# Older Movies / shows / books that are STILL funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929 "2025-02-28T16:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/1 "2025-02-28T16:20:45Z")
In the thread about Gene Hackman, someone mentioned Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles not being as funny when rewatched recently. I concurred - there were elements in those that would simply not fly, these days. Lots of changes in social tastes (e.g. rape is NOT humorous, and it’s played for laughs in both of those). But there are some older movies that are STILL enjoyable. Even if some of their concepts are outdated, the humor still works. A couple that come to mind: Some Like It Hot One, Two, Three (someone younger might need explanation of the Berlin / Germany split). ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/2 "2025-02-28T16:33:08Z")
_His Girl Friday_ is still hilarious. I watched the early Marx Brothers movies again a while back (there’s a good box set of the Zeppo years) and though the filmmaking is sub-terrible, the performances and wordplay of _Animal Crackers_ are still utterly sensational. And _Life of Brian_ will never be not brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/3 "2025-02-28T16:33:40Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > In the thread about Gene Hackman, someone mentioned Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles not being as funny when rewatched recently. I concurred - there were elements in those that would simply not fly, these days. It’s been years since I’ve seen _Young Frankenstein,_ but I find most of Brooks’ movies more fun to reminisce about than to watch. No shade on Brooks, I think comedy typically ages more quickly than dramas. I’m trying to think of an older comedy I watched recently and I’m drawing a blank. I saw _Some Like it Hot_ for the first time about twenty years ago and it was funny. “Nobody’s perfect.” In my undergraduate American Culture class, we listened to a radio broadcast of _Amos 'n Andy_ from the 1930s or 1940s and it elicited some chuckles from the class. Some of the gags were still funny. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/4 "2025-02-28T16:41:17Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Some Like It Hot Strongly disagree. I findly it no funnier than the average Three’s Company episode. In other words, maybe amusing but not laugh out loud funny. I will nominate _Arsenic and Old Lace_ & _Bringing up Baby_. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/5 "2025-02-28T16:43:36Z")
Dr. Strangelove The Blues Brothers Airplane! ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/6 "2025-02-28T16:44:27Z")
In the case of Mel Brooks films, apart from the things that you mention that are not socially acceptable these days, the biggest issue is that the nature of that sort of parody has changed. The Gene Hackman thread mentioned that, in rewatching YF, there seemed to be a lot of dead space between the funny lines. I had a similar experience when I rewatched High Anxiety. The film seemed to move so _slowly_. It was frustrating waiting for the next gag. You can say the same about Blazing Saddles. Airplane and films like it, with their joke and/or sight gag every few seconds pacing, really changed what we expect out of our genre parodies. In classic Mel Brooks, you may go as much as a minute between laugh lines. That seems incredibly poky by today’s standards. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/7 "2025-02-28T16:44:43Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Some Like It Hot This was the first thing I thought of. It’s such a great movie with comedic performances (the actress who plays bandleader “Sweet Sue”, Joan Shawleee, did mostly bit parts and TV guest roles but she is absolutely hilarious; “Bienstock!”) and the movie is perfectly paced between the ‘A’ plot of Joe and Jerry’s schemes and the ‘B’ plot of ‘Spats’ and Little Boneparte vying for control of the mob. Next to _Sweet Smell of Success_ this is Tony Curtis’ best role, and of course Jack Lemmon nails it even if he makes for a really ugly woman in drag. Although the last line “Nobody’s perfect!” is what everyone remembers, my favorite is the exchange between Joe and Jerry: > **[Some Like It Hot (1959) - Quotes - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053291/quotes/?item=qt0284523&ref_=ext_shr_lnk)** > > Some Like It Hot (1959) - > \* Joe: But, you're \*not\* a girl! You're a \*guy\*, and, why would a guy wanna marry a guy? > \* Jerry: Security! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/8 "2025-02-28T16:45:20Z")
I’m still much amused by _The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_. The book, not the film. I guess the question is whether or not it holds up for a new audience. If I gave a copy to a nerdy young teen today, would he thank me or send me off to bed with my applesauce? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/9 "2025-02-28T16:46:00Z")
Oh, I just watched _Blues Brothers_, it might be aging a bit, but still funny. I wasn’t think in terms of that being old enough. _Airplane!_ is still funny, but not as funny as it was. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/10 "2025-02-28T16:47:41Z")
Book: Summer of 42, Herman Raucher Movie: It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/11 "2025-02-28T16:48:44Z")
