Some film genres never go out of style. Thrillers and action/adventure movies, for example, remain perennial favorites, consistently drawing audiences in theaters and on streaming platforms. Other genres, however, tend to fade in and out of popularity.
Take the Western: once considered dead, it roared back to life in the early 1990s with critical and commercial hits like Dances with Wolves and Unforgiven, followed closely by Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, and The Quick and the Dead. Then, the genre went quiet again, until Taylor Sheridan reignited interest with the success of Yellowstone.
Now, another once-popular genre may be ready for a revival: the spoof.
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Spoofs are self-aware comedies that parody the conventions and clichés of more serious genres. They’re clever, irreverent, and often wildly entertaining - when done right.
It’s been over 20 years since the last successful spoof was in theaters, but 2025 is going to have two: The Naked Gun and Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. The Naked Gun (2025) is a legacy sequel to the original Leslie Nielsen–led trilogy. It picks up the story with Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., played by Liam Neeson, who is the son of Nielsen’s iconic detective.
We dive into the Naked Gun and what makes it a successful spoof below.
What is the secret sauce of a successful spoof?
1. The Original Material as inspiration
A key to a successful spoof is recognizing the tropes in genres that the audience will understand and appreciate as a comedy. The Naked Gun was originally a short-lived TV series titled Police Squad created by Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker and David Zucker (the team behind Airplane!).
Police Squad was spoofing the police procedurals that were prevalent on TV at the time. While it didn’t work as a half-hour comedy, it became a hit in theaters years later retitled The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad. It follows two detectives trying to find out who attempted to kill their colleague, only to open up a wider conspiracy to assassinate the queen of England.
The Naked Gun uses lots of tropes of the police and crime conspiratorial films to make it into a spoof: a detective whose life is law enforcement, a mysterious woman who needs his help, the various characters for him to get information, the bigger than life conspiracy, etc.
Here are some other spoofs and their inspiration:
- Spaceballs – Star Wars
- Airplane – Airport disaster movies of the 1970s as well as Zero Hour
- Scary Movie – Initially teen horror movies, then other aspects of horror movies for sequels
- High Anxiety – Alfred Hitchcock thrillers
- Hot Shots – Top Gun
2. The Dialogue played deadpan
Another critical aspect of the spoof movie is the dialogue. It can be serious, yet within the context of the film and who speaks it, it becomes a laugh-out-loud line. Ultimately, it’s all serious dialogue in a different context.
In The Naked Gun, Drebin is trying to get information for a witness as he reviews their file:
Drebin: You served 20 years for Man’s Laughter.
Bank Robber: You mean manslaughter.
Drebin: Must have been quite the joke.
It’s these deadpan, unexpected jokes and play on words that help make a spoof a spoof.
3. The Background as comedy
Spoofs thrive on background gags and layered visual comedy. For example, in The Naked Gun reboot, when Ed Hocken Jr. (played by Paul Walter Hauser) informs Drebin that they’re shutting down Police Squad, a Spirit Halloween banner is being raised in the background, a subtle visual joke that adds to the absurdity.
This kind of humor has been used effectively in other films too, such as the latest reboot of Superman (2025), where the hero casually sits in his apartment talking with Lois Lane while a massive battle with the Justice Gang rages outside the window, and they barely acknowledge it.
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1. Spaceballs (1987)
Written by Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham; Directed by Mel Brooks
This space opera/western makes fun of all things Star Wars. Brooks, whose legendary comedies included Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein, asked George Lucas’s permission to make fun of his franchise and received his blessing, as long as the protagonist didn’t dress like Han Solo: so Brooks had the hero dress like Indiana Jones instead.
Along with Star Wars, Brooks took shots at other popular films such as Planet of the Apes, The Wizard of Oz and Lawrence of Arabia.
2. Hot Shots (1991)
Written by Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft; Directed by Jim Abrahams
Jim Abrahams was part of the trio that created Airplane!, and he and Pat Proft contributed to The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad. Hot Shots puts Top Gun in its crosshairs and plays up everything for laughs, from dog fighting to disastrous deaths, as well as the montage of the protagonist wooing his love interest.
Hot Shots not only goes after military films, but also skewers politics, Rocky and Superman.
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Written by Mike Myers; Directed by Jay Roach
Saturday Night Live’s Mike Myers created this swinging British spy as a means of spoofing the spy films of the 60s and 70s such as James Bond, as well as the irreverent cultural tone of swinging 60s British culture. Myers plays both Austin Powers and the villain Dr. Evil (a play on James Bond villains such as Blofeld and Dr. No) in this spoof. There’s even a character named Basil Exposition whose job is to provide exposition to the story!
Austin Powers spawned several sequels, countless quotable lines, and became a Halloween costume staple. Its over-the-top plot parodied classic spy films, borrowing heavily from the James Bond franchise with familiar settings, eccentric villains, and tangled subplots. The comedy centered around a wildly outdated, misogynistic British spy from the 1960s who is cryogenically frozen and revived decades later to stop his nemesis, Dr. Evil. Much of the humor comes from the titular character from the 60s struggling to adapt to the more politically correct culture of the 1990s.
4. Scary Movie (2000)
Written by: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer; Directed by Keena Ivory Wayans
The late 90s were filled with teenage serial killer movies such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. After showing off their spoofing skills in 1996 with Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, the Wayans’ Brothers next hit was a play on horror cinema.
Scary Movie played into all the tropes you would expect in the horror genre going as far back as Friday the 13th, Halloween and even a Budweiser commercial at the time. The movie follows a group of teenagers who run over a guy and dump his body (I Know What You Did Last Summer) only to find a year later they are being tracked down and killed by Ghostface (Scream).
5. Heart Eyes (2025)
Written by Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon and Michael Kennedy; Directed by Josh Ruben
While not exactly a spoof, Heart Eyes parodies the Hallmark-esque romantic comedies and places it in the middle of a slasher film. The movie very much acts like a spoof though as it places rom-com tropes front and center, including meet cutes and almost kisses, but then turns the audience expectations on its head. While this is a horror movie, it’s easy to see how the same ideas could be turned into a spoof if they chose that direction. Heart Eyes is a great study about using genres and tropes in a way in which they weren’t intended.
Given director Akiva Schaffer’s background, it’s no surprise he was chosen to reintroduce The Naked Gun to a new generation. Schaffer, best known as one-third of The Lonely Island alongside Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, rose to fame creating offbeat, viral digital shorts for Saturday Night Live. He later co-wrote and co-directed Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, a sharp satire of the music industry and boy band culture.
Schaffer has long had a personal connection to spoofs. From childhood sleepovers watching Top Secret! to famously seeing Spaceballs before Star Wars, his comedic foundation was built on parody and absurdist humor. In many ways, he’s been preparing his whole life to take the reins of The Naked Gun franchise.
Now, with Schaffer at the helm, it’s clear that spoof movies are poised for a comeback. After years of dormancy and diminishing returns in the genre, The Naked Gun reboot signals a return to smart, layered parody driven by filmmakers who understand both the mechanics of classic comedy and the cultural pulse of today. For screenwriters and comedy lovers alike, the spoof is no longer a relic: it’s relevant again.