“Take him to Detroit.”
synopsis
A rapid-fire anthology of outrageous sketches, fake commercials, news parodies, kung-fu spoofs, and television send-ups, the film operates like a deranged late-night channel surf. With no central storyline, it hops between segments that mock media sensationalism, exploitation cinema, suburban hypocrisy, and cultural trends of the 1970s. Its most famous extended sequence, a parody of martial arts epics, pushes absurdity into gleeful chaos.
pairs well with ...
mini-review
This is sketch comedy at its most anarchic and least filtered. Some bits land beautifully; others feel like throwaway dares. What gives it staying power is its fearless willingness to offend, confuse, and surprise in equal measure. It doesn’t aim for emotional resonance — it aims for shock, irreverence, and escalation. Uneven? Absolutely. Influential? Undeniably. You can see the DNA of later spoof films all over it.
Channel surfing at 1 a.m. when standards and practices are asleep.
Absurdist's Corner
A television station calmly airing increasingly illegal and morally questionable content as if it were prime-time family programming.
fun facts
Written by the team that would later create Airplane!, the film was made on a shoestring budget and initially struggled to secure distribution because of its content. The martial arts parody “A Fistful of Yen” became a cult favorite.