While most of Hollywood ignored the success of the Kentucky Fried Movie (KFM), Sean Daniel, an executive at Warner Bros., did not. He would meet with three of the film's writers Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker (ZAZ trio for short). The meeting would go very well and Daniel would greenlight their next film. [Elevator pitch: G.I. Blues meets Patton] The film would a be minor hit.
Daniel would not be only one noting KFM's success. Inspired by Kenney's involvement with KFM (and later Caddyshack), Matty Simmons decided to expand the National Lampoon brand into the film. The writers, P. J. O'Rourke and John Hughes, would pull inspiration from National Lampoon's High School Yearbook Parody, Sunday Newspaper Parody, and other "Dacron, Ohio" magazine articles. To help get the film made quickly, the cast would be drawn from members of National Lampoon's radio and stage shows. The film's success would lead to a series of films under the National Lampoon banner.
Upon the announcement of the National Lampoon movie, Sean Daniel convinced his superiors to counter with a Mad Magazine movie. Daniel would set up a meeting between himself, the ZAZ trio, and Mad publisher Bill Gaines. The meeting would go well. [Elevator pitch: The Naked Gun series meets Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment] Unfortunately, during production Daniel would be promoted. His replacement would have a running conflict with Gaines and the ZAZ trio. Despite the film being a big hit upon release, an irritated Gaines would terminate his relationship with Warner Bros. and disallow any sequels to be made. In addition, ZAZ trio would also end their involvement with Warner Bros. They would take their next film project another studio.
The ZAZ trio would make a deal with 20th Century Fox. The project would be a sci-fi disaster parody. [Elevator pitch: Airplane II: The Sequel meets 2001: A Space Odyssey] The film was a hit. The ZAZ trio would make two more films for 20th Century Fox before going their separate ways.
Related infoboxes and templates:
James Bond in Film
Jaws (1975)
Flash Gordon (1976) and Buck Rogers (1976)
The Legend of King Kong (1977)
Superman (1977) and Damnation Alley (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1971), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1977), and Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Doc Savage: The Ring of Fire (1978)
George Lazenby as James Bond: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) & Diamonds Are Forever (1970)
Roger Moore as James Bond: Live and Let Die (1972), For Your Eyes Only (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1975), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), From a View to a Kill (1979)
The Wiz (1976), A Star is Born (1976), The Kentucky Fried Movie (1976), and Caddyshack (1978)