I Am a Comedy Snob

The snobbery I have isn’t really of the hoity-toity type, and I’m not really an intellectual snob – although I do have moments of that, I admit it. But that’s not really what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about open vehement snobbery.

And where am I OPENLY a snob? Only one place really. Comedy.

I am a comedy SNOB.

Humor is, of course, completely subjective, so the entire thing is rather ridiculous. I can’t help it. My snobbery comes directly from how subjective humor is. Like: if I find something laugh-out-loud funny, I literally cannot understand how someone else doesn’t find it funny. It literally boggles my mind. This is sheer snobbery. I feel that my taste is BETTER than others. I admit it freely. I cannot understand how someone doesn’t find Best in Show hilarious. Not only can I not understand it, but I don’t WANT to understand it. Most people (at least most SMART people) have snobberies such as this.

I know people who … actually have a hard time being friends with people who don’t “get” Monty Python.

One of my ex-boyfriends had to break up with a chick pretty much because she had never heard of Zero Mostel. I mean, he didn’t break up with her immediately … but … eventually, he couldn’t get past that one thing. And here’s the thing, here’s the snobbery: HE RESPECTED HER LESS for not knowing who Zero Mostel was. As he told me the story, he was still baffled over it. “I mean …” shaking his head, worldlessly. “I mean … how could she not know … I just …” shaking his head again. I thought that was so funny. “Why’d you break up with her? Was she possessive? Psycho? Did she do drugs?” “Nah. She had never heard of Zero Mostel.” There was his snobbery at work.

So here are some of mine:

Sheila’s Comedy Snobbery:

I cannot understand how a human being could watch This is Spinal Tap and not find it funny. I think there must be something WRONG with someone who watches that and does not laugh.

I cannot understand how somone could think that The Producers wasn’t funny. I just … I don’t get it. And if someone told me WHY they didn’t laugh once while watching that movie, it would be as though they were speaking a foreign language.

My friend Mitchell and I call them “litmus tests of personality”, and for the most part they are subconscious. Again, who cares – I’m not the arbiter of taste. But when meeting new people, when negotiating through social circumstances, making new friends, dating new people … to me, what someone finds FUNNY is of tremendous importance. I would even say, of the utmost importance. Because humor, more than any other quality, is how I gauge a person. Humor is how I discover who they are, what is important to them, where their humanity is most expressive. Do they love Charlie Chaplin movies? That says something about a person. Is their favorite comic actor Jackie Gleason? To me, that says a lot. Maybe it doesn’t to you, and maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about. But to me, if someone starts raving about their love for Jackie Gleason, it is very illuminating about what really matters to this person. I LOVE that.

Maybe some of you don’t have the same comedy-snobbery. Highly possible. I know a ton of people who are snobs, but not about comedy. There are sci-fi novel snobs, for example. People who feel the need to shout in your face, “HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF URSULA LEGUIN’S BOOK? WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?” I don’t know, I find it kind of charming. This stuff is so important to these people that they are literally insulted and shocked that you have not dipped into that same world.

Let’s see, more snobbery.

If you didn’t think What’s Up Doc was funny, I would have serious doubts on whether or not we could be friends.

If you don’t guffaw with laughter over Bringing Up Baby, or if you look at the shenanigans in that movie and think: “This is so stupid, what is so funny?” – I would have a hard time thinking that you and I could agree on ANYthing.

And why am I blithering about all of this? What brought this on? The following article in The New York Times. It is called “Life after ‘The Office’.”

The Office is on my “comedy snob” list. THAT SHOW! Ricky Gervais, the genius behind the show, used Spinal Tap as his inspiration. The format is the same – a faux documentary, which – if you have a good cast – can be riotously funny and revealing (like all of those Christopher Guest movies). And here’s the deal: many people just don’t like that kind of humor. It’s not their thing. Fine. But to me? I ADORE it. It’s like candy. It’s hard to even talk about it, actually. It’s hard to talk about comedy, why something is funny. But I think that show is feckin’ HILARIOUS, and it feels like the American fans of that show are a little secret comedy club. If I’m at a party, and I hear someone say, “Do you ever watch ‘The Office’?” – I feel a thrill of exhilaration. A sense of: Oh God, a kindred spirit!

