Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 2

This should go without saying, but if you haven't read the first part, do that now. For now, let's just keep on going!

20. The Haunting of Bill Crouse

I love a little black comedy every now and then, and damn does this episode deliver. This episode really revolves around one joke, but they get so much mileage out of it and can play it with so much variety each time. I love Moss and his inability to tell a convincing lie, and how that one joke can spiral into so many fantastic moments. There's a lot of great comedic misunderstanding in this one, but with this dark edge that makes it so great. Any of the scenes where Bill Crouse is being "haunted" by Jen are marvelously funny, especially the last one. I haven't really said it on this list yet, but Katherine Parkinson is absolutely hilarious. She's honestly one of the best things in the whole show for me, and she's spot on in this episode. 

Roy's plot isn't as good as the main plot, but it gets some laughs for sure. That Bodysnatchers reference at the end is wonderful. I especially love how Moss pretty much repeats the events of the main plot by telling Judy that Roy had died. Again, it's not as good as the main plot, but it's still damn solid, and has some really good jokes. Overall, this episode is a strong one for sure.

19. Italian For Beginners

Yet another strong Jen episode. Katherine Parkinson's gibberish Italian is absolutely masterful, and easily the episode's main highlight for me. This is probably one of the best portrayals of Jen, who is pretty much the only character with any sense of ambition, which this episode actively mocks. It breaks down Jen's need to be needed, having her lies to get attention pretty much screwing her over in the long run, to pretty hilarious results. It's not the best episode about Jen's aspirations going wrong of course, but it's still a solid hilarious episode nonetheless. Jen's conversation with Burnatelli is absoultely great.

Roy's plot is pretty good too. His Close Encounters style breakdown is hilarious to watch, and the whole idea of a fire at a Seaparks is absurdly funny too. Chris O'Dowd's exaggerated sadness is always so much fun to watch, and here it's no exception. And then there's Moss. Just look at that image above. But seriously, Moss is great in this episode. The mock pregnancy in the arcade is amazing, and the tag with Moss in the machine overnight is one of the series' best tags. Also: "Damn that mash looks tasty!" 

18. Moss and the German

I wrestled with where to put this one for a good while, because, well, there's some really good stuff here. That's really the problem with lists like this, because you end up with episodes that are just really good like this one. See, this is a damn fine episode, but I can't really put it above any of the others because well, I just prefer the next seventeen a little more. But as I said, this is still a great episode. Roy's increasingly desperate measures to avoid spoilers for a movie are so relatable, because we've all been there. Granted, not all of us have gone as far as Roy does, but that's besides the point.

Moss, Roy, and Jen's chat about cannibalism is a fantastic exchange of dialogue. Johann is a great one off character, who gets some really good lines. The anti piracy ad at the beginning is hands down one of the show's funniest moments for me. Jen's plot is fine, though nothing special. There are some really great visual gags, and it definitely gets a laugh every once and a while. Also Douglas' "There's somebody at the door!" chant is really funny to me too. This episode has some really good black humour, not as much as other episodes, but it does use it pretty well.

The idea for the plot is great too. Roy and Moss acting like an old married couple is perfect, as is Moss thinking that his life is stagnating. It's pretty clear that Roy and Moss don't really have any other friends, so having them meet new people is a pretty good idea. Having Moss befriend a cannibal and Roy try to socialise with their unstable boss is downright genius. Also, the cello rendition of the credits theme is pretty nice.

17. Fifty Fifty

One thing I love about The I.T. Crowd is how it subverts so many sitcom couple tropes. In any other show, Roy and Jen would for sure get together. It's a refreshing change of pace, one perfectly embodied by this episode It pretty much takes the "will they won't they" thing and subverts the hell out of it. That faux heartwarming moment with the taxi is really great. The episode plays up Roy and Jen's banter and sexual tension, for the sole reason to mock it later on, which is hilarious. And actually, there aren't an awful lot of mainstream sitcoms where the male and female lead don't at some point get together. So yeah, definitely a breath of fresh air in that regard. I was actually pretty surprised when I watched it first that they went that route, but I do honestly think that it was a ver, very good move by the writers.

