User:Lchamp548/sandbox

Legacy
Sandra Bernhard, who plays Masha in the film, indicated in a 2013 interview that Jack Black was interested by a remake, however she dismissed the idea, saying it was "too late" to do it. Actor Steve Carell and director Bennett Miller, both black comedy fans, cited The King of Comedy as a personal favorite and inspiration to shape the sociopath character of John E. du Pont in Foxcatcher.

Parody
The confrontation scene at Jerry's house between Pupkin and Langford was parodied on Saturday Night Live soon after the film's release, when Lewis hosted the show. The sketch, featuring Tim Kazurinsky and Mary Gross, features Lewis visiting a studio in Paris, France and meeting a voice actor who performs the French-language dubs for Lewis' characters in all his movies. However, Jerry is dismayed when he learns that the actor reads it all in the "nine-year-old boy" style that was part of Lewis' comedy routines during his days with Dean Martin. The actor tries to kill himself out of shame when Lewis rebukes him, but Lewis stops it.

Debate about ending
Film scholar David Bordwell, writing in Film Viewer's Guide, mentioned the (un)reality of the ending as a topic for debate, as there is no definitive answer as to whether the ending is reality or fantasy. By the end of the film the line between fantasy and reality is blurred for the audience as well as the character. Scorsese doesn't offer a clear answer but forces the audience to make their own minds up from how they individually read the film.

In his commentary on The Criterion Collection DVD of Black Narcissus, Scorsese stated that Michael Powell's films influenced The King of Comedy in its conception of fantasy. Scorsese said that Powell always treated fantasy as no different than reality, and so made fantasy sequences as realistic as possible. Scorsese suggests that Rupert Pupkin's character fails to differentiate between his fantasies and reality in much the same way. Scorsese sought to achieve the same with the film so that, in his words, the "fantasy is more real than reality".

Critic's lists

 * Halliwells Top 1000 #180
 * 1001 Movies You Must See Before you Die
 * Jonathan Rosenbaum: 1000 Essential Films
 * The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
 * Empire's list of 500 greatest films (no. 87)''