Revenge of the Nerds is Thirty Years Old This Year: Where are the Tri-Lambs Today?

Hey. You, young whippersnapper, with the horn-rimmed glasses and the Minecraft t-shirt. There was a time, you know — and not too long ago —  when being a nerd wasn’t the badge of acceptable honor it is today. In fact, there was an entire film made about the persecution of this ilk and that very film, Revenge of the Nerds, turned thirty years old in 2014. Don’t worry, you haven’t seen it. But an entire generation before you did and, despite the horrible, horrible trailer you see above, loved it. Today that generation feels very, very old. It’s for that generation that we look at the ROTN cast today and find out what happened to them after leaving the hallowed campus of Adams College, shall we? We certainly shall.

Robert Carradine (Lewis Skolnik)

As head nerd Lewis Skolnik, Robert Carradine led the underdog fraternity of Lambda Lambda Lambda in the titular revenge against the bullying frat boys of Alpha Beta.
What happened next? After ROTN, the next three movies Carradine would go on to appear in successfully were, in fact, the three following Revenge of the Nerds sequels. Kicking around Hollywood in the nineties as a guest roler in dramas like ER, The Practice, Nash Bridges, NYPD Blue and a dozen or so television shows you’ve never heard of (Vengeance Unlimited, anyone?), Carradine wouldn’t hit his stride again until the 2000s, where he’d land the role of the title character’s father in the wildly successful kid-com Lizzie McGuire for 65 episodes and a feature film. More recently, he’s joined fellow former-castmate Curtis Armstrong for a TBS reality series called King of the Nerds. Didn’t see that? Yeah, didn’t think so.
What you did see him in recently was: Django Unchained, as “Tracker.”

Anthony Edwards (Gilbert Lowe)

As young chess guru Gilbert Lowe, Anthony Edwards backed up Carradine’s Lewis Skolnik and delivers the moving anti-bullying speech in the film’s finale.
What happened next? Shame on you for asking this question. You know Anthony Edwards broke America’s heart when he smashed into that jet canopy and broke his neck as Goose in Top Gun. He was also on several episodes of Northern Exposure and starred in the formative 180 eps of medical drama ER and alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in David Fincher’s Zodiac.
You probably don’t remember him from: His failed ABC conspiracy drama Zero Hour in 2013.
Why, God, why: DID YOU TAKE GOOSE INSTEAD OF ICEMAN? ICEMAN WAS SUCH A DOUCHEBAG!

Timothy Busfield (Arnold Poindexter)

Bespectacled violin virtuoso Arnold Poindexter was arguably the “nerdiest” of the Lambdas, but his chemical prowess proved fruitful during the Greek Games.
What happened next? Busfield went on to a very steady and solid entertainment career as detective J.T. McIntyre on Trapper John, M.D.; he also netted an Emmy as a star of the hit drama thirtysomething and landed roles from Aaron Sorkin in both West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Movie-wise, Busfield was seen in the Bruce Willis actioner Striking Distance and baseball movies Little Big League and Field of Dreams.
What he’s doing now: Guest-starring as Benjamin Franklin in FOX’s Sleepy Hollow, which is a fair success.
He probably: Doesn’t want you to call him Poindexter anymore. He has an Emmy.

Curtis Armstrong (Dudley “Booger” Dawson)

The resident bad boy of the Tri-Lambs, Booger bested reigning burp contest champion Ogre in a contest and supplied the first Lambda party with particularly potent marijuana.
What happened next? Armstrong didn’t have the storied TV career Busfield went on to have, but his is perhaps more Zelig-esque. After following ROTN with the Cusack classics Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer, Armstrong would show up on Moonlighting, Murphy Brown, Ed, The Closer, Boston Legal, American Dad and Supernatural. So yeah, he’s kept busy.
What you saw him in recently: He’s the principal of Jess’s school on Zooey Deschanel’s New Girl.
Doing well for himself? You know? Yeah, he really is.

Larry B. Scott (Lamar Latrelle)

It’s the L-A-M. The A and the R. The man on the mic that they call Lamar. The effeminate lamar won the Greek Games javelin contest after his brothers designed a javelin for his “limp-wristed” throwing style. Because that’s not offensive.
What happened next? If you can’t recall seeing Larry B. Scott in anything other than Revenge of the Nerds, you weren’t paying attention in the mid-eighties — because the actor went on to feature in The Karate Kid, SpaceCamp and Iron Eagle. He also had bit parts in St. Elsewhere, Seinfeld and The Jeffersons and gets big points for his starring role as Tasty-Taste in the underseen faux-rap-doc Fear of a Black Hat — which is just like Chris Rock’s CB4, only funnier.
What’s he doing now? According to IMDB, Scott is currently slated to be a part of a movie called Spring Break ’83 with Lee Majors, Morgan Fairchild and Joe Piscopo. I can’t tell if that’s interesting or cool or very sad, so I’m going to lean toward the former.

Andrew Cassese (Harold Wormser)

Child prodigy and youngest Tri-Lamb Harold Wormser was an aerodynamics wiz with a special talent for making fake IDs and aforementioned javelins.
What happened next? Cassese did a handful of television spots before turning his talents to Broadway, where he was part of the casts of the musical Smile and the Tony award-winning Nine. He also dabbles in improv comedy and music.
Remember that scene where he’s really short and looking at those girls’ boobs? Yeah. That’s a funny scene because he’s short.

Brian Tochi (Takashi Toshiro)

It’s really kind of unfair that Takashi is considered a “nerd,” considering he doesn’t speak English and doesn’t even know what a “nerd” is. Yet here we are.
What happened next? Well, a lot of things. For starters, if you’re wondering why Takashi didn’t appear in the sequel Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise it’s because he was taking his offensive japanese stereotyping skills to Police Academies 3 and 4 as Cadet Nogata. After that, however, he’s had busy career. He voices video game and cartoon characters, starred as “Male Trooper” in Starship Troopers and a “Fight Bully” in Fight Club and voiced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle leader Leonardo in all three of the original early nineties TMNT films. Actually, you know what? That all does sound nerdy. I take back what I said.
Should I judge Japanese people on the representation of this character? OH HELL NO.