And then there's the actual comedy. Shit on Roy's forehead, Jen pretending to know what she's talking about, Do You Want To Be A Millionaire (and all of it's alternatives), Roy's theory of women wanting bastards, Roy and Moss' ad, Messyjoes, Jen's Roy impression, the mariachi band, and that tag. There's a lot here, and it's all hilarious. It's one of those really solid episodes where all of the characters get a chance to shine. 

16. Calamity Jen

Well, first things first; 0118 999 881 999 119 725      3. That joke alone makes me love this episode. But honestly, everything else is pretty great. This is kind of an establishing episode for Jen, featuring some great work from Katherine Parkinson. It was also the perfect episode to follow the pilot. If the first episode introduced us to these characters, then this one did a good job of letting us get to know them all a little more. Moss' neurosis in the event of a fire, Roy tormenting the guest speaker about the stress detector, Denyholm being an absolute madman, waging war on stress. All of these plots build on what we already know about all of these characters, and they're all done so well. 

And that's not even mentioning how funny it is, because trust me, it's incredibly funny. This episode has many comedic highlights. The ad at the start is hilarious, Moss' response to disaster is great, and there's Denyholm. Chris Morris is great as Denyholm anyway, but here he knocks it out of the park. The meeting where he wages war on stress is just amazing.

So, tune in tomorrow for entries fifteen to eleven! 

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 1

So, June Jokefest is over, but that doesn't mean I can't talk comedy some more, right? Well, it's my blog, so I can really do what I want, but that's not the point. The I.T. Crowd has to be one of my favourite TV comedies, and just one of my favourite series in general. It's got wonderful characters, hilarious setups, and just this great charm to it that makes it pretty hard to hate. Which is why I've decided to pay tribute to it. Now, I did consider doing my top ten favourite episodes, but I think that this is better. This way, I can give my opinion on the whole show, because, trust me, there are way more than ten great episodes.

Now, I'll admit that the episode at the bottom of this list isn't bad. This isn't a "worst episode to best episode" kind of thing. It's an "episode that maybe isn't the best but is still pretty decent to best episode" kind of thing. Because this show really doesn't have any bad episodes. Also, I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you've seen the show if you're reading this, so I will liberally spoil certain episodes. Not that there's much to spoil (it's a sitcom), but if an episode has a particularly funny reveal or big joke, I'm not gonna hold that back. If you haven't watched it though, do that now, and then come back. Also, this is my opinion, so if you don't agree with an episode's ranking, that's fine. You have your opinion, I have mine.

But for now, let's get going, and rank every episode of The I.T. Crowd!


25. The Internet is Coming

Yes, I said that there isn't an episode that I dislike, but the finale just didn't hit the mark for me. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty to like here. Douglas on Secret Millionaire is great, and Moss in women's slacks is hilarious too. I also love the stuff with Game Board, and the return of the internet, and especially Moss' tear gas solution. The main plot, while incredibly flawed, definitely has it's moments, like Roy at the funeral, or Jen's hilarious offensive Tweet. The overexagerrated newscasts are fantastic, and all of the scenes with the baristas making coffee are hilarious too.

So, you might be wondering, if all of that is in the episode, why is it at the bottom? Why didn't it leave that much of an impact on me? Well, despite it's many funny moments, the episode has trouble putting them together. There's nothing really wrong with the three plots here, but they feel kind of unbalanced. Douglas and Moss' plots are great and easily the high points, but they don't really add up to much in the end. Roy and Jen's plot has some good stuff too, but never really goes anywhere. See, the satire of social media here was done before in another episode which did it not only first, but much better. And then there's the deus ex machina. Oh boy. Look, The I.T. Crowd has it's fair share of out of nowhere endings, most of which were also just big jokes, but here it just does not work. The episode builds and builds, getting bigger and bigger, and then just kind of stops when Richmond saves the day. As a way to end the whole show, it just feels messy. I honestly think that Graham Linehan should have made that fifth season instead.

 Again, it's far from a bad episode, with so many comedic highlights, and wonderful callbacks (which all finales should have), but it has trouble coming together. If it did fit together a little better, it would be a fantastic finale, but as it is? It's messy, but it's still pretty decent. As I said, there are no bad episodes, and this one is still a pretty alright watch. Just not as good as some of the others.

