tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post5770639486289099356..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: How do you know if a joke's gone 2 far?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66111019504902873302013-08-06T16:06:29.917-07:002013-08-06T16:06:29.917-07:00I read that there was supposedly an "Andy Gri...I read that there was supposedly an "Andy Griffith Show" script in which Barney Fife was supposed to faint in a funny way. Griffith nixed it because "next time he'll have to faint funnier, and next time funnier still, and then the character will have lost all credibility." Some current TV script-writers would do well to remember that concept.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66563365563022427042013-08-03T01:15:05.572-07:002013-08-03T01:15:05.572-07:00Being butthurt in the comments on this blog at a p...Being butthurt in the comments on this blog at a passing remark about a group of people who act/live in a bizarre and laughable fashion gets you nowhere, or he'd stop making cracks about people like me who dress up in costume at conventions. IT WAS A JOKE. Ha ha? If you're gonna hang with laugh-worthy people, you're gonna get laughed at; this is why I cringe but roll with it when he makes nerd jokes. Get over it. In fact, get over EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE. YOU LOST. AGAIN. TRY BETTER NEXT TIME and move on with your lives.<br /><br /><br />Cheers, thanks a lot,<br /><br />StormStormnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18336350773408371932013-08-02T12:09:09.111-07:002013-08-02T12:09:09.111-07:00Ken,
Your answer about humor was interesting and ...Ken,<br /><br />Your answer about humor was interesting and smartly thought out. While I compliment you, thank you for writing it and for sharing your wisdom experiences in a free-to-read blog. Cheers and Frasier remain two of my favorite all-time shows.<br /> <br />However, your drive-by insult of Tea Party was ugly and beneath you.<br /><br />I know it is hard for those of the political-left to understand, but even so it is sadly often, it is still jarring to have your political beliefs insulted in a forum in which you don't expect. <br /><br />Mattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26210987770758447462013-08-02T06:48:45.145-07:002013-08-02T06:48:45.145-07:00@Pat Reeder:
As I pointed out earlier, there are ...@Pat Reeder:<br /><br />As I pointed out earlier, there are no doubt lots of very intelligent, articulate and knowledgeable Republicans and Tea Party members. I was very much a Republican for a long time, until the party morphed into something that panders to fear of change, and crawled into bed with the most extreme right wing elements in the party. As for the Liberal Vs Conservative argument, you're right; liberals say as many dumb things as conservatives. The difference is that I don't care what Whoopi Goldberg says about anything; her opinion in irrelevant. She isn't what I'm talking about, any more than are the stupid things that Rosie O'Donnell says, or Patricia Heaton, or whoever. I DO care when people who have the actual power to create laws, or veto bills, are the same people who make stupid comments about "legitimate rape". It's not just a dumb thing to say; it demonstrates to me that too many members of the party are so out of touch with reality that they present an actual danger to peoples' right to pursue happiness. Whether or not a progressive infiltrates a Tea Party rally and spells it "Tee Partee" on a sign is also irrelevant, because that's not what I'm talking about either. I'm talking about elected officials and candidates in the party that not only say incredibly stupid things, but then seem oblivious as to why they were stupid in the first place. It's always been apparent to me that, when they are caught up in one of these gaffes, they are just parroting what their damage control people told them to say, and they truly don't get why it was dumb (thereby making them even better comedy fodder). Until the party stops defending and supporting these candidates and officials, they are going to continue being fodder (and rightfully so) for every comedy writer and late night comedian on the block. Do you really believe that professional comedians deliberately ignore dumb things said by liberal politicians out of some sense of loyalty? I'm pretty certain that if a Democratic senator had made the "legitimate rape" comment, Jon Stewart would have been all over it with the same gusto as he would when it was said by Todd Akin.Tom Waltersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-21044411549936740532013-08-02T04:12:26.487-07:002013-08-02T04:12:26.487-07:00Mac - I think the departure of Josh Weinstein and ...Mac - I think the departure of Josh Weinstein and Bill Oakley from The Simpsons marked the start of its