In sociology, there is the concept of “the tipping point” — the notion that trends seem to emerge from nowhere and then become ubiquitous in a flash. Think of 1848, the so-called “springtime of nations,” when industrialization and liberal political theories led to a domino collapse of monarchies across Europe and the creation of several new nation states.

Almost as important was the wave of steamroller gags is Hollywood movies in the year 1988.

With the forthcoming release of a new Naked Gun picture starring Liam Neeson, the time has come to reflect on this very important phenomenon.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

The first steamroller moment came in June, with the release of Robert Zemeckis’ groundbreaking live action-animation hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit. If you recall, during the big showdown at the end between Eddie (Bob Hoskins) and Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd), Doom gets trapped under the piece of machinery, and like Quint in Jaws, is powerless as it chomps him up feet first.

He caterwauls and scrambles to no avail, but he actually doesn’t die. Indeed, the steamroller gag reveals one of the movie’s big twists! Judge Doom is actually a self-hating “toon,” thus explaining all the movie’s shenanigans. (He is evaporated moments later by “the dip,” a cruel fate for any drawn being.)

A Fish Called Wanda

The John Cleese-penned crime comedy A Fish Called Wanda hit theaters just a few weeks after the blockbuster Roger Rabbit, and was 1988’s surprise runaway success. Why? Some say it was because it represented a quasi Monty Python reunion (it costarred Michael Palin) and some felt it finally gave Jamie Lee Curtis a juicy, provocative role worthy of her talents. But we all know the score: STEAMROLLER GAG.

At the big finish, when the bad guy ugly American Kevin Kline faces down Cleese at an airport, he is smooshed by Palin’s stuttering ichthyophile. As in Roger Rabbit, though, he doesn’t die — this time thanks to wet cement, not being a sentient piece of animation. It is implied, however, that he bites it shortly thereafter when he falls from a plane, but the movie ends before we get confirmation.

The Naked Gun

The Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker production The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad was not released until December, because they all knew they had a prestige picture with Oscar locks on their hands. And they had every right to feel confident, what with the steamroller.

At the end of the movie, after Reggie Jackson tries to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin zaps the main baddie, played by Ricardo Montalbán, with a stun dart. He doesn’t intend to kill him, of course, he just wants to bring him in. But… the villain ends up falling from a top deck of Dodger Stadium. Whoopsie. Then he’s run over by a bus, and a steamroller, and a marching band playing “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen. Some things are meant to be.

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Anyhow, that’s what went down in 1988. The new Naked Gun comes out this August, and in addition to Neeson, it costars Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser. We can only hope it restarts the steamroller trend.