Laurel & Hardy

[MurphOnMillerAve]

All of these were exceptions rather than the rule.

Exactly. And then there's Robot Chicken,

Loved it.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I liked "Heckle & Jeckle" because they seemed recklessly disrespectful of nutcases and bullies.
Also, Daffy Duck, because, well, because he was daffy. Wasn't he the character who used to turn right around in the midst of being chased and kiss the pursuer right smack on the mouth?

[chuck]

Exactly. And then there's Robot Chicken,

My son worked on Robot Chicken for a while. I got to visit the "studio". It wasn't everybody's cup of tea. My wife and sister-in-law hated it. I had to explain the primary audience was teenage to early 20's males.

They actually were on very good terms with Lucas Film and the show crew was invited up to Skywalker Ranch for a weekend. My son invited me to go along but I was still working and it was at the start of fall semester. I didn't want to leave my colleagues in the lurch. Looking back I should have gone

The WB cartoons of the 40's and 50's were primarily done for the motion picture theater's as filler before the start of the show. Same for Heckle and Jeckle and Might Mouse. Level of animation was far above anything done on TV at that time. When these moved to TV they became instant classics. All the studios had to do was write/produce some intro material to stitch together a 30 minute show. This is where I learned to like classical music. Rossini was particularly suited to slapstick cartoon background music.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Exactly. And then there's Robot Chicken,

My son worked on Robot Chicken for a while. I got to visit the "studio". It wasn't everybody's cup of tea.

A cup of tea it isn't!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Not many shows can say "Stupid Monkey" at its closing and get away with it.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

If ya want cup-of-tea harmless , there was "Bewitched."

I'm not sure what that was . Anybody laugh, or just smile occasionally during its proceedings ?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

If ya want cup-of-tea harmless , there was "Bewitched."

I'm not sure what that was . Anybody laugh, or just smile occasionally during its proceedings ?

Was on the air for quite a while - 8 years - so somebody must have liked it and it's still being shown in syndication.....

Was derived from movies "I Married a Witch" and "Bell, Book and Candle" which were properties of Columbia Pictures, which also owned Screen Gems, the company that produced Bewitched.

[HONDO74]

Was derived from movies "I Married a Witch"

One of my favorite old movies, especially with Veronica Lake in it. What a beautiful woman she was.....

[MurphOnMillerAve]

A big smile maker and sustainer, within that circa , for me, were The Little Rascals. I particularly enjoyed Darla, who was consistently unfazed by the continual commotion generated by the boys.

She may have been my first "crush," in addition to Joan Crawford's legs .

[chuck]

I think I preferred the earlier version with Jackie Cooper, Stymie, Froggy, Chubby, Mary and the very young Spanky. The later series with Alfalfa, older Spanky and Darla had better production values but the stories did not seem to hold up. They seemed more contrived and "slick".

[Neil]

I've watched a few 1970s Monty Python sketches. They've mostly aged quite well. Perhaps in another 20-30 years folks will find them fatuous or otherwise unwatchable. Senses of humor do change with the times, as well as other styles (clothing, music, etc.).

Never thought Laurel and Hardy all that amusing. Very much a 19th through early 20th century sensibility playing to a mid-late 20th century kid. I'd like to get hold of one of the early Woody Allen movies (Bananas, let's say) and see if it's still hilarious. I suspect not so much.

[chuck]

I suspect not so much.

I don't know about that. Really good stuff is really good, period.

Sometimes material from another culture doesn't translate. I am not a great fan of Benny Hill but I love Monty Python.

Some of the comedians of today are hard for me to take because they rely too much on shock humor, excessive vulgarity or foul language. They make Lenny Bruce or even George Carlin look like saints. My kids don't mind so much but I find it off putting. I'll watch Trevor Noah, John Mulaney, and John Oliver (they aren't saints either but their is way more to their humor than shock value alone).

[rogruth]

I suspect not so much.

I don't know about that. Really good stuff is really good, period.

Sometimes material from another culture doesn't translate. I am not a great fan of Benny Hill but I love Monty Python.

Some of the comedians of today are hard for me to take because they rely too much on shock humor, excessive vulgarity or foul language. They make Lenny Bruce or even George Carlin look like saints.

I agree with the above.
I don't know who the ones below are.


My kids don't mind so much but I find it off putting. I'll watch Trevor Noah, John Mulaney, and John Oliver (they aren't saints either but their is way more to their humor than shock value alone).

[chuck]

Trevor Noah is the current host of the Daily Show. He took over when Jon Stewart left. He is also South African. John Oliver is a British Import. He hosts Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO. He was a stand in for Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. John Mulaney is a former writer/performer for Saturday Night Live. He uses some of his work experiences from SNL in his live shows. I like the story of him trying to work on a skit on writing a song for Mick Jagger when he hosted SNL.

One of the funniest movies is Steve Martin's Roxanne. Love the opening with the fencing match with tennis rackets and ski poles at the opening. There are a lot of subtle sight gags regarding his band of misfits volunteer fireman. I love his "I have dream speech line when he gets back to the station:

"I have a dream. It's not a big dream, it's just a little dream. My dream - and I hope you don't find this too crazy - is that I would like the people of this community to feel that if, God forbid, there were a fire, calling the fire department would actually be a wise thing to do. You can't have people, if their houses are burning down, saying, "Whatever you do, don't call the fire department!" That would be bad."

[rogruth]

I agree about Roxanne. I like most Steve Martin stuff.