Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

If you have never heard of this movie, I urge you to drop everything that you're doing and rent or download it right now. I suggest that you get drunk before the movie starts--a few shots of tequila will do--and then sit back, relax and enjoy one of the most underrated comedies of the 80s.

Earth Girls Are Easy tells the tale of three aliens (Wiploc, Zeebo and Mac) who crash land their spaceship in the San Fernando valley. Thankfully they land in a pool which is owned by Valerie, a typical valley girl. Instead of calling the authorities, she does what any quick thinking girl would do; she takes them to her best friend (a hilarious Julie Brown) and gives them all makeovers. Eh Voila! They all turn out to be hunky alien studs who want to paaaaaaarty!

Of course, the aliens get into lots of trouble and Valerie has a hard time keeping them on the down low. At one point, Zeebo and Wiploc take off in a stolen car and get chased by the police. At the end of the chase, the car becomes airborne and crashes into a donut sign which is (strangely enough) in the shape of a large donut.

Randy's Donuts is an actual donut shop located at 805 West Manchester Boulevard located in Inglewood near the L.A. airport. The huge donut is a well known local landmark and was built in 1953.


You can't miss the big freakin' donut. I'm not sure what the sign is made of but the roof must be sturdy enough to support it.

Weirdly enough, I did have a difficult time finding the shop. My GPS sent me in the wrong direction and I ended up in a very scary neighborhood. I was afraid that I was going to get shot and killed all because I wanted to take pictures of a big ass donut.

Thankfully I had my iphone with me and it told me the correct directions. Phew!

After all that work, I had to buy some donuts. I got a selection of cinnamon buns, jelly filled and old fashioned chocolate. They were most excellent and I devoured three of them on my journey back home.

(While I don't advocate eating and driving, the traffic on the 405 was so slow I could have read the entire Wall Street Journal and still got home safely.)

Earth Girls Are Easy isn't the only movie to feature Randy's Donuts. If you've seen the disaster flick 2012, you might have witnessed the big donut rolling down the freeway.

HOW TO GET THERE:  If you have a Nuvi GPS, I don't recommend using it. At least, don't use mine because it took me to Compton and nearly got me killed. A better idea is to take the 405 and get off at Manchester Boulevard.

WORTH THE TREK?  9/10. The Donut sign is a great landmark and worth seeing. The awesome donuts are a sweet bonus.