i hate monty python, kids in the hall, chris rock, and south park.......

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anyone with me? i feel like a freak because of this. and i swear i have a sense of humor, it just is not stimulated sometimes. these movies/shows just don't do it for me. i love curb your enthusiasm, aqua teen hunger force, the state, strangers with candy, woody allen, seinfeld, and more. but the others i not only dislike, but actively avoid at all costs. what is wrong with me? are there others out there who agree? if so, what is the answer? feel free to berate me lovers of the listed programs.

Emilymv (Emilymv), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:02 (twenty years ago)

um like yanno, different strokes for different folks. know what i'm talking bout, willis?

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:07 (twenty years ago)

The last three I can understand (even though I find all three have their moments, ESP. South Park, all three have relentlessly unfunny moments too) but not finding Monty Python funny at all is one of those things that I just don't get. But humor is a strange thing.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:07 (twenty years ago)

im with you except for the monty python part.

Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:09 (twenty years ago)

oh no. i hate monty python the most!

Emilymv (Emilymv), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:09 (twenty years ago)

I'm not dead yet!

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:10 (twenty years ago)

I could understand, except for Kids in the Hall. Some of their sketches are very surreal/absurdist, not that far away from Adult Swim.

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:11 (twenty years ago)

I have a friend who thinks MONTY PYTHON isn't funny, but who thinks FAWLTY TOWERS is. We are still friends though.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:11 (twenty years ago)

I like them all. Except the Kids in the Hall chicken lady sketch. It wigs me the FUCK OUT.

luna (luna.c), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:11 (twenty years ago)

can we add "the state" to this list? i only liked one sketch they did about dipping balls in pudding.

Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:12 (twenty years ago)

I don't think it's strange at all! Hell, I still think Kids in the Hall is ridiculously overrated (mind you, Mr. Show has rapidly approached that level in my mind). As Oops notes, it's all down to individual taste.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago)

My best friend has a great sense of humor and hates Python. And I find only about 5-10% of the sketches to be truly funny.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago)

no! i love the state!

Emilymv (Emilymv), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago)

I like Chris Rock but I'm with you on the rest. I did, once upon a time, really like Python, but going to college with idiots who quoted it all the time killed that. South Park was never very funny and is spectacularly unfunny these days. I once thought Kids in the Hall was funny but what was I thinking?

The only funny thing to me these days is Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. That shit is fucking comedy gold.

(Fawlty Towers IS funny! Why? NO COSTUMES).

kyle (akmonday), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago)

Re: the State, have you seen the Dancing Hormones sketch? Or the Bob Dylan/"Oh, you mean Uncle Robert?" sketch?

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago)

i always fall asleep while watching monty python.

ken c (ken c), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:15 (twenty years ago)

I still find some sketches on SNL funny. Typically the ones with my girlfriend Amy Poehler.

I haven't seen the state for a long long time.

Of course you also talking to someone who laughed until he cried when Tom Green was on.

Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:15 (twenty years ago)

but most of the time it's after many beers. life of brian was fun

ken c (ken c), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:15 (twenty years ago)

http://home.gwu.edu/~tombot/ADHD.jpg

I got the whole run of the show on DVD a year ago.
The more I watch Monty Python the more I think Momus must have been raised on it but never realized it was supposed to be ironic.

When are they coming out with Kids in the Hall DVDs? My Pen! My Pen! It's the one I do all my work with!!

And HARVEY BIRDMAN. need more harvey birdman. more harvey birdman.

Does anybody find the Naked Gun movies as hilarious as I do?

TOMBOT, Friday, 12 November 2004 16:17 (twenty years ago)

The Python movies are good, but I defy anyone to actually watch Python the series with a clean slate of expectations and actually find it consistently funny. The sketches are all poorly timed, they never end properly, and surrealist comedy is such a cop-out (see also: Reeves and Mortimer's entire career).

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:18 (twenty years ago)

I do Tom.

Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:18 (twenty years ago)

Kids in the Hall dvds came out early this year or late last year. Just the first season, I think.

luna (luna.c), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:18 (twenty years ago)

The State sketch where they caught Muppets for dinner was classic. "I need someone to teach me how to COUNT! 1,2,4"
I've tried to explain the humor in League of Gentlemen to other Merkins, and they just think it's really sick. Has anyone else found this to be true?

jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:18 (twenty years ago)

THEY HAVE KIDS IN THE HALL DVDS.

The first two seasons. Watching them only made me appreciate the show more (well, the second season especially, they were still finding their way during the first one).

X-POST

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:19 (twenty years ago)

The more I watch Monty Python the more I think Momus must have been raised on it but never realized it was supposed to be ironic.

Oh MAN.

What I've seen of The League of Gentlemen was perfectly all right to me! Must catch more.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:21 (twenty years ago)

My Pen! My Pen! It's the one I do all my work with!!

That one isn't out yet [I think]. Hotel Le Rut is, though I have no clue if Tammy has been unleashed on DVD in full surround sound glory.

I ain't gonna spread for no roses.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:23 (twenty years ago)

Mr. Show is something I understand NOT AT ALL. Totally unfunny in almost every way--which is weird cuz Odenkirk wrote Futurama, right? I loved that show.)

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:23 (twenty years ago)

I don't know whether it's Cross or Odenkirk or what on that thing, but a large part of it comes down to what people often say about Python (as noted here on this thread) -- they really don't know how to end sketches much.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:25 (twenty years ago)

We were watching the one this weekend with the sketch where the son comes home from the coalmine to his parent's flat in London and his dad is being all drunk and belligerent about the importance of being a hardworking playwright and the son is shouting back things like "you don't know a thing about coal mining!" and I was thinking the entire time what if nick currie had offspring?

TOMBOT, Friday, 12 November 2004 16:26 (twenty years ago)

http://www.kidsinthehall.com

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:27 (twenty years ago)

y'all hate fun.

LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:28 (twenty years ago)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Kids in the Hall is one of the most unfunny programs ever. 60 Minutes is more amusing.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:28 (twenty years ago)

Hahahahaha. (xpost to Tom)

"GET OUT YOU LABOURER!"

