History Film / MeetTheParents1992

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film was shown in scattered arthouses across the US and a handful of film festivals in London and Edinburgh. Interestingly, some of the most favorable responses came from British viewers, who likened the dark humor to some of their sitcoms such as ''Series/SteptoeAndSon'' or ''Series/FawltyTowers''.

* BaitAndSwitch: "The Country Doctor": a delightful, whimsical film starring Creator/AndyGriffith as a small-town doctor whose eccentric ways make him the talk of the town, and Creator/SandyDuncan as a woman visiting from a big city who gets a lesson in his small-town ways. Sounds innocuous, right? Well, at least until Griffith's character strips Duncan's character, rapes her, and murders her with a chainsaw, giving her a very different type of lesson.

* ConMan: The video store employee played by producer Creator/EmoPhilips in his CreatorCameo is a cuddlier example of this. He cheerfully states that every film his various customers want to rent is "his favorite" to guarantee rentals, including Greg's renting of "The Country Doctor", a seemingly family friendly film starring Creator/AndyGriffith and Creator/SandyDuncan that turns out to be a cheap exploitation film rife with violence and sex, with Griffith playing a chainsaw killer who first strips down and rapes his victims. It's nothing personal, really--he only does this to keep his job, not because he wants to ruin Greg's reputation.

* TheImmodestOrgasm: Heard but not seen coming from several couples on the Burns' TV while Greg is flipping channels and in "The Country Doctor" film starring Andy Griffith, the last actor one would expect to play a chainsaw killer who rapes his victims before killing them. It's pretty much the only R-rated content in this independent feature, where there's not a drop of blood and very infrequent/mild adult language.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The audio we hear from the unseen "Country Doctor" film features spot-on voice impressions of Andy Griffith and Sandy Duncan.

* SoundOnlyDeath: While we never see the horrors of "The Country Doctor" film unfold, we hear the sound of Andy Griffith's character laughing evilly as he uses a chainsaw to slash away at Sandy Duncan's screaming character. At the same time, we see Greg and the Burnses react with shock and disgust. Only Fay, being the rebel of the family, enjoys what's happening.

** Bingo the dog and Irv's deceased mother Penny are the [[OddNameOut odd names out]] in the whole named cast with their two-syllable names.

* WhamLine: Greg enters what he thinks is Pam's room and tells the person in bed that he needs to make love to her right now because he loves her and wants something to go right this weekend. Then, a voice says, "Okay... just don't tell Ed [=McMahon=]." ''Surprise!'' It's actually Fay's bedroom, and this becomes the cause for the final disaster.

* WhamLine: Greg enters what he thinks is Pam's room and tells the person in bed that he needs to make love to her right now because he loves her and wants something to go right this weekend. Then, a voice says, "Okay... just don't tell Ed [=McMahon=]." ''Surprise!'' It's actually Fay's bedroom.

* PerkyGoth: Fay wears mostly black clothing and very dark red lipstick, smokes marijuana, and is the only family member who visibly enjoys seeing Andy Griffith cast wildly against type as a murderer and rapist. Other than that, she has a generally friendly, if creepily pining, demeanor.

* ForegoneConclusion: The gas station owner notes that the story of Greg ended tragically while warning his newest customer against meeting his future in-laws. But he doesn't initially say how it ended or why it was tragic, keeping the audience guessing as to what could be the final disaster.

The story is presented as a ShowWithinAShow: a gas station owner warns an engaged customer against meeting his fiancée's parents and spins the narrative of an advertising agent named Greg ([[NoFullNameGiven no last name]]), who takes his fiancée Pam Burns to meet her parents, Irv and Kay, for a weekend and unwittingly sets off countless accidents that slowly soil his reputation with the family. In a desperate bid to regain a tiny shred of his reputation, Greg listens to Pam's sister Fay, who incorrectly thinks he has ties with Creator/EdMcMahon, sing an audition song for ''Series/StarSearch''. To get back at him for mildly criticizing her audition, Fay accuses Greg of wanting to cheat on Pam with her, then [[DrivenToSuicide hangs herself]] with a sign around her neck reading "Greg killed me". In a surprise twist, Irv's attempt to shoot Greg backfires, and he kills Kay and Pam before dying suddenly of a heart attack, while Greg miraculously turns out fine.

* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: Averted. Pam suggests that Greg throw a stick into a lake for the Burns family dog Bingo to chase after. When he does, Bingo drowns below the lake. The credits have no disclaimer as to whether Bingo survived this scene.
** Greg Glienna would later comment about not being able to get away with this level of black comedy in Hollywood films, while producer James Vincent would proudly state that they added this scene anyway despite it not being standard independent film material either.

* DrivenToSuicide: Fay hangs herself after Greg tells her that she needs more singing lessons and deludes herself into believing Greg would want to cheat on Pam with her. To be fair, she did try to force criticism out of him despite his attempts to shower her with compliments and regain trust with the Burnses.
* EyePoke: Greg comes close on the first night to poking out Kay's eye with a fishing pole Irv presents him with for the family fishing trip while casually waving it around, so Irv rushes her to the local emergency room. The Burns matriarch spends the rest of the film with half her face covered in bandages.

* GlamorousSingleMother: Irv says that, after his father left his family when he was a child, his now-deceased mother Penny raised the family to great effect on her own.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Irv. He frames Greg for marijuana cigarettes planted in his luggage by Fay while smoking a huge tobacco cigar. Later, the family church's priest leads a Sunday sermon about parents showing forgiveness towards their children (and children-in-law, by extension of this film), referencing Jesus' famous parable of the Prodigal Son. He seems to imply that true forgiveness should be unconditional, but Irv, a devout churchgoer, becomes increasingly unwilling to extend this courtesy to Greg.
** Also Fay, who's ferociously determined to get suggestions for improving her singing voice from Greg (who in turn is no expert on the matter) yet explodes in rage over Greg innocently saying she needs more lessons.

* SoundtrackDissonance: The original song "Keep Smiling" (performed by Walter Tabayoyong) plays when Greg, driving the Burns family car, enters the local supermarket's parking lot to buy ziplock bags for the family picnic despite his increasing misfortunes. Things get worse when he parks to close to a lamp post and knocks the cover of the driver's side rear view mirror clean off.

* SoundtrackDissonance: The original song "Keep Smiling" (performed by Walter Tabayoyong) plays when Greg, driving the Burns family car, enters the local supermarket's parking lot to buy ziplock bags for the family picnic despite his increasing misfortunes. Things get worse when he knocks the cover of the driver's side rear view mirror clean off when he drives too close to a lamp post.

* SoundtrackDissonance: The original song "Keep Smiling" (performed by Walter Tabayoyong) plays when Greg, driving the Burns family car, enters the local supermarket's parking lot to buy ziplock bags for the family picnic despite his increasing misfortunes. Things get worse when he knocks the driver's side rear view mirror clean off.

''Meet The Parents'' is a 1992 independent KafkaKomedy that is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, written by, directed by, and starring Greg Glienna. The film was not widely distributed and so is not well known in general public circles. However, UniversalPictures bought the rights from Glienna in 1995 to adapt his indie comedy into [[Film/MeetTheParents a 2000 major Hollywood feature]] directed by Creator/JayRoach, with an expanded script from Jim Herzfeld.

''Meet The Parents'' is a 1992 independent KafkaKomedy that is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, written by, directed by, and starring Greg Glienna. The film was not widely distributed and so is not well known in general public circles. However, [[Creator/Universal Universal Studios]] bought the rights from Glienna in 1995 to adapt his indie comedy into [[Film/MeetTheParents a 2000 major Hollywood feature]] directed by Creator/JayRoach, with an expanded script from Jim Herzfeld.