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March 28, 2024, 10:48:38 AM

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Things that seem to be punchlines in US comedy...

Started by Starlit, January 08, 2021, 08:23:03 PM

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Andy147

People removing a mattress tag to show what a law-breaker they are; or by mistake, and then thinking they'll be arrested for doing so - because in the US such tags say "Under penalty of law this tag is not to be removed*".

Even the TV Tropes page for this says "Can also cause bafflement to people from nations where such tags aren't put on mattresses".

*actually, "Under penalty of law this tag is not to be removed except by the consumer", but let's not spoil the "joke".

neveragain

I've never seen that before. Could you give me some examples?

JaDanketies

Quote from: Andy147 on January 09, 2021, 11:17:03 AM
People removing a mattress tag to show what a law-breaker they are; or by mistake, and then thinking they'll be arrested for doing so - because in the US such tags say "Under penalty of law this tag is not to be removed*".

I swear I had a mattress with that tag on it, and I removed the tag.

dead-ced-dead

Quote from: neveragain on January 09, 2021, 11:34:09 AM
I've never seen that before. Could you give me some examples?

I recall there's an example of the mattress gag used in Ed, Edd and Eddy, which is as close as a show gets on Cartoon Network and aimed at 12s and under to being a sitcom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtvMNQXHtJI

Twonty Gostelow

Quote from: thenoise on January 09, 2021, 09:14:33 AM
Any reference to 'kool-aid' makes me think of Jim Jones, usually a more tasteless reference than intended.

I don't think I've ever heard a reference to Kool-Aid that I didn't automatically assume was related to Jonestown.

JaDanketies

The Lucky Charms adverts seem to be very popular in US Comedy. I believe they involve a leprechaun who is trying to stop people from eating the cereal.

ersatz99

Not rreferring to a kid's age but by which educational tier they're in. 5th grader?

Twonty Gostelow

Quote from: Janie Jones on January 09, 2021, 11:14:58 AM
I remember being baffled by an early episode of Rosanne which revolved around the trauma caused by the fact that in front of her classmates, 'Becky cut the cheese!'

Did we just move to Pittsburgh?

Dayraven

Quote from: Dusty Substance on January 08, 2021, 08:57:24 PM
".... You can't go on a date wearing that. Looks like you bought it from Wallmart/Target...." - I've always guessed those shops are the U.S equivalent of Woolworth (R.I.P) and Tesco.
Until it changed hands this year, Asda was owned by Wal-Mart.

QuoteAlso: the Love Boat, Laverne & Shirley, Three's Company, the Jeffersons, etc. Crappy sitcoms seem to be very influential for a certain generation of US comedy writers.
A lot like making Terry and June, Keeping Up Appearances, or Last of the Summer Wine references, I'd say.

idunnosomename

cutting open live frogs in school well into the 1990s

AsparagusTrevor

Quote from: JaDanketies on January 09, 2021, 11:49:31 AM
The Lucky Charms adverts seem to be very popular in US Comedy. I believe they involve a leprechaun who is trying to stop people from eating the cereal.

We did have Lucky Charms in this country for a short time, including the adverts. I believe they were banned from sale since the sugar content would make Willy Wonka wince.

Of course, you might still find them in one of those American sweet shops for about forty quid a box.

idunnosomename

Big tescos often have stupid american cereals for similar stupid prices (£4 or something like that)

Andy147

Quote from: JaDanketies on January 09, 2021, 11:49:31 AM
The Lucky Charms adverts seem to be very popular in US Comedy. I believe they involve a leprechaun who is trying to stop people from eating the cereal.

They've had at least 2 references to Oscar Mayer adverts in The Simpsons. And I've seen "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids!" on more than one show.

Twonty Gostelow

Quote from: Carpool Dragon on January 08, 2021, 09:28:03 PM
Also: the Love Boat, Laverne & Shirley, Three's Company, the Jeffersons, etc. Crappy sitcoms seem to be very influential for a certain generation of US comedy writers.

I wouldn't say Laverne & Shirley was crappy, although there were a few duff moments in 178 episodes! Michael McKean was in most of them, playing a character he himself created in his college comedy days, and I think he wrote a handful of episodes too (including this one he co-wrote with Harry Shearer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJikUNQHkKs).

Even one of the very worst episodes was worth it for a double entendre they sneaked in by playing it straight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYQzxCpNQPw&t=34s


Rizla

References to somewhere called Bumfuck, Missouri/Idaho or wherever. Still not sure what that's all about, an inconsequential small town I'm guessing.

An tSaoi


Twonty Gostelow

The Heimlich Maneuver (manoeuvre, guys) crops up inexplicably often, perhaps because Americans throw food down their gizzards with the mimimum of chewing (which would explain the nice teeth), or because they rarely stop talking.

