One of the main problems with the modern comedy

[Goo Punch 4,275]

...has to with the writing, specifically the fact that every character in every movie nowadays is apparently a comedian. When i think back on my favorite comedies of all time, the characters weren't trying to be funny, they weren't trying to get laughs, they were in and of themselves funny. And that's just it- all they did was be themselves, and it was funny. Now every single character is a comedian.

Im channel surfing yesterday in the 1600's (HBO's and whatnot on ATT), and I landed on the very beginning of a movie where John Cena plays the dad to a high school daughter. I had the channel on for less than 30 seconds and John Cena made five jokes. He's in his bedroom with his wife and he goes on some monologue about eating pussy and was just firing off similes and metaphors and euphemismsms left and right like a goddamn standup routine, a staple of the modern comedy. Every character in every movie gets at least five of the old, "you look like such and such and such", and "that smells worse than whatever the fuck". It's lazy writing, it's not in John Cena's wheelhouse, and unless the idea behind this movie is, "hey let's get John Cena to tell jokes and be funny for two hours", then they're completely fucking it up.

Which reminds me, today's writers think that raunchy automatically equals funny, and that women being raunchy equals HILARIOUS. Well, it doesn't. Stop writing 120 minutes worth of jokes all to be delivered by every fucking character in the movie and start writing funny, original scripts and casting good comedic actors. Start from there and maybe we can have our first great, original comedy of the last couple decades or so.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Goo Punch

[SimonBolivar 10,962]

It's that you're in your 30s now and you're still trying to connect with the "it" comedy that is geared towards the junior high/high school/early college demo. 

[Js1 85,929]

[Parliament 14,413]

Get off my lawn!

[retread 2,951]

27 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

It's that you're in your 30s now and you're still trying to connect with the "it" comedy that is geared towards the junior high/high school/early college demo. 

That's definitely part of it. I watched parts of the Gilda Radner feature on CNN last night. It was such a different time. SNL used to be appointment TV. Network TV comedies were the same.

It's hard to put into words. Maybe there was a certain innocence that doesn't exist now?

[texashorne 1,180]

I thought Blockers was funny. 

But speaking to what the OP is saying, look at the transition between Can't Hardly Wait and American Pie. 

[Gene Parmesan 4,027]

More Blockers less Holmes and Watson. 

[Knoxtnhorn 6,180]

Agree with OP - especially the last paragraph.  Too much of today's comedy has to be about "ant-raunching" the last guy or girl.  Plus, quite a bit of it is just mean spirited.

[Kyle 207]

So many topics that were staples of humor generations ago are off limits now, so basically there is a really narrow window in which to work. So that just keeps getting pushed further with more vulgarity, gross out, and meanness ... and women making poop and sex jokes.

That being said, I actually watched Blockers expecting it to be one of the worse movies ever, wifey and I actually laughed a few times. I thought John Cena was unexpectedly pretty good.

[Guest Lobo]

The fact that "Big Bang Theory" was the top rated comedy in the U.S. for so many years should tell you all you need to know about the state of comedy in this country.  When we are given a chance to challenge comedy foundations, and exercise our brains a bit, and test some boundaries---the mainstream will actually go for top level comedy. 

Carlin and Pryor and Murphy were huge once.  Seinfeld and Cheers were our top shows.  Steve Martin and Bill Murray, who mare not exactly John Cena and Kevin Hart, put out blockbuster comedy movie hits every year for decades.  Johnny Carson and David Letterman, at their peak, were in everyone's living room elevating the bar of civic discourse with loads of laughs peppered on top.  

But then the guys that make movies, promote comedy tours, green-light tv shows, and push the news to latenight figured out that that's all well and good.  But you can get 25% more audience for 25% less money by dumbing the whole thing down by 50%.  And here we are.  

[atomheartbevo 90,143]

2 hours ago, retread said:

It's hard to put into words. Maybe there was a certain innocence that doesn't exist now?

