“Strikes and gutters, ups and downs”: The roll of bowling in popular culture

Popular culture is rife with depictions of bowling in popular movies and television shows ranging from the humorous to the epic to the macabre and spanning everything in between. From Walter Sobchak lecturing with great earnestness, “This is not ‘Nam. This is bowling; there are rules” to Daniel Plainview bludgeoning his nemesis with a bowling pin to Homer Simpson giving up his dream job at a bowling alley with the birth of his third child, the activity of bowling and the culture surrounding it are ripe with storytelling potential.

Complex's “Bowling Through Pop Culture” states, “It's obvious today that bowling is viewed as more than just a leisure activity. It's now a part of the American fabric, threaded with childhood bonds and family ties. As the tradition of the game is passed down through generations, every few years this affable subculture seems to experience a moment affirming it as a legitimate part of pop culture.” The article credits The Big Lebowski with putting bowling on the pop culture map in a big way, saying, “In Lebowski, the bowling alley is a home away from home.”

While certainly memorable, The Big Lebowski shares the honor of popularizing bowling on the silver screen with such films as The Deer Hunter, Lars and the Real Girl, Men in Black 3, Kingpin, The Flintstones and There Will Be Blood. And television has its fair share of epic bowling moments although The Simpsons might just dominate this particular category with more than one dozen episodes devoted to the sport of the working woman and man including one episode that reveals an unexpectedly poignant and self-sacrificing side of Homer's personality.

In Season 6, Episode 13's “And Maggie Makes Three” Homer tells Lisa and Bart about the circumstances around Maggie's birth. Homer had finally quit the job he loathed at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to pursue his lesser-paying dream career working at the local bowling alley. When Homer discovers Marge is pregnant with their third child and his dream career can no longer support the growing family he returns to the nuclear plant, decorating his workstation with photos of baby Maggie and the message “DO IT FOR HER” as a reminder of the motivation behind his sacrifice.

Actor John Goodman has the privilege of appearing in two movies featuring wildly memorable bowling scenes: the aforementioned The Big Lebowski and the 1994 comedy movie The Flintstones. Goodman's unhinged but somehow highly loveable Walter Sobchak instigates several violent and awkward encounters while bowling with his best friend Jeff Lebowski and The Flintstones' bowling scenes are popular for their depictions of a Stone Age bowling alley where the scores are chiseled in stone, crabs reset the pins after each frame and the beer pitchers are the size of a small dinosaur.

But the best way to celebrate National Bowling Day (besides bowling, of course), which happens to be August 10, is not to talk about our favorite and most memorable bowling scenes, but to watch them. In light of this, we've compiled a list of movies and television shows that celebrate the beloved sport and hobby.

Your National Bowling Day Viewing List

Movies

• The Big Lebowski
• The Break-Up
• Critters
• The Deer Hunter
• Dreamer
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High
• Five Easy Pieces
• The Flintstones
• Kingpin
• Lars and the Real Girl
• Men in Black 3
• Pleasantville
• There Will Be Blood
• Uncle Buck

Television

• All in the Family “Archie and the Bowling Team” Season 3, Episode 13
• American Dad! “Next of Pin” Season 11, Episode 21
• The Andy Griffith Show “Howard, the Bowler” Season 8, Episode 2
• Cheers “From Beer to Eternity” Season 4, Episode 9
• Curb Your Enthusiasm “Ted and Mary” Season 1, Episode 2
• Designing Women “Tough Enough” Season 4, Episode 21
• The Dick Van Dyke Show “When a Bowling Pin Talks, Listen” Season 2, Episode 32
• The Drew Carey Show “Do the Hustle” Season 4, Episode 25
• Fargo “Who Rules the Land of Denial?” Season 3, Episode 8
• King of the Hill “Transnational Amusements Presents: Peggy's Magic Sex Feet” Season 4, Episode 23
• Laverne & Shirley “Bowling for Razzberries” Season 1, Episode 3
• Malcolm in the Middle "Bowling" Season 2, Episode 20
• M*A*S*H “Sons and Bowlers” Season 10, Episode 19
• Married with Children “Alley of the Dolls” Season 2, Episode 9
• The Office “Dream Team” Season 5, Episode 22
• Parks and Recreation “Bowling for Votes” Season 4, Episode 13
• The Simpsons “Life on the Fast Lane” Season 1, Episode 9
• The Simpsons “Bart the Lover” Season 3, Episode 16
• The Simpsons “Colonel Homer” Season 3, Episode 20
• The Simpsons “Homer the Great” Season 6, Episode 12
• The Simpsons “And Maggie Makes Three” Season 6, Episode 13
• The Simpsons “Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment” Season 8, Episode 18
• The Simpsons “Team Homer” Season 7, Episode 12
• The Simpsons “Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder” Season 11, Episode 6
• The Simpsons “A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love” Season 13, Episode 4
• The Simpsons “Pray Anything” Season 14, Episode 10
• The Simpsons “He Loves to Fly and He D'Ohs” Season 19, Episode 1
• The Simpsons “The Great Wife Hope” Season 21, Episode 3
• The Simpsons "Penny-Wiseguys" Season 24, Episode 5
• The Simpsons “The Town” Season 28, Episode 3
• The Simpsons “Singin' in the Lane” Season 29, Episode 7
• That ‘70s Show “The Third Wheel” Season 4, Episode 11
• Veronica Mars “Hi, Infidelity” Season 3, Episode 6
• The Wonder Years “The Little Women” Season 6, Episode 19