While classics such asAirplane!andThe Naked Gunare at the forefront of theZuckerandAbrahamslegacy, 1977’sThe Kentucky Fried Moviestands as the perfect starting point for such a prolific career. As a series of comedic vignettes, many of which make the likes ofSaturday Night LiveorSecond Cityseem tame in comparison,The Kentucky Fried Moviewas a groundbreaking comedy before evenAnimal House, and should have a place on any fan of classic comedy’s playlist.
Despite its title,The Kentucky Fried Movieis not a movie in the traditional sense, and if it were made today, it would likely be a series of YouTube videos rather than a feature film. The sketches included lampooning everything from political commentary shows toBruce Leemovies, and everything in-between. Each vignette is unique within the context of the film, meaning it fits into the movie on its own merit. Even though the sketches sometimes refer to each other (one ongoing gag is the appearance of a muscle builder named “Big” Jim Slade),there is no greater connective theme.
The Kentucky Fried Movie
A series of comedic sketches, parodies, and satirical segments, The Kentucky Fried Movie offers a humorous take on various aspects of popular culture, including television, commercials, and films. Known for its irreverent and often risqué humor, it became a cult classic for its unique and outrageous style.
What Makes ‘The Kentucky Fried Movie’ Edgy?
It should be noted at the outset that the humor inThe Kentucky Fried Movieis not without its problems. Specifically, there is a fair amount of cultural insensitivity, including language and pejorative terms that would not be used in a film today. While the year the movie was made is not a defense, the humor inThe Kentucky Fried Movieserves as a reflection of the 1970s, and it’s important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.The late ’60s (and even much of the ’70s) were a bastion of freedom for filmmakers, with movies such asMidnight Cowboywinning Best Picturedespite its “X” rating at the time. Following suit,The Kentucky Fried Moviealso contains copious amounts of gratuitous nudity, which may or may be problematic for potential viewers.
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“I’ve done a couple of skits before that were just very short TV things.”
The Kentucky Fried Movieis also cinematically significant because it is one of the first unprompted comedies. Rather than a central premise with character development,the film is completely abstract, and doesn’t necessarily need to follow the conventions of filmmaking. During its era, when popularized home video was still in its infancy and VHS had just been introduced, major studios didn’t quite know what to make of a comedy that couldn’t be shown to families.Other films of the era, such asCarnal Knowledge, at least had dramatic and artistic intent to justify their ratings, but comedies that couldn’t be shown in a cinema were an odd duck. Even worse, the movie clearly couldn’t be broadcast on television once it left theaters (it would eventually make it to cable, albeit heavily edited).
Why Is ‘The Kentucky Fried Movie’ Historically Important?
In many ways,it’s exactly this“Wild West” setting of the film industrythat the movie is spoofing. For instance, there is one segment called “Catholic High School Girls In Trouble,” which is clearly a nod to the type of sexually exploitative popcorn movies that were common in the era. The same is true for “Cleopatra Schwartz,” a take onFoxy Brownand theBlacksploitationgenre of movies that were rife throughout the ’70s.
Perhaps the standout sketch in the movie is a thirty-minute spoof ofBruce Lee’sEnter the Dragon, called “A Fistful of Yen.” This sequence alone could be a short film in its own right, and in fact,it could’ve been a feature film given the spoofs the team would later be known for. The basic story follows the original film pretty closely, and the gags are very reminiscent of those inPolice Squad, the short-lived series upon whichThe Naked Gunwas based.
Is ‘The Kentucky Fried Movie’ Similar to ‘Airplane!’?
The Kentucky Fried Movieis whatSaturday Night Liveof the era would have been if not for the limitations of network television. Some of the gags are similar, such as the segment where a male and female commentator spar on a sort of news show, with one of the participants clearly taking it to extreme lengths. In fact, it could potentially be argued that the material in both TheKentucky Fried MovieandSaturday Night Live, may be more than just “borrowed,” but such arguments are relegated to film historians. Either way,given the satirical nature of both, and that they exist in the same era, there was bound to be overlap.
Even so, certain types of jokes wouldn’t make it through the television censors, such as gallows humor that requires a skilled hand to navigate, and, to be fair, there is even a commercial for the United Appeal for the Dead inThe Kentucky Fried Movie.No topic is truly off-limits in the film, and evencourtroom procedurals, not generally thought of as topics for satire, are explored. Reminiscent of theThree Stooges' “Disorder in the Court,”Courtroomis a savage dismantling of Perry Mason-style courtroom dramas that adds throwaway lines and childish antics to great effect. Moreover, the humor in the segment shows a blueprint for the latter, schoolyard tone that bothAirplaneandTop Secretare known for, with its rapid-fire puns and other plays on language.
Eventually, and especially because of films such asThe Kentucky Fried MovieandAnimal House, the genre of family unfriendly comedies would become popular, especially in the ’80s.Popular moviessuch asPorky’sandRevenge of the Nerdsowe a great deal of gratitude toThe Kentucky Fried Movie, especially since it was largely self-financed outside of the major movie houses. Contemporaneously,the studios' trepidation makes sense because they weren’t familiar with the irreverent style of comedythat the team would become known for, especially with sketches about a board game called “Scot Free,” a satirical take on the Warren Commission. The idea of a Monopoly-style game that’s based on the Kennedy assassination is something only filmmakers that are willing to take risks would attempt, let alone pull off, and studios are traditionally risk-averse. Yet while its humor was novel for its day, today it may be considered dated by some and off-limits by others, but as a time capsule and stepping-stone for fans and aspiring filmmakers, it’s second to none. Better still, as a movie on its own terms, it’s most certainlyworth a watch by anyone that enjoys edgy comedies, or at least irreverent ones.
The Kentucky Fried Movieis available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.