decline. They were writers and/or showrunners during the classic years. From what I've read, they chose to leave when they did because they didn't want to risk a deterioration in quality. They said they "didn't want to break the show". Ironically, after they left, that's precisely what happened but only because they were no longer there to maintain standards. I mean, would they ever have allowed a gag as pathetic as "Honey I Threw Goo Over The Audience" or a "financial crisis rollercoaster" that ends with a goofy voice saying "Mmmm, that's good satire"?Hamidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-65767206463731946272013-08-02T03:19:46.245-07:002013-08-02T03:19:46.245-07:00I want to know who the Borscht Belt comedian was!I want to know who the Borscht Belt comedian was!Ellenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794791220323089387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-32144080479119572012013-08-02T01:22:25.811-07:002013-08-02T01:22:25.811-07:00@Hamid, yes it's such a shame how the Simpson&...@Hamid, yes it's such a shame how the Simpson's went. It used to be blisteringly funny but you could watch it with kids/oldies and even if there was an "adult" joke, it was so jaw-droppingly smart that it went over the heads of kids, and so beautifully placed that they'd have no idea they'd just missed an adult joke. <br />The last time I saw it, there were very obvious sexual jokes and adult themes that you couldn't show to kids. It seemed to be trying to keep up with "Family Guy" and it just didn't work. I'd imagine for the film they must have got the old band back together - from the classic seasons 3 to 8 (or 9-ish).Macnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-92031517570531709672013-08-01T23:58:24.918-07:002013-08-01T23:58:24.918-07:00To Tom Walters:
I have written topical comedy ma...To Tom Walters: <br /><br />I have written topical comedy material for radio hosts all across the political spectrum for over 20 years, and I can assure you that no political party has a corner on intelligence or facts. I've heard Tea Party and far right people say dumb things, but I can point you to just as much stuff that's just as stupid from the left (apples-to-apples comparison: Whoopi Goldberg defended Roman Polanski because what he did to the backside of that drugged 13-year-old girl "wasn't 'rape' rape.") Comedy writers tending to be liberal, you don't hear many jokes about those people, though. <br /><br />I have to be scrupulous in fact-checking and sourcing stories, or my clients look like schmucks and I'm out of business. So I instantly recognize when someone takes a phony cheap shot at a political adversary. And they come from all sides. I've seen Tea Party people who are actual law professors and know more about the Constitution than Obama. I've seen dumb, misspelled signs at Tea Party rallies, but I've also seen progressives deliberately infiltrating those rallies with such signs in hopes of smearing Tea Partiers. And I've seen lots of idiotic misspelled signs at OWS rallies. It's my job to verify they're legit before I comment on them.<br /><br />Because my wife is in music and theater, many of her Facebook friends are extremely liberal, while her friends from her home town in Texas are extremely conservative. Both routinely post quotes and news stories supporting their views that because of my job reading news 12 hours a day, I instantly recognize as being either wildly out of context or totally fabricated (from an Onion-like satirical site, for instance, or an urban legend email). The major difference I see is that people on the left tend to be a lot more smug about it. The ones on the right post misinformation and just say "Amen" and start griping about Obama. The ones on the left post misinformation and insult those idiots and morons and Teabaggers for not being smart enough to know this. Then they congratulate themselves for being part of the "reality-based community." <br /><br />The truth is that no matter how much they flatter themselves about their own intellects, most people tend to choose friends and believe stories that reinforce their own prejudices, and left or right doesn't matter. Do I sound cynical? Sorry. After 20-plus years of having to ferret out whether the news has any basis in truth or not, that's sort of an occupational hazard. Especially since I've also written for politicians and been on the inside of a number of things that have made news over the years, and not a single one of those reports ever got all the important facts right.Pat Reedernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54027794672944873462013-08-01T22:34:23.972-07:002013-08-01T22:34:23.972-07:00Shows don't just try to top themselves, they a...Shows don't just try to top themselves, they also try to top other shows. Around the time when Seinfeld was pushing boundaries, other shows tried to follow suit. But they weren't Seinfeld and it was embarrassing. Where Seinfeld did the hilarious masturbation show without ever mentioning the word, Friends tried to top it by doing the show where the baby got a penis-shaped birthday cake by accident. It wasn't funny. It looked cheap and crass and it made me uncomfortable.Marty Fufkinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7940092566713901462013-08-01T21:59:20.720-07:002013-08-01T21:59:20.720-07:00Friday Question:
