The Tampa Bay Times e-Newspaper is a digital replica of the printed paper seven days a week that is available to read on desktop, mobile, and our app for subscribers only. To enjoy the e-Newspaper every day, please subscribe.

It's all ball bearingsnowadays GIF

Fletch turns 30 years old this weekend, so maybe you need a refresher course. For example, even though the character "Fletch" - based on the novels by Gregory McDonald - is eternally associated with Chevy Chase, did you know Chase wasn't the original actor considered for the role of the comic newspaper investigative reporter? Both Burt Reynolds and Mick Jagger were in the mind of the author, who had never before seen Chase appear in anything before this movie, which premiered on May 31, 1985.It's a role Chase has always been fond of, saying to Time magazine in 2010: "I've usually had two styles, the Fletch character and the Clark Griswold character. Clark, I pull out all this clowning and bigness; my acting is broad but I try to be real. I'm not really pulling any of that in the show. Fletch is more like me."Most of us should know the plot by now: L.A. Times reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher is investigating reports of drug traffic on the beaches, when he's approached by a young man looking for someone to kill him. Seems he's dying of a painful form of cancer, and suicide would wipe out any life insurance benefits his family would get. Fletch thinks the story's fishy and begins investigating that story too, only to find out that ultimately the drugs on the beach and the "dying" executive are stories that are weaved together.Eighties fans love it, but film critic Roger Ebert was a little more reserved, writing: "The basic Chevy Chase personality functions well at the length of a TV sketch, when there's no time to create a new character, but in a movie it grows deadening. Fletch is filled with a series of extraordinary situation, and Chase seems to react to all of them with the same wry dubiousness." Fletch maintains a 75 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which seems a little low to me. Would I rate this movie below 90 percent? "No, never … never." Here are my top five favorite quotes from Fletch.TOP 5 MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM FLETCH:5. "Can I borrow your towel for a sec? My car just hit a water buffalo."4. "Why don't we go lay on the bed and I'll fill you in?"3. "He is actually six-five, with the afro, six-nine."2. "You using the whole fist, Doc?"1. "Awww, come on guys, it's so simple. Maybe you need a refresher course. It's all ball bearings nowadays."