Alex, oops and I all agree on Kids in the Hall, interesting.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:29 (twenty years ago)

I think I'm going to refrain from reading any more of this thread if I'm to avoid having an aneurysm, Alex-in-NYC-stylee.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:35 (twenty years ago)

See I find Mr. Show to be pretty amusing. Who cares if they don't know how to end sketches? Does anyone? That's like saying the sex wasn't good cause she didn't know how to put her clothes on properly afterwards.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:39 (twenty years ago)

In this case, 'end sketches' = 'don't stretch them out and beat the 'funny' part into the ground to the point where it isn't funny anymore.' Now if you want to go around making a metaphor out of that...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:40 (twenty years ago)

i don't like mr. show either. i suck.

Emilymv (Emilymv), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:43 (twenty years ago)

And I thought I knew you people.

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:44 (twenty years ago)

I think not liking Mr. Show is a sign of good taste frankly.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:44 (twenty years ago)

Ah I see. And I think they do a fairly good job of getting to the funny quickly and then moving on to another funny. Compared to KITH or fuckin SNL.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:46 (twenty years ago)

Oh, SNL is the absolute pits with that.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:47 (twenty years ago)

Alex, I think holding that opinion is a sign of condescending twattery.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:47 (twenty years ago)

Really late to this, but I simply cannot fathom anyone hating Monty Python. Granted, zealous Monty Python fans are insufferable (you know the type -- they dress like their favorite sketchs, and go around reciting ancient bits in strenuously poor British accents, desperately trying to beat their equally misguided friends to the punchline). But the `Pythons themselves were untouchable.

I love "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" more than I love oxygen.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:48 (twenty years ago)

OK I just came back to say this to the KITH hataz: "BUT TONIGHT...TONIGHT, I'LL GO CRAZY - I'LL EAT PANCAKES ON YOUR GRAVE - FUCK THE BANK I WORK FOR, FUCK THE BAAAAAANK!"

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:48 (twenty years ago)

"Strangers with Candy" has NEVER been funny, by the way.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:49 (twenty years ago)

Something like a polar opposite to SNL "END THE FUCKING SKETCH YOU MORONS" wankery would be (for me) The Day Today, where by and large -- not ALWAYS, but mostly -- the sketches and/or moments within them were perfectly and totally pared down to what they needed to be.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:49 (twenty years ago)

Haha, is that the sketch where Bruce is dancing alone in the club?

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:51 (twenty years ago)

south park >>> monty python > chris rock > kids in the hall

but only cos i've not seen much KITH

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:52 (twenty years ago)

MY NAME'S FRANK AND I HATE THE SWISS

TOMBOT, Friday, 12 November 2004 16:56 (twenty years ago)

monty python, kids in the hall, chris rock, and south park

Another messed up thing about this thread is the vague assertion that all these elements belong to the same subgenre of comedy. While, yeah, clearly "Kids in the Hall" (who are undeniably brilliant, by the way) owe a huge debt to Monty Python, but "South Park" and "Chris Rock" have zero in common with either or each other.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 12 November 2004 16:57 (twenty years ago)

Oh, so Alex in NYC DOES like KitH, and Alex in SF doesn't. Alex (NYC), I'm sorry for having doubted you.

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:03 (twenty years ago)

it took me a long long time to realize that there are a lot of inside jokes in Monty Python to do with the British media and current affairs at the time. a good example is "the Ministry of Silly Walks" - any British person would see this in a continuum of debate over whether the govt has too many obscure committees and concerns, rather than just flat-out absurdity.. to an American, the inside jokes just seem like even-more-fiendishly-worked-out aspects of their surrealism, rather than the sometimes pointed jokes they were.. "it works on several levels" as they say

any Kids in the Hall sketch with either Bruce or Scott is instant bona-fide classic material

You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:03 (twenty years ago)

good thing you apologized because Alex would make your burn in the fiery gates of hell.

Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:04 (twenty years ago)

I'm an American and when I was 10 I could pick up on the satire going on in the Silly Walks sketch.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:09 (twenty years ago)

good for you!

You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:09 (twenty years ago)

Alex, I think holding that opinion is a sign of condescending twattery.
-- oops (don'temailmenicelad...), November 12th, 2004.

Look I was trying to reassure Emily that she didn't suck, but if you want to be an asshole about it then go ahead. ;)

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:11 (twenty years ago)

Haha, is that the sketch where Bruce is dancing alone in the club?
-- Jordan (jordan...), November 12th, 2004 10:51 AM. (Jordan) (later)

Kind of, he's sitting in a diner doing a monologue, but when he gets to a certain point, he stands up, starts dancing, and the lights change so that it looks like a disco. It's one of my favorite sketches from season one. "I'll eat pancakes on your grave" is a household meme.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:12 (twenty years ago)

I'm just saying, it's not like there's some deeply coded UK-specific in-joke there.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:12 (twenty years ago)

Wait, you say that anyone who likes Mr. Show has poor taste and *I'm* the asshole? Whatever dude.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:12 (twenty years ago)

I do not understand the dislike of KITH! You not human!

Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:12 (twenty years ago)

i never picked up on the satirical undertone of the Ministry Of Silly Walks personally, but then i can be pretty dumb

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:13 (twenty years ago)

DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE WINKY FACE, OOPS!?!?!

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:14 (twenty years ago)

hahaha No I don't! Why did my mind completely block that out?!

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:16 (twenty years ago)

Only I can use the winky face properly. The rest of you should just fall in line.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:16 (twenty years ago)

I guess I've just had one too many people call me an asshole this week.

oops (Oops), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:17 (twenty years ago)

According to recent studies many Mr. Show fans have difficult registering the winky face. Scientists believe this may be chemical in nature.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:18 (twenty years ago)

Alex, oops and I all agree on Kids in the Hall, interesting.

Triumverate of WRONGNESS!

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:21 (twenty years ago)

Take the back bacon out of your mouth and speak clearly.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:22 (twenty years ago)

any Kids in the Hall sketch with either Bruce or Scott is instant bona-fide classic material

Except, um, 90% of the Buddy monologues (they all have at least one great line, though).

