tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post9207313764838337221..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: The one I'd take backBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-63524596403695822222018-08-16T13:42:27.052-07:002018-08-16T13:42:27.052-07:00My Grandparents, born ca. 1900, came from Poland a...My Grandparents, born ca. 1900, came from Poland and Finland. <br /><br />My first knowledge of "Polack Jokes" came in the mail on a mimeographed page from my Polish-American aunt around 1968 (then she was just "Polish" and folks knew the "American" part). <br /><br />Even at age 8-9, it was plain that they were so dumb, so unlikely, that they could not be taken as an insult (but then, we all lived in Anchorage, and lots of "baggage" was abandoned when moving "up"). <br /><br />Again, context and delivery matter. If particularly scurrilous and said with malice, any joke (ethnic, man-, woman- ) can be hurtful. If tossed off casually, most let it roll off - some, even the "butt" of the joke may laugh. <br /><br />(Don Rickles, RIP, was a master of that)<br /><br />I like to throw one in without notice - usually giving my "bona fides" (those Polish grandparents) I mention a distant cousin Staash, who was good enough to be an Olympian at a "distant" Games (Melbourne? Tokyo? Rome?) and an obscure sport. <br /><br />He managed to get a Silver medal! Hw was so pleased that when he got home he had it BRONZED!<br /><br /> JAHN GHALTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56918916751316024792018-08-16T12:09:49.613-07:002018-08-16T12:09:49.613-07:00I hope Yekimi's Challenger joke was at least f...I hope Yekimi's Challenger joke was at least funnier than the one heard by Ted Kilvington. Six hours was maybe too soon. For some reason I thought of all the Jeffrey Dahmer jokes -- are they ever going to be funny to the families of his victims? But there's no Constitutional right not to be offended. I think it was Al Smith who said, "The answer to free speech is more free speech." We have to hope the fresh, creative and pointed will drive out, or at least neutralize, the playground name-calling and dumb insults that permeate the national "dialogue." Buttermilk Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07430011403223875192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-70960009646754909522018-08-16T11:40:08.053-07:002018-08-16T11:40:08.053-07:00There are some thoughtful reactions here regarding...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />There are some thoughtful reactions here regarding Ken's Temptations "takeback". My immediate thought was that that constitutes "bending over backwards". <br /><br />My next thought was that context matters at least a little. One could be amused by the notion that a white 20-something deejay could be hip-enough to goof on the Temptations hipness - and that would still be true now. <br /><br />George Carlin once slagged white guys for trying to be "cool" - saying they could never be as cool as black guys. <br /><br />Anonymous regrets his "racist" unbringing, becuase of his automatic reaction to "a group of black guys (coming) the other way". (S)he didn't detail this, but can offer my similar automatic reaction. <br /><br />If a bunch of black guys approach on my sidewalk, and dressed like me (or not in the "neighborhood uniform", in my heart rate remains unchanged. If it's a bunch of white bikers, or otherwise angry white guys, I try to chill outwardly and avoid eye-contact - along with a raised pulse. I think this is legitimate "discrimination" and not the racist variety. <br /><br />Here an example of legitimate "sexism": <br /><br />Johnny Mac promoting his memoir on NPR. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro conducting the interview:<br /><br />Garcia-Navarro: We're talking about male players but there is of course wonderful female players. Let's talk about Serena Williams. You say she is the best female player in the world in the book.<br /><br />McEnroe: Best female player ever — no question.<br /><br />Garcia-Navarro: Some wouldn't qualify it, some would say she's the best player in the world. Why qualify it?<br /><br />McEnroe: Oh! Uh, she's not, you mean, the best player in the world, period?<br /><br />Garcia-Navarro: Yeah, the best tennis player in the world. You know, why say female player?<br /><br />McEnroe: Well because if she was in, if she played the men's circuit she'd be like 700 in the world.<br /><br /> As one who has played the game for 40 years and watched thousands of matches this statement is utterly uncontroversial. <br /><br />After some thought, and reflection on Mac's hundreds of hours behind the mike, it occurs that Mac might have just bowed to the inteviwer's sensibilities and said "best player ever" - with the obvious implication as to the qualifier. <br /><br />Garcia-Navarro could have done the same thing but she threw the gauntley down and Mac picked it up. <br /><br />Nothing about that makes him a "sexist"Jahn Ghaltnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75858973596354770642018-08-16T05:46:50.116-07:002018-08-16T05:46:50.116-07:00Yes, Mr. Todd Everett, I agree with your comment. ...Yes, Mr. Todd Everett, I agree with your comment. <br /><br />Dhruvnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-59192018399204651242018-08-16T05:21:09.710-07:002018-08-16T05:21:09.710-07:00Janet YBarra said:
