Funniest sit-com or film moment from the 70s

Cafe Society
1

The I LOVE THE 70s series and threads had me thinking of this. The 70s were, to me, the golden decade of TV comedy- the blandness and artificiality imposed by the codes of the 50s and 60s were gone and the necessary shock value/teenage focus to keep an audience in the cable/remote control 80s and after weren’t in place yet.

My nominees for funniest moments:

TV

From SANFORD & SON:

*the “Pop, what’s that horse doing in the kitchen?” scene

*Fred, Grady, Bubba, and friends singing Wham!

*“I want my Daddy’s records!”
From ALL IN THE FAMILY:

*Archie seeing “God” while drunk and trapped in his basement

*“I come back and it’s the nuthouse on New Year’s Eve!”

*(the one that had to be here)- the kiss of Sammy Davis Jr.
MOVIES

*the Marshall McLuhan scene from ANNIE HALL

*the tree planting/cop chase scene from HAROLD AND MAUDE

*“Excuse me while I whip this out!”

2

Happy Days - The Beatnik Episode
The Beatnik’s poem (from memory, so excuse the inevitable mistakes… I haven’t seen the episode in 20 years):
Little girl
with you face pressed against
the shopping store window
there are no toys for you today
only death

<everybody snaps their fingers>

3

Chuckles The Clown’s Funeral on Mary Tyler Moore

Almost anything from The Carol Burnett Show

4

Mongo punching the horse in Blazing Saddles

The Rev. Jim/"What does a yellow light mean?/“Slow down!” segment on Taxi.

“Good evening, I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not.”

“Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute”

Bass-o-matic

Les Nesman’s coverage of the turkey drop on WKRP.

Tim Conway’s imitation of the Siamese twin elephants joined at the trunk on The Carol Burnett Show.

“Rawhide” in The Blues Brothers.

The Minister of Silly Walks sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus

The killer rabbit, rude French guard, the Black Knight, and coconuts from Holy Grail.

The “You’re a naughty boy, Basil!” tirade from Fawlty Towers.

5

From All in the Family (Edith-related):

Edith’s reaction to Archie when he opened a bottle of champagne (she was in the bathroom and couldn’t see what he was doing). This was supposedly one of the longest laugh reactions in TV history up to that moment

Edith’s victory over the rapist

Edith denounces her religion after Beverly LaSalle was killed

Edith’s death

Archie’s breakdown after Edith’s death as he was going through her old things

6

Wow! All In The Family was something and a half, huh?

7

:smack:

Okay, I didn’t read the title well enough. Ignore items 2-5.

:smack:

8

All in the Family: Locked in the basement, a drunken Archie tells Meathead his pathetic “shoe-boot” story.

Columbo: Columbo gives a nervous driving instructor, beautifully played by Larry Storch, a lift downtown.

Barney Miller: Hashish brownies. “Mooshy mooshy.”

Mary Tyler Moore: Ted resists committing adultery. “I can’t do it, I just can’t…I CAN YOU KNOW, but I just can’t!”

Fawlty Towers: 2 words: fire drill.

9

Les Nessman’s coverage of the turkey drop
Steve Martin singing “King Tut” on SNL
The Movie MAS*H
The football game in The Longest Yard

10

The Thanksgiving episode from “The Bob Newhart Show”, where the guys get drunk and order Chinese food.

“My name? Drrrr Bob Hartley. D.R. period. Drrr.”

11

That was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the thread title.