Entertainment
The Raunchiest, R-Rated Comedy Of The 1980s Can't Be Watched, Erased From Existence
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Growing up in the 90s, you could watch 1984’s Revenge of the Nerds with ease through multiple touch points. If you were fortunate enough to have access to the premium movie channels, you’d catch it in all of its uncensored glory behind your parents’ backs. If you had Comedy Central, you’d bear witness to a stripped-down version that lost the nudity but still got its point across.
These days, Revenge of the Nerds, starring the late, great Robert Carradine, is nowhere to be found. It’s not on streaming, and it’s not available for on-demand purchases or rentals, reportedly because its controversial content makes it less than desirable for modern streaming libraries to showcase.
You can still purchase physical copies of Revenge of the Nerds if it’s missing from your collection, but it’s out of print, with 2018 being the last time it got a release. An average casual viewer who gets the urge to revisit it might not even own a DVD player. Most people no longer do.
On one hand, I understand the sensitivity surrounding that one scene that aged like milk. On the other hand, we live in a world where streaming companies pump out droves of content to cash in on memberships and ad revenue. Heck, Invasion of the Star Creatures goes hard in its careless depiction of Native Americans and remains readily available for modern audiences.
All you really need is a disclaimer at the front of the film stating that “awareness of yesterday’s prejudice and its lasting effects can be enhanced when that prejudice is viewed through the lens of the entertainment that informed it.” Then you let people decide for themselves.
Nobody in their right mind would condone some of the more risqué behavior depicted in Revenge of the Nerds, but its overall messaging is wholesome and empowering in its own twisted way. It’s a film about celebrating your eccentricities and rising above adversity so you can become the fully realized, best version of yourself.
Joke’s On You, It’s Revenge Of The Nerds!
Revenge of the Nerds is a classic underdog story through and through. When Lewis Skolnick (Robert Carradine) and his best friend Gilbert Lowe (Anthony Edwards) arrive at Adams College, they’re immediately ostracized for being nerds.
When the jocks, led by Stan Gable (Ted McGinley), accidentally burn down their own house thanks to a party trick involving high-proof alcohol, a lighter, and highly combustible curtains, Coach Harris (John Goodman) bullies Dean Ulich (David Wohl) into letting them take over the freshman dorms. Nerds like Lewis, Gilbert, Arnold Poindexter (Timothy Busfield), Harold Wormser (Andrew Cassese), Dudley “Booger” Dawson (Curtis Armstrong), Lamar Latrelle (Larry B. Scott), and Toshiro Takashi (Brian Tochi) are relegated to living in the gymnasium until they can join fraternities that will house them.
The problem is that the nerd stigma is wide in scope, so the gang of misfits winds up securing and renovating their own house to the tune of “One Foot in Front of the Other” by Bone Symphony. Thanks to a loophole discovered by Poindexter, they join an all-Black fraternity known as Lambda, Lambda, Lambda, or the Tri-Lambs, on a probationary basis. Despite this progress, they’re still relentlessly bullied, which means they eventually have to stand up for themselves against the Alpha Betas, led by Stan, and the Pi Delta Pis, represented by Stan’s girlfriend, Betty Childs (Julia Montgomery).
At this point in Revenge of the Nerds, it’s game on. To be properly represented by the Greek Council, the nerds need to win the Greek Games, and they might just be smart enough to pull it off. Building toward that triumphant moment, there are panty raids, petty vandalism, and increasingly invasive measures taken in the name of self-preservation, culminating in that one scene.
That One Scene
While most of the antics in Revenge of the Nerds are par for the course in the raunchy R-rated college movie wheelhouse, one scene pushes things too far, and it’s likely the main reason you can’t watch the film online. In it, Lewis plays a prank on Betty that I’ll tastefully refer to as a game of sexual switcheroo. He dresses up in Stan’s costume, approaches her with romantic intent, and succeeds. Betty, initially surprised and understandably upset, ultimately expresses admiration when she learns that all jocks ever think about is sports, while all nerds ever think about is sex.
Don’t get this twisted. It’s a bad scene. It’s deceptive, it objectifies women, and it’s executed in bad faith. However, I don’t think the intention of Revenge of the Nerds was to celebrate that behavior. Like I said earlier, the humor was informed by the cultural zeitgeist that spawned it. To an extent, people acted like this. I’m not glad they did. But if art imitates life, then there’s a kernel of truth in Revenge of the Nerds about the terrible decisions unsupervised young adults can make on a college campus.
Even as a kid, the scene rubbed me the wrong way. It’s not a good look, and it doesn’t do the nerds any favors because it brings them down to the jocks’ level in how they’re depicted as villains. On its own, it’s tasteless. Then you remember that just a few scenes earlier, the nerds rigged the Pi Delta Pi house with video cameras to spy on them and snap nude photos that end up lining the pie tins they sell at the Greek Games, which is also in poor taste, but again, a product of its time, like Porky’s, which we still have digital access to.