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:25 (twenty years ago)

The best Kids in the Hall sketch is the one where he talks about being a beaaaauuuuuutifulllll laaaaaaaady. Actually it kind of actively creeped me out but I found it really funny and it's one of the only skits that actually stuck in my mind. Also it stuck because it's one of the ones that doesn't force Dave Foley to be the lady, what is that about?

Monty Python the show can be inconsistent, not all of the skits are funny, but I can never NOT laugh at the concept of springs exploding out of a nice chocolate and piercing your cheeks. Also I have a really strong childhood memory of remembering my dad and my uncle suddenly spontaneously bursting out into the Lumberjack Song at a pool party my mom threw, after they had a couple bloody marys. Part of the reason why the skits are less funny is because of people who apparently made it their mission to speak only in Pythonese during their high school experiences, in fairness.

The movies, OTOH, are consistently extraordinarily hysterical.

Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:27 (twenty years ago)

In watching old KITH stuff, I'm really impressed by Mark McKinney. I guess my brain was tainted by the shitty stuff he did on SNL, but I always thought he was one of the least funny ones. But watching them them again, I think he was probably the second funniest Kid, after Bruce McCullough.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:28 (twenty years ago)

I basically like all the shows mentioned thus far on this thread, so I guess I'm just easily amused.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:29 (twenty years ago)

I've never liked Monty Python. But the rest are okay to good.

jel -- (jel), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:30 (twenty years ago)

Am I the only one that thought Kevin McDonald was the best (with Dave a close second)?

Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:31 (twenty years ago)

The movies, OTOH, are consistently extraordinarily hysterical.

Spot on. Some movie comedies never AREN'T funny no matter how much you watch them, and Holy Grail and Life of Brian are high on that hit list. I rewatch them -- about once a year or so at this point -- much more than I ever do the shows.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:31 (twenty years ago)

Based on my recent viewing of the first season, I would rank them:
Bruce>Mark>Dave>Kevin>Scott, with Dave and Kevin being the two that I might possibly switch around based on how I'm feeling. And I'm feeling GEEKY!

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:32 (twenty years ago)

I like them all pretty much too, Nick.

Except the chicken lady. Yeurgh.

luna (luna.c), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:33 (twenty years ago)

i recently watched Life of Brian, completely unamused. wtf?!

Emilymv (Emilymv), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:33 (twenty years ago)

haha steve i may have invented the connection there. but you and oops are ignoring the larger point of my comment, which was that british culture in general is pretty surreal to americans, so many things that sort of make sense to brits (and may have in fact been a bit run of-the-mill) come across to Americans like another stupendously counterintuitive absurdity.. i.e. what possible context does a tennessee kid have for the "cheese shop" sketch ya know?

i like the KITH sketch where Bruce is the "hot" pop singer lady, with a huge chastity belt on

oh god, and the "good fucking ham" one, where he rebelliously runs away to his friends' house and gets barfed on

You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:36 (twenty years ago)

The Positive Attitude About Menstruation skit rulz!

Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:39 (twenty years ago)

understood, but remember a lot of references are lost on many of the British audience as well - i'm unaware of any undertone to the rubbish (on the surface) cheese shop and parrot sketches as well.

mind you The Simpsons managed to make me laugh by just ripping the piss out of people who i had no idea of. different thing i know but you don't need to know who Ted Koppel is to know that Homer saying 'Ted Koppel IS a robot' is funny etc.

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:40 (twenty years ago)

I like Monty Python, but agree with those above that say it's been diminished for them through re-enactments. The least funny parts to me were always Eric Idle's lengthy rants, and those probably get recited the most. The inexplicable two-second shots of Michael Palin as a leering Herrmann Goering ("soon, baby") and the Deja Vu sketch are pinnacles of comedy to me. It's likely that their work has been so absorbed into the 'landscape' of sketch comedy that I can easily imagine someone finding them quite dull today.

With few exceptions, I find Kids in the Hall tend to go for a kind of absurdity that I find pretty unengaging. Sometimes I'm caught off guard, but I get used to it in a few seconds and there's nothing more for me to laugh at. To me, it's like weirdness for the sake of being weird.

The funniest sketch comedy to me is SCTV. It's so dense with ideas that it would take pages to work out all that's funny about a single line. The one that just came to mind is hardly even a line - it's Bobby Bittman's "whooooaaa!" w/hand gesture when his character sees his brother on a hook in "On the Waterfront Again".

Pangolino again, Friday, 12 November 2004 17:41 (twenty years ago)

The inexplicable two-second shots of Michael Palin as a leering Herrmann Goering ("soon, baby")

Ha! Great stuff. The Deja Vu episode was the first I ever saw (and I was confused when in the next episode there weren't any more exploding animals).

I think my favorite all time Python sketch is the wordless simplicity of the Fish-Slapping Dance: vaguely rambunctious music, Palin and Cleese in khaki uniforms, Palin dancing/prancing back and forth slapping a ramrod straight and unsmiling Cleese with tiny fishes across the face, then the music stopping, Cleese taking a huge fish about the size and strength of that dildo in GTA: San Andreas and clobbering Palin, who then falls into some water.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:45 (twenty years ago)

Kids In The Hall - what's your favorite sketch(es)

Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:49 (twenty years ago)

I like monty python, kids in the hall, chris rock, curb your enthuisiasm, the state, woody allen, seinfeld, strangers with candy, different strokes, south park, fawlty towers, tom green show, the muppet show, mr.show, and the Simpsons. Love most of them. I probably love SCTV more then all of them though. Maybe.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 17:50 (twenty years ago)

You like everything and are therefore a bad critic. Er, wait.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:02 (twenty years ago)

I'm like scott, I like everything on that list except for Tom Green.

Leon the Fratboy (Ex Leon), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:06 (twenty years ago)

Every show listed on this thread is hysterical, including "Seinfeld".

(xpost!)

