Thought of the Day - 3/27/08

Thought of the Day:
Some comedic writers and/or actors really need to be mixed into a talented cast and not focused on in order to shine. I just watched a clip from David Cross' new show, and it was simply too over the top to be funny. I don't want to watch a prolonged skit about a dude giving another dude phone sex. That joke is worth maybe 30 seconds of funny. Maybe. David Cross was amazing in Arrested Development because his odd and pathetic overtones really got a chance to shine among the Bluth family. But a show just about his character, Tobias Funke, would've been awful.

I think the same goes for Will Farrell. Any movie where Will Farrell is headlining has a 70% chance of suckitation. Stranger Than Fiction was a noticeable exception to this, but that was a darker, more intelligent comedy than Talladega Nights/Blades of Glory/Anchorman/etc. But think back to Old School. Old School was Animal House-level hilarious, in my opinion. Vince Vaughn was a fantastic jerk/enabler type and Luke Wilson plays an excellent "what the heck am I doing here?" type of guy. (Idiocracy was pretty crappy, but still.) The point is, Will Farrell was a perfect 3rd guy in that film - a wacky, screaming counter to Vaughn's patient snark and Wilson's frustration.

Tom Green is another one like that. His shows suck. But Stealing Harvard was a cute little movie because Tom Green was a crazy best friend instead of yet another "look at my extreme behavior and laugh, you American pig-dogs who think this is crap is funny" stunt.

Of course, I'm sure some people would say the same thing about my preferred type of comedy - bitter, angry, cynical and sarcastic. I can't get enough Denis Leary, Lewis Black, Dave Attell and (most) George Carlin. Carlin's whole list thing gets a to be a bit much, but his otherwise his rants are usually golden.

I hate Dane Cook. Dane Cook is is basically a eunuch version of Tom Green.

Thoughts, anyone?