Slacker buddy comedies

I drove out to Wichita Falls a few weeks ago to pick up some DVDs in their going-out-of-business sale. Among the movies I got was "Strange Brew," the 1983 comedy starring Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. I saw it back in high school, and thought it was silly, but funny.

This time, however, I realized something. I've been watching the same movie just about every three to five years.

I don't know what came before 1983, but five years after Strange Brew came Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, followed by Weekend at Bernie's in 1989 and Wayne's World in 1992.


Tommy Boy and Clerks came out in 1995. Kevin Smith followed up with Mallrats in 1997 before switching gears with Chasing Amy, but retained the slacker buddy theme with his minor characters. Dude Where's my Car, starred Ashton Kuchner, came out in 2000.


The trail of the slacker buddy comedies ends with Harold & Kumar in 2004, that is, unless you count Superbad in 2007. In any case, my knowledge of the genre ends there.


Have you ever noticed that slacker buddy comedies never go trilogy? Many had sequels (1991 Bogus Journey, 1993 Weekend at Bernie's 2, 1993 Wayne's World 2, 1996 Black Sheep, and 2008 Guantanamo Bay), but the lineage ended there.

On a final note, I now realize that that I haven't been paying much attention to the slacker buddy comedy genre in recent years. I haven't seen any of the American Pie movies nor Superbad, so I don't even know if I can properly fill in the blanks after 2004.

Whether my marriage in 2005 had any effect on this is purely speculation, but it is comforting to believe that my ignorance is the result of a personal demographic shift. If the genre no longer appeals to me, it might be because I'm no longer classified as the slacker type.

:-)