Sure, but will you agree that the joke works pretty much the same no matter which of those the joke-hearer pictures in their head?
Also, I agree that it’s not a particularly funny joke. But it’s quite possible to get a joke and also not think it’s very funny. “To get” a joke does not mean “think it’s funny”, it means “to understand what is intended to be funny”.
It’s irrelevant whether his robe is too short or it comes untied or a breeze blows it up like Marilyn Monroe’s dress- the point is, one way or another they get an eyeful of his franks & beans, and it’s undesirable. So they want him to wear underwear.
So in that sense, yes, it works, I get it.
This is a really weird thread.
Sitcom jokes have generally been pretty lame ever since the late '70s. 
I dunno, Cheers only rarely disappointed.
I don’t understand this entire thread. What is it that the OP thinks people aren’t getting? It’s actually too obvious to be called a “joke.”
“Cheers!”, God bless it, was a rare exception to the rule, as was “Frasier.”
I’m sure there have been others, but they are few and far between.
Same here. Talk about overcomplicating things.
See, I actually think you’ve got it wrong. Thick terry robes that cross over and are closed with a tied terrycloth belt were the norm back then.
It doesn’t matter how long the robe is, if you bend over forward your knees go out thus pushing the front of the robe open in a long triangle from bottom to belt. It’s not the back view that’s the problem, it’s knees to waist frontal. Squatting frontal, no less. Ewwww!
The older the bender, the more exagerated the effect, because older folks need to widen their stance and bend their knees outward. Plus, the view gets less appealing as time marches on.
Old man crotch joke: Good times.
Reading the OP, I thought it was the former as well (wear shorts instead of pants so I can see the goods) but watching the video and hearing her tone, it’s clear she wants the opposite (wear shorts instead of nothing so I don’t have to see your horrible old man crotch).
The whole thing took awhile for me because all the robes I have are long/big enough I don’t have a problem with them opening when I bend over.
It is a joke, in the sense that the guy is offering to do a favor and the “favor” requested is “stop flashing us.” It conflicts with expectations a bit, like if someone said “is there anything else I can do for you?” and the other person replies “yeah, leave.”
It’s not particularly funny and certainly isn’t complicated, so I’m also confused by why the OP thinks some kind of personal experience might be needed to understand it.
I think the old guy was wearing a shortish robe, and bent over to get his newspaper and since his back was to the ladies, they got a look at his saggy old man balls.
Maybe but this was the 80’s and the era of the terrycloth robe. Even a full length one could flash people multiple ways. Robes don’t cover well by themselves because they are loose, open in the front, and cinch around the waist so any walking or bending will expose you. You need underwear (shorts) for full coverage. It seems obvious and that is all I made of it.
Ditto. She’s saying “Do us all a favor and keep your boy parts covered. We can see everything when you bend over and it’s not pretty.”
I didn’t understand this joke until I did some experimenting with paper towel tubes in the back yard.
I did NOT need that visual…:eek:
This is not meme material. Really, it’s right up there with Goatse: just quit!
I guess bending over and showing too much makes sense. I was thinking maybe the guy sports an early morning hard-on and shorts would keep it in, or something. I wouldn’t expect everyone to immediately get that though.
Why would personal experience be required to find this funny? And if this counts as a RAUNCHY joke, then I dont know how you handle most humor these days, let alone some of the other jokes that were on golden girls.