How the romantic comedy has evolved

CNN — A recent episode of the Apple TV+ sitcom “Ted Lasso” features a moment that brings the characters together: a love of rom-coms. The romantic comedy is a movie grappling with couple formation, said Maria San Filippo, an associate professor at Emerson College and editor of the collection “After ‘Happily Ever After’: Romantic Comedy in the Post-Romantic Age.” Tonally, these movies tend to be a bit more carefree and optimistic than other movies that might deal with similar topics. After that, “neo-traditional” romantic comedies took hold, led by the hilarious bickering of Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally”. And, if the movie is actually good – critically acclaimed or widely lauded – it’s less likely to even be called a romantic comedy in the first place, San Filippo said, pointing to films such as 2013’s “Her.” Still, many movies can actually be interpreted as romantic comedies in disguise: Movies like “Wonder Woman 1984,” the “Harry Potter” franchise and even “Tenet” all have elements of romance and comedy in them and incorporate some aspect of couple formation into their storylines. From Bleecker Street This isn’t to say that films are not pushing the genre at all: 2021’s “Together Together,” starring Patti Harrison and Ed Helms as a surrogate and single father navigating the boundaries surrounding their relationship, hits many of the same notes of a romantic comedy – without the traditional romance aspect.