For nearly forty years, ape suits were a staple of the comedy genre. The comedy films of the 1930s and 1940s and the television sitcoms of the 1950s and 60s made roving gorillas a comedy cliché.

With the dawn of All in the Family, comedy became more sophisticated and realistic and ape suits were phased out. Ape suit practitioners no longer made big salaries and casting directors stopped calling. A lot of ape suit performers sustained themselves by working on children’s television programs or making personal appearances. The weird subgenre of comedy which endured for forty years was dead.