History Main / NarrowParody

* Likewise, Creator/{{Aristophanes}}' comedies are filled with extremely topical references, which you need to know a lot about Ancient Athenian politics and theatre to get. Luckily, some of his satire is still relevant today (such as his mocking depictions of demagogues, warmongers, and paranoia over the state security of Athens), and there are also plenty of jokes about [[ToiletHumour farts]] and [[GagPenis penises]], which never go out of style.

* Likewise, Creator/{{Aristophanes}}' comedies are filled with extremely topical references, which you need to know a lot about Ancient Athenian politics and theatre to get. Luckily, some of his satire is still relevant today, and there are also plenty of jokes about [[ToiletHumour farts]] and [[GagPenis penises]], which never go out of style.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' often falls into this as part of its attempt to add {{Parental Bonus}}es. It's often borderline impossible to do a true parody of the subject matter, so they simply copy the title, the appearance of the characters, and the general setting. [[Series/TrueBlood True Mud]], for example, was about a man's attempt to get a waitress to serve him Mud (as opposed to spud, cud, and a dud).

[[caption-width-right:300:Imitation is the cheapest form of comedy.[[note]]Top: ''Film/TheHungerGames''. Bottom: ''Film/TheStarvingGames''[[/note]]]]

** ''Film/EpicMovie'', including parodies of such "epics" as ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' and ''Film/NachoLibre''.

* ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' is an inversion: the film is a very close parody of the at-the-time 48-year-old ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' (with some elements of ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' and a touch of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'', which are even older), almost completely ignoring the much more recent [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation Disney renaissance]] films. This is fitting, since ''Enchanted'' is targeted more towards adults who grew up with ''Sleeping Beauty'' than with the more nuanced or deconstructive Renaissance films. The script was first written ''during'' the Renaissance but didn't get made until 2007.

-->-- '''[[http://www.agonybooth.com/agonizer/Disaster_Movie_2008.aspx Albert Walker]]''' on ''[[Film/DisasterMovie2008]]''

-->-- '''[[http://www.agonybooth.com/agonizer/Disaster_Movie_2008.aspx Albert Walker]]''' on ''[[Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg Disaster Movie]]''

** ''Disaster Movie'' suffered from this as well. It has [[ShallowParody half-assed]] parodies of ''Film/{{Juno}}'', ''Series/HannahMontana'', ''Film/IronMan1'', ''Series/SexAndTheCity'', ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', ''Film/{{Hancock}}'', ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'', ''Film/{{Superbad}}'', ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'', ''Film/TheLoveGuru'', ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'', ''Film/{{Wanted}}'', ''WesternAnimation/Beowulf2007'', ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'', ''Film/{{Jumper}}'', and ''Film/TenThousandBC''. All of which are definitely not disaster films. Some even came out ''after Disaster Movie'' was in theaters, which takes ShallowParody to a truly ridiculous extreme: There's skimping on the research, and then there's not even bothering to watch the movie you're supposed to be parodying!

* ''Film/ScaryMovie'': The later films in the series ended up like this. Originally, they worked, as most HorrorTropes were [[TropeCodifier codified]] in TheEighties or earlier, so anyone with even a passing familiarity with the horror genre will get the jokes. However, later gags became a lot more obvious and telegraphed while the pool of references narrowed from broader subgenres of horror ({{slasher|Movie}}s in the first, HauntedHouse[=/=][[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]] movies in the second) to specific, recent movies (some of which weren't even horror). The first big complaint from fans was the inclusion in the third film of an extended parody of ''Film/EightMile'', which had nothing to do with horror movies. The fourth film was probably the worst for this, as the primary plot is a spoof of ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds'', which isn't really a horror film so much as an action film, and there's also an extended (and plot-critical) parody of ''Film/MillionDollarBaby'', something else which is in no way a horror film[[note]]Although the ''Million Dollar Baby'' skit was crossed over with horror series ''Film/FinalDestination'', when the boxer's infamous predicament was foreseen[[/note]].

* ''LightNovel/StudentCouncilsDiscretion'' is very guilty of this, with nearly all of their parodies being of shows from the last 2-3 years (the closer the better), including series from the same season. The times they reference something older are few and mostly refer to super-popular series like ''Manga/DragonBall'' and one AppealToObscurity to make a "nobody will get this" joke.

* While older episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' averted this, being parodies of older horror films and stories (particularly ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959''), later installments tended to play it straight, often to the point of breaking the intended "horror" theme. ''XXVII'', for instance, featured parodies of ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', and ''Film/TheHungerGames'': about the only thing those three have in common is that they all had an installment [[AnimationLeadTime the year before the episode released]].

[[caption-width-right:300:Imitation is the cheapest form of comedy.[[note]]Top:''Film/TheHungerGames'', Bottom: ''Film/TheStarvingGames''[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Imitation is the cheapest form of comedy.]]