The Pathetic Death of Comedy Movies

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One of the biggest points you missed is the loss in dvd sales. Back in the day a comedy movie could bomb in theatres but still make a profit through dvd sales. Now that they’re gone studios don’t want to take risk on a comedy when they will likely only make profit from its run in theatres. We’re living in an age of convenience and unfortunately it means we lose some of the old stuff.

Ricky Gervais roasting a Hollywood in 2020 was the most poignant and honest comedy in the last few years.

I think one of the things that is killing comedy movies is the continuing trend of having the actors just ad-libbing rather than having a structured script that tells a coherent story. These ad-lib "comedies" wind up being nothing more than a collection of scenes where the stars are laboring to be funny, like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in the abysmal Holmes and Watson, or the dreck that was the 2016 Ghostbusters movie. After a while they all feel the same.

During the writers strike, studio execs having meetings with comedians were talking about how they wanted to produce content with a "message," and that's the thing, not everything needs a message, it just needs to be funny.

On an episode of hot ones, Matt Damon was talking about why romcoms died and the main reason was they became to risky financially. In the 90/00`s if a romcom didn't profit in the theaters it always made its money back with vhs\dvd\ppv. With the age of Netflix and etc. its basically impossible to have a guarantee profit filming a romcom. So maybe this also applies to the death of comedy movies.

In his defense, Deadpool has been breaking the forth wall since Deadpool #28 (1997). Being self aware was simply true to character.

I miss just being able to mindlessly laugh at a movie without having to walk out of a theater thinking about the problems of the world. I watched the newest jackass in theater and I had such a great time haha But I get it studios don’t want to invest in movies that aren’t going to be a hit, I feel like a lot of people I personally know don’t go to the movies anyways and wait for it to stream.

I think the secret formula behind Will Ferrell’s success was Adam McKay, and when their friendship fizzled, so did Will’s comedy…

You made a great point with the super hero movies, Marvel has dialed up the comedy in their films and it sometimes it hurts the tone, like in the last Thor movie, it starts with a child diying in her fathers arms, a somber moment, and then you have screaming goats, a god, Zeus wearing skirts, and then they try to make it seriuos again at the end and it's a mess. And that's the "comedy" we've been getting for the past few years.

Can’t believe how lucky I was to grow up in the 90s and 00s, so many good comedies … even the bad ones I’m kinda missing

They did a reaction video with Gen Z, it had several movies just like these and they didn't find any of these films funny whatsoever. In fact some called them ageist, misogynist, racist, sexist, bigot, fat phobic and other terms. It's safe to say the new generation will not like this style of humor, sadly. But somehow superhero movies are what they crave.

I think another reason comedy ended up in its current state is because they are one-off films, not exactly the kind of films that could have franchise potential, unless the stars aligned properly; Studios have become so franchise happy, that comedy films no longer became viable for them. In addition, a comedy sequel is hard to try to live up to or top the first film's magic, and you have a comedic actor who is hesitant about repeating themselves by doing a sequel (example Jim Carrey).

The '80-s and '90's deserve much more recognition. At least hundred great comedies in each of these decades.

I think another aspect, not mentioned here, is the fact that the younger generations are now getting the majority of their comedy directly from on-line platforms like Youtube, Tictok, etc. Unlike older generations, like Millennias, Gen-X and Boomers, they're not tied to film and TV for media consumption which, of course, includes comedies.

I think theres something to be said about how so many studios have been accquired by huge parent companys that just want to play it safe.

As a gay man myself. You have to laugh at yourself. And you can't be offended when you're watching a comedy or in a comedy club. No one is safe and that's what's good about it. The 2000s comedies were peak comedy. The movie "idiocracy" is one if my favorites. And is slowly becoming a documentary. Bridesmaids is funny too. 😂

Blazing Saddles and Tropic Thunder. Two of the most politically incorrect and hilarious movies ever.

The weirdest thing to me is Will Ferrell making some of the funniest movies ever, then all of a sudden every movie hes starred in sucks. Step Brothers is still one of my all time favorites.

Humor has also become ever-increasingly niche since the internet has blossomed. Back in the 00’s and prior, we referenced funny tv/movie scenes to each other. McLovin, Chappelle’s Show, Harold & Kumar, etc. Now (especially with Gen Z), humor is extremely internet meme-based. And the lifespan of literally anything on the internet is essentially that of a fly. Not to mention, Hollywood basically set the trends and culture for young people for such a long time. But now, the internet has claimed that title and Hollywood is desperately (and unsuccessfully) trying to be its lackey. Comedy movies can still exist, but I wish it didn’t try to appeal to young generations anymore. Like a movie like Dumb and Dumber or Superbad were just trying to tell these super engaging stories in the most comedic-enhancing way possible.