Three Most Influential Comedic Shows
We’ve come to another Thursday once again, and the days and weeks just seem to roll past, again and again. I’m still a post-college graduate, figuring out what path to take and plodding along the way. But while I’m plodding along and doing what I can (or not doing much), one event this past Sunday makes a mark on my calendar like no other . . .
I saw a Rhett & Link Live Concert. After making them my daily routine most of the time for almost five and a half years, I’ve seen them through before their Monday-Friday show Good Mythical Morning had Good Mythical More, through the hundredth episode markers past the one thousandth episode mark, through the Mythical Show, and much more. I am a Mythical Beast, as they say; my only main critique is that their jokes can sometimes be really bad morally the past couple years.
After seeing these two best friends in person at last, it got me thinking to comedic influences before Rhett and Link. There are others, but sticking with the three most influential to my comedic writing and ability on the American side, they are children’s shows that can be enjoyed by a wider audience.
- The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
This is a Disney show that ran from 1988 to 1991, which I would watch VHS tapes of at my cousins’ house. It has a beautiful setting, and a beautiful combination of innocence, puns, friendship, and the logically impossible. One of the best examples may be the episode called “Luck Amok.”
2. Phineas and Ferb
Also another Disney show, but it’s the masterpiece of its time. It’s an incredibly formulaic show with the same sequence of events every time, yet this formula frees the show to have so many creative variations.
It is a masterpiece not only because of its similar qualities to The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, the innocence of its characters, the friendship even between enemies (or “frenemies”), its puns, and its absolute lack of logic and impossibility; it also puts in adult jokes that are hilarious commentary on life. These aren’t jokes with anything inappropriate about them, but rather would expand a child’s view of the world rather than sicken it if one should ask their parent why something is funny. This song from Across the Second Dimension, a longer feature, captures something of their universe.
I’ll throw in an episode too, just cause. Why not?
3. Rhett & Link, or Good Mythical Morning
At last we’ve come to the iconic duo. They have come a long way. It’s hard to describe their humor, as I have not studied humor. In any case, comedic songs are what started it all for them on YouTube. Bordering on the ridiculous, making subtle notes on society, and delving in the hilarious, their songs (and conversations) are certainly my jam.