Blazing Saddles was not innocent.  Airplane made fun of some pretty dark things.  Even the first Vacation had implied incest.  

The thing is, those comedies were written as movies with overall plots, and the jokes serviced the plot.   Even movies like Hangover, there is a very clearly defined story.   I still watch some of those movies   

But a lot of stuff these days feels like, as others said, the writers came up with some jokes and scenes, and/or putting comedians/actors into certain situations, and then tried to make a movie around it.  I watch those movies just once usually.  

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,568]

Network TV sitcoms are hard to evaluate today other than they are normally just weak and/or bad.   It's better for the networks to take chances with their cable networks, or pass on ideas to the streaming-only options.    As an example, FXX has some good comedies (Always sunny, better things, archer, you're the worst, etc.) that could never make it on the OTA networks.  

 

 

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

3 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

It's that you're in your 30s now and you're still trying to connect with the "it" comedy that is geared towards the junior high/high school/early college demo. 

probably, but i also can't name any truly great comedies from recent years. 

[retread 2,951]

42 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Blazing Saddles was not innocent.  Airplane made fun of some pretty dark things.  Even the first Vacation had implied incest.  

The thing is, those comedies were written as movies with overall plots, and the jokes serviced the plot.   Even movies like Hangover, there is a very clearly defined story.   I still watch some of those movies   

But a lot of stuff these days feels like, as others said, the writers came up with some jokes and scenes, and/or putting comedians/actors into certain situations, and then tried to make a movie around it.  I watch those movies just once usually.  

Totally agree about importance of plot. I think the innocence lay in the audience back then. There was no internet, and there wasn't an endless stream of memes. There was an audience that was able to be surprised and entertained by outlandish/politically incorrect movies.

Edited January 2, 2019 by retread

[SimonBolivar 10,962]

10 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

probably, but i also can't name any truly great comedies from recent years. 

There have been some good ones like I Tonya, The Death of Stalin, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, and BlacKkKlansman...but I know what you mean there hasn't been a big Caddyshack like hit in the past couple of years as far as I know. Maybe Deadpool? Not my cup of tea and didn't see it.

[SimonBolivar 10,962]

7 minutes ago, OatmealRaisinCookie said:

I was pleasantly surprised with TAG. Also I thought Jumanji was funny, maybe that was 2017 but I saw it in 2018.

Didn't see TAG, but Jumanji was much better than I expected it to be.

[Js1 85,929]

2018:

Game Night

Dead Pool 2

Blockers

 

There were some good ones if you dig under the clunkers like I Feel Pretty, Overboard, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Life of the Party

[TornACL 7,767]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

Blazing Saddles was not innocent.  Airplane made fun of some pretty dark things.  Even the first Vacation had implied incest.  

The thing is, those comedies were written as movies with overall plots, and the jokes serviced the plot.   Even movies like Hangover, there is a very clearly defined story.   I still watch some of those movies   

But a lot of stuff these days feels like, as others said, the writers came up with some jokes and scenes, and/or putting comedians/actors into certain situations, and then tried to make a movie around it.  I watch those movies just once usually.  

To be fair, you just described Caddyshack to a T. 

[Michael Knight 13,094]

Theres nothing wrong with comedy today, you're just older and not funny

[TornACL 7,767]

These threads all sound like when my uncles get together and talk about how no good music has been released since Def Leppard Hysteria. 

Which of course is fucking bullshit garbage. But you see what you want to see. 

[Kyle 207]

57 minutes ago, Js1 said:

2018:

Game Night

Dead Pool 2

Blockers

There were some good ones if you dig under the clunkers like I Feel Pretty, Overboard, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Life of the Party

For reasons that remain unclear, I tried to watch "Spy" on a plane ... I think I just wanted to see Mila Kunis. If she were naked the entire movie it would not have been watchable. That other chick may be the least funny person in the world besides the two chubbies in the other movies you mentioned.

[Kennythetiger 9,504]

21 minutes ago, TornACL said:

These threads all sound like when my uncles get together and talk about how no good music has been released since Def Leppard Hysteria. 

