The modern age of spoof is depressing. They don’t spoof anymore, they just refer, actually making a joke apparently takes too much time, but putting together scenes everyone will recognize from movie trailers is somehow supposed t obe funny. It’s all the Wayans brothers’ fault, they started it with Scary Movie. Mel Brooks needs to hold a symposium before he dies, how to spoof.
Were Airplane and The Naked Gun really that much better?
I don't know if Scary Movie was that awful, but all the sequels were pretty bad.
I blame Family Guy. The whole idea that you don't have a joke or comic situation that fits into the plot but just drag in some non sequitur, some off-the wall comment or scene that has nothing to do with story. It makes a show like 30 Rock unwatchable (assuming it would be watchable otherwise).
Sometimes I think it’s broader than just that (in terms of spoofs). It’s the way almost all dialogue tends to have underlying quirky subtexts nowadays. Innuendos, sarcasm, alternate meanings, etc. The whole culture is awash in this. It’s one of the reasons I love to sit back and watch older movies and shows, where everything seems so straight-forward and “no nonsense.” Unpretentious. Reflective more of an adult world that just didn’t abide by such coy self-consciousness.
“It’s all the Wayans brothers’ fault, they started it with Scary Movie.”
I don’t know what went wrong with the Wayans. They knew how to make a good spoof when they make “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!”, but they’ve lost it. Even the first Scary Movie was alright. I guess when they figured they could churn them out every year as a never-ending franchise and make big bucks, they just got lazy.