Orgazmo (1997)

The mid-1990s was a transitional time for comedy. Television’s biggest comedy institution, Saturday Night Live, went through a major cast overhaul. Adam Sandler and Chris Farley were pushed into films in a bigger way when that overhaul happened. Farley would soon die. The Simpsons was going strong with a writing team that included some of the former Saturday Night Live writers. Ben Stiller was finding his place through his short stint on SNL, The Ben Stiller Show, and a movie career that was starting to take off. Bob Odenkirk went from writing on SNL to The Ben Stiller Show to Mr. Show, which would then produce a bunch of popular comedians.

Getting away from the Saturday Night Live connections, though, there was a lot more going on. The late night talk show landscape was changed when Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show in 1992. Jay Leno took over, David Letterman moved from Late Night to The Late Show, Conan O’Brien took over on Late Night, and Tom Snyder would soon be hosting The Late Late Show. There was also the short lived The Chevy Chase Show in 1993.

A bunch of other shows that would become comedy staples transitioned through the 1990s. Seinfeld found popularity in the early 1990s and ended in 1998. Friends began in 1994. MadTV popped up in 1995. The TGIF brand of teen comedies from ABC was strong with Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Family Matters among other shows. Then there was animation with Family Guy and South Park starting up, and the aforementioned The Simpsons going strong.

South Park started up in 1997. It was the brainchild of two Colorado friends named Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The pilot was a stop-motion animated episode using paper cutouts. Every episode since has been computer animated to mimic the stop-motion style of the pilot. Many people took a liking to the edgy comedy, since it’s not something that tends to come through in most animated projects. The Simpsons wasn’t doing it. Family Guy wouldn’t do it. And none of the children’s animation was going to go anywhere near it. South Park was different, and people liked it.

That wasn’t the only thing that Trey Parker and Matt Stone would work on, though. It’s not even the topic of this post. They released another project that same year. It was a feature film involving the porn industry and a Mormon man. There was even a little bit of a superhero story thrown in there, a few years before superheroes would become a legitimate box office juggernaut. That movie was Orgazmo.

Joe Young (Trey Parker) was a missionary for the Mormon church, going door-to-door in Los Angeles, preaching God’s word. He found himself in the porn industry to make money so that he could marry his fiancée, Lisa (Robyn Lynn Raab). Director Maxxx Orbison (Michael Dean Jacobs) became more controlling as time went on, forcing Joe into endless sequels to the hit porn film Orgazmo. Eventually, Lisa would be in trouble. Joe teamed up with his friend Ben Chapleski (Dian Bachar) to take down Maxxx Orbison and his porn industry cronies.

There were a few elements that helped bring Orgazmo together. The first and foremost element was the porn industry influence. Lesser elements included the Mormon church and the superhero stuff, as well as some good old-fashioned extortion. They came together to create an amusing enough comedy.

The porn storyline drove Orgazmo through the plot. Joe Young was brought into the industry to play the lead in a pornographic film called Orgazmo. That porn film found such success that he was forced into a franchise by the director. Real porn performers were used to fill out the cast of Orgazmo. Ron Jeremy, Chasey Lain, and Juli Ashton were a few adult performers who leapt into roles in Trey Parker’s comedy. It was a comedic take on the porn industry that used talent from that industry to stay a little truer to what it was like. And it did so with the only nudity being asses. No boobs, no vaginas, no dicks… Just asses. That’s it.

The Mormon church was what drove Joe Young to become a part of the porn industry. He was going door-to-door to preach the word of the lord when he ended up knocking on the door of the mansion where Orgazmo was being shot. After fending off the guards using the martial arts skills that he had for some reason, Maxxx Orbison offered him twenty thousand dollars to replace the lead actor. Joe agreed to it on the condition that he didn’t have to have sex with anyone. He needed the money to marry his fiancée in the temple in Utah. When everything was said and done, Joe saw a vision of Jesus and they gave each other thumbs up. That’s what Jesus does. A note should also be made that the name Joseph Young is an amalgamation of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and Brigham Young, the second president of the Mormons and the founder of Salt Lake City.

