When I was a kid and I first started
to write down everything, I made a lot of lists. I got picked on by friends; they compared me
to Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, a
character who kept notes on the minutest details of his life. I have a list of
my favorite words. I have a list of hilarious names. I have a list my favorite quotes, and those
are split between the ones I heard in media or the one’s I heard firsthand. I guess
never really stopped.
Even when I had children I wrote about
everything on my mind. Your kids are always talking about superlatives. They are compiling favorites as they go. My kids asked me on a weekly basis what my
favorite ice cream flavor was, or movie, or Christmas memory, or type of
sandwich cheese. I was always ready with
an answer.
Now
I’m a few weeks away from 40. Should I
just cave in and accept that making lists was a nervous habit I used in an
attempt to control my surroundings, or just have fun with it? Yep. I’m gonna have fun with it.
This
time, I’m narrowing it down, assigning real rank and making the effort to
whittle the entries into cohesive lists.
My criteria for each list is a little different, however one common
element is that these are my favorites.
I don’t think they are the world’s best, they are my best. Yes, I like Back to the Future more than The Godfather, but I know it’s not a
better movie.
Also,
and I may bring this concept to a bigger project, but I want to chop off the
top entries. Since this is a personal
list, there’s really no need to cover the top 3 or top 5 of each list, because
everyone who reads this knows I love The
Simpsons, Lost, Beastie Boys,
White Stripes, George Carlin and fried chicken.
I’ve made that abundantly clear.
So, to make it interesting to me, I’ve made a few of the top entries
exempt from these lists. I’ll mention
the cast-offs quickly, and spend a little more time with the rest of the
list. That feels good to me. Aren’t we all really on the rest of some list
in life? In the back of the room being
snarky at the best and the brightest?
Project
much?
First
up:
My Top 20 Favorite Funny
Things Ever (Non-Stand Up Comedy)
#20 - #11
Basically
everything not spoken into a mic onstage is eligible. What is left off the list is:
Jokes
and memories from friends and family.
The Simpsons, because it permeates
my life still.
Saturday Night Live, because I’m in an
ongoing feud whether or not I like it or not.
80’s
comedies. Again, not sure if my favorite
batch is funny or I’m just sentimental.
I also hate the argument about things ‘standing up’ to the test of time.
Most things don’t.
20 - The Hangover/Hot Tub Time Machine
It's a cheat, but these movies fill
the same slot for me. They are two of
the few rated R comedies that have made me laugh in the past few years. Again, I don’t look to movies for comedy much,
but the surprise insanity of The Hangover and Rob Corddry-ness of HTTM were
such a welcome surprise, they made the top 20.
19 - Adult
Swim
It’s difficult to pick a single
show. Sorry. They’re fifteen minutes long. I’m partial to the earlier stuff, SeaLab 2021
and the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Did
anyone ever catch Assy McGee?
18 - Megan
Mullally
Interesting choice, huh? Here’s the reason: Every time she’s on a show, even as a guess
star, she’s the funniest part of the whole enchilada. I dare you not to laugh
at her scenes as Tammy 2 on Parks and
Recreation. Hey, and you know
what? Will and Grace was funny.
There you go.
17 - Arrested Development
Perhaps the most over-hyped, yet
deserving of at least a genuine helping of hype show of all time. Fantastically silly, smart writing and a
great cast. My wife insists Jessica
Walters (as Lucille) was the greatest part of the show. Jason Bateman as Michael was the perfect fall
guy, Will Arnett as GOB was great and even the narratcion by Ron Howard made me
laugh.
16 - Friends
This is the funniest traditional
sitcom of the nineties. Period. Don’t be fooled by that other show set in New
York about nothing. This show about
nothing had comedy that came from a sweeter, more sarcastic, yet less dickish
place. I just watched a few reruns and
it’s still hilarious.
15 - Spongebob Squarepants
This is among a handful of great
kids’ shows in the last ten years or so.
It deserves its bazillion dollar success because it embraces something
that few people respect anymore: Silliness.
It’s just playful, fun, and the jokes are for everyone. And that rhymed.
14 - First
time I saw Austin Powers
Remember when this wasn’t annoying
as hell? To be fair to Mike Myers, these
movies succeeded because of Dr. Evil.
Oh, it’s been so long, Mike…
13 -Tenacious D
Amy and I loved this when it came
out. I don’t anyone else who got
onboard, but in 2001-2002 we laughed our asses off. A comedy rock album with
filthy lyrics aided by Dave Grohl and Page McConnell of Phish? What’s not to like?
12 – Parks and Recreation
It’s fairly new, but I can’t recall
a show that started so pale and dry and turned into complete gold by the end of
the second season. A full cast of
individual characters, each with their timing and personality. It is the most fun I have watching TV right
now.
11 - Bill
Murray
Honestly, if you don’t get why he’s
here, I can’t explain it to you.
more to come -
jim
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