Kentucky Fried Movie
No doubt the most hit or miss form of humor on the planet is that of sketch comedy, that of presenting a small story with characters in the form of a short segment that is portrayed along with a number of other similar sketches during the course of a TV program. The format goes all the way back to the earliest form of television such as The Jackie Gleason Show (where Gleason would play various characters in different segments but in the end the only character that people really wanted to see him do was Ralph Kramden) continuing through 60s staples like Laugh In and The Smothers Brothers onto Saturday Night Live, where it was proven that the overall comedic effect depended on the talent level of the ensemble cast performing the material as the legendary early crew of SNL would have moments of hysterical euphoria but much of everything else was flatulent dreck, while the equally legendary late 80s to early 90s gang always at least managed to be consistentâŚconsistently hilarious that is from beginning to end. Now while some can just write off a bad episode of a sketch comedy show to them just having had a bad week, even more important would be the talent level of the WRITERS behind the material (many of whom were performers themselves) to keep the level of humor on an even keel knowing that very few people in the future would actually endeavor to seek out and watch every single episode. Which is why the riskiest venture of them all would be to produce a MOVIE that in most ways would be considered a sketch comedy program that would play in theatres, as not only would the uneven tones of the various portions of the film be forced to clash with each other, but the very nature of being a standalone full length motion picture with such a concept would force it to be seen under much heavier scrutiny in the future than just a random TV episode and thus make every single sketch one that had better have something that would stand the test of time in the art of making people laugh as more people over the years get to seek it out and watch it. But the real kicker is what if the writers decided to shamelessly go for the R rating and open up their options to include more âadultâ material that could never have been done on regular TV? Thus we have the first movie ever written by the infamously deranged ZAZ trio (David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams) who went on to do Airplane! and various other comedy classics before each of them branched off in their own career directions. Taking as their inspiration the performances at their legendarily famous Kentucky Fried Theatre, a kind of off beat, almost avant garde venue where they would present their wild and crazy sketches to an appreciative audience of those who had mostly gathered through word of mouth, this film released in 1977 supposedly represented the âbestâ of the work that had been conceived by the trio there, and while it was still a low budget production in and of itself, the film presented this material with a slickness and sheen that admittedly wasnât there in the rather crude stage environment of the theatre itself. This was enhanced by bringing in a young John Landis (himself on his way to immortal triumphs like Animal House and Blues Brothers) to be the director on the film (and no doubt have a hand in the writing process) and to do so in such a way that the film never seems to stop moving, even when certain sketches go on for an inordinate amount of time. On the surface the film is (correctly so) a spoof on 70s culture including but not at all limited to exploitation films, TV commercials, network news, morning talk shows, old reruns that always seem to play out the same way, and much, much more, but also with a rather naughty, no holds barred attitude that no doubt shocked audiences back then out of their seats with laughter but still holds up as being extremely funny today even if one doesnât get all the references related to the time in which it was made. Thereâs only a small assortment of so called ânameâ actors who appear in the film but it does feature Donald Sutherland in perhaps THE greatest blink and youâll miss it cameo appearance of all time, along with former James Bond George Lazenby, Bill Bixby, and character actor Henry Gibson. The movie starts off rather subtle, with its âA.M. Todayâ morning news segment that eventually descends into anarchy with unexpected killer arrows, a rampaging gorilla, and an out of the blue tendency for the on air TV personalities to spout profanity at any given time. Then the first âfake trailerâ hits, and itâs not like anything youâd ever see on MAD TV: âCatholic School Girls In Troubleâ, an insane spoof of 70s pseudo pornographic movies that promises the most perverse displays of sexuality imaginable (but really is not all that far removed from actual 70s sex movies) and from there the movie kicks into overdrive mode, with a good number of moments easily being considered acts of genuine comic genius (with certain motifs and even characters making surprise later appearances), peaking with the hilarious 30+ minutes segment âA Fistful Of Yenâ, an almost straight up Airplane! style parody of Enter The Dragon with Evan C. Kim taking up the mantle of Bruce Lee (and eerily nailing dead on Leeâs speech impediment, if not his charisma) and going to infiltrate a mountain fortress led by Master Bong Soo Han (a real life martial arts icon for his promoting of the Hapkido style). THIS is the part that feels most like a later classic ZAZ film, with a ton of outrageous bits like the hero discovering a number of recording devices in his quarters (including an old Asian guy in the corner holding a boom mike and a literal fully staffed control room in the back!) and a tour group going through the fortress led by a guide who cheerily points out to the various tourists where the Master manufactures his heroin! The equally crazed Wizard Of Oz ending to the segment then leads to a bit of a lull in the film which is NOT helped by the black and white âCourtroomâ sketch depicting a 1950s court case, which despite a clever ending and good use of Tony Dow as his trademark Wally Cleaver character alongside Jerry Zucker as The Beaver (The real Beaver, Jerry Mathers, turned it down), runs on for way too long and probably sets the filmâs record for most unfunny bits in a single sketch. And yet, the film still has plenty of time to rebound for no doubt its single best moment (and one of the funniest moments in the history of movie comedy) in the form of the âDanger Seekersâ segment, with a bit so outrageous that one is better off seeing it for themselves rather than having it described in detail, along with the âZinc Oxide And Youâ educational film parody and the extremely sexy, erotic, yet kinda weird closing bit where the hottest girl in the movie (easily) has sex with her boyfriend while the anchor on the TV news program that theyâre watching (along with the technicians) suddenly realize that theyâre able to see the two of them screwing from inside the TV set and get caught up watching them with perverted lust rather than reporting the news. Uneven? Sure. Mind blowingly brilliant at its high points even with moments that still resonate today (âTake him to Detroit!â âNo! Anything but that!!â)? Absolutely. But as far as essential comedy viewing goes and being the most successful attempt at making a full length sketch comedy movie ever (though its 10 years later âsequelâ, Amazon Women On The Moon comes pretty close), this is truly a showcase for some brilliant comedy minds at a time when their talent was at its most rawâŚ
9/10