tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post5081367103384342876..comments2024-03-28T18:59:21.172-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Why don't comedies age well?agnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-23699941964897075192010-05-24T05:38:36.555-04:002010-05-24T05:38:36.555-04:00"Young Frankenstein" still works for me ..."Young Frankenstein" still works for me after 35+ years - I don't see it dating quickly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-11395662612990154222010-05-20T04:03:05.572-04:002010-05-20T04:03:05.572-04:00Monty Python and the Marx brothers will never go o...Monty Python and the Marx brothers will never go out of style!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-18165199078091125662010-05-06T07:07:14.247-04:002010-05-06T07:07:14.247-04:00@ James O: Cult popularity is no guarantee that a ...@ James O: Cult popularity is no guarantee that a film is even liked when people watch it to be rebellious and trendy at the same time.<br /><br />- BreezeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-44132987739229921972010-05-05T19:58:36.865-04:002010-05-05T19:58:36.865-04:00As usual, I can't find much to disagree with.
...As usual, I can't find much to disagree with.<br /><br />I'll be surprised if Planes, Trains, and Autos, and Groundhog Day, are not still cult-popular a century from now (cult popularity being the best one can hope for a century-old film).James O.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-37045307244906806152010-04-30T18:51:42.566-04:002010-04-30T18:51:42.566-04:00That is a good point about bugs bunny. Here is a ...That is a good point about bugs bunny. Here is a list of some of the references:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.i-foo.com/~eocostello/wbcc/eowbcc-a.html" rel="nofollow">A CARDS<br /> A favorite wartime gag of Bob Clampett. A cards were a part of the gasoline rationing programs of World War II, and entitled the cardholder to the smallest available ration of gasoline. Larger rations were available for uses deemed vital to the war effort through B and C cards, among others. See Gasoline Rationing for more information.<br /> In Falling Hare (Clampett, 1943), Bugs Bunny points with his carrot to an A Card as the reason the plane runs out of fuel.</a>sfernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-74312305393743374942010-04-30T16:57:56.472-04:002010-04-30T16:57:56.472-04:00"Family Guy"
I half agree and half disa..."Family Guy"<br /><br />I half agree and half disagree. Yes, the topical and celebrity humor will all get outdated. The meta-humor, which was especially wrong in seasons 1 and 2, should have a very long life span. <br /><br />The joke is at the experience of the material itself, and there are no story arcs, so people watching an entire episode should be able to get the jokes.Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17327836181389523648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-78636443389099495442010-04-30T11:45:17.648-04:002010-04-30T11:45:17.648-04:00i think the old World War II era bugs bunny cartoo...i think the old World War II era bugs bunny cartoons have held up well and there all gags often about things that happened 70 years ago.exception?noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-88187344369602118432010-04-30T00:35:18.574-04:002010-04-30T00:35:18.574-04:00The comedies that do last don't lead to riotou...The comedies that do last don't lead to riotous laughing, in my opinion. Die Meistersinger has some laughs, but is more a lighthearted look on melancholy. Verdi's Falstaff offers some laughs. Don Quixote is funny, but not extremely.<br /><br />(as a counterexample, however, Henry IV Part I makes me suffocate from laughter at times, mostly because Falstaff is a timeless asshole)<br /><br />Usually, really good comedies usually make you chuckle, and lightheartedly examine deep, timeless concerns. The comedies that age quickly and fall to dust are those that are gag-based, not theme based. The problem with them is that the gags are only funny once or twice, and since they stack so much humor into a worthless plot, they are extremely tiring midway through.Sidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-92134019574961377192010-04-29T19:09:14.718-04:002010-04-29T19:09:14.718-04:00When Monty Python began they had the specific aim ...When Monty Python began they had the specific aim of making a "formless" type of humour. John Cleese said that "the inclusion of the word Pythonesque in the Oxford English dictionary demonstrates that we failed".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-73182425419633789172010-04-29T09:01:17.861-04:002010-04-29T09:01:17.861-04:00Some comedies, even those that don't rely on p...Some comedies, even those that don't rely on physical comedy or sight gags, do stand the test of time. We still perform Elizabethean-era comedies, Moliere, and Lysistrata for example. I can still look back at a Eddie Murphy comedy from the 80s/90s and laugh. But things that weren't all that funny to begin with don't last for very long, but when has that not been true?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-33867772976633703382010-04-29T08:38:06.658-04:002010-04-29T08:38:06.658-04:00Hughman: Film noir is not comedy. It is a dark gen...Hughman: Film noir is not comedy. It is a dark genre about morally questionable people and actions - hardly the stuff of comedies. <br /><br />However, I can think of one movie from that era I find funny - The Philadelphia Story. But its story has timeless aspects in common with works such as Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. <br /><br />Which backs up a point Agnostic made - that timeless comedy will last. However I think timeless comedy is almost impossible to achieve. I can think of no enduring comedies in the history of literature.<br /><br />But the reason most modern comedy will die is because its based on being insulting - which is very relative to what is offensive at the time.<br /><br />- BreezeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-38475025305140573362010-04-28T20:42:26.332-04:002010-04-28T20:42:26.332-04:003 Stooges, Marx Brothers, Chaplin, etc. is slapsti...3 Stooges, Marx Brothers, Chaplin, etc. is slapstick humor, and Monty Python and early Woody Allen largely involve physical and sight gags. So that proves my point: those aren't attempts to skewer a rival group, and their appeal is timeless and universal.<br /><br />Most comedies aren't so heavy on slapstick and sight gags, though, so overall comedy does worse than other genres. Easiest way to see this is comparing comedies vs. other genres across all media and as far back as they go.<br /><br />I'm sure there were some riotously funny poems and songs circulating hundreds of years ago, but they've been weeded out through the years while narratives based on action, adventure, conflict, etc., have survived better.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-86685572506817085602010-04-28T15:36:14.188-04:002010-04-28T15:36:14.188-04:00Topical humour rarely lasts, true, but most things...Topical humour rarely lasts, true, but most things don't.<br /><br />How much of Film Noir is still watched? Casablanca, some Laurel and Hardy, some Chaplin, It's a Wonderful Life and Some Like it Hot.<br /><br />Note how much of that list was comedy. Laurel and Hardy are only less funny because their physical gags seem worn-out to us now.<br /><br />Also, British comedy does kick ass. We still watch reruns of the 3 Stooges, Morcombe and Wise, the 2 Ronnies, Monty Python, and some of that stuff is from the 60s.Hughmannoreply@blogger.com