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:07 (twenty years ago)

I really really like Strangers With Candy. I even started a thread about it.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:08 (twenty years ago)

I think the thing about liking different kinds of comedy is much the same about liking different kinds of music (or anything) in that not only do tastes differ but that while the various modes can be all over the map, the end result has to work as well as possible. Few things in an artistic sense are more outrageously painful than something that tries to be funny and isn't, so shows that persistently fail or do something badly in the eyes of a beholder rapidly engender contempt.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:13 (twenty years ago)

Leon, i almost didn't include tom green, but then i remembered that i had enjoyed bits of his mtv show in the past. like when he's playing guitar on the street and starts singing about the people walking by. "He's got a kid on his head!" That show could be pretty funny. and not funny. again, it's a case of -do you think he's too annoying to even watch in the first place? - though.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:18 (twenty years ago)

I've never seen "Mr. Show", though a friend recommended it to me. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" I find funnier than "Seinfeld" because "Larry" comes off like an ass in the context of the show-world whereas "Jerry" acted like an ass but came off like Mr. Regular Eye of the Storm-type with the whole show-world operating on ass-logic. I hated the show "Seinfeld". I love Gilbert Gottfried's impression of Mr. Seinfeld's humour. ("Why do people drink water? Is it because they're thirsty? Who are these "Water Drinkers"?; Why do people wear shoes?, etc.)Having said that, I think he's very talented in terms of timing and delivery.

I agree with Ned's post about comedy rapidly engendering contempt in those it fails to 'work' for.

Pangolino again, Friday, 12 November 2004 18:20 (twenty years ago)

It's nice to know that Amazing Race fans enjoy a lot of the same comedy!! (and dan was one of the only people to say that he enjoyed some of the people on mad t.v. on that contentious and oh so bitter thread.)

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:20 (twenty years ago)

SCTV is another totally unfunny thing

kyle (akmonday), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:21 (twenty years ago)

oh brother.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:24 (twenty years ago)

i just love the silly. not everyone loves the silly as much as i do. wet hot american summer is really really silly.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:26 (twenty years ago)

Pangolino OTM re: Gilbert Gottfried (I am still fond of Seinfeld).

W i l l (common_person), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:28 (twenty years ago)

I think SCTV, maybe especially Joe Flaherty, makes use of a kind of awkwardness that I can imagine people reacting badly to. A friend told me recently that he finds people that are now around 30 and younger tend not to like it. He hadn't come to any conclusions about why it may be. I wouldn't have noticed that by myself, but it seems quite plausible.

Pangolino again, Friday, 12 November 2004 18:30 (twenty years ago)

people 30 or under are probably bored by it. all those long stretches with none of the zippy editing that people are used to now.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 18:52 (twenty years ago)

Homey don't play dat game

W i l l (common_person), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:01 (twenty years ago)

Can we devote more of this thread to how lame South Park's gotten? I remember laughing to the point of having breathing problems the first time I saw the "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld" episode, or the fake commercials they had for "Alabama Man" and "Super Wacky Action Bike", but their priorities over the last few seasons have seemed to be something like this:

1) Be "offensive"
2) Be topical
3) Milk whatever pop culture references haven't already shown up in the show
4) Be funny

The last episode they showed didn't have the first three (except for a Star Trek reference Futurama did first & better), so it was more tolerable than most of the other episodes I've seen lately, but a lot of it just seems really forced now. (On the other hand, the J-Lo episode followed that formula to a T and I nearly died. So.)

MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:05 (twenty years ago)

was it SCTV that martin short's character ed grimsly made his debut? i heart him. and SCTV.

Emilymv (Emilymv), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:23 (twenty years ago)

yes.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:33 (twenty years ago)

Or sorry,
I do say, yes.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:33 (twenty years ago)

I can't remember where this is from, but I loved when Ed Grimley went to his fridge to get something to offer a guest, and all he had was onions.

Panoglino again, Friday, 12 November 2004 19:39 (twenty years ago)

The latest South Park episodes aren't very good..

Nowell (Nowell), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:41 (twenty years ago)

i loved it when on snl he made xmas cookies and kept forgetting his oven mitts, i must say. and his obsession with pat sajak.

Emilymv (Emilymv), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:45 (twenty years ago)

i'm probably the only person in the whole wide world who saw martin short's brilliant late-night special with jan hooks, aren't i? brett butler making a movie with "dark genius" tim burton. a hard day's journey into night. ring a bell? god, i loved that thing.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:48 (twenty years ago)

That sounds promising, I MUST SAY.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:52 (twenty years ago)

"SCTV" was all right, I guess, but I never got Guy Cabballero or Miss Prickley. Those characters never made me laugh.

The MacKenzie Brothers, though. They still crack me up. I listened to "Take Off!", the song from their comedy album that featured Geddy Lee on lead vocals, and for a very brief moment, I thought that Geddy Lee was okay.

I mean, just look at them:

http://www.lallybroch.com/LOL/movie/mackenziebros.jpg

Rick Moranis in particular. Nearsighted Comedians - Eyeglasses = teh funny.

Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 12 November 2004 19:53 (twenty years ago)

The last handful of South Park eps haven't been very good, but some of the ones from earlier this year were great. And in general the last few seasons have been far, far better than the first few seasons were.

The Buddy Cole sketches now seem horribly dated, but at the time they were great, and one of the best parts of the show.

Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 12 November 2004 20:10 (twenty years ago)

Scott - I don't remember Jan Hooks or Tim Burton, but was that the one with "I made you two shirts", Hulk Hogan and "I'm Jackie Rogers, Jr. - DOESN'T ANYBODY CARE?"?

Pangolino again, Friday, 12 November 2004 20:20 (twenty years ago)

no, i don't think so. in this one, they did a hilarious soap opera where martin short played a boytoy/male-model and jan hooks played a joan crawford-esque rich bitch. AND Martin also played a senile bette davis-esque grandmother. it was wonderful. jan hooks also played rosie perez and rosie breaks down during an interview and confesses that she is actually british and that she was trained at the old vic.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 20:30 (twenty years ago)

oh right I forgot about Ed Grimley on SCTV, well that shit was funny.

the Ed Grimley CARTOON was great too!

kyle (akmonday), Friday, 12 November 2004 20:30 (twenty years ago)

I didn't see that one, but it sounds really good.

Pangolino again, Friday, 12 November 2004 20:36 (twenty years ago)

All of these are some degree of teh funney, but I find that the humor is inversely proportional to the rabidness of the fanbase. Yeah that Knights of Ni bit was funny until I heard metric assload of fans redoing it to death. That shit does not age. STOP ME IF YOU HEARD THIS ONE! OH WAIT YOU SAW THE MOVIE TOO? PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIEK TO BUTCHER A SCENE WITH ME!

