Watching some vintage sitcoms lately, I've noticed that the meaning of some jokes have changed. Two examples:
- BATMAN "The Funny Feline Felonies" (1968). Rock star Little Louie Groovy lists his most valuable possessions, and along with a coin collection and gold jewelry (if I recall), he includes "my collection of classic comic books." That was supposed to be a joke at the time, because comic books were generally thought to be worthless.
- MARY TYLER MOORE "You've Got a Friend" (1972). Mary is talking to her father and mentions that she ran into an old boyfriend the other day.
DAD: "I never trusted that kid." MARY: "He's a priest now." (Audience laughs)
The meaning of that joke has definitely changed, and ironically it's funnier now that it was 40 years ago.
A minute later Mary accidentally cuts her finger while making a salad in the kitchen. DAD: "You got any bandages?" MARY: "Yeah, I keep a few in here. I cut myself a lot." (Audience laughs)
That joke was meant to be cute, offhand irony at the time; today it would be wicked irony because cutting has become a sick hobby among some young women.
Yeah, the first one is not funny anymore as it's a fact, I wish I'd kept my classic comic books. The second two have become real cutting edge jokes, which they certaintly weren't meant to be at the time.
I clearly remember an episode of Happy Days where Richie, Potsie and Ralph go camping trying to meet girls. They hook up with three by pretending to be "three Tunisian Camel Jockeys".
Do you think any current sitcom would use the term "Camel Jockey" today?
