Half-Baked. Happy Gilmore. Billy Madison. Grandma’s Boy. Dude, Where’s My Car? Where have the movies like this gone? Clerks 3 was, I think, the last good one I’ve ever seen (and even they got too real and too sad so I don’t even know if I ever want to see it again as a comedy). There’s gotta be some good, funny shit that’s even funnier when stoned out of your mind that’s more recent than that, right?
Probably just need some screenwriter to come up with a good idea, shop it around to a bunch of studios who all say “no” then go to their staff writers to write up a knock off that won’t get them sued. (“What if there’s a stoner who starts out good for nothing but has a redemption arc? That’s genius!!”)
So then instead of the originally written good version you get 5 campy hack versions that all get cranked out in 6 to 12 months. If the screenwriter can pull it off she’ll develop hers independently and get it out in 18 months but be accused of being unoriginal.
If you ever notice a bunch of similar movies coming out within 6 months of each other, this is pretty much why that happens.
That’s a good point. I really need to start seeing who wrote things more than looking at directors and studios. Maybe the funny writers are working on stuff that looks serious, but is actually filled with jokes.