Comedy Movies · 1980s Ranked
Best Comedy Movies of the 1980s, Ranked by IQ Score
The decade John Hughes, the SNL alumni, and the post-Animal House comedy era converged. Ranked by IQ Score.
The 1980s in comedy cinema is the decade three major streams converged: John Hughes's high-school catalog, the SNL alumni feature-film catalog, and the post-Animal House R-rated mainstream comedy era. Ghostbusters (1984), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Trading Places (1983), and Coming to America (1988) all released within five years.
Anchor picks: This Is Spinal Tap is the canonical mockumentary entry. Ghostbusters is the canonical SNL-alumni-blockbuster. Big (1988) is Tom Hanks's career-defining comedy entry. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) is the canonical British-American hybrid.
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Questions about this ranking
What is the best 1980s comedy?
By IQ Score on TV Intelligentsia, This Is Spinal Tap, Ghostbusters, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Crimes and Misdemeanors anchor the decade. The 1980s saw three major comedy streams converge, John Hughes's high-school catalog, SNL alumni features, and post-Animal House R-rated work.
How does TVI rank 1980s comedies?
Every 1980s comedy is scored on the same rubric: Cognitive Stimulation (40%), Educational Value (35%), Craft & Quality (25%). The rubric reads the decade as comedy's most-commercially-productive era, auteur-led work (Allen, Coens) operated alongside the dominant studio-comedy machine.
Why is This Is Spinal Tap ranked so high?
TV Intelligentsia scores This Is Spinal Tap in the Masterclass tier because Rob Reiner's 1984 mockumentary established the format Christopher Guest's subsequent catalog and a generation of comedy directors worked inside. Among the most-influential comedies of any decade.
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