Reprehensible, But A Product Of Its Time
No well-adjusted adult celebrates Revenge of the Nerds for those scenes specifically, but they happened, and they exist. They’re hard to watch, yes, but isn’t it also a good thing that we’ve come far enough as a society to recognize the errors of our ways? It’s a conversation worth having about our relationship with media and how older intellectual property can be out of date when it tackles topics like how we treat each other.
If anything, removing “Revenge of the Nerds” from the streaming lexicon does us a disservice, because we lose the context that allows these conversations to happen. It’s a cinematic benchmark of where we came from, something we can measure against where we are now. Without that benchmark, we’re less likely to bow our heads in shame and say we’ll do better.
For that reason alone, it’s a shame that Robert Carradine’s triumphant movie about overcoming adversity can’t be easily accessed. Some aspects of the film didn’t age well, sure, but its messaging, and that one scene notwithstanding, still lands as positive and empowering by the time the credits roll.
As of this writing, Revenge of the Nerds cannot be streamed or purchased digitally.
Entertainment
Trump orders Pentagon to stop using woke Anthropic in fiery Truth social post
Negotiations between the Pentagon and the AI company Anthropic were severely complicated on Friday when President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the government would stop utilizing the company’s tech. The president ordered the Pentagon to begin a six-month phase-out, accusing Anthropic of being run by “Leftwing nut jobs.”
The Truth Social post said that Anthropic wanted the government to abide by its terms of service.
“THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS!,” Trump wrote. “That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military. The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution.”
Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Truth Social
The federal government and Anthropic have been at odds for weeks as they tried to hammer out an agreement on how the military can use Claude, Anthropic’s AI model. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has been firm that he will not allow the Pentagon to use Claude for mass surveillance of Americans or to create autonomous weapons, like pilotless drones.
The government reportedly agreed to those terms, according to the New York Times, but the contract’s legal language provided too much wiggle room for Anthropic’s comfort. Anthropic is known for taking a more cautious approach to AI development, and its founders famously left OpenAI over AI safety concerns.
On Thursday, Amodei explained his stance in a blog post:
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“Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions. We have never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner.
However, in a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values. Some uses are also simply outside the bounds of what today’s technology can safely and reliably do.”
A deadline of Friday evening was set for an agreement between the Pentagon and Anthropic. It’s not clear if Trump’s announcement of a phase-out will equate to more time for negotiation or if the government is truly moving forward with firing Anthropic by declaring it a supply chain risk. The government may also seek to compel Anthropic to agree to its terms through the Defense Production Act, according to the Times. The government may also choose another AI partner, like Elon Musk’s Grok, but CIA officials believe that product is inferior to Anthropic’s, the Times reports.
Following the president’s Friday afternoon announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared on CNBC and voiced support for Anthropic. “For all the differences I have with Anthropic, I mostly trust them as a company and I think they really do care about safety, and I’ve been happy that they’ve been supporting our war fighters,” Altman said, according to a clip of the appearance posted to X.
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Meanwhile, dozens of employees at Google and OpenAI, both competitors of Anthropic, signed letters backing Amodei’s stances. And outside Anthropic’s San Francisco headquarters, words of support appeared in chalk on the sidewalk, according to a post on X.
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This week, Anthropic softened its safety policy — often viewed as one of the strongest in Silicon Valley — citing competitors’ reluctance to do the same and the federal government’s disinterest in prioritizing security.
“The policy environment has shifted toward prioritizing AI competitiveness and economic growth, while safety-oriented discussions have yet to gain meaningful traction at the federal level,” the company wrote. “We remain convinced that effective government engagement on AI safety is both necessary and achievable, and we aim to continue advancing a conversation grounded in evidence, national security interests, economic competitiveness, and public trust. But this is proving to be a long-term project—not something that is happening organically as AI becomes more capable or crosses certain thresholds.”
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 28, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you’re into astrology.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Yearning
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Green: On the road again
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Blue: Male callings
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Purple: Space terms
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #993 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Craving: DESIRE, ITCH, THIRST, URGE
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Jobs that involve traveling: CRUISE DIRECTOR, PILOT, ROADIE, SALESMAN
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Name homophones: EARNEST, KNEEL, RUSTLE, TAILOR
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Astronomical terms plus a letter: COMETH, NOVAK, START, SUNG
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for February 28, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you like the finer things in life.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Dressing up
The words are related to wealth.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe expensive things.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Glamorous.
NYT Strands word list for February 28
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Heels
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Necktie
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Tuxedo
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Gown
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Glamorous
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Cufflinks
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Diamonds
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Trump orders Pentagon to stop using woke Anthropic in fiery Truth social post
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 28, 2026
