Almost two decades after the Vermont State Troopers became cult comedy icons in Super Troopers, the Broken Lizard guys are about to get back into the action. Super Troopers 2 will appropriately debut this weekend on April 20, which means the time has come to start looking back on some of the most famous jokes from the original. To help accomplish that goal, CinemaBlend recently sat down with Broken Lizard to talk about some of the gags that they knew they would have to call back to in their latest film. Among the favorites were the "liter of cola," "shenanigans," and The Cat Game. Broken Lizard explained:
Steve Lemme: Liter of cola and the chicanery shenanigans callback had to go.Jay Chandrasekhar: And meow.Erik Stolhanske: We had to do a meow.Paul Soter: It had to be something with meow.
That only scratches the surface of the number of classic jokes from the original Super Troopers, but it's definitely an excellent greatest hits compilation. The 2001 original has become legendary for the sheer number of quotable gags that it produced when it first debuted (particularly in the classic opening traffic stop), and those are some of the ones that get attention in the belated sequel.
Of course, The Cat Game (featuring a cameo by comedian Jim Gaffigan) is a particular fan-favorite element of the original Super Troopers. If you have never seen it (or need a refresher course), then check it out, below.
With all of that said, the intention of these callbacks was never to just retell the same joke from Super Troopers in Super Troopers 2 without making any changes to the material. The second film takes the titular cops to "bust heads on the highway" to a new locale by sending them to a contested part of the border between the United States and Canada, which means the jokes get to take on new lives by focusing on the culture clashes between the countries. The Broken Lizard guys continued in our chat and briefly touched on how they used the sequel to make meta-comments on some of the best Super Troopers jokes. As Kevin Heffernan explained:
Kevin Heffernan: I think with all of them it had to have a little spin on it. You couldn't do the exact same joke. I was glad we found ways to spin, like the meow joke.Paul Soter: The meow bit is kind of meta. The shenanigans equals chicaneries was a funny sort of parallel universe joke. So yeah, each one tried to have some other personality to it.
Want a closer look at CinemaBlend's interview with the Broken Lizard crew? Check out a clip from our chat, below!
Super Troopers 2 will hit theaters this weekend on April 20. Make sure to check it out when it debuts, and head over to CinemaBlend's movie premiere guide to mark your calendars down with all of this year's biggest film releases!
