From blazing to blazes: the decline of the spoof

Mel Brooks laid the groundwork, ‘Airplane!’ changed everything, before things took a bad turn with ‘Scary Movie’ and its unfunny ilk – but where does the spoof go from here?

PARODY IS a tricky genre to master, requiring the walking of a tightrope between knowing references and self-contained jokes. When confronted with the word "spoof", what do you think of? Chaucer's early stabs at postmodernism? Abbot and Costello Meet the Mummy? The Naked Gun?Recent debacles such as Scary Movie, perhaps? Though affectionate mockery is nothing new, the golden age was relatively recently. Mel Brooks hit the jackpot with two films in 1974, Blazing Saddlesand Young Frankenstein.They paved the way for a comic disaster movie that changed everything.

With Airplane!in 1980, audiences were introduced to straight line-readings (mostly by dramatic actors instead of comedians), distorted retreads of familiar scenes, and a kinetic, almost aggressive tone. A strange new genre took hold.

The Zucker Brothers along with Jim Abrahams had bought the rights to the B-movie Zero Hour,which formed the genesis for Airplane!They built the jokes in Airplane!around the plot for Zero Hour, used some of its scenes as a blueprint and even used some of the original dialogue (including the humdinger "we have to find someone who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner"). Indeed, many of the Airplane!scenes are better-known than their Zero Hourcounterparts, especially the awkward boy-meets-pilot moment.

Before filming Airplane!,the film-makers devised some strict self-imposed rules: one was to write it funny, but play it straight. The studio suggested comedy stars such as Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, but the final cast consisted of straight actors such as Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges. Another rule was a banning of "joke on a joke", so slapstick background gags only occurred when the foreground characters were inactive.

The formula worked. Airplane!was followed by Top Secret, which was eventually followed by The Naked Gun, a spin-off of the TV series Police Squad!Also starring Leslie Nielsen, the TV version didn't connect with viewers, while the films (all three of them) were runaway successes. It is possible that TV audiences are more passive and didn't give the intricate set-pieces in Police Squad!the attention they deserve.

As the Naked Gunfranchise continued it suffered from diminishing returns. Subsequent Nielsen outings (often written by Zucker-Abrahams alumni) were largely ignored by the public and lambasted by the critics. Examples of this low point include Wrongfully Accused(spoofing The Fugitive), Repossessed( The Exorcist) and the Mel Brooks film, Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

The genre was all but dead when Mike Myers introduced the world to a certain super spy in 1997 with Austin Powers. Young audiences probably wouldn't have been too aware of Casino Royale, Modesty Blaize, Help!, or many of the other 1960s staples that Myers mocked. But Myers followed another important rule: the comedy had to work regardless of whether you knew the films that inspired it. It was fun to see Robert Wagner and Michael York, for example, but it really didn't matter to most audiences that they were famous in decades past.

When Scary Movieappeared in 2000, it also looked like a flop on paper: directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans, it was a parody of Scream, a horror-comedy that was already self-aware. Most of the jokes only worked (if at all) as knowing references, making the genre look like a string of poor sketches. The film was a huge hit, spawning three sequels and a new, less subtle breed of spoof.

Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg, two of the writers on the franchise, have since become directors of some of the most lucrative and critically savaged films in recent years. Sharing writing and directing duties, they have been responsible for Epic Movie, Date Movie, Meet the Spartansand Disaster Movie.

The formula for these is dishearteningly simple: recreate the plot of a recent hit film and then pepper said plot with copious pop-culture references, often as just a recreation of a famous scene with no punchline.

The reaction to MacGruberhas also been surprising. The parody of 1980s action movies and series (especially MacGyver) started life as a sketch on Saturday Night Live, birthplace of The Blues Brothersand Wayne's World.

Created by its star, Will Forte, MacGruberis – like many action heroes – petty, bad-tempered, vain and rude, and the film gently mocks numerous action cliches: the expository dialogue, the sophisticated villain (played by Val Kilmer) and the hero's return from self-imposed exile. Despite a strong marketing campaign and reasonable critical acclaim, the bawdy comedy proved a box-office disappointment. The film is funny but vulgar, and the lead character has divided audiences.

MacGrubercould well go on to become a cult favourite, echoing the belated success of Top Secret!(which also featured Kilmer). But for those who prefer an even less subtle brand of comedy, Seltzer and Friedberg are working on Vampire Movie. Comedy connoisseurs should take heart, though: with the genre going through a revival roughly once a decade, we're due another golden age.

A few good spoofs: Three to catch

This Is Spinal TapMaking fun of rock documentaries, This Is Spinal Tapfeatured inaccurately small Stonehenge sculptures, amps that went up to 11 and fatally accident-prone drummers. It also popularised the "mockumentary", a formula that gave us Best in Show, The Officeand Modern Family.

The Naked GunLeslie Nielsen is the spectacularly incompetent Det Frank Drebin. Like all movie cops, he makes the most progress when he's suspended from duty. "Just think," he sighs, handing in his badge, "the next time I shoot someone, I could be arrested."

Airplane!Thanks to some bad fish, an airplane's crew and passengers are placed in mortal danger. This hugely influential send-up of disaster movies is almost too crammed with jokes: repeated viewing is essential.