Monday, January 9, 2017

Early 90's Television Movies - A New Genre of Spoof Comedy?


A new trailer for Baywatch dropped and it showcases how over the top the 2017 summer comedy looks to be. Both Baywatch trailers have highlighted how the film looks to poke fun at the original source material of the early 90's television show. The Jump Street films did the same thing in their movies by taking a silly concept of a show and mining it for comedy gold. Could this be a new genre of spoof comedies?

Rebooting old shows and turning them into films isn't a new concept. Even in the 80's or 90's you had the same type of idea with the Brady Bunch, Beverly Hillbillies or Dragnet, but it seems with the blueprint from 21 and 22 Jump Street Baywatch looks to cement the idea of turning an older campy silly show into a modern comedy. Baywatch could be horrible and not pay off, but if it does there will be a run on older 80's shows optioned for studio production (I want an Alf and Small Wonder Movie).

There should be a genre to fill the void of crappy spoof movies which have come out over the past decade. During the 70's, 80's and 90's spoof movies of genres were well done and actually had smart jokes written within them. Airplane is a standard many live up too, but so are any Mel Brooks movies. The Scary Movie films along with all of the different types they spawned are shameless money grabs. Maybe remakes of televisions shows would be the same eventually, but the Jump Street films had thought behind them, and Baywatch looks to have some as well.

The trend of these films will follow if there is success. The Rock seemed to personally want to get Baywatch off the ground. If it makes money, which I'm sure it will, then there will likely be a sequel and many other studios will follow suit with similar movies. The problem with this is the films would then be cash grabs instead of having thought and passion behind them. It's an endless cycle, but maybe we can get a few more good ones before they all start to become mindless.

Let me know if you have a favorite campy television show which could make a good comedy film.

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