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Read the title and came in here to say exactly this! Me and you points rapidly between both our eyes right here.
“As god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!”
Is funny out of context, but great only in context. It’s pretty hard for anyone who has seen this episode of WKRP not to think it’s a contender for greatest.
There are a lot of lines that are great in their time, but not great in 2026. I offered a character saying “He’s gay,” for possibly the first time in television, and the great line actually being the reaction to it, which is to feel it’s better than an alternative-- a very mild alternative, even in 2026, but not so much a mismatch as in 1973, when the DSM still said that being gay was a mental illness, and you could still be arrested for it in some states.
Lines said on live TV sometimes get a HUGE audience reaction, one that does not come from a flashing * APPLAUSE * sign; one that leaves the actors standing stone still, unable to continue until the applause and laughter dies down. You can gauge their greatness in their time, and in the context of the whole show just by that.
It’s an advantage they have over filmed-like-a-movie shows.
I realize these are all opinions, and they’re all valid, but here’s my take. Truly great lines from history need no context. To wit:
- “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
- “I speak for the trees.”
- “Et tu, Brute?”
All these examples are, at least in my opinion, great lines. Does context make them more understandable? Certainly. But they have each entered the cultural zeitgeist to the point where context isn’t absolutely necessary to get meaning from it. We don’t need to know, for instance, that (at least according to Shakespeare) Caesar’s last words as he was being assassinated were to reveal the depth of betrayal from his friend and confidant. It’s critical to the storyline, especially if you’re analyzing the play, but not as important as a standalone quote.
For those that haven’t seen the episode of WKRP to know the line, maybe it’s all Greek. It just resonated with me. YMMV.
I use this line a lot, especially when someone suggests going to ‘high alert’ for whatever reason.
Rimmer: Step up to Red Alert!
Kryten: Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb.
(Red Dwarf)
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Orca or Titanic, you decide.