# Pre-Poll Nominations: Comedy Teams (past and present) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738 "2015-06-28T22:30:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/41 "2015-06-29T17:13:54Z")
Not me- that was too hard already! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/42 "2015-06-29T17:15:54Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > The Muppets Speaking of which, I think it’s fair to think of the Muppets as a comedy team, but if you object that they fall on the wrong side of the characters/performers divide, we could nominate either the Muppeteers in general, or Jim Henson and Frank Oz in particular (for the way they play off each other as Ernie and Bert, Kermit and Fozzie, Kermit and Miss Piggy, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/43 "2015-06-29T17:17:09Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Not me- that was too hard already! No sweat! Can’t blame me for trying, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/44 "2015-06-29T17:18:56Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Thanks for the fix. Fry and Laurie was who I meant, but I have minimal acquaintance with them (either way). Just names I thought of – and wouldn’t vote for. Sorry! Fry and Laurie are genius, worth the check out. And I’m American. They both appeared in Blackadder too. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/45 "2015-06-29T17:23:09Z")
Ma and Pa Kettle (Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride) - movies Bob Newhart (ensemble cast) Taxi (ensemble cast) WKRP (ensemble cast) Dick Van Dyke (ensemble) Mary Tyler Moore (ensemble) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/46 "2015-06-29T17:27:39Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Fry and Laurie are genius, worth the check out. And I’m American. They both appeared in Blackadder too. Blackadder ought to qualify, I think. [Baldrick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmk4PfuiPVY) alone was worth the price of admission! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/47 "2015-06-29T18:07:56Z")
Just to say, my opinion FWIW: The list will be plenty long without TV shows. They can be syndicated and watched later. There can always be polls about the best tv shows, and there will be a lot of attention paid. To me the actual comedy teams deserve to have a poll for themselves. They have it all uphill and get forgotten fairly easily. (Teams with TV shows or movie credits would be eligible) So the gray areas would be : SNL, Carol Burnette, etc. but they could have their own poll for variety TV. Spinal Tap would belong though, right What do ye think? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/48 "2015-06-29T18:15:02Z")
Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/49 "2015-06-29T18:27:09Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Just to say, my opinion FWIW: The list will be plenty long without TV shows. They can be syndicated and watched later. There can always be polls about the best tv shows, and there will be a lot of attention paid. To me the actual comedy teams deserve to have a poll for themselves. They have it all uphill and get forgotten fairly easily. (Teams with TV shows or movie credits would be eligible) > So the gray areas would be : SNL, Carol Burnette, etc. but they could have their own poll for variety TV. > > Spinal Tap would belong though, right > What do ye think? What would you do to organize the list(s) that **astorian** produced (Posts # 33 and 34) to make for manageable polls? The two-person duos could make a big list by themselves. The TV casts could probably draw an easy 30 more if the gates were opened there. One thing is clear to me: the list is already too big for ONE POLL! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/50 "2015-06-29T18:50:01Z")
If we’re gonna have the Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont pairing in here, and Thelma Todd with various people, let’s add: Groucho Marx and Thelma Todd (_Monkey Business_ and _Horsefeathers_) Other than that, I think my faves are already in here: the brothers Marx, the Firesign and Python troupes, Abbott & Costello, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Flying Karamazovs. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/51 "2015-06-29T19:04:22Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > What would you do to organize the list(s) that **astorian** produced (Posts # 33 and 34) to make for manageable polls? > > The two-person duos could make a big list by themselves. The TV casts could probably draw an easy 30 more if the gates were opened there. > > One thing is clear to me: the list is already too big for ONE POLL! 🙂 Maybe a poll for duos, and another for teams? It would be more fair and educational if there were chronological divisions. It is virtually impossible to judge Williams and Walker, for instance, against Dud and Pete, absurd really. There are in existence two silents with Williams, and some duet songs. It’s historical and possibly the greatest but makes for a meaningless competition. The more diff kinds of artist from different eras you have it becomes exponentially more meaningless. Early Days Talkie era 30-45 post war 45-60 60s and 70s late 20th century 80s up 21st Century ? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/52 "2015-06-29T19:05:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If we’re gonna have the Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont pairing in here, and Thelma Todd with various people, let’s add: > > Groucho Marx and Thelma Todd (_Monkey Business_ and _Horsefeathers_) > > Other than that, I think my faves are already in here: the brothers Marx, the Firesign and Python troupes, Abbott & Costello, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Flying Karamazovs. Good idea! It might be fun to get similar predictions BEFORE any polls go up! Please permit me to quote yours after the poll(s) is/are underway and have amassed a reasonable number of Voters. Anybody else want to beat the rush? 🙂 In fact, if we had the people who already posted to do their own individual lists, we wouldn’t even need a poll! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/53 "2015-06-29T19:08:14Z")
Now we talkin’, **drad dog**! Good ideas. How would you like to take this ball and run with it? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/54 "2015-06-29T20:33:59Z")
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie (Flight of The Conchords) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/55 "2015-06-29T22:46:47Z")
Zeldar, appearing in your poll had better be: > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > … > Rik Mayall & Ade Edmondson (Rik and Ade, not Thudlow Boink.) 🙂 I haven’t read the full thread, so pardon me If John Belushi and Dan Akroyd have been mentioned already. Steve Martin and Martin Short? All of the Spinal Tap/Mighty Wind/Best In Show people. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/56 "2015-06-29T23:14:32Z")
Hudson and Landry Dobie Gillis and Maynard G Krebs (Dwayne Hickman and Bob Denver) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/57 "2015-06-30T01:02:59Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Now we talkin’, **drad dog**! Good ideas. > > How would you like to take this ball and run with it? 🙂 Oh man. i just got here. I’m still traumatized from Joe Cocker Vs The Beatles! Seriously, my minds kinna fuzzy. Just reading posts is my therapy. I think it’s be better if I just watch and see how it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/58 "2015-06-30T01:13:27Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Oh man. i just got here. I’m still traumatized from Joe Cocker Vs The Beatles! > > Seriously, my minds kinna fuzzy. Just reading posts is my therapy. I think it’s be better if I just watch and see how it’s done. Fair enough. I do thank you for your ideas and proposals, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/59 "2015-06-30T01:27:17Z")
The State. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738/60 "2015-06-30T01:36:52Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Fair enough. I do thank you for your ideas and proposals, though. 🙂 I will be at your disposal regarding the taxonomies. The Hudson Brothers…Not [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-poll-nominations-comedy-teams-past-and-present/723738.md?page=4)