# When did spouses/partners diss-ing each other stop being funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768 "2015-04-15T19:48:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/21 "2015-04-16T16:18:51Z")
The perfect example of this was “The King of Queens.” We used to watch it, and got some laughs out of it, but after awhile neither my wife nor I could take how out-and-out _mean_ the characters were. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/22 "2015-04-16T17:04:43Z")
Yeah, on Married with Children, everyone in the family hated each other, and their disgust for each other was totally justified. They’d have been idiots not to hate each other, because they were all horrible people. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/23 "2015-04-16T17:12:42Z")
Well, the point was that they DIDN’T legitimately hate each other. As soon as an outside threat came along, they stuck together like a band of baboons. Al could say a thousand things about his daughter but let someone try and mess with her and he was heading for the door with a baseball bat. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/24 "2015-04-16T17:12:53Z")
It was funny in the single-income family era of **The Bickersons** because humor is an escape valve, among other things. If she divorced him, she’d have limited income until she found a new husband. If he divorced her his income would be drained by alimony. So men and women were stuck with each other. (I’d link to some Bickersons radio shows on YouTube, but it really was kind of lame) Of course, there was the marriage of [Marie Menken and Willard Maas](http://wagner.edu/wagnermagazine/?p=3329), the inspiration for **Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf**. People hung out with them because they were brilliant, but also because it was amazing to watch them at each other’s throats. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/25 "2015-04-16T17:57:46Z")
Does anyone remember the comic strip The Lockhorns? It was a strip about a bickering couple. Tom the Dancing Bug used to have a parody of it, one time the punchline was “God, I hate you.” ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/26 "2015-04-16T18:11:57Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Does anyone remember the comic strip The Lockhorns? It was a strip about a bickering couple. Tom the Dancing Bug used to have a parody of it, one time the punchline was “God, I hate you.” _Remember_ them? [I still love them](http://www.seattlepi.com/comics-and-games/fun/Lockhorns/)! (Although, it must be admitted, probably not in the way the writers intend. I love them more in a [_Comics Curmudgeon_](http://joshreads.com/?cat=10) kind of way.) ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/27 "2015-04-16T18:25:25Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Does anyone remember the comic strip The Lockhorns? It was a strip about a bickering couple. Tom the Dancing Bug used to have a parody of it, one time the punchline was “God, I hate you.” Remember? It’s in my paper every day. One of my favorite comics. Each spouse gets his/her share of digs in on the other. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/28 "2015-04-16T18:27:56Z")
Holy shit! I had no idea that was still in print; I assumed it went away around the time my dad traded in his last Oldsmobile. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/29 "2015-04-17T02:51:31Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > It was funny in the single-income family era of **The Bickersons** … I was going to say it stopped being funny when **The Bickersons** got cancelled. And it barely even made it to TV. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/30 "2015-04-17T14:04:11Z")
It worked on _Married… With Children_ because it was played so broad and over-the-top. In order to enjoy the show, I had to assume that insults affect Bundys the same way physical injuries affect cartoon characters: they’re not really hurt by them. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/31 "2015-04-17T17:13:41Z")
I find your thesis flawed. It was never funny in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/32 "2015-04-19T02:21:21Z")
Without insults and without pain there really isnt comedy. From Groucho Marx insulting Margaret Dumont to The 3 Stooges to Its a Mad Mad Mad World to M_A_S\*H its the gold standard of comedy. Its the realization that real life is hard and painful. Its a mechanism that allows us to laugh at this pain without internalizing it. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/33 "2015-04-19T04:45:36Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Without insults and without pain there really isnt comedy. From Groucho Marx insulting Margaret Dumont to The 3 Stooges to Its a Mad Mad Mad World to M_A_S\*H its the gold standard of comedy. Its the realization that real life is hard and painful. Its a mechanism that allows us to laugh at this pain without internalizing it. I’ve heard that theory, best articulated by Mark Twain: \* Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of Humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.