Then there was the superhero action portion of Orgazmo. The porn film they were making was a superhero parody. The main character was Orgazmo, a superhero who had a machine on his arm that shot orgasm rays. By shooting people, they would stop whatever they were doing and orgasm. Then everyone would have sex because it was a porn flick. That’s what happens in them.

That’s not where the superhero aspects of Orgazmo stopped, though. As the movie went on, Joe Young turned into his own superhero. Okay, maybe not his own. The superhero was still Orgazmo. But he became a real life Orgazmo instead of a porn parody Orgazmo. In the porn, Orgazmo had a sidekick named Choda Boy, who was played by Joe’s best friend in the business, Ben. Ben was an MIT graduate who went into the porn business to have sex with good looking women. He invented things on the side, including a real life orgasm ray. When Maxxx Orbison started threatening the things in Joe’s life, Joe strapped on the orgasm ray and stormed Maxxx’s porn mansion. Joe Young became Orgazmo by using the real orgasm ray and his martial arts skills to take down Maxxx and his cronies.

All three of these elements came together to create a raunchy comedy that wasn’t too over the top for its own good. There were a few jokes that might not fly with movie audiences today, but for the most part it held up. Trey Parker and Matt Stone made something special that would put them on the map alongside their work on South Park. A year later, they would release Baseketball. Soon after that, there would be the South Park movie. And down the line they would make Team America and The Book of Mormon. Plus, more South Park. That show has kept going for twenty-three seasons now and shows no signs of stopping. Their career didn’t begin with Orgazmo, but it certainly showcased their brand of comedy.

The comedy landscape would be completely different without the 1990s. There wouldn’t be Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Many of the SNL people to come out of the decade wouldn’t be around on the same level as they are. There goes Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Spade, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Bob Odenkirk, and many more. MadTV might not be a thing. Michael MacDonald, Bobby Lee, and the many others wouldn’t be as popular as they are. No Austin Powers. No Wayne’s World. No Friends. No Family Guy. No South Park. Not to mention that That 70’s Show and Freaks and Geeks started at the end of the decade. Those casts just poof out of existence without the 1990s.

We’re still feeling the impact of the 1990s on the comedy world to this day. Much like any point in time, it changed the landscape for future generations. The 1990s led the way for the comedy of the 2000s which led to the comedy of the 2010s. The Seth Rogen starring movies needed Freaks and Geeks to come before. How I Met Your Mother needed Friends to set a template. And the adult animated comedies needed shows like The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy to come first. Trey Parker and Matt Stone were a part of that. Their work led others to make beloved work. They inspired those who came later. People might think Orgazmo is bad, but it helped lead to other, better things.

Here are a few notes to finish off the post:

• Lloyd Kaufman had a brief appearance in Orgazmo. He was also in Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned (week 45), Big Ass Spider! (week 61), Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (week 84), The Toxic Avenger Part II (week 110), and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (week 110). He has directed Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (week 84), The Toxic Avenger (week 110), The Toxic Avenger Part II (week 110), The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (week 110), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (week 110), and Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (week 259).
• Ron Jeremy was a pornstar playing a pornstar in Orgazmo. He’s been in the Sunday “Bad” Movies before in Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (week 84), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (week 110), and 54 (week 266).
• Finally, Louise Rapport made her second appearance this week after previously appearing in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (week 20).
• Have you seen Orgazmo? What did you think? What do you think about Trey Parker and Matt Stone in general? Are you Mormon? Are you a pornstar? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
• You can also use Twitter or the comments section to tell me what movies I should be checking out for future Sunday “Bad” Movies weeks. I’m always open to suggestions.
• Speaking of suggestions, Orgazmo was suggested by @ImPABLO_i_WRITE. He previously suggested Cabin Boy (week 173), Thumbelina (week 286), The Wash (week 303), and the final two Return of the Living Dead sequels (week 330).
• Sunday “Bad” Movies has an Instagram account. It's going to start picking up again now that I'm back from my vacation/film festival appearance in Los Angeles.
• The next movie that I’ll be watching is the return of Uwe Boll to the Sunday “Bad” Movies. His movies have been featured a few times because… Well… He’s Uwe Boll. This is another one of his video game movies. I’ll be checking out Far Cry. It should be a fun enough post. I’ll see you when I get that one up.