"My Polish grandfather 40...Janet YBarra said: <br />"My Polish grandfather 40 years ago had to put up with a parade of "Pollock" jokes. I think today those jokes would be verboten, I hope."<br /><br /><br />My grandfather did too. Yet, I hope those jokes aren’t forbidden. Instead, I hope that we’ve progressed to the point where the venom of those jokes has been so drained as to make them harmless. Then the jokes are kind of old, stale, formulaic, fill-in-the-blank jokes about dumb people.<br /><br />Only dumb people believe that all Poles are dumb, or Italians are mobsters, or Irish are drunkards. Why let the dumbest amongst us keep us from jovially poking fun are at differences? <br /><br />“Verboten.” No. Progress comes from understanding. Censorship rarely leads to understanding. But what do I know, I’m just a dumb Pollock.<br />Coram_Locinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78585236830165288652018-08-16T03:56:01.116-07:002018-08-16T03:56:01.116-07:00BTW, it Donna Summer (singular in every way)
And I...BTW, it Donna Summer (singular in every way)<br />And I don't get the Temptations reference either. I suppose if I knew the joke...Roger Owen Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39001123627204702802018-08-16T02:08:41.753-07:002018-08-16T02:08:41.753-07:00Ken, I don't see what the issue is with making...Ken, I don't see what the issue is with making these jokes.<br />Were you doing the radio equivalent of blackface?<br />MikeNnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3022535373919380322018-08-15T20:27:51.911-07:002018-08-15T20:27:51.911-07:00Certainly Gilbert Aflac Gottfried has
a joke or t...Certainly Gilbert Aflac Gottfried has <br />a joke or two he would like to retract,<br />as may, some day, his fellow castmates in The Aristocrats..<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-58471513608927430972018-08-15T19:33:01.579-07:002018-08-15T19:33:01.579-07:00I remember a very good comic doing a routine about...I remember a very good comic doing a routine about the Karate Kid, which is mostly funny - but then it wanders into a section on Pat Morita mocking the use of "Pat" as a nickname for his given name Noriyuki. Which might be less a topic for jokes if you know about racism and Japanese internment - unless you are mocking racism and not Pat Morita for using the nickname Pat. goodman.dlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10070276378311938150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-11538602182887626452018-08-15T19:29:04.703-07:002018-08-15T19:29:04.703-07:00Ken, if you want you can upload your podcasts to a...Ken, if you want you can upload your podcasts to a site called rev.com and they'll transcribe it for you. There are other sites, that's just the one I'm familiar with. They have a quick turnaround. PJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-59694563066903168622018-08-15T18:20:43.200-07:002018-08-15T18:20:43.200-07:00If you watch re-runs of the old '70s MATCH GAM...If you watch re-runs of the old '70s MATCH GAME, a lot of what was on there would be grossly racist today, including host Gene Rayburn sliding into a thick stereotypical Asian accent. <br /><br />And it is not that Rayburn or any of them were racist. It is, as you say, a matter of changing social norms and mores.<br /><br />My Polish grandfather 40 years ago had to put up with a parade of "Pollock" jokes. I think today those jokes would be verboten, I hope.Janet Ybarranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-11026229710182854392018-08-15T17:26:55.027-07:002018-08-15T17:26:55.027-07:00My wife and I have been watching the Dean Martin C...My wife and I have been watching the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts on Amazon Prime. Aside from the bizarre pairings -- Orson Welles & Jimmie Walker?!?! --the material is so non-PC I'm surprised it isn't banned. <br /><br />It's more of a sociological study of changing cultural mores than a comedy show, but there are occasional laughsTed Kilvingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04434165761745378880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4860806033164170262018-08-15T17:18:01.949-07:002018-08-15T17:18:01.949-07:00I joke I heard a few weeks after the Challenger tr...I joke I heard a few weeks after the Challenger tragedy I heard the following joke about the late schoolteacher astronaut:<br /><br />What was the last thing Christa McAuliffe said to her husband?<br /><br />"You feed the dog, I'll feed the fish."Ted Kilvingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04434165761745378880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2833297247261161102018-08-15T17:09:57.550-07:002018-08-15T17:09:57.550-07:00And coming to the voice - we never speak like that...<i>And coming to the voice - we never speak like that.<br />One thing that the British left us, after looting everything, was English. We speak normal English and not like Apu.</i><br /><br />No quarrel on that, but -- trust me -- to Americans, East Indians have a definite accent. As do the French, Italians, Russians, etc. And I suspect that in India, many locals find speaking Hindi with an American accent risible. Difficult to understand, even.<br />Todd Everettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23514959217659564322018-08-15T17:09:15.335-07:002018-08-15T17:09:15.335-07:00When a Love Boat rerun comes on, I sometimes watch...When a Love Boat rerun comes on, I sometimes watch just to see how long I can go without cringing. It doesn't take long. Hardly a scene goes by when one of the male crewmen fails to leer at a female passenger. (And I don't mean "admire" or "compliment" or even "flirt." It's always straight-up creepy leering.)<br /><br />But nothing holds a candle to the episode of Too Close for Comfort in which the wacky effeminate next-door neighbor was kidnapped and raped by a pair of women. But they are *fat* women, you see, so apparently it's hilarious.<br /><br /><a href="https://tv.avclub.com/too-close-for-comfort-for-every-man-there-s-two-women-1798230654" rel="nofollow">https://tv.avclub.com/too-close-for-comfort-for-every-man-there-s-two-women-1798230654</a>Andy Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-60157957038125939012018-08-15T16:51:34.641-07:002018-08-15T16:51:34.641-07:00jcs,