When sending out a spec script, ...Friday Question:<br /><br />When sending out a spec script, is it sometimes a good idea to include a brief outline or one-page synopsis for the benefit of the reader, or does it just give them one more thing to read?<br /><br />Joseph M.Hoverboredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18261516789731491826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67182852238179913522013-08-01T20:14:31.138-07:002013-08-01T20:14:31.138-07:00When Tea Party members stop saying outrageously du...When Tea Party members stop saying outrageously dumb things that are natural fodder for comedians, then maybe comedians and comedy writers will no longer lump them into the same category as racists, skanks, and other equally stupid people. Seriously, if you are a sensible Republican or a sensible Tea Party member (and I know there must be lots of sensible people in the party), then surely you must cringe repeatedly at the moronic things so many prominent members of the party have said in the past 12 months. If you think these figures deserve a pass when they get a case of foot in mouth disease (legitimate rape, anyone?), then you're going to be endlessly disappointed. If you don't like being associated with skanks, racists, and stupid people, then for God's sake reign in the members of the party that make it so easy to make that association.Tom Waltersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77231446730924765802013-08-01T19:53:21.711-07:002013-08-01T19:53:21.711-07:00"You’re permanently defining that character a..."You’re permanently defining that character as racist or stupid or a skank or Tea Party member or whatever."<br /><br />Ken... we get it. You're a liberal. Many people aren't, however, including those who read your blog, and many of that subset might -- *gasp* -- agree with certain principles that are ascribed to and advanced by the "Tea Party." <br /><br />It's unfortunate that someone who is known for clever writing would feel the need for a cheap shot; it's ironic that it would come in a post decrying the use of cheap humor. Please do your many fans a favor and leave the hackery (political and humorous) to the likes of Keith Olbermann, who couldn't in a million years come up with the clever writing you have demonstrated for decades. Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-32336102663331262132013-08-01T17:45:20.654-07:002013-08-01T17:45:20.654-07:00"For the first few years I loved FAMILY GUY. ..."For the first few years I loved FAMILY GUY. Now I go “Yikes” and never watch it."<br /><br />This.J. Allisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08051619757979084465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-90542927303932822272013-08-01T16:44:23.834-07:002013-08-01T16:44:23.834-07:00All these sitcoms that seem to be an endless strea...All these sitcoms that seem to be an endless stream of put downs and insult jokes always leave me with one feeling: Why on earth would these people be friends with one another? I can suspend my disbelief for a lot of things. but awful shows like Two and a Half Men defy that suspension of disbelief. They have a dull, depressing, monotone beat (setup, setup, INSULT, setup, setup, INSULT) that can totally destroy my interest within about 5 minutes. Man, I long for the days of Barney Miller and Night Court.....Ron Clarknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-27089359206864560382013-08-01T16:39:51.733-07:002013-08-01T16:39:51.733-07:00I'm willing to put up with a lot as long as th...I'm willing to put up with a lot <i>as long as the joke is funny </i>. I know that saying I like 2 BROKE GIRLS won't win me many friends around here, but for the most part I find the show hilarious (of course, Kat Dennings' spot-on delivery is a huge help). To be sure, Oleg is tiresome and one-note, but overall the quips are jolly enough to justify their raunchiness.cadavranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-38686498366564099612013-08-01T15:36:43.377-07:002013-08-01T15:36:43.377-07:00"I try not to dwell on physical appearances&q... "I try not to dwell on physical appearances".<br /><br />Who directed Roz and the Schnoz?