24. The Final Countdown

Here's an episode that I remember loving when I first watched it, and then with repeat viewings, realised that it's maybe not as good as I first thought. Moss' plot is fanatastic, and easily the high point of the episode. I mean there are so many great jokes here, like TNETENNBA, Street Countdown, Negative One, Moss' epic "They Live" reference and the whole idea of the 8+ club. Actually, everything in the main plot is great. Especially the fact that, because the show is on Channel 4, they can actually have Moss on Countdown. That's awesome. Richard Aoyade in this episode is great, delivering some great one liners, and generally being a badass. There are some seriously funny moments in this episode. I know I mentioned it above, but I can't overstate the awesomeness that is Street Countdown. That whole scene is absolutely hilarious and just a great moment.

The other two plots though, I feel really aren't that great. Roy's plot is decent. The window cleaner stuff does get a laugh here and there, but overall, it isn't great. See, most of Roy's plots involve him just getting into impossibly awkward situations. And don't get wrong, most of the time it's hilarious, but here it just feels a little toothless. I think it's the lack of time devoted to this plot that kind of harms it. Again it's not bad, there are some very funny moments, but there are much better Roy-centric plots in the show. And then there's Jen's plot. The reason it's in air quotes? It's almost like the writers realised that they didn't have an awful lot for Jen to do, and so they just did the first thing they could think of, and the result is this. This plot sucks. I'm sorry, but it does. It goes nowhere, has nothing to do with anything, and doesn't have any particularly funny moments.Even the reveal at the end of what the meeting actually is isn't that funny. It's kind of a waste of Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry, both of whom are very. very funny people. So yeah, great main plot, marred by weaker subplots.

23. Calendar Geeks

There's quite a bit that this episode does right, but also a fair amount that it doesn't. So let's start with the good stuff. The jokes involving the "geek chic" calendar are great, and Moss is fantastic here. The montage of Roy trying to ask grannies to do a nude calendar is hilarious. The ad for the bosseyed gets some great laughs, and Douglas is as great as ever. The funny stuff is incredibly funny here, with some absolutely great material and fantastic delivery. The comic chemistry between Chris O'Dowd and Katherine Parkinson is spot on. Actually, Chris O'Dowd as a whole is the highpoint in this episode. He steals every scene that he's in, making this a strong Roy-centric episode.

But the episode just feels kind of dull. Again, the funny stuff is hilarious, and Chris O'Dowd is awesome, but the plot itself is kind of paint by numbers. For a show that excels at these unpredictable and hilarious moments, this episode just doesn't do that. There are some very, very funny moments, but you see most of them coming. It feels odd to say, but this episode could have benefited from taking a few more risks. It's one of the few episodes of the show that I would honestly call a little safe. It's not a bad thing, but there's not a lot to keep me coming back to this one. Yeah, there are some hilarious lines and moments, but overall, it's just okay.

22. Something Happened

I can see the angry crowds now, but please, hear me out. There's a lot of love for this episode, and I can see why. The general idea of the plot is great, Douglas' plot with him becoming a spaceologist is hilarious, and there are a lot of great lines in this episode, particularly from Douglas. I love the courtroom scene in particular, which has so many hilarious moments. I love how comically serious that scene is. It's a solid Roy episode, with a premise that's just so absurd that it's brilliant. The stuff with Jen and the keyboard player is pretty strong too.

Despite it's ranking, there isn't really anything about this episode that I don't like. See, this show is kind of amazing, and again, there are no bad episodes. So, from here on out, there will be less complaining about stuff, because now we've gotten to the really good stuff. This episode is generally really strong. Chris O'Dowd gives it socks as Roy, and he really makes this episode something special. There's also a really nice subversion, where Jen is the only character who thinks that Roy getting kissed on the arse is funny. That leads to the best moment of the episode in the courtroom. A lot of the jokes here work because of the over the top seriousness that they're delivered with. And when ridiculous lines and scenes are delivered with absolute deadpan, well then I'm sold. 

Again, there's nothing really wrong with this episode, the next twenty one just impressed me a little bit more. Something Happened is still a very strong episode that makes you realise how good The I.T. Crowd is (it's very good by the way.)