Please feel free to add your own snobberies, if you have them.

“If someone doesn’t like Tolkien books … I honestly think we couldn’t be friends.”

Whatever. You catch my drift.

If you think I’m obnoxious for admitting that I’m a “comedy snob” (and the last time I posted on a similar topic I got a lot of sanctimonious “snobbery is not good” emails – what IS it with some people? Honestly.) – too bad. I think it’s amusing. My friends who are passionate and snobby about certain things will “get it” and it is for them that I post this!

My friend Mitchell has said before that … it is practically a REQUIREMENT with him that everyone in his life has seen and LOVED the movie Harold and Maude.

I completely get this kind of thinking. Which is why I thought it was amusing (and not awful) that my ex-boyfriend broke up with some poor girl merely because she had never heard of Zero Mostel. Now I would never break up with someone just because they had never heard of Zero Mostel … Those are not my priorities, that is not where my own brand of snobbery lies.

But if that someone I was dating thought Bringing Up Baby was asinine and un-funny?

I’d really have to do some serious thinking there about our compatability.

If you’re a snob about anything, admit it now. It feels good.

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60 Responses to I Am a Comedy Snob

  1. peteb says:

    And soon you’ll be able to say – “You mean the original version? Right??”

    Of course, we already know what Martin Freeman did after The Office..

  2. red says:

    Yeah, well I’m such a snob I will only see the original version.

  3. peteb says:

    Very wise. Somehow, I can’t see the remake being shown here.

    And, on a topical note, I’d have to put Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on the list.

  4. red says:

    Excellent – I need to hear what other people are snobby about. Excellent work.

  5. Emily says:

    I’ve met a few people who don’t like the Office. I don’t understand what is wrong with them.

    The episode where Tim has a birthday…they buy him a blow-up penis…”we thought about giving you cash, but it’s just so impersonal.”

    “That’s okay. I probably would have just bought a huge inflatable cock with it anyway.”

  6. Anne says:

    I love, and believe I want to marry, Tim, the straight man from The Office. It’s too bad he doesn’t exist.

  7. Anne says:

    I don’t know that I demand that people like what I like, but maybe I have negative snobberies. If they rave about something I hated, I think twice about them.

    I hate food-themed films, a la Like Water for Chocolate. It sounds like a minor category, but there are many more films like this than there should be. It seems to be some misguided attempt to cater to a female audience. As though all women like things related to the kitchen. Yuck.

  8. Another Sheila says:

    Two of my snobberies:

    1) Fat Free Foods: I do not believe it these. I do not BELIEVE in fat free cheese, butter, salad dressing, yogurt, etc. And I am always shocked and inwardly snobbishly disdainful when I see them brazenly, shamelessly displayed on people’s refrigerator shelves, as if they were ordinary ingredients to be freely substituted for the real thing. This is actually a sub-snobbery of a larger food snobbery that is too huge to detail here.

    2) Chicago As Authentic City: Chicago’s coolness and authenticity is a fact, a given. Chicago is no Dallas, no Phoenix, no Columbus. It is old-school, entrenched, textured, self-possessed and self-sufficient, *real*. Yet maddeningly, these established truths sometimes have to be defended to people who hail from certain eastern regions of the country. In other words, snobbery must be met with snobbery. I am equal to this task.

    On the subject of comedies, does anyone watch “Black Books”? It is SO, SO funny. So funny that I long for it to go on forever. It’s on BBC America on Thursday nights. Hilarious. “The Office” lovers must check out “Black Books”!

  9. Another Sheila says:

    I can’t believe my post about food snobbery came right after Anne’s about women and food.

  10. Jay says:

    Varying degrees of snobbery here. I will say that nothing will keep me from being friends with someone, there are just things that are likely predictors of how close I can get to somebody.

