into Conan and he'll apologize, and I say, "That was one of my favorite moments of my life." Teased by Norm Macdonald? Are you kidding? I did The Tonight Show once, and Don Rickles made fun of my father, and my father never stopped talking about it. This is my version of that.
I told a story about my father telling a joke at my sister's wedding, and then Don Rickles just went off on my father being crazy, and it was the high point of my father's life. That's how I felt when Norm teased me. It didn't even occur to me that it could possibly be negative. I was beside myself.
I was there to promote Chairman of the Board. I was not thrilled about having to do it, so when Norm took over, I'm like, Oh, thank you, God and Norm Macdonald. It was a blessing. Look—had I thought that Chairman of the Board was my path to an Oscar, I might have been offended. I did not. So it was a joy to be teased about it. Because I didn't know what I was going to say [on the show]. I was like, good, Norm, you take over.[8]
Reception
Chairman of the Board received negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 11% based on reviews from 9 critics.[9]
David Kronke of the Los Angeles Times referred to the film as "a standard-issue rags-to-riches plot, enlivened by only by a tchotchke-heavy production design that might engage those entranced by bright, shiny objects", and compared the film to "Good Burger, but with French tickler jokes."[10] Jay Boyar trashed the film in the Orlando Sentinel, giving the film just one star.[7]Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D−.[11]
