History Film / MeetTheParents

* KafkaComedy: Described by critics as the ultimate worst-case scenario comedy. As stated in the film's tagline, "Into each life, some rain must fall. Greg better build an ark.".

* NostalgiaFilter: Regarding moral standards declining in entertainment, Irv reminisces about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in their youth after Greg rents ''The Country Doctor'', which isn't quite what he and the family would expect for a film starring Griffith.

* ShowWithinAShow: The main story is told from the perspective of a gas station owner to a customer seeking to meet his fiancée's parents.

* MamasBoy: Irv loves his late mother Penny so much that he still keeps an urn containing her ashes in a private room in his house. He often talks to the urn late at night and once put a hat Penny likely wore in life on it. As a result, he is mildly upset by Greg using the phrase "A ''penny'' saved is a ''penny'' earned" while trying to explain his fiscal responsibility and gravely offended when Greg closes a door that causes her photo to fall onto the urn, shattering it and scattering the ashes.

* DrivenToSuicide: Fay hangs herself after Greg tells her that she needs more singing lessons. To be fair, though, she did try to force criticism out of him despite his attempts to shower her with compliments and regain trust with the Burnses.

* FatBastard: Pam's brutish, obnoxious, beer-bellied ex-boyfriend Lee, who challenges Greg to a [[BarBrawl bar brawl]].
* GoodShepherd: The priest at the family's church.
* {{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 in a Sunday sermon about parents showing forgiveness towards their children (and children-in-law), referencing Jesus' famous parable of the Prodigal Son. He seems to imply that true forgiveness should be unconditional, but Irv becomes increasingly unwilling to extend this courtesy to Greg.

* 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.

* MamasBoy: Irv loves his late mother Penny so much that he still keeps an urn containing her ashes in a private room in his house. He often talks to the urn late at night and once put a hat Penny likely wore in life on it. As a result, he is mildly upset by Greg using the phrase “A ''penny'' saved is a ''penny'' earned” and gravely offended when Greg closes a door that causes her photo to fall onto the urn, shattering it.

* MistakenForCheating: How Fay sees Greg entering her bedroom.

** Greg Glienna would later comment about not being able to get away with this level of black comedy in Hollywood films, while James Vincent would proudly state that they added this scene anyway despite it not being standard independent film material either.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The unseen "Country Doctor" film features spot-on voice impressions of Andy Griffith and Sandy Duncan.

* NostalgiaFilter: Regarding moral standards declining in entertainment, Irv and Kay reminisce about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in their youth after Greg rents ''The Country Doctor'', which isn't quite what he and the family would expect for a film starring Griffith.

** Irv and Kay discuss how much they enjoyed ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'' when it was on the air.

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

** Fay mentions that her ''Star Search'' audition song, "When Philip's There", was written by her voice teacher for a musical adaptation of ''Film/{{Jaws}}''.

** When Greg closes a door that causes a picture of Irv's mother, Penny, to fall onto an urn containing her ashes, a look of complete shock overcomes Irv's face before [[AndIMustScream he screams]]. Again, he remains coldly silent on the matter at dinner. Greg has ''really'' crossed the line now.

** When Greg closes a door that causes a picture of Irv's mother, Penny, to fall onto an urn containing her ashes, a look of complete shock overcomes Irv's face. Again, he remains coldly silent on the matter at dinner. Greg has ''really'' crossed the line now.

* 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 close enough to a lamp post that he knocks the driver's rear view mirror clean off.

* 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 her eye covered in bandages wrapped around her head.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Irv. The family church's priest leads in a Sunday sermon about parents showing forgiveness towards their children (and children-in-law), referencing Jesus' famous parable of the Prodigal Son. He seems to imply that true forgiveness should be unconditional, but Irv becomes increasingly unwilling to extend this courtesy to Greg.

* 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 and Pam rush Kay to the local emergency room. The Burns matriarch spends the rest of the film with her eye covered in bandages wrapped around her head.

* ItsBeenDone: At his first dinner with the Burns family, Greg discusses his work in advertising, and Irv asks him if he can pitch an idea for an invention. Unfortunately, Irv's description of the invention is literally a weed whacker, and he's disappointed to hear that such a gardening power tool already exists.

* Greg and Pam are deciding what video to rent for the whole family to enjoy when Greg dismisses a film starring Creator/MelGibson as "too violent".

* MamasBoy: Irv loves his late mother Penny so much that he still keeps an urn containing her ashes in a private room in his house. He often talks to the urn and sometimes puts on it a hat Penny likely wore in life. As a result, he is mildly upset by Greg using the phrase “A ''penny'' saved is a ''penny'' earned” and gravely offended when Greg closes a door that causes her photo to fall onto the urn, shattering it.

* 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. 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 star in a slasher/porno. It's pretty much the only R-rated content in this independent feature.

* 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 show up in a slasher/porno. It's pretty much the only R-rated content in this independent feature.

* ThemeNaming: Not every human character in the film is named, but those who are all have monosyllabic names: Greg, Pam, Irv, Kay, Fay, and Lee. All of these names except Greg's are each three letters long, furthering his status as an outsider to the Burns family's world.
** Bingo the dog is the OddNameOut with his two-syllable name.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: On the first night, Irv and Kay talk about their shared love of ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow''. In the next scene, when Greg and Pam go to the nearby video store, they happen to find a film entitled "The Country Doctor" starring the show's namesake actor (which not as family-friendly as the clerk enthusiastically claims…).

* NostalgiaFilter: Regarding moral standards declining in entertainment, Irv and Kay reminisce about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in their youth.

* NostalgiaFilter: After their first dinner, Greg flips through TV channels, with Irv and Kay expressing their belief about moral standards declining in entertainment as Greg lands on channel after channel showing sex scenes, homosexual romance, or commercials for medicine related to people's private parts. Later, they reminisce about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in their youth.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Irv. The family church's priest leads in a Sunday sermon about parents showing forgiveness towards their children (and children-in-law), referencing Jesus' famous parable of the Prodigal Son. He seems to imply that true forgiveness should be unconditional, but Irv becomes increasingly unwilling to extend this courtesy to Greg. Greg sheepishly looks at him during the sermon to call attention to this talking point, but he just glowers back.

* NostalgiaFilter: After their first dinner, Greg flips through TV channels, with Irv and Kay expressing their belief about moral standards declining in entertainment as Greg lands on channel after channel showing sex scenes, homosexual romance, or commercials for medicine related to people's private parts. They then reminisce about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in their youth.

* NostalgiaFilter: After their first dinner, Greg flips through TV channels, with Irv and Kay expressing their belief about moral standards declining in entertainment as Greg lands on channel after channel showing either sex or commercials for medicine related to people's private parts. They then reminisce about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in their youth.

* NostalgiaFilter: After their first dinner, Greg and the Burns family are flipping through TV channels, with Irv and Kay expressing their belief about moral standards declining in entertainment after hearing a sitcom character on the screen delivering a punchline with the word "penis". They then reminisce about how great the much tamer ''[[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Griffith Show]]'' was back in their youth.

In the 1992 film, 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. The film may be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwbKkAvL_wE here]] in its entirety on Greg Glienna's official YouTube channel.

In the 1992 film, 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.