Nell will be a guest on my podcast within th...jcs,<br /><br />Nell will be a guest on my podcast within the next couple of months. You're going to love her.By Ken Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86916568360504683042018-08-15T16:29:54.955-07:002018-08-15T16:29:54.955-07:00:::FRIDAY QUESTION:::
I've long suspected tha...:::FRIDAY QUESTION:::<br /><br />I've long suspected that, in MASH, the papers tacked on the bulletin board or on the wall in Post Op, Radar/Klinger's office or various papers shuffled around on Blake/Potter's desk were script pages from various extra scripts. Is this the case?Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00107309396839340695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40973827247861509132018-08-15T15:47:52.011-07:002018-08-15T15:47:52.011-07:00You're not racist, dude. A true racist would b...You're not racist, dude. A true racist would be unapologetic about their bigotry. You know it's wrong and are ashamed of it, that's a great start. I understand your feelings are true for some white people. Just learn to approach each black person you meet as a distinct individual divorced of preconceived notions. You dont deserved to be attacked but shown love so you can show love to others. You can change.I have faith in youIssa Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10448615063317064696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31226372728986288072018-08-15T15:22:41.420-07:002018-08-15T15:22:41.420-07:00PODCAST REQUEST
I would like to hear you having a...PODCAST REQUEST<br /><br />I would like to hear you having a conversation with Nell Scovell about comedy writing and the circumstances under which it takes place. I know that scheduling guests for your podcast is a time-consuming and pretty much thankless endeavour, but would you consider having her on your show? <br /><br />She once wrote the following joke for Obama's performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner which he did not use: I turned 50 while in office which means I had my first colonoscopy. Guess what they found? Mitch McConnell. That guy can obstuct anything. jcsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-21399568646976521892018-08-15T14:36:09.864-07:002018-08-15T14:36:09.864-07:00I am similarly confused by this article. It's ...I am similarly confused by this article. It's not a common-enough allegation to be a dog whistle, and the article doesn't suggest Ken otherwise alleged causation. I guess there's a subtext that has flown over my head?Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08326659025784280218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18331620414625002852018-08-15T14:25:58.331-07:002018-08-15T14:25:58.331-07:00Thanks MikeN for the information.
Thanks MikeN for the information.<br /><br />Dhruvnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39317998059183403412018-08-15T14:24:52.493-07:002018-08-15T14:24:52.493-07:00Just now reading the comments on the above mention...Just now reading the comments on the above mentioned blog I read that the writer Michael Markowitz himself has commented on the blog about his spec script. I thought till now only Aaron Sorkin had commented on your blog. Anyway that's great.<br /><br />Anyway hope you answer my question on spec script.<br /><br />Link : https://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2014/07/has-studio-comedies-really-sunk-this-low.html<br /><br />Sheilanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77442615848687769782018-08-15T14:17:33.194-07:002018-08-15T14:17:33.194-07:00Dhruv, if you were watching carefully, you would k...Dhruv, if you were watching carefully, you would know that Apu had all those kids at once, octuplets, around the time Octomom was a story, possibly due to invitro.<br /><br /><br />MikeNnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34841788146542664642018-08-15T12:47:30.713-07:002018-08-15T12:47:30.713-07:00I think I said this before but about 6 hours after...I think I said this before but about 6 hours after the space shuttle Challenger exploded, I made a joke about them finding.....well, won't repeat it because it would be considered racist nowadays....but after saying the joke people went nuts, like I had just shot baby squirrels out of a cannon into a large fan, and they wanted me fired, etc., etc. and basically was just told to NEVER say something like that again. 6 or 8 months later, repeated the joke [not on air but in a large group and everybody just laughed]. I guess time DOES heal all wounds and maybe it was too soon to have told the joke, I should have waited a month or two. But that's how I deal with dark, depressing Things That Happen, usually by cracking a joke that would be considered dark humor. And with what's occupying the White House I should be firing off one liners like Henny Youngman.YEKIMIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01921751875397071034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-15664030144181639192018-08-15T11:28:12.341-07:002018-08-15T11:28:12.341-07:00Friday Question :
This is about spec scripts. I w...Friday Question :<br /><br />This is about spec scripts. I was watching Horrible Bosses and searched your blog and found this https://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2014/07/has-studio-comedies-really-sunk-this-low.html<br /><br /><br />"The original HORRIBLE BOSSES was a spec screenplay by Michael Markowitz that sold. His script was sharp, sophisticated, and hilarious."<br /><br />In another post you spoke about how you liked Shane Black's spec when you read it. Are spec scripts easily available for insiders to read?<br /><br />Is it good or bad? If studios reject it, then some independent producer can offer to buy it. Or the downside is that someone may post it on the net.<br /><br />Can you share your insight please. Thanks.<br /><br />Sheilanoreply@blogger.com