History Film / MeetTheParents1992

* 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.