The Kentucky Fried Movie

This will be part of Could they Make it Now? A sporadic series looking at movies made in the past which were awesome, but could not be made in today’s restrictive culture. So watch (or re-watch) this film and let me know what you think in the comments. Could this be made today?  Would it be a success?

When I was growing up this was the one movie you could never get at the rental store. It was so popular that when it came in, somebody else had it in reserve. It never made it back on the shelf. It’s strange to think that you can just watch it now on a video service. As a child, literally every kid on the block had the lines memorized from the ‘Fistful of Yen’ skit – “Twy again – with feewing!” Also Big Jim Slade on speed -dial has been a perpetual joke amongst the women folk I know. And some of the men.  This movie was that popular.

IMDB, my favorite place to go skewer bad movie critics, says The Kentucky Fried Movie skits are mostly tasteless and irreverent. I hate those words. That means you, as a reviewer, have a stick up your ass. This is one of those films that divides critics into groups: Critics you decide you will never listen to again, and critics with a real sense of humor. Either have the guts to say this movie is hilarious, or get relegated to the trash heap of review history. And in that lies the point – less than half of reviewers had the stones to say this was a funny film. The rest had to struggle with why this was tasteless,  etc… just to make a point that they, the reviewers, had a superior moral sensibility.

Everyone involved in this film became legendary. John Landis directed this, and then went on to direct Animal House, Blues Brothers, The American Werewolf in London.… And that was just 1977 to 1981. The Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams wrote the skits. This same group was responsible for Airplane, Police Squad and the Naked Gun series. Here, they are young and hungry for laughs and the humor is sharper than anything done in Airplane or Naked Gun. Would they be legendary today? Would their careers take off? Or would they be crushed by a thousand hyperactive internet trolls?

So watch this film – or don’t! Everything is voluntary. At least for now you still have the option to watch it.

Next week will be… Something.  I don’t have a plan laid out yet for the coming months.  I am tempted by one of the following.  Does anyone have a preference?  Or another suggestion?

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(h/t: The Hyperbole)