There was a striking moment during a recent episode of The Rewatchables, the wildly popular film-recap podcast. The episode revisited the 90s comedy There's Something About Mary, a film that in some ways holds up hilariously, and in others has aged poorly. As the panel discussed favourite comedy films by decade, they were spoilt for choice until they reached the 2020s, when they collectively drew a blank. Host Bill Simmons cut through the silence: 'Do we have comedies any more? What happened to comedies?'
The Demise of Everyday Comedies
What happened to the 'everyday' American comedies like There's Something About Mary that once dominated cinemas? These films took familiar real-world situations—teens trying to lose their virginity, a man clashing with his girlfriend's dad, a maid of honour struggling to arrange a hen do—and stretched them to absurd and lurid extremes. This lineage goes back almost half a century to Animal House.
Industry website Box Office Mojo uses the term 'bawdy comedy'. Their list of the highest-grossing bawdy comedies reveals that not one of the 100 or so entries was released after 2019. These films seem to have ceased to exist as mass entertainment in the 2020s. The last one to make any noise was Bottoms, a very funny film that almost no one saw in cinemas.
Why Did They Fade?
The demise of these comedies isn't a new story. A decade ago, as the Farrelly Brothers-Judd Apatow-Will Ferrell-SNL era limped into cinemas, their decline felt like a relief. But now that they have vanished, many miss those films. At their best, they were terrific mass entertainment, a whirlwind of big gags that left you breathless with laughter.
Comedy is still present at the box office, but often in service of something else—bolted onto another genre or adding levity to 'big IP'. Films like Deadpool and Barbie are comedic but are franchise-building first. Comedic twists on action and horror are everywhere, but by the final act, the jokes vanish, replaced by overlong, straight-faced set pieces. The same can be said of romcoms, which in their streaming-led guise seem more interested in the romance than the comedy.
Indie and Streaming Efforts
Pure comedy still exists at the indie, A24-shaped end, but lines are blurrier. The Drama and Friendship venture into uncomfortable and dark territory. Streamers have been unwilling to pick up the slack. Amazon made a half-hearted effort with You're Cordially Invited, while Netflix focuses on standup and hybrid genres. Even Adam Sandler has moved away from comedy, with recent dramas like Spaceman.
Many big names have deserted the genre: Adam McKay into politicised film-making, Apatow into production, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg into TV, and Tina Fey into series. So is this form of bawdy, everyday comedy due for extinction? Next year, Apatow returns with The Comeback King, a comedy about a country-and-western star in freefall starring Glen Powell. Here's hoping it signals a revival.