Which of course is fucking bullshit garbage. But you see what you want to see. 

Well, they're right.

[Eskimohorn 5,658]

Theres nothing wrong with comedy today, you're just older and not funny

Comedy Features have migrated to tv and have been watered down to appeal to more demos and in more languages. People are also getting their comedy from action movies. The Comedy genre in movies have dipped due to the items above and described in other threads.

Derka’s main point that there’s not enough “straight men” is an astute observation but is not a main reason the Comedy genre has suffered.

[atomheartbevo 90,143]

1 hour ago, TornACL said:

To be fair, you just described Caddyshack to a T. 

That definitely fits in with that bunch, as does Animal House and plenty of others from that era.  Those were all driving a story along.  

[clapclapclap 9,000]

6 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

I'm channel surfing yesterday in the 1600's (HBO's and whatnot on ATT),

Baroque is boring, skip ahead to the Industrial Revolution.

[Pato del Muerto 52,976]

...is that people like garry shandling and bob Einstein aren’t a part of it anymore 

[Underdog 28,891]

That people in Hollywood continue to think that Kevin Hart, WF, McCarthy are funny.  

[Richard Kimball 1,506]

2 hours ago, Kyle said:

For reasons that remain unclear, I tried to watch "Spy" on a plane ... I think I just wanted to see Mila Kunis. If she were naked the entire movie it would not have been watchable. That other chick may be the least funny person in the world besides the two chubbies in the other movies you mentioned.

Mila Kunis is, IMHO, the classic Hollywood celeb who cleans up gorgeous, but makes you fully understand what going to be with a ten and waking up with a four means. When she's dolled up, guys fight over her. When she's not, whoa!

 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

yikes.......

[Neonmoon 38,130]

The comedies of this generation are just as funny to this generation as the past comedies are to the past generation. 

Deadpool and Thor: Ragnarock are two of the funniest movies in the past decade. The olds say ‘well I don’t like all that comic book flim flam’. Just like the olds who grew up laughing at the three stooges or Chaplin see Cadyshack or Bull Durham and say, “that’s just a sports movie to me” 

Things change

[Michael Knight 13,094]

35 minutes ago, Richard Kimball said:

Mila Kunis is, IMHO, the classic Hollywood celeb who cleans up gorgeous, but makes you fully understand what going to be with a ten and waking up with a four means. When she's dolled up, guys fight over her. When she's not, whoa!

 

[Underdog 28,891]

Is that Fonzi’s nephew who wanted to be a florist in that 2nd pic?  

[Richard Kimball 1,506]

26 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

The comedies of this generation are just as funny to this generation as the past comedies are to the past generation. 

Deadpool and Thor: Ragnarock are two of the funniest movies in the past decade. The olds say ‘well I don’t like all that comic book flim flam’. Just like the olds who grew up laughing at the three stooges or Chaplin see Caddyshack or Bull Durham and say, “that’s just a sports movie to me” 

Things change

That is a terrific point. I think, though, that some comedy stands up over time and some doesn't. The Stooges still works. The Andy Griffith Show and the old Bob Newhart Show still work. Happy Days and Laugh-In don't work, anymore. One of my students told me anyone that quoted Monty Python was automatically an old fart. 

Some of the new humor doesn't work for me, and some, I have to let settle in for a while. DeadPool was great for me from out of the gate.

But Major League is always funny. "Hes got so much nose hair when he sneezes he looks like a party favor."

BTW, there are college freshmen this year who weren't born when The Emperor's New Groove came out. 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

29 minutes ago, Richard Kimball said:

That is a terrific point. I think, though, that some comedy stands up over time and some doesn't. The Stooges still works. The Andy Griffith Show and the old Bob Newhart Show still work. Happy Days and Laugh-In don't work, anymore. One of my students told me anyone that quoted Monty Python was automatically an old fart. 

