There's a story today about a very important question facing American comedy: Where do today's film comedy hacks get their inspiration? The answer, obviously, is sports. The secondary answer is a time period soaked through with hilariosity: The 1970s.
From the AP:
Platform shoes, leisure suits, fondue, fro picks. What used to be cool is now the stuff of comedy.
When it comes to period comedies, the `70s are the equivalent of Victorian era costume drama. While serious-minded filmmakers are forever reaching back to the time of royalty clad in waistcoats and dressing gowns, comedians are more likely to cull from the less halcyon days of disco and sideburns.
Will Ferrell is again mining the decade with "Semi-Pro," a movie in theaters Friday about a fictional ABA basketball team, otherwise realistically set in the `70s. Ferrell earlier traveled back to the "Me Decade" for 2004's "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."
"Whenever I look back at old photos and this and that, it just seems like such an alien time," Ferrell said. "The `80s are funny too, and I guess we'll look back and the `90s will be funny too, but the `70s are holding strong."
Ferrell is far from alone. In 2004's "Starsky & Hutch," Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson returned to when a Ford Gran Torino could be an object of obsessive pride. Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" (2000) captured the `70s – like many films set in the decade – through music.
Guess what, AP? Almost Famous wasn't a comedy. But I see your somewhat buried point: When lazy comedians are lolling about on their chaise lounges, halfway between sleep and brainstorming, they'll often think, "Sideburns..Ha! That's funny. The 70s were so stupid. Someone should make a movie about that."
Of course, it is possible to do a 70s period comedy without falling back on broad clichés—Freaks & Geeks managed to do it very well–-but so far, Will Ferrell hasn't done that. He can't help himself: It's what he was brought up with.