Traditional comedy has always been based on situations that all of us face during our daily affairs at home, work and play. We need to return to such humanistic humor.
The problem with some segments of society today is taking humor too seriously, feeling offended. Laughter is important to our mental health. And we need to be able to laugh at ourselves. It Is good for the human spirit.
Likewise, we are witnessing contemporary comedy that is based on “hate humor” focused specifically on individuals and various groups. This comedic approach is truly hurtful, biased and prejudiced in its demeaning nature. It is more like news media commentary rather than true fun-loving, stand-up comedy.
In recent years, many individuals I have spoken to have had similar thoughts regarding today’s comedy shows. They find the monologues of the comedians to be very political and mean-spirited in nature, and in no way humorous or entertaining.
The “Greatest Generation” created great situation-comedy (sitcom) shows on television — presentations that have become classic, humorous entertainment. Older generations will remember the likes of the Bob Hope Show, the Honeymooners, the Martin and Lewis Show, the Adventures of Ozzy and Harriet Show, the Jack Benny Show, I Love Lucy, the Andy Griffith Show, Laverne and Shirley, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Mork and Mindy, the Caroll Burnett Show, the Golden Girls, the Barney Miller Show, Maude, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, Home Improvement and Mike and Molly.
We were also exposed to great comedians — Jonathan Winters, Jackie Gleason, Red Foxx, Moms Mabley, Don Knotts, Soupy Sales, Milton Burle, Ellen DeGeneres, Rodney Dangerfield, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Flip Wilson, “Professor” Irwin Corey, Phyliss Diller, Dick Van Dyke, Wanda Sykes, Joan Rivers and Richard Pryor to name a few.
Unfortunately, America’s younger generations have missed out on the genuine comedy shows of years ago. Programs that presented human situations they could easily relate to — and LOL. But now, thanks to a variety of TV comedy stations and the internet, they can enjoy past iconic humorists and comedy skits.
I hope that we can return to the comedy of former decades where humor was in no way meant to offend the viewers. Such sitcoms dealt with everyday silly scenarios that their audiences could laugh at wholeheartedly, picturing themselves in similar situations.
My suggestion to those individuals who take comedy too personally is relax and enjoy.
I have always lived by the following philosophy:
“Always take your work seriously, but not yourself because that is a form of arrogance.”
LET’S LAUGH AGAIN!
Bill Welker, EdD, is a retired educator who has 40 years of experience as a K-12 classroom teacher in both public and private schools. He was the recipient of the Jasper N. Deahl Award from West Virginia University for his accomplishments as a certified reading specialist.
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Publish date : 2024-09-06 17:30:00
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