Some of the new humor doesn't work for me, and some, I have to let settle in for a while. DeadPool was great for me from out of the gate.

But Major League is always funny. "Hes got so much nose hair when he sneezes he looks like a party favor."

BTW, there are college freshmen this year who weren't born when The Emperor's New Groove came out. 

Anyone who doesn't think Monty Python isn't funny is a raging dumb ass, regardless of their age. There's Python, and then there's everybody else.  

So let it be written so let it be so.  They're timeless.  

[Richard Kimball 1,506]

3 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Anyone who doesn't think Monty Python isn't funny is a raging dumb ass, regardless of their age. There's Python, and then there's everybody else.  

So let it be written so let it be so.  They're timeless.  

He didn't say it wasn't funny. He said you're an old fart. 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

2 minutes ago, Richard Kimball said:

He didn't say it wasn't funny. He said you're an old fart. 

 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

6 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

 

Ahhh get the fuck off my lawn.

[Pam Cummings 9,718]

I thought both Horrible Bosses movies were funny as shit.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

10 hours ago, TornACL said:

These threads all sound like when my uncles get together and talk about how no good music has been released since Def Leppard Hysteria. 

Which of course is fucking bullshit garbage. But you see what you want to see. 

holy irony batman. my gripe is with one (well two) very specific trope(s) of modern comedy that did not feature in the popular/iconic comedies from decades past, yet seventeen of you geniuses run in here with the super original, "no you're just older and think that everything that's new sucks" line. nope. that's not it. but hey, you see what you want to see. 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Goo Punch

[Goo Punch 4,275]

does this make it more clear? i'm talking about this judd apatow style, six people sitting in a room just firing off one liners and stand up comedy style jokes for two hours type movies that are so prevalent today. instead of the story/plot/scene/actors/film being funny, every single character has to be just super witty and ready to spout off clever one liners at a moment's notice, scene after scene after scene. 

lloyd christmas wasn't clever and witty; tommy callahan wasn't sharp and savvy with a bunch of one liners; billy madison, happy gilmore, bluto blutarsky, ace ventura, phil connors, clark griswold, and so on and so forth- they weren't sitting around the entire movie engaging in witty banter with every single other character like it's one of those comedy central round table shows; they played funny characters involved in funny, original stories. if your response to this is still, "nah you're just old and you hate everything that's new" then i don't know what to tell you. 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Goo Punch

[RPM 26,433]

16 hours ago, texashorne said:

I thought Blockers was funny. 

But speaking to what the OP is saying, look at the transition between Can't Hardly Wait and American Pie. 

What about the transition from Andy Hardy to Frankie and Annette? These teens are outa control.

[52-80 19,288]

14 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

There have been some good ones like I Tonya, The Death of Stalin, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, and BlacKkKlansman...but I know what you mean there hasn't been a big Caddyshack like hit in the past couple of years as far as I know. Maybe Deadpool? Not my cup of tea and didn't see it.

I found Deadpool series wayyyyy too contrived, but can see how to teenagers it just hits the spot.

OTOH, This is the End is just an all-star cast standing around riffing and clowning eachother, and it's hilarious

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

The comedies of this generation are just as funny to this generation as the past comedies are to the past generation. 

Deadpool and Thor: Ragnarock are two of the funniest movies in the past decade. The olds say ‘well I don’t like all that comic book flim flam’. Just like the olds who grew up laughing at the three stooges or Chaplin see Cadyshack or Bull Durham and say, “that’s just a sports movie to me” 

Things change

I'm 48.

Love Deadpool comedy.  He talks shit and is witty.

Thor is a bit more forced and it gets to be a din of drum banging distraction in the movie.

[Brew 3,049]

You watched a movie about 3 parents cock blocking their teenage daughters with Leslie Mann as the lead and complain about raunchy comedy, it should have been expected with the title. As far as the Cena one liners, they are funny because it’s John Cena, the clean cut straight laced wrestler.