My personal lists; YMMV. Movies - Airplane! - Top Secret! - Young Frankenstein - Real Genius - Strange Brew TV series - Barney Miller - WKRP in Cincinnati - Soap ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/12 "2025-02-28T16:50:51Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I saw _Some Like it Hot_ for the first time about twenty years ago and it was funny. “Nobody’s perfect.” Arguably the single best movie closing line ever. We saw the Broadway version of this, back in 2023. It was enjoyable enough, but did not have the charm or unrelenting comedy of the movie. And they BOTCHED THE LINE. Instead of ending with “Nobody’s Perfect”, there was a song between Oswald and Geraldine about “I’m perfect for you, You’re perfect for me”. Plus they missed a major marketing opportunity - I’d have bought stuff that said “Nobody’s Perfect”. > [@Shoeless](#): > > Airplane! I saw it twice the year it came out, and it was not as funny the second time ☹ I have not tried to re-watch it since then. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/13 "2025-02-28T16:51:18Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I guess the question is whether or not it holds up for a new audience. If I gave a copy to a nerdy young teen today, would he thank me or send me off to bed with my applesauce? It makes fun of the same sci-fi tropes and mocking of sacred cows (like Oolon Colluphid’s trilogy of philosophical blockbusters" entitled _[Where God Went Wrong](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Where_God_Went_Wrong)_ , _[Some More of God’s Greatest Mistakes](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Some_More_of_God%27s_Greatest_Mistakes)_ and _[Who is this God Person Anyway](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Who_is_this_God_Person_Anyway%3F)_) that are still present today. To the extent that a “nerdy young teen today” will still sit down and read a full length novel, I expect that the humor holds up quite well even if a few references like the origin of the name “Ford Prefect” and the gag about digital watches were barely even cogent to contemporary readers. _Mostly Harmless_ still sucks, though. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/14 "2025-02-28T16:56:09Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > WKRP in Cincinnati I’ll back this up by saying I showed it to my wife a few years ago and she enjoyed it. We watched the first couple of seasons before getting distracted by other things. Naturally, the initial entry point was the turkey episode but she liked it enough to want to watch the show in general. Strange Brew (IME) is a strong 25 minutes followed by… not “bad” but people watching usually start talking amongst themselves more than following the movie. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/15 "2025-02-28T16:56:34Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Arguably the single best movie closing line ever. I lean heavily towards: " “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”." ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/16 "2025-02-28T16:57:57Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > - Barney Miller > - WKRP in Cincinnati > - Soap I watched an episode of _Barney Miller_ a few years ago and sat there, jaw agape, waiting for any sign of a punch line. It had some of the most bizarre pacing I’d ever seen in a sitcom. So your mileage may vary. _WKRP_ is still pretty fantastic, thanks to the performances and the brilliant weird characters bouncing off each other. The main bit that hasn’t aged well at all for me is the concept that such an artificial-looking person as Lori Anderson was considered a sex symbol. I’ve never seen _Soap_ so I can’t comment on that, but I’ve heard that Billy Crystal’s portrayal of someone who was the first gay character on U.S. network TV is pretty solid and surprisingly well-handled for the era. > [@Jophiel](#): > > I’m still much amused by _The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_. The book, not the film. > > I guess the question is whether or not it holds up for a new audience. If I gave a copy to a nerdy young teen today, would he thank me or send me off to bed with my applesauce? I’m about to find out (though not with a teen). One of the elevator technicians at my office and I are both tattooed, both with a lot of SF movie images, so we’ve compared notes on our artwork. Partly curious because of my Hitch-Hiker’s tat, he’s reading the first novel and liking it so far. I’ve filled him in that there’s the radio show, the re-receroded records, the BBC miniseries, the adventure game and the bizarre Hollywood movie version, all of which are strikingly different, and he’s game to dive a bit deeper. I’m looking forward to hearing a modern first-time-reader of the novel show me how it lands today. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/17 "2025-02-28T16:59:00Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I’ll back this up by saying I showed it to my wife a few years ago and she enjoyed it. I re-watched it a few years ago, as well. Some episodes don’t hold up as well – particularly those that focus on the gender stereotyping that Bailey and Jennifer have to deal with – but overall, at least to me, most of the episodes are still quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/18 "2025-02-28T16:59:15Z")
For me, Young Frankenstein is maybe the only Mel Brooks film that holds up today (but I wouldn’t argue against someone who didn’t feel that way). I saw my first Marx Brothers movie just last year, A Night At The Opera, and found the humor more fresh than I expected. Absolutely masters of comedy. For a more recent old movie (almost as far in the past today as A Night At The Opera was when I was born), I’d offer Planes, Trains and Automobiles as a classic. I admit I haven’t watched it in 5+ years, but I think it’s as perfect a “comedy with heart” movie as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/19 "2025-02-28T17:04:48Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > I’ve never seen _Soap_ so I can’t comment on that, but I’ve heard that Billy Crystal’s portrayal of someone who was the first gay character on U.S. network TV is pretty solid and surprisingly well-handled for the era. Generally true, although there was a storyline about a “sex-change operation,” as it was called in those days, that conflated gay, transvestite, and transgender issues in a way that seems very clumsy today. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929/20 "2025-02-28T17:07:04Z")
The Odd Couple movie is still funny, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in thier prime are great. Grumpty Old Men is pretty damn good too, can’t beleive its 32 years old now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-movies-shows-books-that-are-still-funny/1014929.md?page=2)