# Ever watched a comedy that had no laughs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 6, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094 "2022-12-06T14:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/121 "2022-12-22T03:51:21Z")
\<\> ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/122 "2022-12-22T03:52:15Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > [@Rocketeer](#): > > > > Also, it’s not much fun watching Spencer Tracy dying. > > Nitpick: Jimmy Durante. Edit: for “…Spencer Tracy dying” substitute “…Spencer Tracy sick and exhausted”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/123 "2022-12-22T05:00:33Z")
I just watched the dinner scene clip on YouTube. I’m dying over here. Gotta see if I can rent or stream this one…right up my alley! ---
**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:** [December 22, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/124 "2022-12-22T23:23:06Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Here’s a bit of trivia: > > [There was a TV series made a number of years ago that was a comedy, but did not have a laugh track](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(TV_series)), and I’d be very surprised if anyone laughed out loud while watching it. 120 episodes were made. Only now do I see this could be considered a very tongue-in-cheek comedy (especially in the second season). At the time, when I was in fifth and sixth grade, I took it dead seriously and thought it was scientifically accurate and true-to-life. I was offended when _ **TV Guide** _ labeled it a “comedy” and couldn’t understand why I was the only one in my family who wanted to watch it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/125 "2022-12-22T23:50:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I just watched the dinner scene clip on YouTube. I’m dying over here. Gotta see if I can rent or stream this one…right up my alley! Thanks, I feel better about my sense of humor. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/126 "2022-12-23T00:49:17Z")
I was too young to watch it first run, so I must have seen it in syndication. Until today, I had no idea it was _intentionally_ campy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/127 "2022-12-23T00:53:29Z")
I also ended up seeing a little clip about how much of an asshole director David O’Russel was on set, but – well – unfortunately, I know these types. Gonna rent it tonight and watch it. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/128 "2022-12-23T01:22:46Z")
Executive Producer William Dozier read some of the comic books and decided that was the only way the show could be done. Taking it seriously would require too great a stretch of the imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/129 "2022-12-23T02:56:49Z")
Like Steve Martin said at some awards show honoring Tom Hanks: "I saw ‘Captain Phillips.’ I didn’t think it was so funny.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/130 "2022-12-23T22:06:52Z")
OK, I lied. I rented it and watched it today. What a whacked-out premise and movie. Kinda vibed a bit with me with something like Being John Malkovich in its non-conventionality. It’s a solid 7/10 for me, with several laugh-out-loud points. (What was up with the Twizzlers or Cheery Vines?) Totally up my alley. If you’ve got any more of this ilk, feel free to recommend. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/131 "2022-12-24T03:24:20Z")
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman [Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Hartman,_Mary_Hartman) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/132 "2022-12-24T03:35:20Z")
It’s weird and quirky. But, dagnabbit, I find myself laughing aloud at it so much. ---
**Author:** ![alfonzos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alfonzos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alfonzos)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/133 "2022-12-25T23:48:25Z")
Yes. Looking for a video rental, my friends suggested _The Great Race._ Nobody laughed; not even my friends who suggested it. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon were miscast and this video sleeping pill had a run time of 160 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/134 "2022-12-26T00:42:40Z")
[quote=“alfonzos, post:133, topic:976094”] my friends suggested _The Great Race._ \*[/\*quote] There were a bunch of movies of that type in the mid-1960s, starting with “It’s a Mad…World,” then “The Great Race” and later “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.” There were probably others that I don’t recall. All of them were much too long and none of them would win awards for laughs. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2022, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/135 "2022-12-26T01:41:20Z")
The reason they were so long is because they were meant to be entertainment for an entire evening or afternoon. Back in the day, going to a movie was a big event. Big-budget movies like these were offered as an alternative to the small screen, which had yet to dominate viewing habits quite as much as it does today. I realize there’s a cultural age gap here, but I saw all of these movies multiple times when I was in grade school and enjoyed them thoroughly. I was put off not at all by their length, pacing, and more subtle (adult?) humor. None of them were intended as yuck-fests in the vein of Bill and Ted or Pee-Wee Herman. Instead, they were rollicking adventure films with comedic overtones. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2022, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/136 "2022-12-26T12:20:06Z")
We just saw the new film _Banshees of Inisherin_. Good film, but we were surprised that most critics called it a “comedy” (or at least a “tragicomedy”), Some called it “extremely funny.” We don’t understand this at all. There is a sprinkling of barely discernible humor in a few bits of dialogue and a couple of situations, but it’s 99% anything but a comedy — and my idea of comedy does extend beyond the “laugh-out-loud” type. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/137 "2022-12-28T21:24:59Z")
When I was a kid, seeing highlights / trailers for crap like Porky’s, American Pie, Revenge of the Nerds, Risky Business, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Last American Virgin, Home Alone, etc. (what I call teen exploitation movies), made me realise that none of that crap would’ve garnered one single laugh from me, and wisely have never bothered. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/138 "2022-12-28T23:41:22Z")
_Home Alone_ and _Revenge of the Nerds_ are the same type of movie? I mean, that is a seriously scorching hot take… ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/139 "2022-12-28T23:47:38Z")
Fair enough, you’re right - with RotN swirling in a couple circles lower than the other one in the ole you know what. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2022, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094/140 "2022-12-29T09:58:57Z")
Also, Revenge of the Nerds is from 1984, while American Pie is from 1999. That’s a mightly long stretch for “when I was a kid”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-watched-a-comedy-that-had-no-laughs/976094.md?page=8)