Judd Apatow may be single-handedly ushering in a new dawn of successful comedy. Though his brand of comedy can be vulgar with a “nothing held back” aspect to them, they are wildly successful and have also introduced a new era of actors and actresses whose careers have taken off after appearing in Apatow comedies.
Apatow is not a newcomer to entertainment. Late in the 90’s, he had short lived television shows Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks, which were both critically acclaimed, and also wrote for The Ben Stiller Show and The Larry Sanders Show.
His short lived television shows have enjoyed success through home video distribution due to the rampant success of his movies and possible nostalgia of the characters. All of the cast of both Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks have enjoyed widespread mainstream accomplishment in their more recent roles in Apatow-related films.
Judd Apatow Remembers His Friends
In 2004, Apatow produced Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which was his first positively accepted project since his other less than successful attempts. He soon began friendships with Steve Carrell, who was a correspondent on The Daily Show with John Stewart at the time. They both threw around ideas of a script, and out of the mix came Apatow stepping up for a shot at directing. The product was the 2005 smash comedy The 40-Year Old Virgin. For the next three years, Apatow and his production company, Apatow Productions, would have a hand in producing, writing, or directing 11 more movies that all have had generally high success. Some of these include, Knocked Up, a laugher about a one night stand gone awry was extremely successful in the early 2007, along with the summer blockbuster of the same year Superbad, which involved two teens in their last week of high school, and the events of a weekend.
As his company continued to roll out successful comedy films, there were also a few negatively received ones, like 2008’s Step Brothers starring Will Farrell and John C. Reilly as 34 year olds who can’t get away from home and try to live with each other, and Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story starring John C. Reilly, mocking the careers of many musicians of the past.
One reason that can be attributed to the success of this phenomenon may be due to the lack of solid comedic groups for the last decade. In the 70s and 80s, National Lampoon produced movies that were quoted, loved, and widely talked about, like Animal House, which is still considered a classic today. They continued to release solid comedy movies that were regarded as great and enjoyed mainstream success. As the people involved in the company were replaced, National Lampoon have been putting their name on movies that are almost universally direct-to-DVD releases, and are not up to par with their previous work. This has been shown through critic reviews and word of mouth by fans.
Apatow Comedies Will Likely Be Seen as Classics
Now in the new generation, Apatow Production Company has taken the reigns that were once held by such comedy brigades as National Lampoon, and started the sled moving in a way that shows no signs of slowing, let alone stopping. The way that early comedy movies are now regarded as classics, Apatow’s movies will most likely be viewed in that same mannerer 15 years from now.
Apatow generally casts a similar group of stars in his movies. Some of these actors have been referred to as “The Frat Pack,” which includes Jack Black ,Will Farrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Luke and Owen Wilson. Others who recur often are Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, David Koechner, his wife Leslie Mann, and Nancy Walls. He often goes as far as recasting people even as extras that he has used in the past.
Many of the actors cast by Apatow have had their careers take off as a result. Long time friend Seth Rogen has gained mainstream success as a writer and actor due to his roles in almost all of the Apatow related productions, and writing of 2007’s summer blockbuster Superbad, and Pineapple Express and the co-writing of Drillbit Taylor. Jason Segal, who had the role as Seth Rogen’s roommate in Knocked Up, went on to write another Apatow produced success, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he also starred as the lead role. He also filmed I Love You, Man along side of Paul Rudd. Rudd’s recurring roles in Apatow’s movies are classic spots, in which he generally plays a calm, practical, light-hearted character.
The most recent Apatow Production Company movies have been The Year One, Funny People, and Get Him to the Greek. All of these movies adhere to the comedic structure in which the Apatow brigade have been known to deliver. Quirky scripts, over the top and always quotable dialogue, and A-list actors have bumped these movies up to the new standard for comedy.
With only a few comedy brigades left that truly deliver new ideas and fresh material (like Broken Lizard's most recent effort, The Slammin’ Salmon for example), Hollywood may be having a revival in profitable comedy.
Dane Robinson - Dane Robinson currently resides in New York City, originating from upstate NY. He attended St. John's University where he graduated with a ...
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