Most of those are really funny and I have to say that the people they had on Hollywood Squares, for the most part, were quick, witty, and with a few exceptions, clean.
Yeah what happened to everyone? Did they suddenly get stupid or are there too many decency subroutine checks going on in their processes? I am pretty sure that political correctness has ruined comedy in America.
What people have forgotten is that there will always be an 'edge' to comedy...always. Whether you are making fun of a situation, something or someone (even if the someone is yourself), there's an edge. It doesn't have to be vulgar but there are times when a word gets thrown in and it's just so unexpected and out of left field and takes you so by surprise that it makes it even funnier (on the flip side, the f-bomb every other word loses it's shock value). Probably half of those were innuendo but they were clever, and folks doing it were, just like it mentioned at the beginning, off the cuff. No scripts, no rehearsals. They didn't know what the questions were ahead of time but they were sharp as tacks and they all got into a groove and as a group they all just kind of riffed for a half-hour. Now, everybody is so concerned with their own image, their own career, etc. A lot of those people were friends off screen. Back in the day there were still cliques and feuds but there was also the Rat Pack. We don't have a Rat Pack now. The closest we came was the Brat Pack during the late 80's early 90's and that was more by circumstance than by any great desire for the actors/actresses to be together. Look at them now...Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and Anthony Michael Hall from The Breakfast Club have nothing to do with each other (they also have little to no careers...). Actors today, comics today, singers today...one talent/trick (if that) ponies who guard what they have with all their might (my preciousssssssss). Sad really.
Hollywod Squares was a hoot. <---That means real funny for you young'un's. The '70's were pretty cool, except for that "disco" thing.
I actually miss all this. Just a few TV stations, a few shows. And I was there for the beginnings of cable tv, yeah, but I grew up on the Honeymooners, I love Lucy, holeywood squares and benji. Gotta love Benji. To this day I am not a tv person however. I have one show I watch, and otherwise only sit in front of the TV for the occasional movie. And my insidious obsession with the Outdoor channel and the hunting shows I tune into here and there.
Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, Rodney Dangerfield, the list goes on and on. They all had that quick wit and were funny all the time with out trying. It was a different time before the world was Nerfed. Dave Chappel is quick and funny like that too but what ever happened to him? Quick and witty is no longer a good thing. Having writers and doing what you're told is. Look and see.
