Meet the Parents (1992 film)

Meet the Parents is a 1992 American independent comedy film written by Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke. Glienna also directed the film; wrote the original songs "Keep Smiling" (performed by Walter Tabayoyong) and "When Philip's There" (performed by Clarke); and stars as protagonist Greg: a young man meeting his fiancée's parents for the first time who sets off a series of accidents and causes the family to fall apart. Emo Philips served as an associate producer, wrote the film title's theme song (performed by Mary Louise Herrold), and cameos as a video store employee.

Filmed on an approximately $30,000-$35,000 budget and shot in and around Chicago in 1991, Meet the Parents was not widely distributed and did not earn a large box-office profit in its limited release. It did, however, garner some critical acclaim and film industry attention towards remaking the film on a bigger budget.

Several years after its release, Universal Pictures purchased the rights to the independent film and hired screenwriter Jim Herzfeld to expand the script. A new version of Meet the Parents was filmed and released in October 2000. The 2000 version inspired two movie sequels and two television series.