spaz(z), n.

[Mullins, Bill]

>
> This matches my experience of the '80s revival of "spaz(z)"
> (perhaps repopularized by the 1979 movie _Meatballs_, which
> featured a character named Spaz).

_Meatballs_ is the earliest movie in the Internet Movie Database in
which searching for "spaz" or "spazz" yields any results (in a character
name, title, or quote).

James Cann called Andy Dick's character in "Newsradio" a spaz, and it
was entirely appropriate.

Eddie Deezen http://www.eddiedeezen.com/ has made a career out of
playing spazzes in the movies (characters he has played include:
Know-It-All, The Guy Boarded Up in the Wall, Rancor Guard Who Gets Spit
On, Eddie Lipschultz, Donnie Dodo, Sphincter, Malvin Computer Nerd,
Eugene Felnic.  Clearly, he's a spaz.

Jerry Lewis in _The Nutty Professor_ is the spaz archetype, to my way of
thinking.