Comedy/sitcom jokes that people won't "get" anymore

[firepoint525]

Double Trouble, the '80s NBC comedy with the Sagal twins, Liz and Jean. There was a reference to Ed Sullivan, and one of them said, "you know, he's the guy in the Billy Joel video." ;D Even that reference would be lost on most folks now.

 

[KeithE4]

Double Trouble, the '80s NBC comedy with the Sagal twins, Liz and Jean. There was a reference to Ed Sullivan, and one of them said, "you know, he's the guy in the Billy Joel video." ;D Even that reference would be lost on most folks now.

So would the reference to the Sagal twins. In fact, that reference would be lost on just about everybody - outside of this board, of course. ;D

(Hint: There's a connection to Married With Children and 8 Simple Rules)

 

[Markxxx]

I think political references are the hardest. I listen to a lot of old time radio and I don't have to know who Anne Sheridan or Marie McDonald are to get the jokes that they are beautiful women.

I like Burns and Allen with Rita Hayworth as a guest.

Rita) It's true Gracie, the studios have built me up as such a glamour girl I can't get a date.

Gracie) Well if that's true maybe you shouldn't dress so fancy, try wearing just a sweater.

From that joke alone you can tell Rita Hayworth is pretty stacked, without knowing who she is.

 

[rnigma1]

Double Trouble, the '80s NBC comedy with the Sagal twins, Liz and Jean. There was a reference to Ed Sullivan, and one of them said, "you know, he's the guy in the Billy Joel video." ;D Even that reference would be lost on most folks now.

So would the reference to the Sagal twins. In fact, that reference would be lost on just about everybody - outside of this board, of course. ;D

(Hint: There's a connection to Married With Children and 8 Simple Rules)

..and "Futurama" and "Sons of Anarchy"... I knew that Katey was their sister. And their dad was Boris Sagal, who co-created "Mr. Novak" and directed several TV movies.

 

[desertv]

A lot of the comedies that focused on black characters or black families in the early to mid 70s, would make references to Rodney Allan Rippy and his Jack In The Box comercials, that where big in Southern California at the time but were forgeign to the rest of the country at the time. How could George Jefferson in New York or JJ Evans in Chicago know about Rodney Allan Rippy when those comercials aired mainly in Southern California?

The same thing occurs with sitcoms based in LA mentioning grocery chain Ralphs (which only operates in Socal and is now a part of the Kroger empire)

 

[ronald54321]

Not most folks, but some.

 

[LKellerIII]

A lot of the comedies that focused on black characters or black families in the early to mid 70s, would make references to Rodney Allan Rippy and his Jack In The Box comercials, that where big in Southern California at the time but were forgeign to the rest of the country at the time. How could George Jefferson in New York or JJ Evans in Chicago know about Rodney Allan Rippy when those comercials aired mainly in Southern California?

The same thing occurs with sitcoms based in LA mentioning grocery chain Ralphs (which only operates in Socal and is now a part of the Kroger empire)

That's really no different from shows set in the South mentioning Piggly Wiggly, or whatever. A lot of comedy bits used to reference Crazy Eddie in NYC (Dan Aykroyd used to parody Eddie, for one), but the skits were still funny.

 

[cd637299]

Double Trouble, the '80s NBC comedy with the Sagal twins, Liz and Jean. There was a reference to Ed Sullivan, and one of them said, "you know, he's the guy in the Billy Joel video." ;D Even that reference would be lost on most folks now.

That's what I'd call "doubly dated"!

cd

 

[cwf1701]

What about forgotten dance crazes (Disco, the Macarena, etc)

 

[SixtiesGuy]

I think the "Andy Griffith" show has remained popular due to the lack of topical jokes. Most of the shows dealt with evergreen topics. One episode where Aunt Bea and her women's club get drunk on the tonic has a topical joke. When Andy comes into the house and Aunt Bea is playing the piano, she says, "Look here girls, it's Matt Dillion! Where's Chester?" I think that was left in the show because of the popularity of "Gunsmoke".

And both shows we're on CBS, so a little publicity for another network show couldn't hurt.

Imagine how odd it would be if I Love Lucy had been more topical. We'd have to sit thru jokes about Kruschev, Eisenhower playing golf instead of working, Nixon's dog Checkers, and the hole in Adlai Stevenson's shoe.

Oh- go look it up! ;D

The thing is, no shows of that era, comedy or otherwise, would have dared go there, even in a lighthearted, good-natured way. Maybe Bob Hope had the clout to slip in a quick one-liner about the politics of the day, but that was about it. This all came to a head in the late 1960's with The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, which CBS, purely out lack of anything resembling courage, cancelled because of the brothers' constant attempts to include very pointed, topical humor about the political and social issues of the day. In hindsight, that humor was incredibly mild. Most viewers of today would wonder what all the fuss was about.

 

[tlyle]

The Dean Martin show had some dated material. If a young person saw it today, would he remember Dean as a boozer/girl chasing celebrity, movie star, or Jerry Lewis' comedy partner?

 

[SixtiesGuy]

The Dean Martin show had some dated material. If a young person saw it today, would he remember Dean as a boozer/girl chasing celebrity, movie star, or Jerry Lewis' comedy partner?