    I think less of people who:
    1) Don’t find Arrested Development not only funny, but HILLARIOUS! This is just basic, a first principle if you will.
    2) Don’t find PJ O’Rourke to be one of the funniest writers ever.
    3) Hate America, are EXTREME Leftists, or have a general disdain for the military.

    I think more of people who:
    1) Find Laurel and Hardy, The Little Rascals, and Buster Keaton LOL funny. Of course, we will include Python in this.
    2) Are open to and enjoy eating a variety of cuisines, especially Thai and Indian food.
    3) Have served in the military.

    The only one of the above that would keep me from dating someone would be #3 in the first list. I can’t exclude people who don’t get L&H, the Rascals or Keaton because I have yet to meet a woman who appreciates them and “I likes the womens”.

  11. Mitchell says:

    a. have read either Franny and Zooey or catcher in the Rye(if u prefer F & Z, all the better)
    b.own at least one Joni Mitchell recording(im a snob a bout her in general…if u dont get her..i dont get you)
    c. have seen(as mentioned by Sheila) Harold and Maude and /or Whats up Doc?
    -these are my datable rules…total snob…also.. im a wicked snob about New England(although i love Chicago) and sweet seventies soul music (e.g. The Stylistsics;Teddy Pendergrass:Minnie Ripperton: Al Green: Rufus..etal…

  12. beth says:

    If someone thought Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral sucked, I would probably push them off the nearest cliff.

  13. beth says:

    i am also a wicked frickin snob about new england and boston.

  14. Mitchell says:

    thats cuz ur wikid pissah..beth!

  15. Big Dan says:

    I was watching the bit in Spinal Tap where the quote of all quotes comes: “This one goes up to 11, dun’t it?”

    A “friend” was watching with me and could not find any humor in that scene.

    It’s not snobbery, it’s superiority. It’s like trying to explain how electricity works to my dog.

  16. I’m horribly snobbish about chain restaurants which aggressively sell mid-market products (e.g. “The Jack Daniel’s Angus Steak Burger Combo with Tillamook Cheddar, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and a glass of Kendall-Jackson Merlot.”) I try to avoid these places, as I feel like I’m being insulted, sort of like when Ace Rothstein in “Casino” insults Lester Diamond (“Let’s say he bought a suit — what HE thought was a good suit.”)

    I’m somewhat snobbish about people who spend lots of money on things which I can’t see have any inherent value. These things include $200 bottles of olive oil, “premium” vodkas (it’s VODKA) and expensive pet food.

    I’m also snobbish about the Rust Belt, by which I mean the area roughtly from Chicago to Pittsburgh. I’m passionate about my Midwestern roots and I’ll reflexively get my back up should someone insult Back Home (especially if they’re from a state or a part of the country which is not all that and a bag of chips).

    Finally, I’m slightly snobbish about people who think Clive Owen shouldn’t be the next James Bond, who don’t see the humor in Monty Python, who don’t enjoy reading and who refuse to eat lobster. I do, though, give mad props to those who get the joke when I say the L.A. Clippers bumper sticker on my car was a great anti-theft device during my time in Los Angeles.

  17. popskull says:

    I eventually have to walk away from people who fail to understand what an amazing artform comics is.

  18. Ann Marie says:

    May I just say that I found the statement by Benjamin that he is snobbish about “chain restaurants which aggressively sell mid-market products” HILARIOUS. I actually could never actually place WHY those restaurants bothered me, but that pretty much nails it.

    I would say that I am somewhat snobbish about comedy, though I have to admit that I don’t find the Stooges *that* funny and it hurts many men I know. I’m more of a Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman girl. I’ve had ARGUMENTS about whether Waiting for Guffman was better than Best in Show. But these are the arguments that kindred spirits have.

  19. Mark says:

    My one litmus test for a relationship is that they may not openly disdain The Patty Duke Show. However, I don’t really strictly enforce it because it was only created for and directed towards one certain person.

  20. Scotter says:

    My wife has sat through a few episodes of the Office with me, and never wants to see it ever again.

    And I completely understand.

