Americathon

Okay, this movie was made in 1979. Though I remember seeing it, I don't recall any details except it being pretty cheesy (saying a lot since I was 12 at the time). It was probably more than somewhat lame. After all, it starred John Ritter as the President of the United States of America.

The rest of the cast included Harvey Korman (as a cross-dressing TV star), Peter Reigert (better known as "Boon" from Animal House), Fred Willard (please comment if you know of ANY good movie he was ever in), Jay Leno (this guy's been around forever!), Meatloaf, Elvis Costello, Howard Hessman, and George Carlin (as the narrator).

Americathon was set in 1998. And incredibly, if not entirely on schedule, many of its predictions of future world affairs came true. These include:

• America is deeply in debt to foreign lenders
• The US Dollar is severely devalued
• The US President is young, charismatic, and compassionate; exuding hope during the most desperate of times.
• The USSR has collapsed, no longer of serious world consequence
• China has become a global superpower and embraced capitalism
• Oil reserves have been almost totally depleted
• Nike is a huge multi-national conglomerate
• Jogging suits are fashionable casual wear
• Network television has been given over to reality-based programming - much of which deals with non-traditional, taboo, absurd, and even dysfunctional themes
• Several Indian tribes have become wealthy
• The Beach Boys are still together

I'm not sure when the Arabs & Jews will overcome their differences. But with this movie's track record, it's gotta be any time now.