Jerry who?

You forgot to mention recording artist: Dean sold quite a few albums and singles in the Sixties. But considering that his presence these days is pretty much limited to movies shown on some cable channels, I think the answer is movie star. The boozer/girl chaser part is occasionally mentioned when the subject of the Rat Pack comes up.

 

[stevations]

Watching current talks shows like Leno, Letterman,etc..... sometimes a guest will make a reference to something or someone from the 70s or 80s, the host usually cracks up and makes fun of the fact that the guest brought up something so dated. So the comedy works and the audience seems to like it. I wish I could think of some examples....does not happen often but I have seen it and I know what they are talking about but youngsters probably do not. But a lot of young people do know alot about music from the 60s and 70s......sometimes it is their favorite type of music. Many times it is because their parents like it and they learned to like it.

 

[KyDXIn]

I wish I could think of some examples....does not happen often but I have seen it and I know what they are talking about but youngsters probably do not. But a lot of young people do know alot about music from the 60s and 70s......sometimes it is their favorite type of music. Many times it is because their parents like it and they learned to like it.

How bout this, a blast from the past...
She had a voice like Mrs. Miller!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWoWH8W3sVo

Check out her version of "Strangers in the Night." Lot of doobie in that song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV0MtVWIN8Y&list=AL94UKMTqg-9CzROYRYH1e5glanw_yEFjl

Gary Owans discovered her.

 

[LKellerIII]

Watching current talks shows like Leno, Letterman,etc..... sometimes a guest will make a reference to something or someone from the 70s or 80s, the host usually cracks up and makes fun of the fact that the guest brought up something so dated. So the comedy works and the audience seems to like it. I wish I could think of some examples....does not happen often but I have seen it and I know

As a fan of Conan, John Stewart and Steven Colbert, it's interesting how many dated references they make. All three of them are 50, or a bit younger, but seem to know a great deal about post-WW2 America in the 40s and 50s, before they were born. They are all either students of history, or have some baby boomer writers on staff.

 

[firepoint525]

The first time that anyone ever mentioned "Mrs. Miller" on this site (that I saw, anyway), I just assumed that it was Mitch Miller's wife. I figured that she HAD to be his wife, to ever make it in the music business with the voice that she had!

 

[KeithE4]

The first time that anyone ever mentioned "Mrs. Miller" on this site (that I saw, anyway), I just assumed that it was Mitch Miller's wife. I figured that she HAD to be his wife, to ever make it in the music business with the voice that she had!

Elva Miller was basically an LA-area housewife who sang "as a hobby," and was discovered by Gary Owens. She had a slight resemblance to Margaret Dumont, and was not married to Mitch Miller. If she was around today, she'd be one of the "joke" acts on American Idol. Her 15 minutes of fame ended around 1967, and she retired for good in 1972. She died in 1996 at age 89.

 

[Tom Wells]

I love Mrs Miller, and will only play her version of "Downtown" on my station, eschewing Pet Clark for
"I Know a Place". NOW I may have to pull Frank Sinatra's version of Stranger in the Night in favor of Mrs Miller's version.

But for a while I will be playing both. I really love Mrs. Miler's delivery and timing.

Thanks for dat inka dinka doo, too.

 

[KeithE4]

The first time that anyone ever mentioned "Mrs. Miller" on this site (that I saw, anyway), I just assumed that it was Mitch Miller's wife. I figured that she HAD to be his wife, to ever make it in the music business with the voice that she had!

Elva Miller was basically an LA-area housewife who sang "as a hobby," and was discovered by Gary Owens. She had a slight resemblance to Margaret Dumont, and was not married to Mitch Miller. If she was around today, she'd be one of the "joke" acts on American Idol. Her 15 minutes of fame ended around 1967, and she retired for good in 1972. She died in 1996 at age 89.

She is also not related to Lillian Miller, aka Miss Miller (1897-1990), the old lady who was a regular (an audience member to start, but later was an on-stage presence) on The Tonight Show during the Steve Allen and Jack Paar eras, and The Merv Griffin Show.

 

[KyDXIn]

The first time that anyone ever mentioned "Mrs. Miller" on this site (that I saw, anyway), I just assumed that it was Mitch Miller's wife. I figured that she HAD to be his wife, to ever make it in the music business with the voice that she had!

Elva Miller was basically an LA-area housewife who sang "as a hobby," and was discovered by Gary Owens. She had a slight resemblance to Margaret Dumont, and was not married to Mitch Miller. If she was around today, she'd be one of the "joke" acts on American Idol. Her 15 minutes of fame ended around 1967, and she retired for good in 1972. She died in 1996 at age 89.

I believe Lillian Miller used to visit Carol Burnett's show too, and there are a few clips online of her being introduced by Carol.

I love Elva Miller's version of "Moon River".

Gary Owens was interviewed and addressed his creation of Mrs. Miller. That interview can be seen at this site, midway down the page. The whole interview is informative to fans of Owens.

http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2010/11/interview-with-gary-owens.html

She is also not related to Lillian Miller, aka Miss Miller (1897-1990), the old lady who was a regular (an audience member to start, but later was an on-stage presence) on The Tonight Show during the Steve Allen and Jack Paar eras, and The Merv Griffin Show.