COMEDY: JERKS REPLACE JOKES

Hollywood comedy in the ‘80s has the bedraggled air of a lost cause--you almost feel like putting it on an endangered species list. And oddly enough, success is what made it a mess.

“Animal House” was such a pivotal film, marking the arrival of the National Lampoon-”Saturday Night Live” generation, that it’s been mimicked to death. Nearly all of the hit comedies since have been increasingly demented variations on the same theme--the institution under attack. (“Police Academy,” “Porky’s,” “Stripes,” “Bachelor Party,” “Caddyshack” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”)

Even Goldie Hawn, a remarkably gifted comedienne, has fallen for the same formula. She hasn’t repeated so much as franchised herself. Most of the recent comedy triumphs have either been the work of audacious auteurs like Woody Allen and Albert Brooks or they’ve relied more on bravura individual performances than on strong scripts: Steve Martin in “All of Me,” Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie” and Eddie Murphy in “Beverly Hills Cop.”

You have to wonder where the good scripts have gone--the ‘80s’ most incandescent comic resource, Robin Williams, has been left stranded in almost all his recent films; Tom Hanks, a likable, if lesser, comic light has been forced to slide by on charm alone. Cruelly sedated, American comedy has lost its edge. Even a grand notion like “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” turned out to be toothless satire. (The best parody in recent years was a low-budget throwaway, “This Is Spinal Tap.”) With the possible exception of “Ruthless People,” “About Last Night” and parts of Andrew Bergman’s “Big Trouble,” this summer’s comedies to date are as safe as milk. They’ve gotten so lightheaded and fluffy that you’d bet someone has to glue the scripts to the desk to keep them from floating away.

Notable films: Broadway Danny Rose (Woody Allen), Lost in America (Albert Brooks), All of Me (Carl Reiner), This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner), My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin), A Christmas Story (Bob Clark).