\* Far be it from me to call bullshit on one of the greatest humorists who ever lived, but I’ve never found that to be true. I just don’t laugh at that stuff, while I laugh my fool head off at absurd stuff. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/34 "2015-04-19T06:20:17Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I’ve heard that theory, best articulated by Mark Twain: > \* > Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of Humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.\* > > Far be it from me to call bullshit on one of the greatest humorists who ever lived, but I’ve never found that to be true. I just don’t laugh at that stuff, while I laugh my fool head off at absurd stuff. But isnt absurdist stuff a derivative of pain and embarrassment? Here is a general article on why we laugh > **[Why We Laugh](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/happiness-in-world/201101/why-we-laugh)** > > I remember horsing around with my younger brothers in one of our bedrooms one Saturday morning when we were children. At one point, one of my brothers jumped off his bed, and as he flew up in the air, I flung a pillow at his feet. > [@](#): > > This may explain why some psychologists classify humor as one of the “mature” defense mechanisms we invoke to guard ourselves against overwhelming anxiety (as compared to the “psychotic,” “immature,” and “neurotic” defense mechanisms). Being able to laugh at traumatic events in our own lives doesn’t cause us to ignore them, but instead seems to prepare us to endure them. Some of the sarcastic banter seen in shows like Married with Children is merely four people trying to cope with the difficulties of life. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/35 "2015-04-19T06:40:10Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > But isnt absurdist stuff a derivative of pain and embarrassment? Not in my experience. The last thing that made me laugh uncontrollably was a musical joke in the movie “While We’re Young”. The lead characters are a childless middle aged couple visiting their friends who just had a baby. The music was a toy piano version of the David Bowie song “Golden Years”. For the life of me, I can’t see any pain or embarrassment there. > [@](#): > > Here is a general article on why we laugh > > [Why We Laugh | Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201101/why-we-laugh) Thanks, I’ll bookmark that for future reference. Or a really bad case of insomnia. > [@](#): > > Some of the sarcastic banter seen in shows like Married with Children is merely four people trying to cope with the difficulties of life. Really? They just seem like hatemongers to me. I’ve seem people laughing at that show, and listening to the laugh track, presumably they are saying things that are intended to be funny, but I’ve never laughed at it myself. Or Don Rickles and other insult comics. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/36 "2015-04-19T15:10:47Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > BUT - apparently(from reading discussions about this show) people don’t find this funny anymore. Viewers aren’t convinced the women care about the men after hearing the barbs. > > So, is this a general change in taste in our modern era, or is this just more nitpicking by snobs who dislike BBT? _Modern Family_ is one of the more popular family sitcoms of recent years, and all of the couples on that show tease/complain about/insult each other. ---
**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 19, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/37 "2015-04-19T16:57:30Z")
_Arrested Development_ was hysterical and the family members _were_ mean to each other. In fact, the show’s less-funny moments were the more maudlin: NARRATOR: At that moment, Michael realized how much he had overshadowed his son’s accomplishments. Of course it then blows up anyway, to comic effect. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/38 "2015-04-19T17:15:21Z")
Well, from reading this thread, I think we can conclude that different people find different things funny. I know, groundbreaking, isn’t it? Look for my doctoral thesis on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/39 "2015-04-19T17:27:54Z")
Married With Children was so cartoonish it was funny, just like Stewie on Family Guy fantasizing about killing his mother is funny because it is cartoonish(no relation to actually being a cartoon). I bet if you recorded some real families doing some real verbal insults and sniping not a person would laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768/40 "2015-04-19T17:58:21Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I bet if you recorded some real families doing some real verbal insults and sniping not a person would laugh. Oh, it’s quite funny. We are friends with a family who all insult and snipe at each other. That is the family dynamic and the way they communicate. We have often commented that they could be a sitcom, including the grandparents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-spouses-partners-diss-ing-each-other-stop-being-funny/717768.md?page=3)