Dale Panopticalis (cprek), Friday, 12 November 2004 20:37 (twenty years ago)

http://www.werenotsorry.com/images/fourmore3.jpg

Oh, and neither am I, Forehead Boy.

Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:05 (twenty years ago)


I saw Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" in a room with a bunch of strangers, save this guy I desperately wanted to kiss at the end of the night (OK, I was 17). The movie freaked the both of us out so badly with its badness I just wound up going home alone, shell-shocked.

Hence, I fucking hate Monty Python.

sugarpants (sugarpants), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:13 (twenty years ago)

jeez, for a second i thought that guy with the newspaper was me. kinda looks like me. and he dresses like me. no python poster on my wall though.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:15 (twenty years ago)

i think all of the abovementioned shows have their merits. there are some sketches on snl, the state, kith, upright citizens brigade, sctv, mr show etc. that are piss your drawers hilarious, and there are some sketches that totally blow. what i like about kids in the hall, mr. show, the state in particular are that they're kinda dumb-brainy. the more you watch them, the more you catch the little things. like the face bob odenkirk makes when he's singing a hymn to satan, or the incredible depression that overtakes the red-headed dude from the state when michael ian black tells him he likes the tacos, but he'd like to get his mail, too.

i don't know. there are some parts of all of those shows that need to be deleted from the annals of history altogether. and other parts that are so funny you'll cry (bob odenkirk's "mouthful of sores" comes to mind), but you've already decided you don't like that show, so you probably won't get around to seeing them.

shrugsy. opinions and whatnot.

slapster mcgee, Friday, 12 November 2004 21:15 (twenty years ago)

oh, and i can totally see monty python being hard to find funny. my dad always tried to get my sister and i into them when we were young tweens... it took his purchase of some lame interactive monty python cd thing that had these games and answering machine messages on it to get me hooked. there was this one game where you used the keyboard to control a pig that floated across the sky and you used the spacebar to send logs of poo from the pigs ass onto something on the ground. or something like that. that shit was funny. after that, it all just clicked (oh it helps if you can understand what they're saying, so i can see why 'merkins would be less interested).

slapster mcgee, Friday, 12 November 2004 21:19 (twenty years ago)

Kids in the Hall live on their first reunion tour was absolutely the funniest thing I've ever seen. The edited-for-Comedy Central shows pale in comparison. I haven't gotten to watch the first season on DVD yet, but I'm anxious to see how the 'good friends' (friends/neighbors at a dinner table, degenerates into an orgy) sketch translates to TV.

I love KITH and most Woody Allen, I'm indifferent to Monty Python and I hate Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and anything where David Cross is on-screen. I watched the season premier of Arrested Development - maybe I just don't get it but it sucked mondo ass. Last week's West Wing was funnier.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:26 (twenty years ago)

there is sooooo much i found funny about mr.show. it depresses me a little that people like ned and others don't get tickled by some of it. it is really silly! I dunno. dickie crickets? when they go up the teacher's mom's ass? that great summer movie about the dalai lama and the rapping contest? "รค rap rap, a rap rap rap" sheesh, i can't ask much more of my funny stuff. the marching band/amadeus sketch?

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:27 (twenty years ago)

Also I disagree about MP's inability to end a sketch. I think their refusal to end sketches properly was one of the most interesting things about the show. Most of the shows I've seen which end their sketches properly suffer from this (including KitH and of course SNL).

Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:29 (twenty years ago)

david cross could be really funny on mr.show. the tofutti-pushing billionare who kept retarded goats cuz they were nature's president? the lazy satanist boy in the wheelchair? lots of stuff.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:29 (twenty years ago)

I've never go to watch shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Office - that British show. Aren't those the shows that "smart" people watch?

Nowell (Nowell), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:30 (twenty years ago)

I saw the Kids reunion show thingy aswell and went stupid with joy!

Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:31 (twenty years ago)

I like Mr. Show a lot actually but it got progressively worse with each season. I recently watched the season 4 dvds and they were for the most part pretty terrible. But yeah, David Cross is great when he plays characters (as in Arrested Development, which I love), and Bob Oedenkirk is genius.

n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:33 (twenty years ago)

I need to watch more TV.

Nowell (Nowell), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:35 (twenty years ago)

that great summer movie about the dalai lama and the rapping contest?

That plus one of the metal band sketches were about the only two I think of that really worked for me, and I've seen a slew of episodes over time now. That's a pretty low ratio.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:37 (twenty years ago)

I used to have a flawless Ed Grimley impersonation, I wonder if I still can do it. The time he was going to meet Pat Sajak was like a masterwork in my mind. "Maybe he's like a normal person! It's difficult to say! Oh god, it's making me mental!"

Allyzay Science Explosion (allyzay), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:39 (twenty years ago)

I downloaded the first season of Arrested Development and was sooo disappointed. I think I laughed twice through all the episodes (why did I bother watching them all), probably when Jeffrey Tambor was on-screen. But even he couldn't cancel out David Cross's screentime and Ron Howard's narration and the lazy contrived writing.

W i l l (common_person), Friday, 12 November 2004 21:39 (twenty years ago)

disliking Monty Python because you've heard too many people quoting them endlessly is the new quoting Monty Python endlessly (and how come no one ever says that about "Scarface"?)

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 12 November 2004 23:40 (twenty years ago)

I can only speak for myself when I say "because I've never seen 'Scarface'?"

Pangolino (ricki spaghetti), Friday, 12 November 2004 23:42 (twenty years ago)

i would think that when you need to stress that you DO have a sense of humour, then it's a good indication that you haven't.

also, here's a tip- monthy python's worst sketches shit all over woody allen. woody allen is the mathematical inversion of humour. seinfeld is not that far behind. do you like will and grace?

d.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 01:03 (twenty years ago)

and you have seen take the money and run and bananas and sleeper and love & death?

scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 13 November 2004 01:06 (twenty years ago)

while allowing i suppose that it's all opinion..

anyone for the fast show or family guy?

d.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 01:40 (twenty years ago)

"Family Guy" can be very funny.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 02:07 (twenty years ago)

The "Moose" sketch by Woody Allen is the mathematical identity of humor.

Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 13 November 2004 02:43 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Woody Allen sucks, let's talk about the family Guy. (???)


No reflection on you, Alex. I consider your family guy fandom perfectly in keeping with your wonderfully skewed aesthetic. (that's not true, actually. I just like you and I don't know who the hell the Woody Allen-hater is.)

scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 13 November 2004 02:47 (twenty years ago)

fair enough.

but i just don't find woody allen funny- he is very obviously aiming for an intellectually aware, preppy humour and forgot to supply the jokes. his entire ouvre is an ego trip, and if i never see him tongue kiss an actress young enough to be his daughter (OOPS) it will be fine by me.

family guy is clever enough to be dumb, and to know it. but it is very, very funny.

d.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 02:51 (twenty years ago)

again, have you SEEN Take The Money And Run. If not, get back to me when you have. I confess that I don't quite understand the Family Guy revisionism. When it was first on i thought it was bad and then it came back and apparently everyone loves it. But when I do try and watch it I can't wait for it to go away. I hate the animation for one thing. Everything in it so damn ugly. It's like watching a Foxtrot comic strip for 30 minutes.

scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 13 November 2004 02:57 (twenty years ago)

hey, i'd like to enjoy woody allen movies, don't get me wrong. if i come across something people would recommend as his best, i'll give it a try. but i'm not sure that something as 'gut instinct' as comedy should be such hard work as he seems to make it.

family guy is what it is. there's no real explaining it. i don't think anyone watches it for the animation, to be honest.

d.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:02 (twenty years ago)

'comedy' isn't funny

gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:03 (twenty years ago)

but i just don't find woody allen funny- he is very obviously aiming for an intellectually aware, preppy humour and forgot to supply the jokes. his entire ouvre is an ego trip, and if i never see him tongue kiss an actress young enough to be his daughter (OOPS) it will be fine by me.

Woody Allen not funny?? What is WRONG with you people? Okay, granted...his humour has moved steadily away from its absurdist origins, but he's still incredibly funny. Like Scott says, see Take the Money & Run (which, to be fair, he did not direct). Better yet, see Sleeper and/or Bananas. See Broadway Danny Rose. Better still, read "Without Feathers" and/or "Getting Even". The man inside considered a comic genius for nothing.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:03 (twenty years ago)

Seinfeld and CYE are the funniest things on this thread

gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:04 (twenty years ago)

The man inside considered a comic genius for nothing.

Sorry, I'm multi-tasking at the expense of logic. That should have read: The man isn't considered a comic genius for nothing.

I never found "Seinfeld" particularly funny.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:05 (twenty years ago)

"Seinfeld" is kinda like the Grateful Dead of comedy -- just not that exceptional despite its massive following.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:05 (twenty years ago)

You're right about Woody Allen, but wrong about Seinfeld. Ah well.

Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:07 (twenty years ago)

on another note, i saw spinal tap this week, and was decidedly meh.

any other 'classics' that probably are worth a miss? don't even start on animal house

d.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:08 (twenty years ago)

I find Spinal Tap meh too, but I think we're in the minority. Animal House is great, though.

Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:09 (twenty years ago)

horrifyingly enough, joe dirt rocked my boat. don't blame me, i didn't ask for it.

d.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:10 (twenty years ago)

Family Guy ...[is] so damn ugly. It's like watching a Foxtrot comic strip for 30 minutes.

OTMFM. "Family Guy" is painful to watch. They try way too hard.

For example, there was this one scene where Peter was talking about how something was "like stealing candy from a baby". Then we jump to a flashback scene of Peter standing in the park next to a baby carriage, you can see it coming, stealing candy from the baby. Now multiply these obvious unfunny jump scenes by 200, and you've got an episode of "Family Guy".

And their attempts at shock humor is assmoric. Like when the boy got his JFK Pez dispenser shot off in a convience store and then says, "At least I still have my Bobby Kennedy dispenser!" Huh? Oh, haha. Whatever.

Stewie makes me laugh sometimes. Sometimes.

Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:12 (twenty years ago)

ah well. hooray for a dumb sense of humour i guess. on another note, here is a programme on rte tonight in ireland-

22:10 Straight Steer for the Clueless Queer Comedy parodying recent American import Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Unreconstructed straight men effect a heterosexual makeover of Brendan Courtney (irish celebrity homosexual)

sounds like fun.

D.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:16 (twenty years ago)

They tried this on Comedy Central a while back. "Straight Plan for the Gay Man". I think it failed. Miserably.

MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Saturday, 13 November 2004 03:54 (twenty years ago)

failed to rehabilitate or just ratings wise?

d.arraghmac, Saturday, 13 November 2004 04:20 (twenty years ago)

oh man, there needs to be a special museum solely devoted to the failed Comedy Central shows.

kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 13 November 2004 04:26 (twenty years ago)

failed Comedy Central shows.

Anyone remember "Frank's Trip to the Orient"?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 04:32 (twenty years ago)

wait, was that Frank DeCaro? I thought that was just a one-off special

holy shit, i'm now remembering the lizz winstead/frank decaro movie reviews on teh daily show. that was like SIX years ago.

kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 13 November 2004 04:45 (twenty years ago)

"Strip Mall" was another Comedy Central winner.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 04:53 (twenty years ago)

dude, it lasted for like 2-3 seasons! why god why

kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 13 November 2004 05:05 (twenty years ago)

"Battle Bots" lasted way longer than it should've.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 05:08 (twenty years ago)

probably b/c it was so cheap to make, and they could film an entire season's worth of eps in a single day.

buddy of mine was a PA on that show. never did tell me if he ever got to meet (fellow Univ of Mich alumni) the Sklar Brothers.

also, i like how Jon Stewart would openly mock the show each night...

kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 13 November 2004 05:12 (twenty years ago)

The sketches are all poorly timed, they never end properly, and surrealist comedy is such a cop-out (see also: Reeves and Mortimer's entire career).
-- Dom Passantino (juror...), November 12th, 2004. (later)


I don't think it is feasible that Python should be asked to overcome BBC production values from the early 1970s in comparison with more recent shows. They recorded most of their eps live and had very little scope to re-do. Sure they look quaint today, but there's a quaintness to, say, the Beatles today that might mute their impact until you immerse.

