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 makes a cameo 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.