My family believes that laughing is one of the best things you can do for yourself, and that is why we would always watch a comedy movie every “movie night.” Who doesn’t enjoy sitting down and laughing at a good movie?
I would argue a big start of raunchy comedy movies came from Lorne Michaels, who created Saturday Night Live (SNL). Michaels found talent and brought them into a skit comedy show that airs every Saturday night. SNL blew up, and people fell in love with the actors on the show. This led actors to get their own movies and TV shows. I would argue that comedy movies got to the point they did, because of the genius of Lorne Michaels.
Saturday Night Live first aired in 1975 and launched the career of comedy legends like Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, and Will Ferrel. SNL is still airing and bringing new comedians to the scene. From these actors on SNL, we have classic comedy movies like “Caddy Shack,” “Blues Brothers,” “Tommy Boy,” “Happy Gilmore,” “Austin Powers” and “Anchorman.”
Apart from the great movies we got from the SNL, we also have Judd Apatow, who directed and produced movies like “Superbad,” “Talladega Nights,” “This is 40” and “Funny People.” Apatow had a great vision that sparked some of the greatest comedy movies of the 2000s.
From 1995 – 2013, comedy movies constantly brought in nearly $1.4 billion. Since then, it has been dropping, with 2020 being the worst year, bringing in almost $500 million. Many would argue that COVID had much to do with this; however, movies are filmed at least a year before the movie comes out. Comedies are slowly climbing back with the help of “Barbie,” bringing in $635 million.
Apart from the money, I am sure most of us would agree that we have not had a “Step-Brothers,” “Waterboy,” or “Ace Ventura” – type movie in a long time. Many of these great comedy movies star the same 25 comedians. We need another Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler-type actor to help the younger generations gain more awesome comedy movies. I know we have had comedy movies in the past years, and people like Pete Davidson have been starring in raunchy movies, but they are not the same.
