There’s more than a touch of High Fidelity about all this list making, but if we are on the subject of great 1980s comedies, how about Roxanne (remember the scene in a bar where Steve Martin lets fly with the insults?), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (an essential Reagan-era text), Zelig , Heathers, Trading Places and, of course, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure?
And the 1990s? They didn’t do so badly. Why no mention of The Mask, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie), Flirting with Disaster, The Full Monty, Clueless, Scream, To Die For, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks and that strangely unsung conservative classic Blast from the Past?
Movie humor is alive and well. What’s more, each of those decades can boast one TV comedy that will live on for years – Cheers in the 1980s and, of course, Seinfeld in the 1990s. Simpsons viewers please contact Jonah.
Finally, here’s a tip from 1941 – try a Hellzapoppin’ : quite amazing – and unfairly neglected.