A Subjective Short Laugh List

A local radio talk show -- with their telephone lines cut by a construction accident -- did what any good/bad/indifferent radio talk show would do, when faced with the need to fill hours of caller-interactive programming with no callers: it went improv, and sought out material online to talk about.

It found a list. A list of the top 100 TV sitcoms, rated by their "ground-breaking" formats.

Like most lists, this one is subjective, based on the opinions of the list assembler, and fraught with all kinds of debate: for example, WKRP in Cincinnati is rated much worse than The Brady Bunch; Ellen is rated better than Friends or Seinfeld, or Frasier.

Hello?

Then there are the lists that are popular on blogs nowadays, such as 25 Things About Me and 13 Things I Don't Like About Things, or some such.

And there are lists like that of the Titanic, but that would be non sequitur.

At any rate, as I listened to the TV sitcom list -- remembering one show and groaning at the placement of another show ahead of it -- I was inspired to come up with my own subjective list. One I don't expect is complete, as I went strictly with those shows or skits I could recall readily to mind; one I don't expect will be agreed to by some, perhaps many. One that might draw more demands of precise clarification and justification of ("name names") from buffoons like Tom, crusader against waskily conservative humor and sanctimonious defender of silly things liberal.

Eh.

At any rate, I selected ten of the funnier moments of TV history that I personally recall as among my favorites down the years. The list is not in any particular order of preference; it's pretty much as I recalled the selected moments:

1. Frasier: in the episode when Niles fakes being pushed in a coffee room 'brawl', and afterward complains of landing on a fork.

2. WKRP in Cincinnati: who couldn't remember and howl about the infamous "turkey drop from a helicopter", reported in emotional Hindenburg style by Les Nessman? That episode, about 24 years old me thinks, is a classic.

3. Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: while there are many skits from that show that still crack me up, my personal favorite remains the dirty old man and the spinster on the park bench (Artie Johnson, Ruth Buzzi), where in he asks her "Do you believe in the hereafter?", to which she replies, "of COURSE I do!"; whereupon he says "heh...then you know what I'm here after.." and she beats the snarf out of him with her purse...

4. The Carol Burnett Show: again, two skits stand out above so many other hilarious ones for me. One is the famous Tim Conway/Harvey Korman dentist skit; the other is a 'Mama's Family' scene wherein Tim Conway is going off on some tangent about an elephant with a sinus problem or some such, and Vicky Lawrence breaks up the scene and the crew with a short sharp expletive at Conway.

5. The Tonight Show: Carson's 'Carnac' routine was a hoot anyway, but the one that stands out for me was the answer: "siff, boom, bah". The question: What's the sound a sheep makes when it explodes? Another favorite was the answer: "kumquat". The question: how do you call your quat?

6. Hee Haw: the country duet (their names elude me just now, though I think one was Archie Campbell) who sang, at least once a show, "Where Are You Tonight?", with new lyrics but the same ending refrain, which one or both could barely get through straight-faced.

7. Ellen: the lobster rescue episode with Mary Tyler Moore.

8. All In The Family: the episode when Sammy Davis Jr. comes to visit Archie & family.

9. Red Skelton: the skit on live TV, when the cow stole the scene -- and the olfactories -- from Red and Jack Albertson, with some improv "pie" production.

10. I Love Lucy: this was a toss-up, but for me it's between the wine vat fight scene and the candy factory scene. They still crack me up.

Agree or not, pitch me your own favorite TV's funniest moments; I'm sure you'll come up with a few I've forgotten.