Chick Chat

CHICK CHAT: Our favorite funny movies, and/or TV shows

 

Lisa Q. Mathews

Funny movies? So, so many I love. Ridiculous, I know, but I can’t tell you how many times I have watched the movie STEPBROTHERS. Even though I pretty much have the script and images memorized, it makes me laugh every time. In theory, the idea of a blended family with two highly immature (I don’t think that word even begins to cover it) 40-year-old sons, a put-upon dad and a super-enabling mom (Mary Steenburgen) suspends credibility–or does it? I’m also a huge fan of PRIVATE BENJAMIN and SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES, both starring Goldie Hawn. I saw a double feature in college and practically rolled out of my chair in giggles. Then a guy friend next to me remarked that I *was* Goldie Hawn. I’ll take that as a compliment, thanks very much.

Funny TV Show? Again, I’m going to cheat here by picking more than one. TED LASSO is my new all-time fave, because it makes me laugh AND cry. I’m almost (almost) tempted to attempt Ted’s actual biscuit recipe. The Lisa Award for Comedy also goes to: THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. You did make it after all, Mary Richards–and Sue Ann Nivens, I drew the inspiration for one of my Ladies characters, Mary Lee Messinger (my mom’s college roomie, 1942) from you!

 Ellen Byron

Favorite funny movies: Every movie Mel Brooks ever made, but hands-down favorite is THE PRODUCERS. And AIRPLANE never, ever gets old.

Favorite funny TV shows: Every show I personally wrote for! LOL, kidding. For hard jokes, I loved VEEP. For softer humor, it’s SCHITT’S CREEK. I now only pronounce the word “baby” as “bebe,” a la Moira Rose. Even though these shows are polar opposites in ways, they have something very important in common: the humor is totally individualized to each character. Which reminds me, I also loved BIG BANG THEORY for the same reason.

Also, I’ve been watching SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE ever since it debuted. (Yes, I’m that old.) Even at its worst, I’m guaranteed at least one laugh in a show.

Vickie Fee

My standard here is for movies that always make me laugh no matter how many times I’ve seen them, not simply movies that cracked me up the first time around. FUNNY MOVIES: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Foul Play (with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase), and Barefoot in the Park (with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda).

FUNNY TV SHOWS: I love the classics. I Love Lucy, Bob Newhart Show, and the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I always laugh/cry at Chuckle’s Funeral episode.

 

Cynthia Kuhn

Too many favorites to list, but ever since catching a glimpse of the National Dog Show on Thanksgiving, I’ve been planning to rewatch Best in Show (which will inevitably set off a whole Christopher Guest mockumentary moviefest, huzzah!). The film so brilliantly and lovingly satirizes dog shows that when you now watch an actual dog show, it sort of feels as though they are satirizing themselves. This year, the announcer even referenced the duet sung by Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy (“God Loves a Terrier”) when the terrier category began. Further contributing to the comedic effect: one of the announcers was John O’Hurley, who played J. Peterman in Seinfeld (that amazing voice!).

Of course the combination of Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy leads directly to my favorite tv show, Schitt’s Creek. Have also recently enjoyed Dead to Me, The Other Two, Hacks, and I Love That For You. All of those lie right on the intersection of edgy humor and snark, which is my happy place.

Leslie Karst

Film: I always get lots of guffaws and eye-rolls when I say this, but ISHTAR is my favorite funny movie. Maybe you have to have tried writing songs to get the jokes, or perhaps you simply have to have a goofy sense of humor, but I laugh my butt off whenever I watch it. And the songs (by the amazing Paul Williams) are BRILLIANT! I’m still angry that they never released the soundtrack.

TV Show: Hands-down, FRASIER. Mostly because of the witty writing, but also because David Hyde Pierce is one of the most talented physical actors of our age.

 

Kathleen Valenti

Comedy is my go-to for, well, everything. So perhaps it’s probably no surprise that my list of favorites has sub-categories—and sub-sub-categories. But in in the interest of time, word count limits, and patience, I’ll share a few that are top of mind. Okay, more than a few.

Movie-wise, it’s got to be This Is Spinal Tap, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Fletch, Vacation, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Airplane!, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off … the list goes on, and so could I.

For television, The Office is a perennial favorite, along with Seinfeld, Friends—and a newcomer to me, Derry Girls.

Becky Clark

This is really hard for me because I watch so much funny stuff! But since I’m forced to narrow it down, I’m going with “Shaun of the Dead” for my favorite funny movie. It’s technically a comic zombie movie, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Or maybe it’s a scary comedy … not sure. But when zombies overrun their British town, these lovable losers have to step up.