The key point about their surrealist comedy instincts is that they invented the shit. They exploded their form. Not ending their sketches just because form dictated a lame punchline was one of their great innovations. They got meta before it was fashionable, and did it really smartly. The odd thing falls flat, but once you get over how lowbudget it all seems, it is as great as it is cracked up to be, IMO.

but remember a lot of references are lost on many of the British audience as well - i'm unaware of any undertone to the rubbish (on the surface) cheese shop and parrot sketches as well.

-- Freelance Hiveminder (stevem7...), November 12th, 2004. (later)


Alls you got to know about these scenes is that IT IS A CHEESE SHOP WITH NO CHEESE! And the man KEEPS ASKING FOR CHEESE!!!!

Comedy doesn't come much purer than this.


plebian plebs (plebian), Saturday, 13 November 2004 09:12 (twenty years ago)

I don't think you'd have The League of Gentlemen without KITH.

suzy (suzy), Saturday, 13 November 2004 10:50 (twenty years ago)

"anyone for the fast show or family guy?"

i only started watching the fast show this week. it's all about the repetition: it gets funnier the more you watch it. i don't love it as much as the office (yet).

jesus nathalie (nathalie), Saturday, 13 November 2004 10:52 (twenty years ago)

disliking Monty Python because you've heard too many people quoting them endlessly is the new quoting Monty Python endlessly

nice try, but not so much. anyone who quotes monty python is a fucking nerd, and quoting monty python is LEAGUES worse than ragging on someone who does.

flinker, Saturday, 13 November 2004 11:58 (twenty years ago)

It's just a question of USE OTHER TARGETS PLEASE. I honestly think I've heard more ppl complain about the practice than I've ever actually heard people engaging in it.

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 13 November 2004 12:45 (twenty years ago)

In my experience it was just the 'high-school theatre techie' demographic. Python regurgitation was just what they did in between slaying Orcs, reading Dune and listening to the Doors. Never bothered me as such but proved a useful marker later. Python quotes have come in handy when in a field full of dirty British crusties monged out on techno and drucks: BRING OUT YOUR DEAD. All British crusties have a touch of the Python peasant about them.

I cannot stand Seinfeld because of the relentlessly cheery and BLOODY OMNIPRESENT slap-bass (which is also a feature of every single yuppie-targetted commercial on US television, ARGH).

suzy (suzy), Saturday, 13 November 2004 13:46 (twenty years ago)

i like practically all these shows...sometimes. and sometimes i don't.

i love kids in the hall, i could watch it forever. i love mr. show, i was a fan from the first time i saw it.

latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 15:15 (twenty years ago)

any Kids in the Hall sketch with either Bruce or Scott is instant bona-fide classic material

-- You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhan...), November 12th, 2004.

OTM

latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 13 November 2004 15:18 (twenty years ago)

plebian plebs - if that's all it was it would have ended after 5 seconds! british trainspotterism + a nerdly number of british cheese varieties + the immense reserve and politesse of the local british shop assistant/customer relationship that has him believably standing there asking after other cheeses without going "oh sod off" --> all completely over my head. i honestly thought he was making up most of the cheeses just to be "weird" (which i bet he actually did in a few spots but i had no idea what the diff was)

i hear what you're sayying though, and that is the superstructure joke that makes it all work. like i said, different levels!!

i love Scott's big gay monologues in KITH. it's totally different to the rest of the show but that's fine by me, it gave the shows it appeared in a little bit of a classic variety light entertainment feel

You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Saturday, 13 November 2004 15:44 (twenty years ago)

Tracer you have realworld email.

suzy (suzy), Saturday, 13 November 2004 16:18 (twenty years ago)

Direct from Peter Gabriel himself.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 16:25 (twenty years ago)

yarr!

You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Saturday, 13 November 2004 16:26 (twenty years ago)

I cannot stand Seinfeld because of the relentlessly cheery and BLOODY OMNIPRESENT slap-bass (which is also a feature of every single yuppie-targetted commercial on US television, ARGH).

-- suzy (theartskooldisk...), November 13th, 2004.

It's not even a slap bass, it's about 6 different samples played in some sort of shuffle-mode, isn't it? Whatever it is, I think it's the worst god damn music ever composed for television.

Pangolino (ricki spaghetti), Saturday, 13 November 2004 16:45 (twenty years ago)

Let me third the hate for that crap.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 16:47 (twenty years ago)

Let me fourth it and add that sometimes I wish Bootsy Collins would smother Larry David in his sleep for that

MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Saturday, 13 November 2004 18:14 (twenty years ago)

which reminds me of when my first boss in portland found out that i was a bass player. My response to his query of "Do you even plan any funk?" was something along the lines of "people who play slap-bass get their fingers broken."

we tried to implement this policy at the bar i did sound at, but the owner wouldn't let us. not even after we all witnessed this pouncey git playing a bright-green 8-string bass.

kingfish (Kingfish), Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:28 (twenty years ago)

TS: playing slap-bass vs being a gigantic dick about people who play slap-bass

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:04 (twenty years ago)

Well it's certainly a shame if that ON IT'S OWN stops anyone
from watching Seinfeld, rather than the amazing script and dialogue, the brilliant acting, the flawless concepts etc. But then I thought the same thing about six years ago when I first saw it which, coeincidentally, was the first time I heatd the slap-bass moan.
Anyway, that Monty Python eh, you know I would like it, but all these geeks in my year perform the sketches and zzzzzzzzzzzzz

x-post

Masked Gazza, Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:09 (twenty years ago)

should be "heard the slap-bass moan"

Masked Gazza, Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:16 (twenty years ago)

It was the slap bass patch on a kurzweil keyboard played one-handed by a tubby putz while wanking the pitchbend wheel with the other. It was a 'happy accident' or some such tripe according to a short, trivial piece I once read in Electronic Musician in approximately 1995, Electronic Musician being about the only magazine published stateside at the time that dealt with synthesizers and music software, and my brain being capable of hoarding UTTERLY USELESS trivia from hell for decades apparently while being completely incapable of recalling 90% of the vocabulary that once allowed me to read Korean newspapers with alarming levels of comprehension (for a short time I was even able to 'get' some korean puns) and with near-native speed, but WHO NEEDS FLUENCY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE WHEN YOU CAN REMEMBER WHICH KEYBOARD WAS USED FOR THE INTERSTITIAL MUSIC ON AN AMERICAN SITCOM?

