# sitcoms--not what they said, but how they said it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763 "2002-04-21T03:44:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/1 "2002-04-21T03:44:22Z")
Maybe this should be in IMHO, since it’s sort of a poll, but since it’s related to TV, I thought I should put it here. Sometimes in a sitcom (or elsewhere, but I’d like to focus on sitcoms here) there is a line that is spoken in such a way that it just cracks you up no matter how many times you see it. The line itself isn’t even necessarily funny, but the way the actor says it just gets you somehow. For me, the line that never fails to crack me up is from an episode of Friends. (Not my favorite show by a longshot, but I do enjoy it.) The episode involves Rachel mistakenly creating a “trifle” but mixing up the recipe so that she ends up putting not only the regular ingredients in, but meat as well. (I think the pages of the cookbook stuck together, so she had some shepherd’s pie ingredients or something.) Anyway, the line is spoken by Ross, in his typical cracked, high-pitched voice, when he tastes this concoction: “It tastes like feet!” Again, it’s not a very funny line per se, but it just strikes me as so damn funny when I hear it. Any others? These should be things that you crack up just thinking about them… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/2 "2002-04-21T03:56:26Z")
It’s a odd subject for the SDMB, because we’d all be typing things like “this line isn’t funny when you just read it, see, but the _way_ he said was so damn funny.” It’s kind of like a debate about regional accents: “Yeah, he said toMAHto and I just cracked right up.” In any event, their ability to make you laugh with a “feet” line stands as proof positive that all six Friends are worth every penny of the $3 Billion they make each episode. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/3 "2002-04-21T04:56:13Z")
Just recently I saw the movie _Big Trouble_. In the very beginning we see a pair of gangstars entering the airport. One trips and the contents of his golf bag, including a bunch of golf clubs and a rifle, fall out. A passerby stares at this, and the dumb gangstar says, “We play wid a guy what cheats.” Heheheheheheh. Perfect timing and inflection and everything. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/4 "2002-04-21T05:37:02Z")
A lot of lines from Red Dwarf are like this. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/5 "2002-04-21T09:49:16Z")
One from _Friends_ that gets me and my friends rolling any time any of us spakes it: > [@](#): > > PI_VOT!!_ ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/6 "2002-04-21T11:03:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*It’s a odd subject for the SDMB, because we’d all be typing things like “this line isn’t funny when you just read it, see, but the _way_ he said was so damn funny.” It’s kind of like a debate about regional accents: “Yeah, he said toMAHto and I just cracked right up.” > > In any event, their ability to make you laugh with a “feet” line stands as proof positive that all six Friends are worth every penny of the $3 Billion they make each episode. \*\* Get up on the wrong side of the bed today? Lighten up. And no, it’s NOTHING like a debate about regional accents. No one is debating anything, just sharing things we find amusing. The fact that they’re from popular entertainment like Friends may mean that others laugh at the same lines too. For instance, I love the “PI-VOT!” line from when they’re moving a couch as well. And the way Balki Bartakamous from Perfect Strangers said “Wow!” cracked me up every time too. So there. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/7 "2002-04-21T11:54:35Z")
_Seinfeld_. When Kramer slammed down his money and said “I’m out!” in “The Contest.” Two words, yet so funny. ---
**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/8 "2002-04-21T12:12:23Z")
hahaha Im with the PIVOT!!! PIVVVVOT ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/9 "2002-04-21T12:57:06Z")
Basil Fawlty musing on what Mrs Richards might have been expecting to see out of Torquay hotel bedroom window. “Krakatoa, perhaps? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain…?” Beautiful writing, but oh such beautiful delivery. Cracks me up just to think of it. I will also watch any amount of Will & Grace just for Megan Mullally’s wonderful delivery of her lines. I don’t really like the show, but she’s gold. Sometimes she doesn’t even have to _say_ anything, but she still gets the biggest laugh of the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Komsomol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@Komsomol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Komsomol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/10 "2002-04-21T18:03:59Z")
I find it funny when Chandler, Ross and Monica are telling each other secrets, and ross accuses chandler of sleeping with the janitor when at college and Chandler says ’ That wasn’t me that was you’ Cracks me up all the time. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/11 "2002-04-21T18:52:21Z")