For my favorite funny TV show, I’m choosing “Schitt’s Creek.” I love the fish out of water stories, which may be why I like to write amateur sleuths so much. It’s got Eugene Levy, and his son Dan who I immediately fell in love with. He’s got the best expressions. Each of his eyebrows should be nominated for Emmys. But it’s Catherine O’Hara’s character that I think steals the show. She has affected this ridiculous accent that is unlike the way anyone speaks in reality, and it tickles me no end. The premise is that this family lost their extreme wealth and all their assets, except for the podunk town of Schitt’s Creek they bought as a joke. They’re forced to move there. Hilarity ensues as they try to navigate in their newfound poverty. I have a special affinity for this show (and a grateful shout-out to Parks and Rec) because they were my companions while I recovered from surgery. Laughter truly was the best medicine!

Jennifer Chow

Film:
The Princess Bride for the memorable characters and zingers. And also Zoolander for its over-the-top zaniness.

TV:
I adored The Golden Girls. For a reality show, I appreciated Last Comic Standing to get a peek into the stand-up comedy life.

Readers, drop us a note in the comments below about your favorite funny movies or shows!

34 thoughts on “CHICK CHAT: Our favorite funny movies, and/or TV shows”

  2. I really enjoyed the movie “Ticket to Paradise” with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Both hubby and I had some good laughs and came out of the theatre feeling good. The TV shows, one of my favorites are The Carol Burnett Show. The skits with Harvey Korman and Tim Conway would make tears roll down my face and my belly hurt from laughter. Golden Girls, I Love Lucy and the British comedy, Keeping up Appearances are some of my favorites. I am also enjoying the new show Ghosts. When I was young, I loved The Ghost and Mrs Muir. I thought it would be fun to have my own friendly ghost to talk to. Laughter is good for the soul.
    Carol

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  3. Great post! Surprised at the number of oldies listed.
    Movies?
    Hands down. Animal House.
    “What? Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!”
    Second would probably be Last Vegas.
    “Boy these vodka Red Bulls are strange. I feel like I’m getting drunk and electrocuted at the same time!”

    TV? A little harder.
    Moonlighting “Do bears bear? Do bees be?”
    Psych “suck it!”

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  5. TV: Hands down Gilmore Girls (even the not-so-great movie sequel).
    Movies: Overboard with Goldie and Kurt (Arturo! Arturo!), The First Wives Club (more Goldie and the You Don’t Own Me scene at the end is so validating)

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  7. Even though Airplane! holds a special place in my heart because my husband and I went to see it on our first date, my favorite funny movie is Young Frankenstein. Gene Wilder in any Mel Brooks film makes me smile. My favorite funny TV series is Frasier. Frasier and Niles trying to one-up everyone they know is hilarious.

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  9. Movies: A Day at the Races, starring the Marx Brothers
    Runner up: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, starring everyone in Hollywood

    TV show: I find most sitcoms banal, but if I must pick one, I’ll go with Monty Python’s Flying Circus

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  10. Movies:
    The Jerk: “He hates these cans!”
    Mr. Mom: “I’m going downstairs to sleep on the fat couch. If I can get through the door.”
    Monty Python and the Holy Grail: “But father, I don’t want it…I just want to…sing!”
    TV:
    Modern Family
    The Office
    And yes, Ted Lasso

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  11. For TV and streaming, I’m The Golden Girls and Schitt’s Creek. For movies- hmm, this is so much harder! Oh, let me add another to my TV list- if it has Gordon Ramsay in it (yes, the chef) to me, it’s automatically a comedy!

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  12. So many great ones have already been mentioned! The humor in Bull Durham is timeless! I also think it’s the best movie about baseball ever made.
    For a funny TV show – Star Trek:Lower Decks! It’s taken all the classic sci-fi and Trek tropes and turned them on their heads. I adore it. Also need to give a shout out to Psych. Long live the crime fighting duo of Shawn and Gus!

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  14. For movies, I’m going to have go with IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD and GALAXY QUEST. (I’m due for a rewatch of both.)

    Some of my favorites for TV include I LOVE LUCY, MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, NEWHART (the 80’s sitcom), and BIG BANG THEORY.

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  15. I love so many of the movies & shows mentioned, but for funny I love the oldies. Every Hepurn/Tracy film and King of Hearts with Alan Bates are favorites. I saw a foibles bill of Desk Set and Adam’s Tibb soe years ago in a restored theater with a young audience that was clearly seeing them for the first time. What a joy hearing their reactions!

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