The Skeptic Tank

Some people have discussed in what order the Star Wars movies should be viewed.
Many 35-year-olds, who were entranced with the series as children, now have kids themselves, and have the opportunity to share it.
Some vote for the order in which the movies were released, and others argue for the order in which the events take place.
I would like to have the experience of seeing them all fresh, in the latter order, although #4 would look so strange in juxtaposition with 'Revenge of the Sith'.

And others have discussed how the Narnia series should be read (or viewed, assuming they make more).

But no one, to my knowledge, has discussed what order the Pink Panther movies should be watched.

When I was a kid, we used to watch Pink Panther movies on TV whenever they were on.
The titles were so similar, though, that I could never remember which was which.
And I recalled one of the movies (Trail of the Pink Panther) was just so odd and confusing that I couldn't understand it.
But the cartoons at the beginning of the movies were funny, and the theme music was so catchy that the series was always destined to become classic.

I wonder why movies now are unable to have catchy themes, the way the James Bond series or Star Wars had.
The last movie I can think of with an original, catchy theme was 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.

Austin Powers had a catchy theme, but it was regurgitated from Woody Allen's 'Take the Money and Run'.
The Austin Powers movies are basically composites of Peter Sellers and Woody Allen movies from the 60s and 70s.

Anyway, here is the rundown of which Pink Panthers to watch, and in what order:

The Pink Panther (1963)
David Niven, a very young Robert Wagner, and others in a 60's-era farce, in which the character of Jacques Clouseau is almost secondary.
Worth watching just for the snapshot of early 1960s culture, but not particularly funny.

A Shot in the Dark (1964)
The spin-off that featured Inspector Clouseau as the bumbling lead.
This is the first real Clouseau picture, the one that introduces Cato as the servant and Dreyfus as the boss who hates Clouseau.

Sellers and Edwards didn't get along, so the next movie was
'Inspector Clouseau' (1968)
with Alan Arkin in the lead. Arkin is a funny actor, but the movie is bad and it's just too disconcerting to have a different actor play Clouseau.

The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
The first Peter Sellers Pink Panther movie in over 10 years, and the first 'classic' panther movie, with more slapstick humor.

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
The best movie in the series, with the most outrageous plot - clearly an inspiration for the Austin Powers movies.
The 'Pink Panther' diamond doesn't even appear in this movie or the next, but the Clouseau character is so closely associated with the cartoon and the Mancini theme that they are inseparable.
This one feels like it wraps up the series, with Dreyfus finally finished, and should be watched last.

Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
The 'American' one, in which Dreyfus miraculously reappears.
This was the last good one, but already feels like it recycles a lot from the earlier ones.
Some running gags, like Cato attacking Clouseau stay funny, but ones about his pronunciation of 'monkey' or 'room' or 'bump' get old fast.
Blake Edwards had some funny movies, such as '10' with Dudley Moore, and Victor/Victoria, although if you see multiple Edwards movies close together you see how he recycles a lot of the gags.
Also, his portrayal of Asians always turns me off a bit.

'Trail of the Pink Panther' (1982)
Do not watch this.
It's made of outtakes from the other movies, combined with scenes in which Clouseau is played by an impersonator, with embarassingly bad voice-overs.
Peter Sellers died in 1980, and Blake Edwards had many hours of ununsed footage that he thought could be recycled.
I almost admire the effort of making a complete movie just from outtakes, but the continuity is nearly non-existant.
There are maybe 15 minutes worth of funny scenes not seen before, but the final result is just a confusing mess.
I always thought Peter Sellers looke dlike John Lennon, and it was a coincidence that they died only 6 months apart.

There were other movies as well, with different actors in the lead, and none are worth watching.
Steve Martin used to be funny, but now everything he does is crud made for shopping mall sloths.

So, of a dozen Pink Panther movies, only five are good enough to actually watch.

1 The Pink Panther (1963)
2 A Shot in the Dark (1964)
3 The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
4 Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
5 The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)

Other good Peter Sellers movies

The Ladykillers (1955)
The Mouse That Roared (1959)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Murder by Death (1976)
Being There (1979)