# Embarrassingly bad "comic relief" in old TV drama **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [May 29, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187 "2021-05-29T21:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/21 "2021-05-30T14:08:21Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > On Bonanza, a “funny” Hoss episode was always accompanied by what I call “clown music”. It always let you know that it was a light hearted episode, in case you couldn’t tell. I watch a lot of Bonanza episodes. One was a “funny” Hoss ep where he teamed up with a guy who invented a machine that could detect gold in the ground. It was a big steam powered Rube Goldbergian device with many gauges and levers that had to be operated in a specific sequence. At one point Hoss worked the levers in the wrong sequence and the device exploded. Hoss was left with torn up clothes, a blackened face and a chastened expression, but otherwise unharmed, just like Wile E. Coyote. Plenty of the funny clown music you mention was involved. This was in contrast to another serious, dramatic Bonanza ep I had recently watched where Ben, his sons, plus another man and his sons had to transport crates of nitroglycerin over a mountain pass for plot reasons. It was very tense and suspenseful, and (spoiler alert) one of the other man’s sons (the favorite son, of course) gets himself blowed up. Not funny blackened-soot face blowed up, nothing left to bury blowed up. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/22 "2021-05-30T14:35:19Z")
The most cringe-worth thing in this thread is that the OP thinks that a show from the 90’s is “old.” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/23 "2021-05-30T14:42:32Z")
Sorry about that. I was a married employed adult when ER started, but I’m trying these days to acknowledge that things that happened before some of my coworkers were born do count as “old” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/24 "2021-05-30T15:42:20Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Monk is another character that is handled very inconsistently for humor’s sake Oh gawd yes. In th Sharona years, he could use a cell phone, a tv remote, and even smiled. By the later Natalie years he was confused and frightened by our modern world, and relied on Natalie to “make picture freezer” with the remote. And it was “known” that Monk never smiled. They were indeed cringe-worthy. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/25 "2021-05-30T15:45:00Z")
The Sven and Lena couple in The Searchers were embarrassingly bad. Every time it gets serious out on the titular search, the movie cuts back to the Norweignian joke stereotypes acting like a Minnesota joke. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/26 "2021-05-30T18:15:32Z")
That time in Star Trek TNG when Joe Piscopo was chosen as Earth’s funniest comedian in all of history. Talk about bad comic relief! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/27 "2021-05-30T18:17:22Z")
Concur. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/28 "2021-05-30T18:17:39Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Ben, his sons, plus another man and his sons had to transport crates of nitroglycerin over a mountain pass for plot reasons. It was very tense and suspenseful, and (spoiler alert) one of the other man’s sons (the favorite son, of course) gets himself blowed up. Not funny blackened-soot face blowed up, nothing left to bury blowed up. He got blowed up real good! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/29 "2021-05-30T18:27:46Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > The most cringe-worth thing in this thread is that the OP thinks that a show from the 90’s is “old.” A show from 30 years ago is old. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/30 "2021-05-30T18:30:52Z")
1990 was yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/31 "2021-05-30T19:10:41Z")
Twenty-first century’s yesterday (well, that was 1987, but close enough). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/32 "2021-05-30T19:19:50Z")
The premiere of ER is closer to the Apollo 8’s trip around the moon than to today. Kids born when ER premiered could have kids of their own in kindergarten. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/33 "2021-05-30T19:21:55Z")
1968 was the day before yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/34 "2021-05-30T19:22:24Z")
Very well. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/35 "2021-05-30T19:50:51Z")
I guess @Loach must belong to the “never trust anybody over 30” crowd. Pro-tip–if a movie or TV show is in color, it’s probably NOT old. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/36 "2021-05-30T20:09:52Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > I guess @Loach must belong to the “never trust anybody over 30” crowd. > > Pro-tip–if a movie or TV show is in color, it’s probably NOT old. I’m in my 50s. When I graduated high school the tv from 30 years before was The Milton Berle Show. That was an old tv show. The 90s are 30 years old. A TV show from 1990 is an old TV show. I know it pains people to think that way because it makes them feel old. Time doesn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/37 "2021-05-30T20:17:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Time doesn’t care. True Dat! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/38 "2021-05-30T23:22:12Z")
On a side note, I wonder how many viewers noticed the plot of that episode was “borrowed” from [The Wages of Fear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wages_of_Fear)? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/39 "2021-05-30T23:37:57Z")
I’ve been watching a lot of 30s and 40s movies recently and I notice that a lot of serious films will have out of nowhere “designated comedy bits” with wacky music, and the comedy films will have a bunch of weird serious scenes in them. There’s always the most unnecessary romance in Abbott and Costello films featuring completely third-tier characters and the romance will usually have some weird “life or death” aspect to it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187/40 "2021-05-30T23:58:58Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The 90s are 30 years old. A TV show from 1990 is an old TV show. > > I know it pains people to think that way because it makes them feel old. Time doesn’t care. Sure, it makes me feel old - but that doesn’t cause me pain. When you consider what the sole alternative to growing old is, I’m happy to be getting older! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassingly-bad-comic-relief-in-old-tv-drama/943187.md?page=3)