# Episodic Comedy Films ..... a dead genre?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [November 16, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904 "2025-11-16T17:23:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/21 "2025-11-17T08:09:10Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> I think they’re looking for vignettes, little separate stories that cross over and loosely tie together.
Like a Robert Altman film, only funny.
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### Author:  [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/22 "2025-11-17T08:39:40Z")
How about _The Ballad of Buster Scruggs_?
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/23 "2025-11-17T11:51:52Z")
That’s more of an anthology film, like _Paris, je t’aime_.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/24 "2025-11-17T13:17:53Z")
I call them “Charlie Brown movies”. Just string together a bunch of little vignettes, each ending with a punchline or visual payoff, using the same characters in the same setting/theme. In the their hey day of the 1970s it would be a summer at camp or a night at the disco or the party thrown when the parents were out of town. It’s what happened when a gagwriter convinced a producer they could write a whole movie. Gagwriters are nearly extinct now and producers are smarter.
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### Author:  [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/25 "2025-11-17T14:54:14Z")
How about Dazed & Confused?
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/26 "2025-11-17T15:01:29Z")
Jim Jarmusch’s [Night on Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_on_Earth)? It’s an anthology, and a comedy-drama. Obviously not an irreverent comedy like _Car Wash_.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/27 "2025-11-17T15:35:53Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> In the their hey day of the 1970s it would be a summer at camp
As homaged several decades later in _Wet Hot American Summer_.
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### Author:  [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/28 "2025-11-17T16:03:48Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> The one that came to mind was _Kentucky Fried Movie._
Yes! And _The Groove Tube_, even older. With “Brown 25” ad [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRPQSxp25z4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRPQSxp25z4)
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/29 "2025-11-17T16:11:54Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> …or a night at the disco or…
_Thank God it’s Friday_
_California Suite_ may also qualify as this sort of movie, although not quite as wacky as most of the others people have mentioned.
If I can think of anything more recent, I’ll post it.
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### Author:  [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/30 "2025-11-17T16:35:33Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#):
>
> _Can’t Hardly Wait_ (1998)?
Just rewatched it. Seems sort of hybrid. There’s characters who turn up every 20ish minutes to do their thing, like yearbook girl or Kleptokid (thats his name on the credit roll). Then there’s Preston who declares in the very first scene that now he has a chance to score with Amanda. And after many misunderstandings, at the end he actually does.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/31 "2025-11-17T17:09:23Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned [Clerks](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109445/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_clerks), the beginning of the View Askewniverse. Not as popular as Kevin Smith’s later movies, but definitely fits the OP descriptions. 1994, so now 31 years old. I think that genre had a heyday, but the industry has moved on.
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### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/32 "2025-11-17T17:47:55Z")
**Slacker** (1990) The film is about one day in Austin, Texas in the early 90’s. That is the only connection in this series of seemingly random stories and events. It is funny, but not a comedy.
**Mid90s** (2018) is very similar set in Los Angeles. A coming of age tale, it’s almost a period piece about this era from the perspective of a kid growing up in it…like I did. It’s far better than what you would think Jonah Hill could write and produce but that it is good speaks to me about authenticity.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/33 "2025-11-17T17:53:19Z")
Would _Highway 60_ fall into this genre?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/34 "2025-11-17T18:14:46Z")
Disclaimer: I haven’t seen this movie.
But from [the trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5xzjw_0d_0), [_One of Them Days_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_of_Them_Days) (which was released this year) sounds like it fits the OP’s description. It’s set in a single day, it appears to have a bunch of funny characters, and while it’s not a contest, the two main characters have one day to acquire enough money to pay their overdue rent or they get evicted.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/35 "2025-11-17T18:14:50Z")
> [@Chelonaut](#):
>
> > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#):
> >
> > _Can’t Hardly Wait_ (1998)?
>
> Just rewatched it. Seems sort of hybrid. There’s characters who turn up every 20ish minutes to do their thing, like yearbook girl or Kleptokid (thats his name on the credit roll). Then there’s Preston who declares in the very first scene that now he has a chance to score with Amanda. And after many misunderstandings, at the end he actually does.
I think _Can’t Hardly Wait_ was one of a series of unrelated films about the big high school party or dance, often prom. There was _She’s All That_, _Drive Me Crazy_ and _10 Things I Hate About You_. In the 1990s, there seemed to be one or two such films every year.
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### Author:  [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/36 "2025-11-17T18:45:35Z")
Detroit Rock City (1999) is about four kids going to see a KISS concert.
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### Author:  [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/37 "2025-11-17T19:16:23Z")
Oh that is a good one I think (it’s been a while since I saw it).
A good way to make a clear distinction - “The Goods” fits where “Used Cars” doesnt. They both are comedies centered on car dealerships with ensemble casts.
Used Cars takes place over weeks and has multiple locations where the plot advances. The Goods takes place over a short time with very, very few locations.
@Elmer_J.Fudd Yes, I think a lot of the suggestions show that not enough people have seen these types of movies. Like they aren’t anthlogy, they aren’t just a comedy….it’s very specific and there were A LOT of them in that era.
I hadn’t really thought of the “gag-writer” angle.
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/38 "2025-11-17T21:28:36Z")
I’ve never seen any of the films mentioned here, except for _Night on Earth_. I don’t think I have a clear grasp of the concept, but two films came to mind: _Mystery Train_ and _Twenty Bucks_. (I have never found a single other person in my life who has even heard of _Twenty Bucks_, let alone seen it.)
ETA: Buscemi is in both of them.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/39 "2025-11-17T22:58:10Z")
> [@Johanna](#):
>
> ETA: Buscemi is in both of them.
Then I’ll have to find them! I like the funny-looking little guy!
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/episodic-comedy-films-a-dead-genre/1024904/40 "2025-11-17T23:21:29Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#):
>
> little
He’s 5’9”.
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