National Lampoon Made Stupid Comedy Smart

The National Lampoon helped define humor as we know it today, and it all started out as an Ivy League publication. From cult classics to comedic controversies, the National Lampoon forever changed the world of funny.

Join host Erin McCarthy as she delves into the history of this comedic dynasty.

Image Credits:
Getty
End of the World Sign (Alan Powdrill)
National Lampoon Christmas Vacation (Allen Berezovsky)
Disney World (Anadolu Agency)
Bomb Squad (Andrew Burton)
Movie Theater (Archive Holdings Inc.)
Lampoon Alumni (Carlo Allegri)
Person Looking Through Yearbook (Catherine McQueen)
(Alt.) SNL Skit (Cheryl Chenet)
Mad Magazine 2 (Cheryl Chenet)
The Simpsons & their Voice Actors (Colin Davey)
Esperanto Poster (Culture Club)
Conan O'Brien 2 (Dana Edelson / Contributor)
P.J. O’Rourke (Desiree Navarro)
Audience Watching a Movie (Edwin Tan)
John Landis (Evening Standard)
Lonely Office Worker (Fiona Jackson-Downes)
SNL Creator and Cast (Frederick M. Brown)
Walt Disney (General Photographic Agency)
Chevy Chase (George Rose)
David Letterman (George Rose)
Reitman (George Rose / Contributor)
Conan O' Brien (Getty Images)
Dynamite in Box (Halfdark)
Moose (Hawk Buckman / 500px)
Belushi in Animal House (Herbert Dorfman)
Rutherford B. Hayes (Historical)
Student Reading (Horace Abrahams)
Howard Hughes (Hulton Archive)
Mad Magazine Cover (Hulton Archive)
Pat Nixon (Hulton Archive / Staff)
Family Outing (Image Source)
For Sale Sign (Image Source)
Chevy Chase 2 (J. Vespa)
Anne Beatts (Jamie McCarthy)
National Lampoon Van Wilder Premiere (Jean-Paul Aussenard)
Bugs Bunny (Joe Maher)
Bob Dylan (John Byrne Cooke Estate)
National Lampoon Movie Premiere (John M. Heller)
Hell's Angels (John Rogers)
Ferris Bueller (Jonathan Leibson / Contributor)
Al Jean (Justin Kahn)
Lorne Michaels (Kevin Winter)
Ted Kennedy (Keystone)
Animal House in Theaters (Keystone)
Lawsuit (krisanapong detraphiphat)
Veep (Lester Cohen / Contributor)
Movie Producer (lisegagne)
Michael O’Donoghue (Lynn Goldsmith)
Christopher Guest (Lynn Goldsmith)
John Belushi Joe Cocker impression (Lynn Goldsmith)
Gilda Radner & Bill Murray (Lynn Goldsmith)
Michael O'Donoghue 2 (Lynn Goldsmith)
Chevy Chase SNL (Lynn Goldsmith)
(Alt.) Madison Avenue, Manhattan (Maremagnum)
Christmas Vacation Scene Recreation (Mark Makela)
Dynamite (Mats Andren / EyeEm)
Gilda Radner (Michael Putland)
SNL Cast (Mitchell Gerber)
Belushi SNL (Owen Franken - Corbis / Contributor)
Alexis Wilkinson (Paul Marotta)
John Hughes (Paul Natkin)
Harold Ramis (Paul Natkin)
Bank Check (Peter Cade)
Harvard 20th Century (Print Collector)
Harold Ramis 2 (Rahav Segev)
Woodstock Crowd (Ralph Ackerman)
Chris Meloni (Rich Polk)
Weight Watchers Club (Richard Baker)
Lisa Henson (Rodin Eckenroth)
Stacks of DVDs (sakchai vongsasiripat)
Office Packages (SDI Productions)
Volkswagen Building (Sean Gallup)
Madison Avenue Street Sign (Sergio Amiti)
Hand Holding Blank Note (skaman306)
Anne Beatts 2 (Stefanie Keenan)
Bill Murray (Steve Granitz)
High School Building (stevegeer)
Magazines (Thanawat Thiasiriphet)
Guilty Laughter (Tim Robberts)
Bill Murray Golfing (Tony Duffy)
Peter Riegert (Walter McBride)
Fred Gwynne (Walter McBride)
Radio Setup (Wang Yukun)
Contract Signing (wera Rodsawang)
Person Laughing (Westend61)
Shutterstock
Bugs Bunny 2 (Blueee77)
Bad grades (iQoncept)
Box (Master1305)
Coworkers (nimito)
Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain
Harvard Lampoon Building (BotMultichillT)
Chagrin Falls (Fæ)
Harvard Memorial Hall (Fæ)
Charles Manson Mugshot (ILIL)
John Hughes 2 (JamesTheLaptop)
Harvard Lampoon Cartoon (Kathrynklos)
Punch Cover (RaboKarbakian)
Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster (Renamed user 995577823Xyn)
Village Gate Nightclub (Topfive)
Time Magazine (WFinch)
Richard Nixon (Wow)
CC 2.0
Car from National Lampoon's Vacation (Flickr upload bot)
Lord of the Rings (Link58)
Minnie Mouse Watch (Ser Amantio di Nicolao)
CC 3.0
Drawing of Frank Frazetta (Origafoundation)
CC 4.0
The Breakfast Club Cast (Dmitrieva Maria Sergeevna)
Michael Gross (Invertzoo)
National Lampoon Car 2 (Stevegriswold)
Sports Illustrated Cover (Terrisays)
Fair Use
Car in Lake (DatBot)
High School Yearbook Parody (GrahamHardy)
Tarzan of the Cows (John Glenn Taylor)
Scared Dog Cover (MatthewHoobin)
Calvin and Hobbes (Melesse)
Doug Kenney (Registered user 92)
National Lampoon 1st Ed (Registered User)