TOMBOT, Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:25 (twenty years ago)

You are a passionate man.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:25 (twenty years ago)

No really the human nervous system being what it is I may have actually been on the verge of forgetting that one particular craptoid but now thanks to this thread new connections are being built in my brain RIGHT NOW AS I TYPE that will ensure I remember it for another 10 years barring some miraculous accident

TOMBOT, Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:40 (twenty years ago)

"craptoid"

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:40 (twenty years ago)

Actually, there's a hypothetical question, would disfigurement destroy memory?

Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:41 (twenty years ago)

well, seeing as how memory (probably) takes up physical space in your head, one would say yes...

kingfish (Kingfish), Sunday, 14 November 2004 02:32 (twenty years ago)

"anyone for the fast show or family guy?"
i only started watching the fast show this week. it's all about the repetition: it gets funnier the more you watch it. i don't love it as much as the office (yet).

exactly. the key to the fast show is repetition, but i can't tell you why this is so. it gets better and better, trust to this.

d.arraghmac, Sunday, 14 November 2004 03:13 (twenty years ago)

i've NEVER found "kids in the hall" funny (except for the "doors fan" sketch), so i guess humor is a fairly subjective thing. on the other hand, i couldn't disagree more with this:

The Python movies are good, but I defy anyone to actually watch Python the series with a clean slate of expectations and actually find it consistently funny.

the (mostly awful) last season aside, i think MPFC was the most consistently inventive and unpredictable comedy series ever. no matter how many times i've seen an episode, there's always some hilarious little bit i've forgotten about. the "people quote it too much for it to be funny" argument makes no sense to me because there are TONS of skits on the original series that no one ever quotes. watching even the best SNL after a Python episode is a little like drinking diluted root beer.

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Sunday, 14 November 2004 04:28 (twenty years ago)

Kids in the Hall strikes me as more interesting than funny most of the time. Most of the sketches seem ready to break out into *seriousness*(not pathos, just seriousness, I dunno how to explain it), probably inadvertent(or it's just me) but it's...kind of interesting that way like I said. Not terribly watchable, at any rate, maybe we agree. Monty Python (TV) is severely hit and miss but I make allowances for that kind of thing, as I do with SNL, which is severely underrated insofar as the general wisdom has been to reflexively dismiss it for so long(late 70's?) it's almost a cliche(not to cast aspersions on anyone's motives here at all, I just think it's pretty widespread default opinion in the general public). It's given me more than enough laughs to justify sitting through it off and on, even in the bad years, except for maybe one or two in the 90's. South Park is still brilliant and absolutely can't understand Chris Rock non-love but it doesn't trouble me. I just make wildly presumptuous cultural assumptions in my head and keep them to myself so as to avoid PC/anti-PC "you don't know me, pal" quagmires. Please leave me this one indulgence.

tremendoid, Sunday, 14 November 2004 04:51 (twenty years ago)

tracerhand - nice unpacking.

I've indulged in a bit of Python quoting (not much, because I like to do everything in a half-hearted, lukewarm sort of a way) not because I'm a nerd or I like Star Trek or Lord of the Rings especially (I like them both fine, but not in any geeky way) but because it can be great fun with the right person, like dancing, or some other types of things likeminded people do for pleasure in concert with one another (I'm sure these exist but I can't bring them to mind).

plebian plebs (plebian), Monday, 15 November 2004 09:36 (twenty years ago)

i like the KITH sketch where Bruce is the "hot" pop singer lady, with a huge chastity belt on

tammy - "i ain't gonna spread for no roses"

lauren (laurenp), Monday, 15 November 2004 12:40 (twenty years ago)

i love KITH... discovered it on late night UK TV when i was 19 or something, on the tip of melody maker, and it just seemed so weird and so funny - the first 'surreal' comedy i'd seen in ages that got me the same place that Monty Python did when i loved it as a kid. as for python, it seems a little creaky when i see it now, but the Deja Vu sketch still kills me, and having a sense of the repressiveness of the society it lampoons just makes it funnier, though i don't really enjoy the movies nearly so much now (but KITH's Brain Candy is unreservedly recommended).

Chris Rock's stuff I don't know well enough, but I do think a lot of what he does pales next to Richard Pryor, his obvious hero. But I need to get one of his concert movies out or hear one of his albums really - i've enjoyed him in movies and on SNL. South Park i just never catch nowadays, though the last one i saw - where they mixed up a porn video and the lord of the rings tape - was absolute unmitigated genius, as is the NAMBLA episode...

stevie (stevie), Monday, 15 November 2004 13:03 (twenty years ago)

As a scientific experiment, I, an ILXor under the age of 30 (I'm 25) who had never seen SCTV before, watched the first two episodes of season one of SCTV. I thought it was mildly amusing, occasionally shifting over to very funny. I thought the best thing about it was the long format that allowed them to have lengthier sketches. The acting was all pretty good, but the writing was not consistently funny. Thank you for your time.

n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 15 November 2004 15:44 (twenty years ago)

SCTV is much funnier if you're familiar with crappy 80's Canadian television.

Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 15 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago)

n/a OTM

stevie (stevie), Monday, 15 November 2004 16:14 (twenty years ago)

Very few shows can be accurately judged from the first two episodes of the first season.

W i l l (common_person), Monday, 15 November 2004 16:15 (twenty years ago)

What about On The Air?

Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 15 November 2004 17:39 (twenty years ago)

Millar! That bit of slap-bass trivia is worthy!

I hate warm, fuzzy, jazzy talk-show themes almost more than the slap-bass interludes (and always imagine the news-music writers from Broadcast News taking a meeting to come up with it)

suzy (suzy), Monday, 15 November 2004 17:43 (twenty years ago)


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