    The humor is vicious. Extremely so. And she does not want to find the humor or drama in other people acting awful to one another. The Ice Storm sent her into a tailspin. I won’t even consider showing her Closer. She’s had enough of that c**p in her life, so why introduce more?

    I, on the other hand, giggle at cruelty and hardship, so bring it on.

    On a plus note, she has heard of Zero Mostel. He was the sweet man in The Front who left his hat on the ledge. So I guess she’s a keeper.

  21. Just1Beth says:

    I am snobbish about “Home Decorating”. I have no tolerance for “Country Chic” or anything that involves silk flowers, cute sayings on sweatshirts, or decorations with farm animals. Along that same line, don’t give me Velveeta, Kraft recipes or just about anything that you can cut out from a magazine. Clearly, chain restaurants are tolerated only if necessary. I would much prefer REAL food- a couple of good, quality ingredients make all the difference and actually cost less in the long run. PS Mitchell- THE STYLISTICS!!!! My dad still has the albums. I grew UP with them, man!!! Next time you are back in RI, we will have to have a 70’s music hour!!!

  22. BSTommy says:

    I snobby about comedy in general. People want to put down comedy, as if making somebody laugh automatically makes you less intelligent than the average joe.

    As for specific types of comedy, Jay took the first answer that came to my mind. I don’t see how you can’t find Arrested Development funny. The Office, Spinal Tap, all the Christopher Guest movies, same thing.

    I get kind of snobby about standup comedy. I want a comic whose routine is going to show obvious thought and a unique viewpoint. I’ve walked out of shows where the key component seems to be “white people walk funny” or “black people don’t know when to shutup at a movie theater.” I want something more than observational humor, too. I tend to want a comic who is channelling their anger into their comedy.

    Popskull said comics. That’s another one of mine. I give comics away in the hopes that people will realize that there are great writers, storytellers and artists working the medium, telling more than superhero stories. If you really want to grind my goat, refer to them or treat them as “kids stuff.”

    I gotta think on this….

  23. tim says:

    Red,
    For my money, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the funniest movie ever. And a question, why is it that guys think the Three Stooges are hilarious, and gals just roll their eyes at the stupidity of it all??

  24. peteb says:

    One other point of snobbery.. for now.. Anyone who dismissively refers to Seamus Heaney as “Famous Seamus” will never be my friend.

  25. red says:

    tim:

    Probably the same reason that when women say they love Oprah, men roll their eyes. Different sensibilities.

    And who up there said that chicks, in general, don’t love Buster Keaton? Is that true?? I feckin’ LOVE Buster Keaton!

  26. Lisa says:

    I have watched The Office with my husband, and while I’m rolling on the floor laughing my ASS off, he’s just looking at the screen, at me, back to the screen with this look on his face that says “I don’t get it.”

    Dry humor like that just doesn’t compute with him. He likes comedy that you don’t have to think about, like the Farrelly brothers. I, however, cannot watch their movies. It is PAINFUL to me to watch comedy like that because I cannot imagine how people think it is funny. Is semen in a girl’s hair really that funny? Is it funny to watch a man get his penis caught in his zipper? Really? Because I don’t get it.

    I’m a total snob about this. If you want me to laugh, you gotta make me think. You gotta be smart.

    And I’m a snob about food snobs. I understand that for some people, having one pea and a slice of salmon sprinkled with three smidgens of dill is the HEIGHT of culinary ecstasy, but it also needs to be acknowleded that sometimes what you need is a good hot cheesy hashbrown casserole with cornflakes on top. And if you can’t recognize that, I don’t think I want to know you.

  27. red says:

    You guys, I just have to say this: reading through these one after the other is absolute genius. I love you all. It’s all so diverse, but so FUNNY.

  28. red says:

    Lisa –

    hahahaha with the smidgeons of dill …

  29. skinnydan says:

    I’m a snob when it comes to Animation. Anyone who chooses MGM (or worse, Japanimation – yuck) over WB drops several notches in my estimation. I still maintain they’re the highest art form produced in America. Ever. One five minute Chuck Jones short outdoes 95% of the movies & TV shows out there.

