Editing Screwball comedy (section)

==Name==
Screwball comedy gets its name from the [[screwball]], a type of [[breaking ball|breaking]] [[pitch (baseball)|pitch]] in [[baseball]] and [[fastpitch softball]] that moves in the opposite direction from all other breaking pitches. These features of the screwball pitch also describe the dynamics between the lead characters in screwball comedy films. According to Gehring (2008):<ref>{{cite book |title=Romantic vs. Screwball Comedy: Charting the Difference |last=Gehring |first=Wes D. |publisher=Scarecrow Press Inc. |year=2008 |location=Lanham |page=9}}</ref>

<blockquote>Still, ''screwball'' comedy probably drew its name from the term's entertainingly unorthodox use in the national pastime. Before the term's application in 1930s film criticism, "screwball" had been used in baseball to describe both an oddball player and "any pitched ball that moves in an unusual or unexpected way." Obviously, these characteristics also describe performers in screwball comedy films, from oddball [[Carole Lombard]] to the unusual or unexpected movement of [[Katharine Hepburn]] in ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938). As with the crazy period antics in baseball, screwball comedy uses nutty behavior as a prism through which to view a topsy-turvy period in American history.</blockquote>