History Main / ScrewballComedy

* ''Film/ItHappenedOnFifthAvenue''

* ''Series/GimmeGimmeGimme'' is a non-romantic example (mostly because the male character is homosexual) but has many moments of the two main characters having to BreakTheHaughty out of the other. The male character is a snobbish middle-class struggling actor, and the female character is an under-class ugly FagHag, and the two of them fight over attractive men.

* ''Film/{{Housesitter}}''

* ''Film/SwitchingChannels'': A remake of ''Film/HisGirlFriday'' (which was a remake of ''Film/TheFrontPage1931'').
* ''Film/ASongIsBorn'': A 1948 remake of ''Ball of Fire''.
* ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'': Another homage, written and directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers.
* ''Film/MissPettigrewLivesForADay'': A modern {{pastiche}} of the genre.
* ''Film/Arthur1981'' is about equal parts Creator/PGWodehouse pastiche and screwball pastiche: With the help of a ServileSnarker valet, a FunPersonified LonelyRichKid being pushed into a stuffy ArrangedMarriage finds true love with a working-class woman who loves him for himself.
* ''Film/{{Oscar|1991}}''
* ''Film/DateNight''
* ''Film/DinnerForSchmucks''
* ''Film/DueDate''
* ''Film/AfterHours'' and ''Film/SomethingWild'' can be seen as darkly [[PostModernism postmodern]] '80s variations of the genre.
* ''Series/GimmeGimmeGimme'' is a non-romantic example (mostly because the male character is homosexual) but has many moments of the two main characters having to BreakTheHaughty out of the other. The male character is a snobbish middle-class struggling actor, and the female character is an under-class ugly FagHag, and the two of them fight over attractive men.
* ''Film/TheHangover''
* ''Film/RunawayBride''
* Conversely, the 1928 silent comedy ''Film/ThePatsy'' starring Creator/MarionDavies can be regarded as a sort of very early prototype for the genre.
* ''Film/PineappleExpress''

* ''Series/DharmaAndGreg''
* ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'' is a non-romantic version, in which uptight, nervous Harold gets broken out of his shell by laid-back Kumar; in other words, if the standard screwball comedy is a parody of the romantic comedy, this one is a parody of a BromanticComedy. [[Film/BringingUpBaby Also, there's a big cat and everything]].

* The 1987 Music/{{Madonna}} flick ''Film/WhosThatGirl'' draws heavily from the genre, right down to to the big cat riffing ''Bringing Up Baby'' 20 years before ''Harold and Kumar''.
* ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' and its [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShowLetsDoTheTimeWarpAgain remake]] feature a straight-laced couple being seduced by a transsexual, alien scientist.

[[/index]]

* ''Film/TheHudsuckerProxy'': Another homage, written and directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers
* ''Film/MissPettigrewLivesForADay'': A modern {{pastiche}} of the genre/

* ''Film/SwitchingChannels'': A remake of ''Film/HisGirlFriday'' (which was a remake of ''Film/TheFrontPage'').[[index]]

* ''Film/MissPettigrewLivesForADay'': A modern {{pastiche}} of the genre

* ''Film/WhatsUpDoc'': Creator/PeterBogdanovich's {{homage}} to the genre.[[/index]]

* Conversely, the 1928 silent comedy ''Film/ThePatsy'' starring Creator/MarionDavies can be regarded as a sort of very early prototype for the genre.[[/index]]

* ''Film/WhosThatGirl''

* [[index]] ''Literature/MyDarkAndFearsomeQueen'' combines Screwball and BlackComedy with fantasy adventure.

* ''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise''[[/index]]

* 1987 Music/{{Madonna}} flick ''Film/WhosThatGirl'' draws heavily from the genre, right down to to the big cat riffing ''Bringing Up Baby'' 20 years before ''Harold and Kumar''.

* ''Switching Channels'': A remake of ''Film/HisGirlFriday'' (which was a remake of ''Film/TheFrontPage'').[[index]]

The Screwball Comedy is a very strict story form first developed during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood: a comedy film -- usually in black and white, although some were made in color -- in which an uptight, repressed, or [[UptightLovesWild otherwise stiff character gets broken out of his or her shell]] by being [[ManicPixieDreamGirl romantically pursued]] by a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} (or a similar character type). It does ''not'' just mean "zany comedy". ''Film/TheProducers'', say, is not a screwball comedy, although it is screwy, ballsy, and very funny.
It is characterized by fast-paced repartee, farcical situations, escapist themes, and plot lines involving courtship and marriage and showing the struggle between economic classes.

In other words, a {{parody}} of a RomanticComedy. Compare {{Farce}}.

The Screwball Comedy is a very strict story form: a comedy film -- usually in black and white, although some were made in color -- in which an uptight, repressed, or [[UptightLovesWild otherwise stiff character gets broken out of his or her shell]] by being [[ManicPixieDreamGirl romantically pursued]] by a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} (or a similar character type). It does ''not'' just mean "zany comedy". ''Film/TheProducers'', say, is not a screwball comedy, although it is screwy, ballsy, and very funny.

The Screwball Comedy is a very strict story form: a comedy film -- usually in black and white, although some were made in color -- in which an uptight, repressed, or [[UptightLovesWild otherwise stiff character gets broken out of his or her shell]] by being [[ManicPixieDreamGirl romantically pursued]] by a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} (or a similar character type). It does ''not'' just mean "zany comedy." ''Film/TheProducers'', say, is not a screwball comedy, although it is screwy, ballsy, and very funny.

* ''Film/{{Oscar}}''

* ''Theatre/{{Oscar}}''

* ''Film/HouseSitter''

In other words, a {{parody}} of a RomanticComedy.

* ''HouseSitter''