    I’m not snobby about it, but I just don’t get people who don’t like bell peppers, especially grilled. And onions.

    I’m definitely a history snob. I get really cheesed off at people who say it’s boring, and I get even more upset at people who get history wrong. It’s not that hard to do a little basic research, and I feel like too many people (especially in the media) are just too lazy to open a damned book.

  30. red says:

    Anne – I am in love with Tim from the Office as well, even though he is not my type, and the last moment … when Dawn re-appears at the office party, was one of the most exciting moments on television I HAVE EVER SEEN.

  31. Lisa says:

    Psssssst. Tim from The Office is semi-naked in Love Actually so now you have another reason to rent it.

    Carry on.

  32. red says:

    Lisa … hahaha I know, I saw it! I was in heaven – hilarious scenes, huh?

  33. beth says:

    oh…and? i consider diet soda a complete insult to my intelligence. anyone who orders diet soda at a drive-thru, in particular, infuriates me. same with ppl who smoke “light” cigarettes looking at my regulars like, “whoa, slow down!”

    if you’re going to do something, you might as well enjoy it.

  34. Anne says:

    There is no one less my type than Tim. And yet I love him. And I’ve seen Love Actually, and the naked people is my favorite part. I love how polite they are to one another.

  35. red says:

    It’s hilarious, isn’t it, Anne? And how shy they are when he finally asks her out. Like they’ve been pretending to hump all day, but their manners with each other are very old-fashioned. hahaha

  36. DBW says:

    These are great. Big Dan–“It’s not snobbery, it’s superiority. It’s like trying to explain how electricity works to my dog.” That is hilarious!

    I am a snob when it comes to music. Many of my wife’s friends know that I am “interested” in music, particularly jazz. Invariably, we will be having dinner with a couple, and the other woman will say to her husband/partner, “Oh, David really likes jazz. You should play ____ for him.” That blank almost always is a so-called “smooth jazz” muscician. My now-famous quote is, “Smooth jazz is jazz for people who don’t like jazz.” I don’t begrudge people their choices in music–that is their business, but I must admit I probably could never be blood brothers with someone whose idea of great jazz was Kenny G.

    Another area that drives me to distraction is people who say they NEVER read or watch the news. You know–“I don’t care about politics, and the news is always depressing.” Well, I hope you aren’t living next door when they come to take us to the gulag, because my fight-to-the-death will probably take you with me. Along the same lines, I am bothered by those who have obnoxiously strong political/social opinions which they express unendingly and vigorously, and it becomes clear the more they talk that they have NO fundamental understanding of the subject matter–it is all emotional claptrap without an iota of substantive sober reasoning.

    Enough negatives. I love people with a sense of humor. It usually indicates someone with a diverse intellect. Show me a woman who likes Monty Python, owns Cannonball Adderley and ECM CDs, appreciates the horrors of Communism and Fascism, knows Joni Mitchell dwarfs Tori Amos, gets excited over a great backdoor play in basketball, is repulsed by post-modern deconstructionism, reads a lot, subscribes to National Review or The Weekly Standard(sorry Sheila), and knows lite beer and White Zinfandel are affronts to human sensibilities—well, I would be a goner.

  37. red says:

    “I probably could never be blood brothers with
    someone whose idea of great jazz was Kenny G.”

    bwahahahaha

    These are hilarious to read, people. So beautiful. I love snobbery of this nature. I relate.

  38. DBW says:

    Oh, Mitchell. Amen, brother. Amen.

  39. red says:

    DBW: I plead innocent! I read The Weekly Standard on occasion! Joseph Epstein, Larry Miller … I love those guys! I won’t read that other rag you mentioned. And anyone who knows me well knows why. haha

  40. ricki says:

    secret snobberies – oh, my gosh, I have so many of them. And I’m going to totall admit them here.

    Like NASCAR. I simply cannot see the POINT of NASCAR. I cannot stand auto racing and would find it hard to spend a lot of time with someone who was obsessed with it.

    And people who consistently mispronounce certain words. Or misspell certain words. I know I’m guilty of misspellings myself, but I just get really irritated when people spell “definitely” as “definately.”

