# Jokes that, nowadays, need explaining **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [September 25, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466 "2020-09-25T02:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/482 "2020-10-26T15:58:42Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > That deep voiced guy was [Don LaFontaine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine), a voice actor who narrated the vast majority of movie trailers in those days. Hell, he pretty much helped invent the modern movie trailer back in the 1960s. “In a world…” was kind of his catch phrase in a way. Here’s his compatriot, Hal Douglas, doing the ultimate turn-of-this-century trailer: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fVDzuT0fXro/hqdefault.jpg "Comedian Movie Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVDzuT0fXro) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/483 "2020-10-26T16:02:05Z")
The movie [In a World…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_World...) looked at this phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/484 "2020-10-26T16:42:32Z")
Mary Tyler Moore show: Mary’s talking to Rhoda after Georgette caught Ted kissing another woman. Ted claimed she was a vacuum cleaner salesman who was knocked cold when the electric plugin shocked her, and he was giving her mouth-to-mouth. Rhoda: You gotta give Ted credit. That is quite a story, bringing a vacuum cleaner salesman back to life. Mary: You ever hear a story like that before? Rhoda: Once, on Kathryn Kuhlman. Kuhlman was a televangelist faith healer who had a weekly TV program in the 1960s and 1970s called _I Believe In Miracles_. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/485 "2020-10-26T16:55:30Z")
Speaking of televangelists… What did the cops find when they cleaned the makeup off Tammy Faye Bakker? Jimmy Hoffa. Not too long ago, I was watching a quiz show (probably _ **Jeopardy!** _) where the obvious answer to a clue was “Jimmy Hoffa.” None of the contestants had any idea of who he was. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had never heard of the Bakkers, either. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/486 "2020-10-26T16:56:50Z")
I’ve heard of references to Jimmy Hoffa as some guy that went missing, but I have no idea who he is. I always assumed it was mob-related. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/487 "2020-10-26T16:58:37Z")
Right, he was a crooked labor leader who had threatened to squeal: > **[Jimmy Hoffa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > James Riddle Hoffa (February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975; declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971. > From an early age, Hoffa was a union activist, and he became an important regional figure with the IBT by his mid-twenties. By 1952, he was the national vice-president of the IBT and between 1957 and 1971 he was it... Here are the Bakkers: > **[Jim Bakker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bakker)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > James Orsen Bakker (/ˈbeɪkər/; born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program The PTL Club and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with his then wife, Tammy Faye. He also developed Heritage USA, a now-defunct Christian theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina. > In the late 1980s, Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry over a cover-up of hush money to church sec... ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/488 "2020-10-26T17:03:24Z")
Interesting. I listened to a podcast recently about the Bakkers. It was about the business failure of Heritage USA. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/489 "2020-10-26T17:08:13Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’ve heard of references to Jimmy Hoffa as some guy that went missing, but I have no idea who he is. I always assumed it was mob-related. I would have thought that Scorcese’s recent film _The Irishman_, which is largely about the Hoffa case, might have brought it back to prominence. Before that the go-to reference for mysterious disappearances was the [Judge Crater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Force_Crater) case in 1930. I’m sure very few people would get that now. I recall a _Mad_ satire of _Lassie_ in which she found a host of lost people, including Judge Crater, who said “Is anyone looking for me?” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/490 "2020-10-26T17:56:51Z")
Awhile back I was in the waiting room of some doctor and was watching some game show where the answer was “Soupy Sales”. I had to explain to the younger man next to me who that was. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/491 "2020-10-26T17:59:29Z")
Did the contestants on the game show know who he was? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/492 "2020-10-26T18:00:57Z")
I seem to recall that one of the contestants answered. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/493 "2020-10-26T18:04:04Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Awhile back I was in the waiting room of some doctor and was watching some game show where the answer was “Soupy Sales”. I had to explain to the younger man next to me who that was. Another reference to him was in the movie ‘Juno’ from about a dozen years ago. The teen protagonist and her peers are about as died-in-the-wool as “millenials” as ever there were. Juno observed that one of her classmates’ home always smelled of soup, and once referred to her as “Soupy Sales”. Pretty insightful kid, but I wonder if her peers got the joke, though she figured they would. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/494 "2020-10-26T18:07:52Z")
Not too long ago, my daughter (born in 1995) heard Soupy Sales mentioned on TV and just laughed. _“Who?!?”_ she said. I corrected this flaw in her education by telling her the “I’ll send you a postcard from Argentina!” story. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/495 "2020-10-26T18:11:10Z")
I would say ‘Picky, picky, picky!’ more, but I don’t think anyone I know has heard of Pat Paulsen (for President!). ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/496 "2020-10-26T18:13:28Z")
Your collection of friends must be well under 60. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/497 "2020-10-26T18:13:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I would have thought that Scorcese’s recent film _The Irishman_, which is largely about the Hoffa case, might have brought it back to prominence. With a 209 minute run time (three and a half hours!), limited theatrical release, limited commercial success (according to wikipedia, it brought in around $10 million but cost $280 million to make) but good critical reviews means it’s a good prestige piece for Netflix, but not something that’s likely to pull Jimmy Hoffa’s name back into pop culture. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/498 "2020-10-26T18:14:08Z")
I was wondering the other day if people watch Jack Nicholson in The Shining, and don’t know what he’s referencing when he says, “Heeeere’s Johnny!” ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/499 "2020-10-26T18:22:06Z")
One thing that needs explaining off the bat in [that video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwXpsPiJ_WE) is the “pretentious moi?” line. Similarly with all the Fools and Horses [jokes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g93RycMBaYM) The idea that casually dropping french phrases is a pretension to sophistication, isn’t a thing anymore I think (at least any more than casually using any foreign language could be consider pretentious). Its no longer the case that French is the go to language (the Lingua Franca even 🙂 ) of sophisticated cultured classes. Outside of cooking and fine dining, I think that’s a relic of 19th and 18th century Europe that has finally disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/500 "2020-10-26T18:23:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Your collection of friends must be well under 60. I’m under 60! ---
**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:** [October 26, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/501 "2020-10-26T18:24:12Z")
I doubt Miss Piggy would agree with you. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=26)