<br />:-) <br />Siberian Khatrunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56657803921820583812013-08-01T15:23:56.656-07:002013-08-01T15:23:56.656-07:00Sister Mary, don't overlook the A.N.S.W.E.R., ...Sister Mary, don't overlook the A.N.S.W.E.R., bringing us stupid and racist (I don't know about skank) for 12-odd years.Igornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8887554723762491052013-08-01T14:25:23.698-07:002013-08-01T14:25:23.698-07:00I thought 2 Broke Girls was great last year. This...I thought 2 Broke Girls was great last year. This year I gave up about 3 episodes in. It stopped being funny and seems only to exist to see how much they can get away with. Craignoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61519769194513804902013-08-01T14:24:54.976-07:002013-08-01T14:24:54.976-07:00It's always struck me how many jokes on TWO AN...It's always struck me how many jokes on TWO AND A HALF MEN and THE BIG BANG THEORY revolve around the actors' appearance. On TBBT much is made of Simon Helberg's small size, Kaley Cuoco is often mentioned as having big feet and masculine hands, and Leonard is mocked for being short by both his friends and himself. On 2 1/2 Men it was Angus T. Jones's big head.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75188573019662502362013-08-01T12:16:59.093-07:002013-08-01T12:16:59.093-07:00very comical that your definition of ruining a cha...very comical that your definition of ruining a character by making them, stupid, a racist, a skank....has <br />"Tea Party member" so naturally included.Sister Mary Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00580244097177195453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44747707943252572752013-08-01T12:12:46.567-07:002013-08-01T12:12:46.567-07:00Once in a while, the 'All in the Family' w...Once in a while, the 'All in the Family' writers would give Edith a risqué line that "passed" because she was so genuinely oblivious to what she was saying - as when was once describing Archie's kissing technique: "Archie was always more of a pecker."<br /><br />RCPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04251247613686669877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19569670027628732652013-08-01T11:30:54.178-07:002013-08-01T11:30:54.178-07:00Last year I tuned in Comedy Central show with Dani...Last year I tuned in Comedy Central show with Daniel Tosh to see what the buzz was. They showed a skateboarder dropping his shorts while skateboarding down a street. And then he defecated! Talk about moving your bowels. <br />I thought "that's on basic cable where they have to censor themselves? What's on pay channels?"Waynenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69854308813367892002013-08-01T10:39:52.967-07:002013-08-01T10:39:52.967-07:00Hamid, I totally agree. Especially since in the ea...Hamid, I totally agree. Especially since in the early days of the Simpsons, the stars (Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson, etc) were uncredited. Even little phrases from those years still make me laugh. "Dental Plan/Lisa needs braces."Kylenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44260248829059220892013-08-01T10:34:57.914-07:002013-08-01T10:34:57.914-07:00Sorry, that was meant for Kyle, not Rudy.Sorry, that was meant for Kyle, not Rudy.Hamidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22723202123508602052013-08-01T10:32:26.227-07:002013-08-01T10:32:26.227-07:00Rudy - I stopped watching The Simpsons from around...Rudy - I stopped watching The Simpsons from around 2000 onwards. I only watch the classic seasons from the 90s. When I stumble on a post-2000 episode, I'll give it a few minutes but I can never endure more than 2 minutes. It's actually painful to see how awful it's become. When it was at its best, it was the funniest, wittiest and cleverest comedy show ever, live or animated. Now it's a pitifully unfunny and low brow shambles that has endless celebrity guest stars, a gimmick that was used sparingly in the early days and when it WAS used it was actually funny. I still remember Dustin Hoffmann as Mr Bergstrom. Now they just haul in N-Sync and we're supposed to fall about laughing.<br /><br />It's a miracle the movie was funny. It wasn't at the level of the writing in the 90s but it was infinitely better than what the show's become since 2000. The golden rule is to always go out on top. Cheers and Frasier ended when the writing was still sharp and funny. Roseanne outstayed its welcome by a good 4 or 5 years. The Simpsons should have ended around 98 or 99. Instead of cementing its status as the greatest comedy show ever, it'll be remembered as the greatest comedy show ever which then sadly went into decline.<br /><br />Sorry for my rant but I can't really convey how terrible it is to see what the show's become. Where we once had lines like "I, for one, welcome our insect overlords", we now have lines like "I used to be lost, until a friend turned me onto a book. It's called 'Lisa is Stupid'."Hamidnoreply@blogger.com