21. Renyholm vs. Renyholm

And now the last episode of the series' original run. This episode perfectly demonstrates why Matt Berry is one of the funniest British comedians currently working today. Because he makes this episode. Okay yeah, it isn't the best Douglas-centric episode, but man are there so many perfect Douglas moments here. From him preparing for the case, to the scene in the resteraunt ("Heston, I'd like to introduce to my whhhieeeffffee"), his Star Trek themed sex tape, the fake heart attack, and pretty much everything else he does in this episode. But everyone is great here. From Roy and Moss recounting their previous encounters with the legal system, to Jen being roped into Douglas' divorce case, Richmond reinventing himself, and Victoria being one of the show's best one off characters. That scene when she's asleep in the office cracks me up everytime.

I actually think that this would have been a serviceable finale, hell, for a while I though that this WAS the finale, and that they weren't gonna make anymore. The Internet is Coming wasn't a bad episode, but it was a pretty poor ending. If this was the finale, I honestly wouldn't have really minded, because it's actually a pretty okay ending for a sitcom. If you ever need a reason why Matt Berry is awesome, look no further than Renyholm vs. Renyholm.

Actually, look a little further, because it isn't actually the best Douglas episode, but it is a very good watch.

June Jokefest Day 11: Young Frankenstein (1974)

Okay guys, this is it. June Jokefest is finally over. It was a lot of fun talking about comedies for the month of June, and you might have noticed that I've been "subtly hinting" at the fact that I'd end it by talking about my favourite film in my favourite genre. And, my favourite comedy is, without a doubt, Young Frankenstein. For me, there's no movie that makes me laugh as hard or as much as Mel Brooks' 1974 classic spoof of classic monster films. So, let's end June Jokefest in style, with my all time favourite comedy movie, Young Frankenstein!

As we've established, Mel Brooks is kind of awesome. When his films are good, they're pitch perfect parodies that perfectly lampoon any genre, ideology, or hell even medium. He's the king of satire, and Young Frankenstein is probably his strongest spoof of them all. The idea behind this one is that Frederick Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's grandson, is a legitimate scientist who wishes to distance himself from the Frankenstein family name. Which becomes difficult when he inherits his family's estate, where the original experiments took place. From here, hilarity ensues. What I love about this film is how much it nails the feel of the Universal Monster films. That's an aspect they play completely straight here, the atmosphere, the set design, the music, everything was made to feel like a serious classic monster film, so when everything goes wrong and the jokes come in, it hits that much harder. It's made like an entry in the genre it's parodying, which adds to the parody. In fact, actual sets from the original Frankenstein were used in this film. The movie captures this authenticity, which makes it that much funnier.  Because it has the feel of the Universal Monster movies, the effect of the jokes is multiplied.

And the jokes themselves. They range from ridiculous, to nonsensical, and just keep getting better and better. Like most Mel Brooks' films, the jokes keep on coming. And coming. And they never stop. And it's awesome. Okay, so it's not Blazing Saddles levels of crazy (what is?) but, that works in it's favour. I feel like they have all these funny jokes, and they keep them coming, but because of the authentic feeling of the film, they can keep that anarchy contained, allowing them to have more focus with both the jokes and making it feel as real as possible. That doesn't mean it isn't silly though, because it is. The dialogue, the physical comedy, the wordplay, acting, direction, atmosphere, everything is not just ridiculous, but full of jokes. There are jokes everywhere in this film. And there are so many little, subtle jokes too, like how Igor's hump keep's changing shoulders every time he's onscreen. Every time I watch this movie, I find something new to laugh at, and new reasons to laugh at the other jokes.

The humour is intelligent stupid. And what I mean by that, is that it's absurd and ridiculous, but it's done in this beautifully clever way. Everything is wonderfully done here, and it hits home. I've complimented Gene Wilder for Blazing Saddles, but as Frederick Frankenstein ("It's Fronkensteen")
he goes above and beyond. I'm tempted to say that this is my favourite Gene Wilder performance, because so much of what makes this film great comes from him. He's charismatic, likable, and above all, absolutely hilarious. From the moment he turns around at the blackboard to the ending with the Monster's schwanzstucker, he's incredible. He puts so much energy into his performance, and he's just great. From his comedic reluctance to his decreasing sanity, everything about this performance is phenomenal. 

