See Futurama episode about Susan Boyle. Which they must have leapt on, ASAP, since the episode only premiered a full calendar year after her flash-in-the-pan fame.
That’s also the “shut up and take my money” episode, somehow.
The thing I like about that one, and other references like that in comedy shows (especially animated) is that often you don’t need the pop culture reference, it fits with the zany comical nature of the show. It’s not outside the norm, or at least not far.
And with the comic above, I didn’t NEED to hear/know the song to get the joke. I didn’t think it was “you’ll find your drill on blueberry hill” but I figured it was something about a song and something that rhymed with “hill”.
It was easy to search, too.
My wife has been watching some of the shows I loved growing up, and she’s only 2 years younger than me, but because she watched modern kid shows as a kid and I watched old stuff with my parents, I get a lot of references she doesn’t.
As long as you can show it to someone without the pop culture knowledge and they still find it funny, it’s still a successful joke.
The issue with this comic is that it’s a reference more than a joke. You can see why it would be funny, but that’s not the same thing as being funny. You have to dissect the frog.
The gags that stand up are ones where ten years later you watch an old movie and go “Oh that’s where that’s from!”
See Futurama episode about Susan Boyle. Which they must have leapt on, ASAP, since the episode only premiered a full calendar year after her flash-in-the-pan fame.
That’s also the “shut up and take my money” episode, somehow.
The thing I like about that one, and other references like that in comedy shows (especially animated) is that often you don’t need the pop culture reference, it fits with the zany comical nature of the show. It’s not outside the norm, or at least not far.
And with the comic above, I didn’t NEED to hear/know the song to get the joke. I didn’t think it was “you’ll find your drill on blueberry hill” but I figured it was something about a song and something that rhymed with “hill”.
It was easy to search, too.
My wife has been watching some of the shows I loved growing up, and she’s only 2 years younger than me, but because she watched modern kid shows as a kid and I watched old stuff with my parents, I get a lot of references she doesn’t.
As long as you can show it to someone without the pop culture knowledge and they still find it funny, it’s still a successful joke.
The issue with this comic is that it’s a reference more than a joke. You can see why it would be funny, but that’s not the same thing as being funny. You have to dissect the frog.
The gags that stand up are ones where ten years later you watch an old movie and go “Oh that’s where that’s from!”