[michaelfried]

I'm glad, at the age of 53, I was a kid and then a teenager when Lampoon hit its highs! Fun times! Comedy hasn't been the same since the early 90's in my opinion...

[iasimov]

I have many issues of the Lampoon in my collection, including the dog cover.

[route]

I heard the name Lisa Henson, and had to look it up. Her dad was Jim Henson known for the Muppets. That was a great family for writing.

[MsOldmom]

I subscribed to the magazine in the 70's.

[waynemarvin]

Thanks, Erin, for this trip down Memory Lane. I was a big fan of the Lampoon in the seventies, racing to my local magazine store on the second Thursday of every month for a new copy. It definitely colored my perception of life.

[godnoble]

Back in '98 or '99, a speaker was engaged at my university. As I recall, he was a writer at the National Lampoon magazine and Animal House was based on his college frat. He showed us photos of the real people; Otter, for example, was so named because he sort of resembled the animal, unlike the traditionally handsome actor who played the role in the movie.

[ConradSpoke]

P.J. O'Rourke killed the Lampoon. He stomped on the corpse, peed on it, tied it to the roof of his car, then drove around for ten years while pieces rotted and fell off.

[lear]

You missed mentioning that along with writing Animal House Doug Kenney also played Dwayne "Stork" Storkman. He's the guy who lit off Bluto's inspirational speech with "What the hell are we supposed to do, ya moron?"

[Apophis]

Maybe I should return to the 19th century. That stupid bath joke actually made me chuckle.

[tylerwhorff]

I've only seen this Christmas Vacation movie. I didn't know most of this trivia, nice

[stapuft]

the box wasnt rigged to explode, and there was a note saying to "have fun with the dynamite"
100, 000, 000, 000% guarantee there was no ill will from the sender.

[jerryadams]

In the issue after the Dog with a gun to his head, there was a note at the beginning which went something like, " Well, we hope you're proud of yourself. You didn't buy last month's issue so we had to shoot the damned dog."

[alanrobinson]

National lampoon animal House with the late great John belushi was my first lampoon experience still the best ( in my opinion )

[richardmiddleton]

I was a teenage in the 70s and started out on NatLamp early due to my older brother reading it. It fit in perfectly with our very twisted sense of humor. But there's no fucking way you could print that stuff in today's oversensative environment. Those guys pulled no punches.

[randallhesse]

What! No mention of the movie "Groove Tube"

[milascave]

South Park creators, are the only folks who got away with parodying DISNEY>

[marcrugani]

I see what you did here, Mental Floss, with references to declining magazine sales... I miss your print edition, too.

[yournamehere]

John Hughes wrote National Lampoon's Class Reunion

[MsOldmom]

Hey! You should hug the dog whether we watch this or not

[jcburton]

"Double Secret Probation" translates to, banana peel. Such as, " the guy's on a banana peel"