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Film & Television vocabulary · Genres and Storytelling

Screwball comedy

Meaning in film & television, with examples

nounCommon term

In film & television, screwball comedy means: A comedy style built around fast dialogue, unlikely situations and romantic conflict, often involving class differences.

In Turkish: çılgın romantik komedi

How it is used

Used especially in discussion of classic romantic comedies with combative partners.

Example sentences

  1. The screwball comedy pairs a wealthy heiress with a stubborn newspaper reporter.

    The pair's social contrast supports romantic and comic conflict.

  2. Fast overlapping dialogue gives the remake the feel of a screwball comedy.

    The speech rhythm recalls a recognizable comic tradition.

Common collocations

  • classic screwball comedy
  • screwball comedy dialogue
  • genreA category of films or TV shows that share a style, subject or set of conventions, such as comedy, horror, western or science fiction.
  • plotThe series of connected events that make up the story of a film or series, and the order in which they are shown.

More terms: Genres and Storytelling

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