10 Things to Know About 'The Joy of Sex' (1984) Directed by Martha Coolidge

The Joy of Sex was released on August 3rd, 1984. The film was directed by Martha Coolidge, the mind behind Valley Girl, and starred Melissa Meyrinck, Cameron Dye, Colleen Camp, and Christopher Lloyd in the story of a teenage girl (Meyrinck) who thinks she only has six weeks to live. With time running out, she decides to lose her virginity. That's when she meets Dye's equally desperate and horny teenager and the two try and fail to make love while actually beginning to fall in love for real.

Here are 10 Things to Know About The Joy of Sex

10 What Was The Joy of Sex?

In 1972 British author, Alex Comfort, wrote The Joy of Sex: A Gourmet Guide to Love Making. The book was a profile of sex and sexual practices with illustrations. It's laid out a little like cookbook, hence The Gourmet Guide.

The book was a smash hit, a bestseller that hit the top of The New York Times Bestseller List for 11 weeks. It led to sequels and spinoffs that eventually became the movie, The Joy of Sex which was a movie about the book, in name only.

9 The Greatest Comic Minds

Paramount alienated a number of the biggest names in comedy as they worked to bring The Joy of Sex to the big screen. First up was Dudley Moore who was brought on to create a sketch based script but Moore preferred a more traditional narrative. The studio rejected Moore’s take and he turned it into the movie 10, a smash hit for Moore and director Blake Edwards.

Then Paramount tried and failed to get the Monty Python crew to take on The Joy of Sex. Not much is known about how much interest the Python’s had in the project other than they never signed on for it. Finally, there was Charles Grodin who developed a script that sounds familiar today if you're a fan of Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation.

Grodin’s script was about a screenwriter struggling to write a script based on the non-fiction bestseller The Joy of Sex. Paramount shot this down as well and Grodin turned into the long forgotten 1985 movie Movers & Shakers.

8 Penny Marshall and John Belushi

The main reason John Belushi was linked to The Joy of Sex was his friendship with Penny Marshall. Thus, when Marshall was approached to direct, part of the reasoning on the part of Paramount was getting Belushi interested in starring in the movie.

Belushi was recruited and was seemingly on board just before tragedy struck. Of course, we all know that Belushi tragically passed away and whether he’d have ever starred in The Joy of Sex is unknown.

Marshall meanwhile, dodged Paramount Pictures shaped bullet and went on to a highly successful directorial career far from this cursed movie.

7 A John Hughes Film?

The Joy of Sex was almost a John Hughes film. With the death of her friend, John Belushi, Penny Marshall left the project. Paramount then doubled down on a partnership the folks at the National Lampoon. The success National Lampoon had with Animal House gave Paramount the confidence that this partnership would finally make the movie happen.

The editor of The National Lampoon at the time was a young writer named John Hughes who was given the task of creating the script for the film. Once again, Paramount interfered and Hughes walked away.

6 National Lampoon’s The Joy of Sex

While it has been painted by some as The National Lampoon dropping The Joy of Sex because they didn't think the movie was good, that wasn't the case according to The National Lampoon.

National Lampoon Executive Director Matty Simmons explained that the film wasn’t quite on brand for National Lampoon’s and that it hadn’t been a National Lampoon film since John Hughes and director Bill Norton, Lampoon’s chosen director for the film, had walked away.

It’s actually a rather generous statement from the Lampoon that didn’t knock the movie. According to Simmons, The Lampoon didn’t want to take credit for a film that the group hadn’t been fully involved in.

This didn’t stop Paramount from accusing The National Lampoon of demeaning the film in a March 1984 story on the delayed release of the film.

5 The Film Missed the First Release Date Following Poor Test Screenings

Paramount pressured director Martha Coolidge to add nudity to the film and that version of the film received test screenings in March of 1984. The test screenings went poorly and Coolidge trimmed the nude scenes out almost entirely. But Paramount still wasn’t happy and with that, Coolidge walked away, accepting a multi-picture deal at MGM.

4 Their Own Worst Enemy

Paramount was truly their own worst enemy on The Joy of Sex. They chased off Dudley Moore, could not bring in Monty Python, alienated Charles Grodin, and ruined their relationship with The National Lampoon with their interference in John Hughes development of the film.

3 Budget Cutting

In an attempt to maximize profit, Paramount had The Joy of Sex made under the umbrella of their television division. This led to cross company rivalries, backbiting, and recriminations as executives worked to assign blame for the film’s failure. In the end, the film cost $5 million dollars and made a meager $4.5 million at the box office.

2 Martha Coolidge Finally Got Something Close to the Movie She Wanted

In 2025 Cinematographe, a subsidiary of Vinegar Syndrome, finally gave Martha Coolidge the chance to make the version of The Joy of Sex she’d intended before Paramount cut her out of the film cut of the film back in 1984. It is the only home video release of The Joy of Sex since the film was first released on VHS in 1985.

1 Fully Restored from the Original Camera Negative

With Cinematographe backing her, Martha Coolidge oversaw a re-edit of The Joy of Sex from the original camera negative of the movie. This meant all of the takes that Coolidge had intended, the cuts she intended, the version of the movie she wanted to make is now in front of audiences for the very first time.