# The Ben Stiller Show isn't as funny as I remembered it to be.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ben-stiller-show-isnt-as-funny-as-i-remembered-it-to-be/247896>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 31, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ben-stiller-show-isnt-as-funny-as-i-remembered-it-to-be/247896 "2004-05-31T06:56:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ben-stiller-show-isnt-as-funny-as-i-remembered-it-to-be/247896/21 "2004-06-01T11:09:48Z")

</div>

> [@Silentgoldfish](#):
>
> I don’t think the Pink Panther movies hold up either.

> [@Marley23](#):
>
> There are some that are very funny and some that are very unfunny. Since they all have similar titles, I keep forgetting which is which. :smack:

As far as I’m concerned there’s only one title you need to remember: **A Shot in the Dark**.

There’s funny stuff in each of the other ones (wait, refresh my memory: is there _anything_ funny in the first one?) but I never make any distinction between them. **A Shot in the Dark** is the only one that is not only funny, but an overall great film.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ben-stiller-show-isnt-as-funny-as-i-remembered-it-to-be/247896/22 "2004-06-01T11:16:48Z")

</div>

> [@SolGrundy](#):
>
> And Janeane Garafolo just can’t do sketch comedy; she’s funny as her one character, but that’s it.

I kinda thought this too. Even rewatching the episodes on DVD, most of the charaters she does are still founded upon her Janeane “schtick”, she doesn’t really stretch for the most part.

HOWEVER

The part that I love her in the most is the part of the wife of the old guy who says “Do it.” (Old guy sees a celebrity in a restaurant pressures celebrity into reciting signature line by saying “Do it” then he makes the celebrity come to his table to meet his wife.) That role was so _not_ a Janeane Garafolo kind of a role, but she played it so convincingly and was so funny!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ben-stiller-show-isnt-as-funny-as-i-remembered-it-to-be/247896/23 "2004-06-01T15:59:51Z")

</div>

A friend of mine in Scotland sent me an unusual gift not too long ago. She knew how much I loved off beat British stuff, in addition to thinking that Sellers was one of the best comedic actors ever.

Well, she sent audio tapes of _The Goon Show_, a 50s era radio BBC comedy sketch show. It is freakin’ hilarious! Many of the gags later pulled off by Monty Python, Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, etc… were first done (and done well!) by Peter Sellers and friends.

If you know anyone in the UK, ask them to send you some tapes of _The Goon Show_. Or, buy them right on the internet. I hear there are some pretty neat book stores on line. One of thm is even located in the South American jungles! How they pull that off, I’ll never know!

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ben-stiller-show-isnt-as-funny-as-i-remembered-it-to-be/247896.md?page=1)