    And the obsession with makeover shows. I totally do not get that and don’t think I could spend a lot of time with someone who was heavily into watching those. Especially the shows where they come to you and say things like “Oh, your late grandmother hand knitted you this mohair sweater using wool from organically raised goats and she chose the color specifically because it highlights your eyes? But the dam’ thing has 3/4 sleeves, which are SO OUT. Throw it away! Buy this acrylic thing instead!”

    I also tend to think less of people who wander through the grocery store, slowly, chattering on their cell phones. My feeling is that *I* have enough of a life to want to get in, buy my milk-spinach-eggs-oranges, and get out. And I don’t want to be stuck behind some slow-rider who is telling her Aunt Tillie what Jordan said to his teacher today.

    And people who are strident politically, whatever their stripe. I tend to think people that have no flexibility in their beliefs, no ability to accept the fact that other people may have a different perception of reality without being wrong or deluded, are just not people I want to spend time around. Also people who obsess about politics and cannot stop talking about it.

    I’m also a horrible reading snob. I look down on people who do not read. I automatically assume someone who’d rather watch whatever crap is on the telly than read doesn’t have much of an inner life. I also tend to be a little bit snobbish about people who only read a particlar “genre,” be it romance, or mystery, or sci-fi.

    I, however, tend to look favorably on people who own (and read) a lot of books, and people who have read widely. And people who love certain authors: Anthony Trollope, M. F. K. Fisher, L’Engle, C. S. Lewis (and who have read more than the Chronicles of Narnia).

    I tend to think highly of people who have some kind of creative “hobby” (I don’t like the word “hobby,” it sounds trivializing). I like to find out that someone writes in his spare time, or is a gourmet cook, or can play an instrument, or grows a large garden. Or people who make stuff. (I find guys who can do cabinetwork or build furniture unbearably sexy). I think it’s because I feel like the person cares enough about something in order to take time at perfecting a skill.

    In general, I think highly of people who have some kind of skill that has taken time and effort to develop. Like musical skill/talent. Or like people who are good tennis players.

    I also think highly of people who have an interest in something somewhat obscure, and who spend a lot of time reading or learning about that interest, who kind of become amateur experts. People who know train-lore, or who can identify birds by their song, or who care passionately about a particular historical period.

    I also tend to think highly of people who don’t complain – who seem to be tough and capable.

  41. siobhan says:

    i went on one date,and one date only, with a guy who didn’t like sheryl crow. if you don’t like her,, i really don’t even want to hear about it, becaus ei’m that much of a snob.
    i also am a snob about the REd Sox. i feel like other sports fans don’t really get it. especially yankees fans.
    i also am a snob about people who watch fox news and read The New York Post. when someone is doing either, i inwardly think–aren’t you ashamed to be reading/looking at such garbage???
    i also–like our sister jean–am a snob about those who put ketchup on their eggs. i don’t know WHERE this came from but we both feel this way.
    and if you dont’ think the muppets are really really funny and brilliant, i’d have a hard time respecting you.

  42. red says:

    Ketchup on their eggs. Ew.

    Siobhan … I know I’ve dropped off the face of the planet recently. Sorry!!

  43. syd says:

    Cooking. Not so much the food, but the actual process. I employ efficiency in nearly every aspect of my life, until I enter the kitchen. I can’t stand that my sister is forever looking for shortcuts like the just-add-meat boxed meals. Oddly, I’m not opposed to eating them. I just wouldn’t be caught dead actually preparing one.

    Sharp knives. OMFG, there is no excuse for a dull knife.

    I will go out of my way to purchase from a local or family-owned business. (is that snobbery, maybe not)

  44. tonecluster says:

    Aw hell..
    MusicFoodWineWhiskyFootball
    ComedyBooksHistoryComputerprogramming
    IntellectualcuriosityOldmoviesPencils. . .

    (pause)

    Damn near everything. I am probably intolerable, I know, but there it is.

  45. red says:

    tonecluster:

    Join the club. Would you break up with someone if they had never heard of [fill in the blank]? If so, you are not alone. :)

  46. tonecluster says:

    syd..