The Rogen/Apatow/goldberg/etc version of comedies is consistently a better movie than the Sandler/Ferrell group of comedies. They have better high points, but their low points are just f-ing awful.

[Richard Kimball 1,506]

4 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

does this make it more clear? i'm talking about this judd apatow style, six people sitting in a room just firing off one liners and stand up comedy style jokes for two hours type movies that are so prevalent today. instead of the story/plot/scene/actors/film being funny, every single character has to be just super witty and ready to spout off clever one liners at a moment's notice, scene after scene after scene. 

lloyd christmas wasn't clever and witty; tommy callahan wasn't sharp and savvy with a bunch of one liners; billy madison, happy gilmore, bluto blutarsky, ace ventura, phil connors, clark griswold, and so on and so forth- they weren't sitting around the entire movie engaging in witty banter with every single other character like it's one of those comedy central round table shows; they played funny characters involved in funny, original stories. if your response to this is still, "nah you're just old and you hate everything that's new" then i don't know what to tell you. 

Okay, gotcha. First, Judd Apatow. Yeah. I see his name associated with a project, and I know it's gonna be something I'm not interested in. This is a specific type of comedy designed to keep production costs down, and also, in my mind, associated with millennial (Lena Dunham) tropes of navel gazing. If you trace it back, I think you find it in a lot of Woody Allen films, and you could argue that Seinfeld did a lot of it. There tends to be a lot of self-flagellation in it, and whether it works or not depends entirely on the talent of the writers and the cast. It's not generally my type of humor, because I find it depressing, although I like some of Seinfeld's stuff. 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

Just now, Richard Kimball said:

Okay, gotcha. First, Judd Apatow. Yeah. I see his name associated with a project, and I know it's gonna be something I'm not interested in. This is a specific type of comedy designed to keep production costs down, and also, in my mind, associated with millennial (Lena Dunham) tropes of navel gazing. If you trace it back, I think you find it in a lot of Woody Allen films, and you could argue that Seinfeld did a lot of it. There tends to be a lot of self-flagellation in it, and whether it works or not depends entirely on the talent of the writers and the cast. It's not generally my type of humor, because I find it depressing, although I like some of Seinfeld's stuff. 

Hard to compare Apatow with Woody in his prime IMO.  He was damned fucking funny, but got sad and waaaay to self absorbed with himself and his condition later in his career imo.  

I can't watch Louis CK's sitcom because the humor, while funny at times was so damned depressing, sad sack.  His stand up is hilarious though, go figure.

[TornACL 7,767]

5 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

holy irony batman. my gripe is with one (well two) very specific trope(s) of modern comedy that did not feature in the popular/iconic comedies from decades past, yet seventeen of you geniuses run in here with the super original, "no you're just older and think that everything that's new sucks" line. nope. that's not it. but hey, you see what you want to see. 

Relax. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,980]

Were good comedies really all that common back in the day? Were there really more than one or two a year? Looking back it seems like there were a lot, but that's only because we have something like 75 years worth of stuff to look at to compare to today. There are still funny movies being made, and there are still movies being made that try to be funny and fail. I would venture to guess that has always been the case. History has just forgotten about the bad ones.

[Trey3216 15,382]

13 hours ago, Pam Cummings said:

I thought both Horrible Bosses movies were funny as shit.

They're funny, if we could get just a little less squealing from Charlie Day

[hayden_horn 11,374]

On 1/2/2019 at 10:35 AM, texashorne said:

I thought Blockers was funny. 

But speaking to what the OP is saying, look at the transition between Can't Hardly Wait and American Pie. 

there is a lot of truth in derka's OP, but this is such a valid point i feel that it needs to be underlined a bit. 

can't hardly wait is a perfect movie that defines a generation perfectly. 

american pie is a funny movie but it relies on a raunchier side of things, almost to the point where it borders on not funny. 

here's a great article about can't hardly wait, and it's place in history:

https://www.theringer.com/movies/2018/6/11/17442324/cant-hardly-wait-20th-anniversary