The peak era for Hollywood comedy, according to science
Sure, humour is subjective. No two people are guaranteed to find all the theme things funny all the time, so the comedy genre has to account for person-to-person differences in what might tickle them. But still, there is some science that can be applied.
Right now, we’re in somewhat of a comedy drought. There are plenty of films with a few jokes and laughs in them, but in comparison to back in the day, when all-out, unfaltering comedy films were dominating the box office regularly, the cinematic world is simply seeing less of them. Now, a movie is more likely to be trying to do several things at once, being a rom-com, or a drama with a few jokes, or even a slasher film packed with gags. There are fewer straight-up comedy films that don’t also come with a dramatic or deeper emotional edge.
That’s a proven fact. According to research done by Letterboxd, the genre has been dropping off. Unlike the worlds of horror and thrillers which have both seen an over 100% positive change pre-1990 to post-2016, comedy saw a -27% genre change meaning that from now, in comparison to before 1990, the world of funny films is fading.
It’s confusing, though. Even though comedy is subjective, making a comedy film is relatively easy in terms of craft and especially budget. Research about the average budget a film requires, broken down by genre, shows that comedy is at the affordable end. While an adventure flick might set a studio back around $72.1million, an action movie might average $50.2m, the average comedy picture generally only takes a budget of $26.5m, making it a far more demure and cost-effective pick.
A comedy is also more likely to get a positive online rating. Maybe it’s the joy the movies are designed to instil in a person, or the way a good laugh generally makes people feel nicer and better, but it seems that more people will leave a comedy and go review a film kindly online. It’s a community thing, too. Research finds that viewers review comedy films around 7.6% more if they see them in the cinema than at home, capturing the positive impact of sharing laughs in a room.
What was the best year for comedy?
With all this research, a specific year was able to be pinpointed as the peak for comedy: 1984. Before the genre started to drop in the 1990s, funny movies hit their absolute heyday in the mid-80s, dominating the box offices with a series of hits.
Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop led the way as it grossed $977m. That was swiftly followed by the iconic Ghostbusters, which brought in around $882m. In both cases, these were original scripts and new ideas, being led by new comedic talent as further proof that both on and off camera, the genre was at the top of its game.
However, perhaps another comedy film released that year is a clue to what was to come and the slight downfall it would endure. 16 Candles was also out in 1984, marking John Hughes’ first coming-of-age film that would become his signature. Technically, it’s a comedy, but it’s a different kind, giving a clue for the more cerebral funny films that would come to dominate as the genre morphed.
