pornochromatic

I think 2009 will be remembered as the year of TV porn parodies. They’re everywhere these days and I think they’re at least partially an effort to stop the hemorrhaging DVD business from finally kicking the bucket. But how did this madness start?

I’m glad you asked. Hustler can be credited with starting the trend in 2007 with Not The Bradys XXX. The director, Will Ryder, had previously done several movies of dubious quality (I only managed to sit through one of them) in which a butterface Britney Spears lookalike* played the character Britney Rears.

Hustler saw a goldmine in these spoofs (Not The Bradys became a bestseller) and parodied Get Smart and The Munsters (of all things) in 2008. In 2009, they kicked the parody machine into overdrive with spoofs of The Partridge Family, Three’s Company, Gilligan’s Island, Happy Days, Star Trek, The Cosby Show, I Love Lucy, Married with Children and in a slightly more modern, but completely bizarre choice, Hell’s Kitchen.

Maybe they thought that the demographic of porn parody buyers was over 45 or that the folks who produce shows now on Nick at Nite would be less likely to sue, but Hustler has mainly focused on older shows for their lampoons.

New Sensations smelled money (every single one of Hustler’s spoofs was a best-seller) and jumped into the satire genre with takeoffs on far more modern shows like The Office, Scrubs, Seinfeld, Friends and 30 Rock. They’ve also got an X-Files parody in the works, which has earned them a cease and desist letter from 20th Century Fox.

Of course, other studios have gotten in on the act and this list is by no means complete. Parodies of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Rock of Love, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and Big Love have all been released recently by studios mainly known for gonzo films.

Porn parodies are nothing new, but I think they’re an interesting reaction to the collapse of the DVD business. At a time when most people are eschewing DVDs for more convenient internet porn, these things actually sell (even though most of them are barely watchable) and I don’t think we’ll see the end of them until they’ve been completely wrung dry.

My predictions for TV shows we’ll see porn versions of in the next six months:

• True Blood
• 24
• Lost
• Survivor
• CSI
• Weeds

What do you think?

* Her name was Jessica Sweet. In the third and fourth installments of the series, Britney was played by Hillary Scott.