I love a good comedy. Sometimes a few great comedies come out in a single year, like 1994, 1974, 1963, and so on. But rarely do we see a three-year stretch full of seemingly nonstop comedy gems.

So I would like to present the best three back-to-back years for American comedy films – the ones where so many creative ideas collided to create comedy films beyond compare. Those years are 1984, 1985, and 1986.

1984

This was the year when Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Guttenberg, Steve Martin, and many other comedy legends were really getting into their stride. Just take a look at the comedies that came out this year:

All of Me

Beverly Hills Cop

Ghostbusters

Gremlins

The Muppets Take Manhattan

Police Academy

Revenge of the Nerds

Romancing the Stone

Sixteen Candles

Splash

This Is Spinal Tap

Top Secret!

Of course, 1984 also offered such comedy duds as Rhinestone, Cannonball Run II, and Best Defense, but Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Beverly Hills Cop, and all the rest more than make up for those weaker entries.

1985

It seemed like 1984 would be impossible to top, but then along came 1985. Filmmakers Robert Zemeckis, John Hughes, Tim Burton, Chris Columbus, John Landis, and Walter Hill showed off their tremendous talent for humor, bringing us such classics as:

Back to the Future

Better Off Dead

The Breakfast Club

Brewster’s Millions

Clue

Fletch

The Goonies

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure

Real Genius

Spies Like Us

Teen Wolf

Weird Science

I would also classify Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando in the category of comedy because it’s just so hilarious. Don’t believe me? Just watch the Nostalgia Critic’s take on it.

1986

The last year ends this trifecta on a high note. Amazing comedies came from such unexpected sources as Australia, the Star Trek series, and Francis Ford Coppola:

Back to School

Big Trouble in Little China

“Crocodile” Dundee

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

The Golden Child

Gung Ho

Hannah and Her Sisters

Little Shop of Horrors

The Money Pit

Peggy Sue Got Married

Ruthless People

Short Circuit

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Three Amigos!

Of course, I’m not saying that there haven’t been other stretches of years with good comedy films. I’m just saying that these three years in the mid-1980s were the pinnacle. So many talented actors, writers, and directors came together at that point in time to create a concentrated burst of brilliantly funny movies.

With the direction comedies have been going in recent years, I don’t think we’re likely to ever see something like this happen again. But we can hope.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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