Also funny: _Judge all you want to but…married a lesbian, left a man at the altar, fell in love with a gay ice dancer, threw a girl’s wooden leg in a fire, live in a box!_ it’s so pathetic that I was able to type that from memory… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/12 "2002-04-21T19:04:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ianzin \* > \*\*Basil Fawlty musing on what Mrs Richards might have been expecting to see out of Torquay hotel bedroom window. “Krakatoa, perhaps? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain…?” > > Beautiful writing, but oh such beautiful delivery. Cracks me up just to think of it. > \*\* John Cleese is one of the supreme comic actors of all time. I can’t think of a single role he’s ever played that he didn’t just kill in. Plus look at the last, Cleese-less season of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and you can see just how much of that show’s genius was his. ---
**Author:** ![ignatzmouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b2d939/32.png) [@ignatzmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatzmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/13 "2002-04-21T19:20:16Z")
In1981 there was a short-lived show called “Best of the West.” the show was forgettable, but for one line. Tracey Walter attempts to perform a magic trick which leads to the complete and accidental destruction of the room he is in. “Ta-Da.” Only Tracey Wlater could pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/14 "2002-04-21T21:39:26Z")
Basil Fawlty rulz, both for the posted lines and for this (he has been told that the spoiled child of a guest doesn’t like the chips - they aren’t the shape he is used to) - > [@](#): > > And what sort of shape_is_ the dear child used to? Mickey Mouse-shaped? Smartee-shaped? Amphibious landing craft shaped? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/15 "2002-04-21T22:11:35Z")
The best single word ever spoken in a _Cheers_ episode comes at the end of John Cleese’s 1987 guest appearance as Dr. Simon Finch-Royce, noted couples counsellor. Having declared early on that Sam and Diane were clearly not suited to each other, he is gradually driven insane by Diane’s attempts to convince him otherwise. His final four-minute rant, coming after numerous intrusions and phone calls and arguments from Diane declares that _yes_, Sam and Diane are perfect for each other, _yes_, they will have the perfect relationship, and if he is wrong (he shouts out the hotel room window for all of Boston to witness) he swears to kill himself in the most disgusting manner possible. Whereupon, Diane turns to Sam and smugly comments, “See?” ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/16 "2002-04-21T22:58:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Judge all you want to but…married a lesbian, left a man at the altar, fell in love with a gay ice dancer, threw a girl’s wooden leg in a fire, live in a box! S’cuse my ignorance. What’s this from? Who lived in a box? (I’m in the UK if that might help explain my ignorance). ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/17 "2002-04-21T23:06:09Z")
Chandler was spending time in a box to make up with Joey after a fight on Friends. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/18 "2002-04-22T00:05:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ianzin \* > \*\*S’cuse my ignorance. What’s this from? Who lived in a box? (I’m in the UK if that might help explain my ignorance). \*\* It’s from _Friends_, one of the Thanksgiving episodes, 3rd or 4th season. It’s when Monica invited Richard’s son (Richard was her former much-older boyfriend) over for dinner and everyone was being very judgemental about it and she just went off on them and stalked out of the room. Ross was the one who married a lesbian, Rachel left a man at the altar, Phoebe fell in love with a gay ice dancer, Joey threw a girl’s wooden leg in a fire, and Chandler was spending the day in a big wooden box to make up for kissing Joey’s girlfriend (who ended up being Chandler’s girlfriend for a while). ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/19 "2002-04-22T00:34:39Z")
Actually, some of these lines are still funny, even though I never heard them, especially Cleese’s. One of my favorite is from “Blazing Saddles,” and it comes after the sheriff greeted an old woman who responded with “up yours, nigger!” Gene Wilder consoles Cleavon Little by telling him that these people are born from the land, they’re the salt of the earth, born from the common clay. “You know . . . morons.” After that, "You know . . . " became a catch-phrase with us when we’re dealing with a dimwit. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763/20 "2002-04-22T01:45:55Z")
From a Rowan Atkinson special > [@](#): > > Are the French here? There are probably dozens of quotes from Blackadder that fit the bill. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sitcoms-not-what-they-said-but-how-they-said-it/104763.md?page=2)