It's not just Gene Wilder though. Everyone in this film is hilarious. Marty Feldman ("What hump"?), Madeline Kahn ("It's taffeta, darling"), Peter Boyle ("Puttin' on the riiiitttzzzz!"), Cloris Leachman ("Vhat about varm milk?"), Terri Garr ("Roll, roll, roll in the hay!"), and even Gene freakin' Hackman. Yeah, Popeye Doyle is in this film. And he's hilarious as the blind man who just can't get it right. Ever. He's only in one scene sure, but damn if he doesn't leave an impression. 

Actually, just talking about Marty Feldamn real quick. He's perfect in this film. I touched upon how great he was in Silent Movie, but here everything he does or says cracks me up big time. That first meeting at the train station kills me. He knocks it out of the park as Igor, and he's got this very strong comedic presence on screen.

Now, you might have noticed that I've been calling this a Mel Brooks film, but he actually didn't write this one. Well, mostly. See, this film is Gene Wilder's brainchild, with Wilder doing most of the script here. Hell  he even asked that Mel Brooks not appear in the film, because he didn't want him to break the fourth wall. So yeah, while it is technically a Mel Brooks' film, don't forget that a lot of it was Wilder too. Like the excellent tap dancing scene, one of the all time funniest movie moments, was actually going to be left out. Mel Brooks though it was too far fetched, but Wilder argued that it should stay, and it did, resulting in the funniest moment in a sea of hilarious moments. Mel Brooks still co-wrote it though, and you can certainly tell in places. Some jokes are classic Mel Brooks, which isn't a bad thing at all.

But damn, Young Frankenstein is my favourite comedy. The jokes are near perfect, the writing is superb, the atmosphere adds to the parody, the parody itself is spot on, the performances are incredible, everything here is very nearly perfect, and it all adds up to create the ultimate comedy for me. Almost every joke hits bullseye in this film, and even after so many viewings, I still find myself in hysterics watching it. And every viewing makes me love it more. Okay, so maybe there are more intellectual comedies out there, but Young Frankenstein just makes me laugh the most. The comedy is stupid, but the writing is incredibly intelligent. And I think that intelligent writing creates the best stupid comedy, because of the effort that goes into defying all expectations and being that ridiculous. Throughout the month I've put an emphasis on stupid humour, because that's what I find funniest, and I definitely think that there's an art to it. There is a right way, and when it is done right, there's nothing funnier. And you see it time and again with the Marx Brothers and Monty Python and Laurel and Hardy and ZAZ and especially with Mel Brooks. And nowhere is that better than in Young Frankenstein. The Producers might have sharper satire, but for me, Young Frankenstein is Mel Brooks at his very best. It's my favourite of his movies without a doubt. It's my favourite comedy film of all time. And you know what? It's one of my all time favourite movies. I'm dead serious. It's a pitch perfect comedy film, one that never fails to have me in stitches, and just an incredible watch. Humour may be a very subjective thing, but go watch this movie. It's seriously worth the time.

June Jokefest Day 10: There's Something About Mary (1998)

Let's talk shock humour. It's damn hard to get right. I mean seriously, if done wrong, it can verge on offputting. Done right though, it can lead to some serious laughs. And in There's Something About Mary, it's actually not bad... for the most part, but trust me, I'll touch more on that later. There's Something About Mary is a movie that I really enjoy. It's honestly a very funny film, with a great script, and some really good comedic situations. It's not the most balanced of films, but again, I'll talk about that later. So for now, let's talk about There's Something About Mary!

The film centres around Ted, played by Ben Stiller, a man who wants to get back in touch with Mary, the love of his life. He hires a private detective, who ends up falling for Mary himself. Oh, and also there's an Englishman who's chasing Mary too. Actually, it'd be quicker to list who isn't in love with Mary in this film. The plot is actually okay. It opens itself up to all sorts of comedic situations, and it's actually quite engaging. I love how progressively complex the plot gets, starting as a simple romantic comedy about a man chasing a woman, and finishing as a massively tangled and absolutely mental plot that goes in a completely different direction than you maybe expected it to. It's a fun story, with a good few twists and turns along the way that crank up the madness. And yes, this film is crazy. