The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (August 2009)

Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell in The Seven Year Itch trailer.

Romantic comedy films, also known as "rom-coms" or "romedies", are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles.^[1] One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily".^[2] Another definition states that its "primary distinguishing feature is a love plot in which two sympathetic and well-matched lovers are united or reconciled".^[3]

Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films, and may also have elements of screwball comedies^[4] and stoner comedies. Some television series can also be classified as romantic comedies.

Description[link]

This section is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (February 2011)

Kathryn Grayson in Seven Sweethearts (1942), a musical romantic comedy film

The basic plot of a romantic comedy is that two characters, usually a man and a woman, meet, part ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately reunite. Sometimes the two leads meet and become involved initially, then must confront challenges to their union. Sometimes they are hesitant to become romantically involved because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner, or because of social pressures. However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact, attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. The protagonists often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together.

While the two protagonists are separated, one or both of them usually realizes that they are ideal for each other, or that they are in love with each other. Then, after one of the two makes some spectacular effort (sometimes called the grand gesture) to find the other person and declare their love, or through an astonishing coincidental encounter, the two meet again. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they declare their love for each other and the film ends happily. The couple does not, however, have to marry, or live together "happily ever after". The ending of a romantic comedy is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its protagonists' lives, even if they physically separate in the end (e.g. Shakespeare in Love, Roman Holiday).^[6]

There are many variations on this basic plotline. Sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each other's arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character (e.g., My Best Friend's Wedding and My Super Ex-Girlfriend). Alternatively, the film may be a rumination on the impossibility of love, as in Woody Allen's film Annie Hall. The basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such as Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Some comedy films, such as Knocked Up, combine themes of romantic comedies and stoner comedies, creating a subgenre that appeals to both men and women. Often known as "bromance", such films usually use sexual elements which bring the two characters together. Films in this genre include American Pie 2 and even Wedding Crashers.

Contrived romantic encounters: the "meet cute"[link]

One of the conventions of romantic comedy films is the funny parts and contrived encounter of two potential romantic partners in unusual or comic circumstances, which film critics such as Roger Ebert^[7] or the Associated Press' Christy Lemire^[8] have called a "meet-cute" situation. During a "meet-cute", scriptwriters often create a humorous sense of awkwardness between the two potential partners by depicting an initial clash of personalities or beliefs, an embarrassing situation, or by introducing a comical misunderstanding or mistaken identity situation. Sometimes the term is used without a hyphen (a "meet cute"), or as a verb ("to meet cute").

Roger Ebert describes the "concept of a Meet Cute" as "when boy meets girl in a cute way." As an example, he cites "The Meet Cute in Lost and Found [which] has Jackson and Segal running their cars into each other in Switzerland. Once recovered, they Meet Cute again when they run into each other while on skis. Eventually,... they fall in love."^[9]

In many romantic comedies, the potential couple comprises polar opposites, two people of different temperaments, situations, social statuses, or all three (It Happened One Night), who would not meet or talk under normal circumstances, and the meet cute's contrived situation provides the opportunity for these two people to meet.

Use of "meet cute" situations[link]

Mary Astor and Joel McCrea in The Palm Beach Story, a screwball romantic comedy

Certain movies are entirely driven by the meet-cute situation, and contrived circumstances throw the couple together for much of the screenplay. However, movies in which the contrived situation is the main feature, such as Some Like It Hot, rather than the romance being the main feature, are not considered "meet-cutes".

The use of the meet-cute is less marked in television series and novels, because these formats have more time to establish and develop romantic relationships. In situation comedies, relationships are static and meet-cute is not necessary, though flashbacks may recall one (The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mad About You) and lighter fare may require contrived romantic meetings.

The heyday of "meet cute" in films was during the Great Depression in the 1930s; screwball comedy films made a heavy use of contrived romantic "meet cutes", perhaps because the more rigid class consciousness and class divisions of this period made cross-social class romances into tantalizing fantasies.

While film critic Roger Ebert has popularized the term "meet cute" in his reviews of romantic comedies, the term is mostly used in the film and screenwriting industries, where it provides a convenient shorthand for screenwriters who are doing a very compressed pitch to a film production company.

History[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines romantic comedy as "a general term for comedies that deal mainly with the follies and misunderstandings of young lovers, in a light‐hearted and happily concluded manner which usually avoids serious satire". This reference states that the "best‐known examples are Shakespeare's comedies of the late 1590s, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It being the most purely romantic, while Much Ado About Nothing approaches the comedy of manners and The Merchant of Venice is closer to tragicomedy.^[10]

Comedies since ancient Greece have often incorporated sexual or social elements.

It was not until the creation of romantic love in the western European medieval period, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations, rather than the heroic adventures of medieval Romance. These adventures, however, often revolved about a knight's feats on behalf of a lady, and so the modern themes of love were quickly woven into them, as in Chrétien de Troyes's Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart.^[11]

Shakespearean comedy and Restoration comedy remain influential. The creation of huge economic social strata in the Gilded Age^{[citation needed]}, combined with the heightened openness about sex after the Victorian era^{[citation needed]} and the celebration of Sigmund Freud's theories, and the birth of the film industry in the early twentieth century, gave birth to the screwball comedy.^{[citation needed]} As class consciousness declined and World War II unified various social orders, the savage screwball comedies of the twenties and thirties, proceeding through Rock Hudson–Doris Day-style comedies, gave way to more innocuous comedies.^{[citation needed]} This style faded in the 1960s, and the genre lay mostly dormant until the more sexually charged When Harry Met Sally had a successful box office run in 1989, paving the way for a rebirth for the Hollywood romantic comedy in the mid-1990s.

The French film industry went in a completely different direction,^{[citation needed]} with less inhibitions about sex.^{[citation needed]} Virginia Woolf, tired of stories that ended in 'happily ever after' at the beginning of a serious relationship, called Middlemarch by George Eliot, with its portrayal of a difficult marriage, "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people."

Television[link]

Romantic comedy series have included:

• Living Single (1993–1998) (FOX)
• The Nanny (1993–1999) (CBS)
• Friends (1994–2004) (NBC)
• Ally McBeal (1997–2002) (FOX)
• For Your Love (1998–2002) (WB)
• Sex and the City (1998–2004) (HBO)
• Will & Grace (1998–2006) (NBC)
• The King of Queens (1998–2007) (CBS)
• Girlfriends (2000–2008) (UPN/CW)
• Half & Half (2002–2006) (UPN)
• All of Us (2003–2007) (UPN)
• Desperate Housewives (2004–2012) (ABC)
• How I Met Your Mother (2005–) (CBS)
• Emily's Reasons Why Not (2006) (ABC)
• Pepper Dennis (2006) (The WB)
• Hot Properties (2006) (ABC)
• Men In Trees (2006–2008) (ABC)
• Not Going Out (2006–) (BBC)
• Ugly Betty (2006–2010) (ABC and Channel 4(in the UK))
• The Big Bang Theory (2007–) (CBS)
• Gavin & Stacey (2007–2009) (BBC)
• Samantha Who? (2007–2009) (ABC)
• The Starter Wife (miniseries, 2007; series 2008–2009) (USA Network)
• Greek (2007-2011) (ABC Family)
• Cashmere Mafia (2008) (ABC)
• Lost In Austen (2008) (ITV)
• The Ex List (2008) (CBS)
• Lipstick Jungle (2008–2009) (NBC)
• Mistresses (2008–2010) (BBC)
• Accidentally on Purpose (2009–2010) (CBS)
• Drop Dead Diva (2009–) (Lifetime)
• Cougar Town (2009–) (ABC)
• Big Time Rush (2009-) (Nickelodeon)
• 100 Questions (2010) (NBC)
• Romantically Challenged (2010) (ABC)
• Running Wilde (2010-2011) (F0X)
• Mike & Molly (2010–) (CBS)
• Better With You (2010–2011) (ABC)
• Perfect Couples (2010–2011) (NBC)
• Love Bites (2011) (NBC)
• Friends With Benefits (2011) (NBC)

Film[link]

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (January 2011)

This section lists examples of romantic comedy films^{[citation needed]}, ordered by year of release.

Early[link]

Later[link]

Top grossing[link]

See also[link]

• Romance film

References[link]

External links[link]

• Romantic Comedy Movies - from 1940s to future releases, with box office performance The Numbers
• Market Performance of Romantic Comedies in United States - year-by-year analysis of box office performance of romantic comedies The Numbers
• Romantic Comedy Movies - Top 290 (1978–present) by Box Office Mojo
• Top Rated Romance Titles by IMDB
• Your Guide To Romantic Comedies - Current Romantic Comedies by RCF

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. These films are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are generally light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences. The comedy genre often humorously exaggerates situations, ways of speaking, or the action and characters.^[1]

Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (the black comedy being an exception). One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies. Comedy, unlike other film genres, puts much more focus on individual stars, with many former stand-up comic transitioning to the film industry due to their popularity. While many comic films are lighthearted stories with no intent other than to amuse, others contain political or social commentary (such as Wag the Dog and Man of the Year).

The comedy genre can be considered the oldest film genre (and one of the most prolific and popular). Comedy was ideal for the early silent films, as it was dependent on visual action and physical humour rather than sound. Slapstick, one of the earliest forms of comedy, poked fun at physical mishap, usually in practical jokes, accidents and water soakings.^[2]

Types[link]

A comedy of manners film satirises the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters. The plot of the comedy is often concerned with an illicit love affair or some other scandal. However, the plot is generally less important than its witty dialogue. This form of comedy has a long ancestry, dating back at least as far as Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare.

Slapstick (The Three Stooges is an excellent example of this kind of comedy) was popular in the earliest silent films, since they didn't need sound to be effective, and they were popular with non-English speaking audiences. The term slapstick was taken from the wooden sticks that clowns slapped together to promote audience applause. Slapstick films involve aggressive, physical and visual action, including harmless or painless cruelty and violence, horseplay, and often vulgar sight gags. Slapstick often required exquisite timing and well-honed performance skills.

In a fish out of water comedy film, the main character or character finds himself in an unusual environment, which drives most of the humour. Situations can be swapping gender roles, as in Tootsie (1982); an age changing role, as in Big (1988); a freedom-loving individual fitting into a structured environment, as in Police Academy (1984); a rural backwoodsman in the big city, as in "Crocodile" Dundee, and so forth. The Coen Brothers are known for using this technique in all of their films, though not always to comedic effect. Some films including people fitting the "fish-out-of-water" bill including The Big Lebowski and A Serious Man.

A parody or spoof film is a comedy that satirizes other film genres or classic films. Such films employ sarcasm, stereotyping, mockery of scenes from other films, and the obviousness of meaning in a character's actions. Examples of this form include Blazing Saddles (1974), Airplane! (1980), and Young Frankenstein (1974).

The anarchic comedy film uses nonsensical, stream-of-consciousness humour which often lampoons a form of authority. Films of this nature stem from a theatrical history of anarchic comedy on the stage. Well-known films of this sub-genre include Duck Soup (1933) and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).

The black comedy film deals with normally taboo subjects, including, death, murder, sexual relations, suicide and war, in a satirical manner. Examples include Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Ladykillers (1955), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), The Loved One (1965), MASH (1970), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), Brazil (1985), The War of the Roses (1989), Heathers (1989), Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), Keeping Mum (2005), and Burn After Reading (2008).

Gross-out films are a relatively recent development, and rely heavily on vulgar, sexual or "toilet" humour. Examples include Porky's (1982), Dumb and Dumber (1994), There's Something About Mary (1998), and American Pie (1999).

The romantic comedy sub-genre typically involves the development of a relationship between a man and a woman. The stereotyped plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence. Naturally there are innumerable variants to this plot, and much of the generally light-hearted comedy lies in the social interactions and sexual tensions between the pair. Examples of this style of film include It's a Wonderful World (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Sabrina (1954), Annie Hall (1977), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).

It was not uncommon for the early romantic comedy film to also be a screwball comedy film. This form of comedy film was particularly popular during the 1930s and 1940s. There is no consensus definition of this film style, and it is often loosely applied to slapstick or romantic comedy films. Typically it can include a romantic element, an interplay between people of different economic strata, quick and witty repartee, some form of role reversal, and a happy ending. Some examples of the screwball comedy are: It Happened One Night (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Philadelphia Story (1940), His Girl Friday (1940), and more recently What's Up, Doc? (1972).

Hybrid genres[link]

Action comedy[link]

Films in this sub-genre blend comic antics and action where the film stars combine wit and one-liners with a thrilling plot and daring stunts. The genre became a specific draw in North America in the eighties when comedians such as Eddie Murphy started taking more action oriented roles such as in 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop. These type of films are often buddy films, with mismatched partners such as in Midnight Run, Rush Hour, Bad Boys, and Hot Fuzz. Slapstick martial arts films became a mainstay of Hong Kong action cinema through the work of Jackie Chan among others. It may also focus on superheroes such as The Incredibles, Hancock or Kick-Ass. Henri Daniel Rops

Comedy horror[link]

Comedy horror is a type of horror film in which the usual dark themes are treated with a humorous approach. These films are either use goofy horror clichés such as in Scream, Young Frankenstein, Little Shop of Horrors, Haunted Mansion and Scary Movie where campy styles are favoured. Some are much more subtle and don't parody horror, such as An American Werewolf In London. Another style of comedy horror can also rely on over the top violence and gore such as in Dead Alive (1992), Evil Dead (1981), and Club Dread - such films are sometimes known as splatstick, a portmanteau of the words splatter and slapstick.

Fantasy comedy[link]

Fantasy comedy films are types of films that uses magic, supernatural and or mythological figures for comic purposes. Most fantasy comedy includes an element of parody, or satire, turning many of the fantasy conventions on their head such as the hero becoming a cowardly fool, the princess being a klutz. Examples of these films include Being John Malkovich, The Princess Bride, Night at the Museum, Groundhog Day, Click and Shrek.

Black comedy[link]

Much like comedy-horror, black comedy, or dark comedy, is a type of comedy film that often uses cruelty as the source of humour. Most black comedies involve crime or other intense moments like average school/workplace bullying. Some examples of these films include The Cable Guy, Ruthless People and Dr. Strangelove.

Sci-fi comedy[link]

Sci-fi comedy films, like most hybrid genre of comedy use the elements of science fiction films to over the top extremes and exaggerated science fiction stereotypical characters. Popular examples of these types of films include Back to the Future, Spaceballs, Ghostbusters, Evolution, Innerspace, Galaxy Quest, Mars Attacks!, and Men in Black.

Military comedy[link]

Military comedy films, involve comic situations in a military setting. Examples of military comedy are The Secret War of Harry Frigg, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?, Stripes, Up the Academy, MASH, Private Benjamin, Tropic Thunder, The Private War of Major Benson, and the boisterous Flagg and Quirt movies.

History[link]

1895–1930[link]

Comic films began to appear in significant numbers during the era of silent films, roughly 1895 to 1930. The visual humour of many of these silent films relied on slapstick and burlesque. A very early comedy short was Watering the Gardener (1895) by the Lumière brothers. In American film, the most prominent comic actors of the silent era were Charlie Chaplin (although born in England, his success was principally in the U.S.), Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. In his native France and throughout the world, Max Linder was a major comic feature and might qualify as the first true film star.

A popular trend during the 1920s and afterward was comedy in the form of animated cartoons. Several popular characters of the period received the cartoon treatment. Among these were Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Betty Boop.

1930–1950s[link]

Toward the end of the 1920s, the introduction of sound into movies made possible dramatic new film styles and the use of verbal humour. During the 1930s, the silent film comedy was replaced by dialogue from film comedians such as the W. C. Fields and the Marx Brothers. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who had made a number of very popular short silent films, used the arrival of sound to deepen their well-formed screen characterizations and enhance their visual humour, and went on to great success in talking films. The comedian Charlie Chaplin was one of the last silent film hold-outs, and his films during the 1930s were devoid of dialogue, although they did employ sound effects.

Screwball comedies, such as produced by Frank Capra, exhibited a pleasing, idealized climate that portrayed reassuring social values and a certain optimism about everyday life. Movies still included slapstick humour and other physical comedy, but these were now frequently supplemental to the verbal interaction. Another common comic production from the 1930s was the short subject. Hal Roach Studio specialized in this form. While Columbia was prolific, producing 190 Three Stooges releases, alone. These non-feature productions only went into decline in the 1950s when they were migrated to the television.

In the United Kingdom, film adaptations of stage farces were popular in the early 1930s, while the music hall tradition strongly influenced film comedy into the 1940s with Will Hay and George Formby among the top comedy stars of the time. In England in the late 1940s, Ealing Studios achieved popular success as well as critical acclaim with a series of films known collectively as the "Ealing comedies", from 1947 to 1957. They usually included a degree of social comment, and featured ensemble casts which often included Alec Guinness or Stanley Holloway. Among the most famous examples were Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and he Ladykillers]] (1955).

With the entry of the United States into World War II, Hollywood became focused on themes related to the conflict. Comedies portrayed military themes such as service, civil defense, boot-camp and shore-leave. The war-time restrictions on travel made this a boom time for Hollywood, and nearly a quarter of the money spent on attending movies.

The post-war period was an age of reflection on the war, and the emergence of a competing medium, the television. In 1948, television began to acquire commercial momentum and by the following year there were nearly a hundred television transmitters in American cities.

By the 1950s, the television industry had become a serious competition for the movie industry. Despite the technological limitations of the TV medium at the time, more and more people chose to stay home to watch the television. The Hollywood studios at first viewed the television as a threat, and later as a commercial market. Several comic forms that had previously been a staple of movie theaters transitioned to the television. Both the short subject and the cartoon now appeared on the television rather than in the theater, and the "B" movie also found its outlet on the television.

As television became filled with family-oriented comedies, the 1950s saw a trend toward more adult social situations. Only the Walt Disney studios continued to steadily release family comedies. The release of comedy films also went into a decline during this decade. In 1947 almost one in five films had been comic in nature, but by 1954 this was down to ten percent.

The 1950s saw the decline of past comedy stars and a certain paucity of new talent in Hollywood. Among the few popular new stars during this period were Judy Holliday and the comedy team phenom of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Lewis followed the legacy of such comedians as Keaton and Harold Lloyd, but his work was not well-received by critics in the United States (in contrast to France where he proved highly popular.)

The British film industry produced a number of highly successful film series, however, including the Doctor series, the St. Trinian's films and the increasingly bawdy Carry On films. John and Roy Boulting also wrote and directed a series of successful satires, including Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right, Jack (1959). As in the United States, in the next decade much of this talent would move into television.

A number of French comedians were also able to find an English speaking audience in the 1950s, including Fernandel and Jacques Tati.

1960s–1980s[link]

The next decade saw an increasing number of broad, star-packed comedies including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and The Great Race (1965). By the middle of the decade, some of the 1950s generation of American comedians, such as Jerry Lewis, went into decline, while Peter Sellers found success with international audiences in his first American film The Pink Panther. The bumbling Inspector Clouseau was a character Sellers would continue to return to over the next decade.

Toward the end of the 1950s, darker humour and more serious themes had begun to emerge, including satire and social commentary. Dr. Strangelove (1964) was a satirical comedy about Cold War paranoia, while The Apartment (1960), Alfie (1966) and The Graduate (1967) featured sexual themes in a way that would have been impossible only a few years previously.

In 1970, the black comedies Catch 22 and M*A*S*H reflected the anti-war sentiment then prevalent, as well as treating the sensitive topic of suicide. M*A*S*H would be toned down and brought to television in the following decade as a long-running series.

Among the leading lights in comedy films of the next decade were Woody Allen and Mel Brooks. Both wrote, directed and appeared in their movies. Brooks' style was generally slapstick and zany in nature, often parodying film styles and genres, including Universal horror films (Young Frankenstein), westerns (Blazing Saddles) and Hitchcock films (High Anxiety). Following his success on Broadway and on film with The Odd Couple playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon would also be prominent in the 1970s, with films like The Sunshine Boys and California Suite. Other notable film comedians who appeared later in the decade were Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and Burt Reynolds.

Most British comedy films of the early 1970s were spin-offs of television series, including Dad's Army and On the Buses. The greatest successes, however, came with the films of the Monty Python team, including And Now for Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Monty Python's Life of Brian in 1979.

In 1980, the gag-based comedy Airplane!, a spoof of the previous decade's disaster film series was released and paved the way for more of the same including Top Secret! (1984) and the Naked Gun films. Popular comedy stars in the 1980s included Dudley Moore, Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. Many had come to prominence on the American TV series Saturday Night Live, including Bill Murray, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase. Eddie Murphy made a success of comedy-action films including 48 Hrs. (1982) and the Beverly Hills Cop series (1984–1993).

Also popular were the films of John Hughes such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He would later become best known for the Home Alone series of the early 1990s. The latter film helped a revival in comedies aimed at a family audience, along with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and its sequels.

1990s–2010s[link]

One of the major developments of the 1990s was the re-emergence of the romantic comedy film, encouraged by the success of When Harry Met Sally... in 1989. Other examples included Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Clueless (1995) and You've Got Mail (1998) from the United States, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Sliding Doors (1998) and Notting Hill (1999) from the United Kingdom. Spoofs remained popular as well, especially with the Scary Movie series and Not Another Teen Movie series.

Probably more representative of British humour were the working class comedies Brassed Off (1996) and The Full Monty (1997). Other British comedies examined the role of the Asian community in British life, including Bhaji on the Beach (1993), East Is East (1999), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Anita and Me (2003) and Death at a Funeral.

Also there were "stoner" comedies, which usually involve two guys on an adventure with random things happening to them along the way. Big movies of this sub-genre would be "The Big Lebowski", Dude, Where's My Car, Big Nothing, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Pineapple Express. These movies usually have drug-related jokes and crude content.

Another development was the increasing use of "gross-out humour" usually aimed at a younger audience, in films like There's Something About Mary, American Pie and its sequels, and Freddy Got Fingered. In mid 2000s, the trend of "gross-out" movies is continuing, with adult-oriented comedies picking up the box office. But serious black comedies (also known as dramatic comedies or dramedies) were performing also well, such as The Weather Man, Broken Flowers and Shopgirl. In late 2006, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan blended vulgar humour with cultural satire.

See also[link]

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs (1924–1998, list made in 2000)
• List of British comedy films
• List of Indian comedy films
• List of United States comedy films

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Thomas W. Bohn and Richard L. Stromgren, Light and Shadows: A History of Potion Pictures, 1975, Mayfield Publishing.

External links[link]

• Comedy Movies at the Open Directory Project

He Said was the name used by Wire member Graham Lewis for his solo record releases in the 1980s.

Background[link]

The first He Said album titled Hail was released by Mute Records in October 1986. It was produced by Graham Lewis and John Fyer^[1] and recorded at Blackwing Studios in London.^[2] Collaborators on the album included fellow Wire member Bruce Gilbert and musician Brian Eno, who played a Yamaha DX7 synthesiser on the track I Fall into Your Arms.^[2] Two singles were released from the initial album, including Pump and Only One I. The CD release included the September single release, Pulling 3g's / Pale Feet.^[1]

In July 1988 Mute released the single Could You, again produced by Lewis and Fryer. This single was included on the last He Said album titled Take Care which was released by Mute the following year.^[1]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Hail (Mute Records 1986)
• Take Care (Mute Records 1989)

Singles[link]

• Only One I (1985)
• Pump (1986)
• Pulling 3g's / Pale Feet (1986)
• Could you? (1988)

References[link]

Richard Roeper
Roeper at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1959-10-17) October 17, 1959 (age 52) Chicago, Illinois
Occupation	Film critic, journalist
Nationality	American
Subjects	Film
www.richardroeper.com

Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959)^[1] is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM.^[2] He co-hosted the television series At the Movies with Roger Ebert from 2000–2008, as the late Gene Siskel's replacement.

Personal Life[link]

Roeper was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in south suburban Dolton, Illinois. He attended Thornridge High School and graduated from Illinois State University in 1982. He has described himself as a Catholic, although "not always first in line for Sunday Mass".^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Roeper began working as a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1987. The topics of his columns range from politics to media to entertainment. In more recent years, he has been widely considered one of the finest newspaper writers in Chicago, just a notch below the city's golden-inked "Mount Rushmore" of John Kass (Tribune), Dave Hoekstra (Sun-Times), Jay Mariotti (Sun-Times) and Roger Ebert (Sun-Times).

He has also written seven books, on topics from movies to urban legends to conspiracy theories to the Chicago White Sox. In 2009 Roeper appeared on Howard Stern's show and said he had written a book on gambling, entitled Bet the House,^[3] which was released in the first quarter of 2010.

Roeper also was a radio host on WLS AM 890 in Chicago. He also hosted shows on WLUP-FM, WLS-FM and WMVP-AM in Chicago. He won three Emmy awards for his news commentaries on Fox in the 1990s, and was the film critic for CBS in Chicago for three years in the early 2000s. He won the National Headliner Award as the top newspaper columnist in the country in 1992, and has been voted best columnist in Illinois by the Associated Press on numerous occasions.

His columns have been syndicated by the New York Times to publications around the world. Roeper has written for a number of magazines, including Esquire, Spy, TV Guide, Playboy, Maxim and Entertainment Weekly. He was once named as one of People magazine's most eligible bachelors.^{[citation needed]}

Roeper has been a frequent guest on the Tonight Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The O'Reilly Factor and countless other national programs. He is currently the host of Starz Inside, a monthly documentary series airing on the Starz network since the fall of 2007. Roeper appeared on the first episode of the fifth season of Entourage reviewing the fake movie Medellin starring fictional movie star Vincent Chase. In April 2008, Roeper was the central figure on an episode of Top Chef, in which the contestants served up movie themed dishes to Roeper and his friends, including Aisha Tyler.

In February 2009, Roeper launched his own web site, [1], which features movie reviews, blog entries about politics, sports and movies, photos and Twitter entries. For most of the year Roeper was posting print reviews and blog entries. In December 2009, he launched a video section, with on-camera reviews of movies. The video segments are produced in partnership with the Starz premium cable channel. Roeper announced the reviews will appear first on his site, then on the Starz channel.^{[citation needed]}

In December 2009, it was reported^{[by whom?]} that Roeper had signed a "six-figure" deal with ReelzChannel to be a regular contributor. He will continue to review movies online for his website and for Starz.

As of Monday, April 12, 2010, he is now the co-host of The Roe Conn Show on Chicago's WLS-AM 890 radio station from 2-6pm CST.

Work as a film critic[link]

After Gene Siskel of Siskel & Ebert died on Saturday, February 20, 1999, Roger Ebert did the show with nearly 30 co-hosts. After 10 guest stints, Roeper was offered the opportunity to permanently co-host the popular film review show with Ebert. The series was renamed Ebert & Roeper at the Movies in 2000, and shortened to Ebert & Roeper in 2002.

Beginning in August 2006, while his co-host Roger Ebert was recovering from cancer surgery, Roeper was joined by guest critics, including Clerks director Kevin Smith and The Tonight Show host Jay Leno. On Sunday, July 20, 2008, Roeper announced he was leaving the show in mid-August and would return with a new show later in the year.^[4] He continues to write his general interest column, and also contributes reviews to the Sun-Times and to newspapers across the country.

Bibliography[link]

• He Rents, She Rents: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Women's Films and Guy Movies, with Laurie Viera (1999)
• Hollywood Urban Legends: The Truth Behind All Those Delightfully Persistent Myths of Films, Television, and Music (2001)
• Urban Legends: The Truth Behind All Those Deliciously Entertaining Myths That Are Absolutely, Positively, 100% Not True (2001)
• Ten Sure Signs a Movie Character is Doomed, and Other Surprising Movie Lists (2003)
• Schlock Value: Hollywood At Its Worst (2005)
• Sox and the City: A Fan's Love Affair with the White Sox from the Heartbreak of '67 to the Wizards of Oz (2006)
• Debunked!: Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Evil Plots of the 21st Century (2008)
• Bet the House: How I Gambled Over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance (2010)^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Biography from TV Tome
• Richard Roeper at the Internet Movie Database