Published 2024-08-08
tag(s): #film-tv #useless-facts
So today I was listening to a podcast and someone mentioned Edward Platt and my brain
immediately went "that's Chief!!! from Get Smart!!!" [1] even before the
hosts mentioned it (which they did 1 second later).
If this doesn't qualify as one of those "useless facts" that I refer to in my bio, I don't
know what else would do. The show was old even when I was a kid, I have no clue how come the
names of the cast are engraved in my brain. Probably from watching the intro many times, but
still.
Anyway, this got me thinking that my son has never watched the show. And I wondered how well would some of those things translate to a kid born in this era. From the obvious "putting a phone in a shoe" being more contrived than just using a cellphone, to maybe some bigger plot points.
Then I realized, we have watched The Three Stooges together. A couple months ago, we watched Buster Keaton shorts (there are a few online, probably public domain by now). And it was crazy even to me to see how much of modern comedy can easily be traced back to these giants. There are Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry gags that obviously originate there. Even the kiddo recognized some of them and pointed that this or that was just like Bugs Bunny or Wile E. Coyote (to which I counter-pointed, the things we were watching predate those shorts).
Not all comedy is timeless. But slapstick, and maybe puns, I think are in that category.
There's an air of simplicity about them, like they tickle some very basic (or primal?) part of
our brains, and they Just Work.
Guess I'll have to find a time to sit down with the kid and see how he likes this show :)
[2]