Why is comedy so stupid now?

Question

Why is comedy so stupid now? I remember when tv shows/cartoons/movies were actually funny and it seems like now everything is completely stupid. I miss being able to laugh. Why is it that random stupid stuff is considered to be funny? It's cheap and takes no talent to create I've come up with better things when I'm going to bed half asleep.

Answer 1

TV shows/cartoons/movies depend upon the uniqueness of the talents of comedians to provide the strings of comedic lines that are appropriate for their genres however, if you look at the world that we are living in and the shape of our society, there has been very little to laugh. It seems that we are receiving a reguritated glop of the same stuff over and over and that's why it's not funny. You've heard it before! You are correct, it's cheap and takes no talent to create. Very few of the shows have a real audience with some longevity. They also depend upon the 'actor' to be able to 'deliver' the mess in spite of whether the material is funny or not. Case in point - I like Patricia Headron ("Everybody Loves Raymond") and I like Kelsey Grammar (Fraizer) as just mediocre actors in comedic positions, but enough is enough - they have their own shows and now they are going to be placed 'together' on a show this fall. I don't see how the two of them together will be able to pull a show off..anyone who has seen them will relate them to their old shows. Surely, there are others out there who have something new to add to the soup. I miss shows like "The Jeffersons", "Sanford", "I Love Lucy", and others who used their entire cast to create the comedic effect from week to week to keep their audiences laughing. Even "Seinfield" was funny because the cast members created their own individual 'haha' and together, they played off of each other.

I wonder what's coming down the pike. Where are the new students who are learning their craft of being comedians? Everybody today depends too much upon putting other cultures down in order to make 'funny'. I have to admit there is one guy who is super funny to me and it's because he hardly breaks his lines - it's a continuous laugh and he might be funny on television as a regular if given a chance - Katt Williams. But then again - he uses so much profanity, I doubt if they would write a script around his type of comedy. He is definitely for the "Redd Foxx" After Midnight Hour. (smile)

Answer 2

Comedy used to be self referencing ... where the joke was on the teller. Comedians over the past 20 years turned comedy into something that is at the expense of others ... which is actually deriving humour from the humiliation of others; to me this is the reason why it doesn't work. I cannot laugh at someone verbally attacking a person/group. Also, you're getting old and you've heard a lot of jokes :p

Answer 3

Whether something is funny or not may depend, to some extent, upon your point of view, your age, your education and your life experience .

As we age we refine our sense of what appeals to us as funny. One day its the three stooges and the next it is Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare).

One of the funniest and most popular TV sows in America, Jerry Seinfeld, never caught on in Germany where the audiences simply said, this isn't funny.

But in the final analysis, humor, even that which doesn't work very well, is always more honest than being serious. The reason is this: Anybody can fake being serious, nobody can fake being funny.

Answer 4

I think because everyone is doing it. It's rare to find something fresh and truly funny. To me, clever funny works best. You can still find some hilarious British comedy around.

The other issue is: What talent is out there? I think about comedians like Chris Farley and John Candy, who oozed natural comedy. Guys like that are very few and far between.

Answer 5

Some stuff out there is funny, like Rush Hour 3? Also the new Jack Black movie looks interesting. All the old comedians are dead, yes like John Candy, I will miss Uncle Buck

Answer 6

To me I think people have the idea that sarcasm is supposed to replace humor. Take a look at cartoons nowadays to further my point. I for one miss REAL commedians like Louis Grizzard and Groucho Marx. It seemed that for every sarcastic event that was done an actual ACT of humor replaced it.

Answer 7

Lowest common denominator. Little Britain and League of Gentlemen leave me cold. Thank goodness for stuff like Mock the Week.

Answer 8

Comedy used to be all about transcending reality and having fun. Now they're just thinly-disguised morality plays with tasteless anatomy jokes and lousy come-ons. Cartoons are more out-of-the-box and absurdist, leaning towards double entendre humor. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer FTW!

Answer 9

Now everything is to politically correct half those old TV shows wouldnt have made on the screen now for fear of insulting someone.

Answer 10

because they ran out of funnies and thought stupidity would be a good substitute plus its not that hard to get an idiot. or maybe they did it because idiots are cheaper than the funnies. i just want to know what happened to tom and jerry the old one it was awesome they should of never stopped making it i would still watch it!