On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 1:22 AM, PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 10:07 PM, David Bruggeman <bru...@yahoo.com> wrote: >> >> Perhaps more on point is why Gilbert went to that joke - a bad crowd >> reaction because he opened with a reference to a flight with a connection >> at the Empire State Building. Pretty sure this was in October 2001. >> >> Even though it was a proper Friar's Club Roast, I get why the audience >> went sour, and I get why Aflac tossed him based on the latest stuff. >> >> I'm fine with Gilbert, but that's just my personal taste, and the fact >> that most of my annoyance with this kind of comedy is usually directed at >> Norm McDonald. > > I much prefer McDonald. I will not mourn the loss of Gottfried's obnoxious > and ubiquitous voice on tv and radio. But Gilbert does seem to be the kind > of comic that makes other comics laugh, and while that is not enough to make > me laugh, it is enough to earn him some measure of respect in my book. If he > were being fired from a gig where his "talents" were associated with being a > comic I would be outraged, as the joke in question is hardly obscene. It may > be in bad taste by the standards of most decent people - but then that is > what comics do - push the boundaries of the standards of most decent people. > > But in this case he is being canned from a gig that is shilling for a large > multinational corporation - and they are most definitely not about pushing > the boundaries of taste of most decent people. I can respect him for > pursuing his craft (such as it is) over shilling for corporations, but I can > not criticize the judgment that it makes him a less effective shill. > > I thought his joke post-9/11 was the highlight of his career (I mean that > seriously, not as a backhanded compliment).
Two weeks ago, blogger and former TV writer/producer Ken Levine posted "What they're saying in writing rooms all over town about Charlie Sheen." If you read the comments, or even the disclaimer Ken later put up, you'll see that comics have a reflex reaction for gallows humor and making fun of disasters. Once upon a time outlets like the Friars Club and writing rooms were closed to the public and the comics could spout off amongst themselves without consequences. Over time they could process the material and come up with an end product that was funny and acceptable to audiences. What Gottfried did in this case was tweet out his jokes with no filter. He didn't do them in front of an audience as part of a standup show. I think in times past he would have made the same jokes privately and the public would never have heard them. It's a pleasure of using Twitter that we can follow comics and get one liners throughout the day, but here we see the other side: comics are going to be held to account for quick reaction jokes that until very recently were kept from the public. I also think it is a brighter day for TV if those Aflac commercials go away entirely. I have my own quick reaction when they come on, which is to change channels or at least hit the mute button. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-theyre-saying-in-writing-rooms-all.html -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