Icehaven

Any mention (frequently euphemistically) of Twinkies. Think they're some kind of cream cake but don't really know and I'm not looking it up.


Icehaven

Quote from: ersatz99 on January 09, 2021, 11:50:39 AM
Not rreferring to a kid's age but by which educational tier they're in. 5th grader?

I must have looked up what age is in what grade a hundred times to get a better understanding of something I'm watching but I always forget shortly afterwards.

Edit: Just looked it up again and realised adding 5 to the grade gives you the child's age. So first graders are 6, second graders are 7, fifth graders are 10 etc. Still never getting my head round all that Freshman/Sophomore/Senior year crap though.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Mr Trumpet on January 09, 2021, 11:10:17 AM
I've never seen Gilligan's Island, and i've never read up in it or anything, but think I could make a pretty good fist of describing what it's about based purely on secondhand pop culture gags in other US shows.

Likewise. It must surely be a contender for the most-referenced show in American TV history.

And that's something we don't really do over here, is it? Sitcoms mentioning other sitcoms and comedy shows. The Office is an obvious exception, as Brent specifically nicks jokes and catchphrases from well-known comedy sources, but apart from that and Vyv's rant about The Good Life in The Young Ones, I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head.*

*Actually, Partridge mentions Robin's Nest at one point, doesn't he? There are probably loads of other examples.


George White

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on January 11, 2021, 09:03:52 PM
Likewise. It must surely be a contender for the most-referenced show in American TV history.

And that's something we don't really do over here, is it? Sitcoms mentioning other sitcoms and comedy shows. The Office is an obvious exception, as Brent specifically nicks jokes and catchphrases from well-known comedy sources, but apart from that and Vyv's rant about The Good Life in The Young Ones, I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head.*

*Actually, Partridge mentions Robin's Nest at one point, doesn't he? There are probably loads of other examples.
Father Ted and One Foot in the Grave
That late Only Fools where Boycie compares Trigger to Mr. Bean, seemingly ignorant of the fact Roger Lloyd Pack appeared in that series.

JaDanketies

#54
Quote from: Special K on January 11, 2021, 08:41:20 PM
Getting Mono

In the UK we call mono 'glandular fever' and it is the worst illness I have ever had. Less Lisa Simpson sitting on the couch, reading magazines about teen boys and occasionally coughing, and more being unable to swallow without significant pain and having a fever that was so high it made me have nightmarish delirious hallucinations and waking dreams. I remember falling out of bed and feeling like part of me carried on falling forever into eternity. Went downstairs and turned on the TV, it was on mute, and I understood this as meaning that the part of me that could hear had fallen into eternity and I was now deaf.

When I google it, it's associated with a hell of a lot of potential complications for a disease we've not yet eradicated. We vaccinate against measles and chickenpox but we let this hell-disease reign? It's a herpes virus too. Yknow I don't often call for the utter destruction of species, but if the whole herpes virus family was annihilated I wouldn't complain.

Not a laughing matter anyway, American sitcoms.

Quoteherpes herpes bo burpees bananarama fo furpees, herpes


Starlit

... clipping coupons.

We have coupons in the UK, but there's nothing funny about people using them.

Twonty Gostelow

Quote from: Special K on January 11, 2021, 09:14:42 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq3U_l_mInA

I think Ocelot might have been referring to the other joke about Canadians, that they often end sentences with "eh".

Gulftastic


Starlit

Quote from: Special K on January 11, 2021, 08:41:20 PM
Getting Mono

Quote from: JaDanketies on January 11, 2021, 09:12:37 PM
In the UK we call mono 'glandular fever' and it is the worst illness I have ever had. Less Lisa Simpson sitting on the couch, reading magazines about teen boys and occasionally coughing, and more being unable to swallow without significant pain and having a fever that was so high it made me have nightmarish delirious hallucinations and waking dreams. I remember falling out of bed and feeling like part of me carried on falling forever into eternity. Went downstairs and turned on the TV, it was on mute, and I understood this as meaning that the part of me that could hear had fallen into eternity and I was now deaf.

When I google it, it's associated with a hell of a lot of potential complications for a disease we've not yet eradicated. We vaccinate against measles and chickenpox but we let this hell-disease reign? It's a herpes virus too. Yknow I don't often call for the utter destruction of species, but if the whole herpes virus family was annihilated I wouldn't complain.

Not a laughing matter anyway, American sitcoms.

Mono was one of the things on my moind when I started the thread, but forgot to include it.

I think I've heard Glandular Fever  mentioned once, if at all, in UK comedies.
Why is it mentioned so often in US comedies?

Is this, and the other oft-repeated things, down to the large number of episodes that writers are required to produce each season? As time runs out, some filler is inevitably required, and it's easy to draw from a list of barely amusing but widely recognised references.