Funny Not So Funny

I know I am getting old but has the next generation lost its sense of humour?  If you are over 45 years old, I challenge you to watch Saturday Night Live and find one skit that makes you laugh, or even smile for that matter.  Okay, there may be a few of you that might laugh, but you are probably also the ones who love America's Funniest Home Videos and can't get enough of guys getting beaned in the crotch, or can laugh for years about a poor husband that smashes his head inside a camper van and lies dying on the floor.  But seriously, where is the humour?  I look at the comic strips and wonder how the cartoonists managed to produce a strip at all.  It seems there is so little in their heads that it is a wonder they even know how to get out of bed in the morning.  I exclude those who choose cartoons to make a political statement rather than to make us laugh.  Look at our sitcoms on TV.  Hollywood is convinced that there are only two sources of humour, sex and crudeness.  So that is what they feed our children, and it isn't very funny.  And they are supposedly holding back.  Go see your favourite comedian doing a stand-up routine live and you will learn more about sex than you ever wanted to know, as well as the many literary uses of the "f" bomb.  That''s not funny, its just sad.

Speaking of which, yesterday I watched the Canadian women beat the American women for gold at the Sochi Olympics.  Was there ever a more dour looking group of silver medalists?  I understand the disappointment of losing, but the IOC ought to confiscate their silver medals because they clearly do not want them.  What was more disturbing was that for the next day, one of the top hash tags used on Twitter was #F***Canada.  With friends like this, who needs enemies?  The anti-Canadian venom was disgusting.  But, perhaps the women's team can take comfort in knowing they fairly represented their country in their reaction.  Its a game folks, have a beer and get over it!  Maybe the comics who peddle their sex and crude language really are touching the people where they are at.  But, is it funny?

Even my two favourite sitcoms are no exception.  Modern Family is getting a little long in the tooth, and while it has a family setting, with a gay couple of course to represent the modern norm, I do not believe Gloria was cast because of her exceptional acting abilities.  This show does still make me smile the odd time, but I long for a good belly laugh.  The Big Bang Theory is very innovative and I love some of the characters, but most of them are completely consumed with coitus, as Sheldon would say.  (Actually, coitus is second only to superheroes.)  Some of the sexual innuendos and situations, particularly with Howard, have no place in a family show.  If you argue that they are adult comedies and not family comedies, get real.  They are totally geared to reaching young teens and up.

Can anyone please come up with something that is funny and makes you laugh out loud without needing to cover the ears of your 13 year old?  Laughter is a great medicine.  I think we were created to laugh and have fun.  Even God likes to laugh.  That's why he created kookaburras, hyenas and platypus's.  I am not a prude, but please, try a little harder!  A cartoon that shows a girl wrapping her scarf around a birdhouse because it is winter and birdhouses don't have good insulation is not funny!  Stupid, yes.  Funny, no.  A cartoon about a phone app for recipes that shows the key ingredient for a quick and easy dinner being the phone number of the local pizza delivery joint is an attempt at humour, but with little effort.  The cartoonist should get a job with Hallmark writing "funny" birthday cards.

I am starting to rant now so I will stop, because it is not even funny any more.