    Amen!

    And dull knives

    make.
    me.
    insane.

    No excuse for them. Attacking a tomato with a dull knife is like starting a luxury car with an empty tank: A certifiable “WTF?!?” moment that is highly unpleasing.

  47. tonecluster says:

    red. .

    Hmmm. Yep, probably.. if she hadn’t heard of Buster Keaton, or Mel Brooks, or Alfred Hitchcock. Or god forbid hadn’t heard of Albert Einstein. I can understand never having heard of Clifford Pickover, f’example, but some attention to cultural reality is necessary or I’m going to feel like I’m dating a lampshade. . .

    I broke up with someone because she never, ever read a book. Ever. She got all of her knowledge from “Law & Order” and “CSI”. (what was I thinking to begin with?? Nevermind.)

  48. red says:

    tonecluster: was she a babealicious Nordic gymnast? That might explain it.

  49. Dan says:

    Snobby ’bout boxing, horseracing, baseball. I’m old school in my sports interests.

    Music – you cannot actively dislike the Replacements. This is not debatable.

    Yet – you must also not deny the pop brilliance of certain 80’s hair metal bands/songs.

    I am positively militant about the kinds of bars that are acceptable to be patronized on a regular basis. I do not want to hang out in that trendy joint that is pooftah-central.

  50. Whew, I passed the litmus test. I do have to admit that I can only watch The Office for ten minutes at a time. Very often it’s that type of painful funny, that I can’t take in large doses.

    I’d add Fawlty Towers and the first two seasons of Coupling.

  51. Emily says:

    Have any of you guys ever seen Gareth’s website? Check it out when you get the chance if you haven’t. It’s hilarious.

  52. red says:

    Scott:

    Dude, you passed the litmus test forever and always when you gave me the un-Lucased un-molested versions of the Star Wars trilogy. Truly. SO COOL.

  53. Emily says:

    The “un-molested” version. Hahahaha.

    Scott was nice enough to do the same for me. He should be sainted.

  54. Jay says:

    Sheila,

    You is the onliest woman I’ve met that appreciates Buster Keaton, and I ain’t even really met you!

  55. Snooty!

    Sheila would like you to know that she’s a snob. And a completely unrepentant one at that. And I can’t blame her one little bit….

  56. MikeR says:

    I think the underlying process here is that people tend to be snobbish about things they’re really passionate about. I try to attenuate my snobbish tendencies as much as possible, but only so much IS possible. And I do find that the more passionate you are about something, the more specific your taste tends to be. The fricking Doors and even a solo Michael Jackson belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but Wanda Jackson supposedly isn’t worthy??? What a joke.

    I mean, it’s one thing if you’ve never heard of the sport of non-wing open wheel dirt track auto racing. But if Sheila were to write a post tomorrow in which she extolled the supposed virtues on winged open wheel racing and dismissed non-wing racing as irrelevant and boring, well, like I said, there ARE limits. ;-)

  57. KevinO says:

    Anyone who calls Kenny G a jazz musician needs to be locked up for good.

    As for comedy, has anyone mentioned the fact that Ben Stiller was truly funny for a total of 5 minutes in all of the 650 movies he’s made in the past 5 years? Same shtick, every time…zzzzz. Give me Python, Coen Brothers, Mel Brooks, even Jim Carrey.

  58. DANEgerus says:

    You know I mention these movies at work and get blank stares…

    I can’t even pop off lines from ‘The Holy Grail’ and expect someone to chime in…

    The only IT guy amidst salesmen…

    The horror…

  59. mike says:

    Way back in ’92 or so, when I was living in the Midwest and Seinfeld was on opposite Home Improvement, all of my roommates said that they simply didn’t get Seinfeld. I knew right then that I had to get back to New Jersey somehow.

  60. tonecluster says:

    red:
    “tonecluster: was she a babealicious Nordic gymnast? That might explain it.”

    Oh, hell, you knew huh? I keep forgetting you used to live in Chicago when I did…

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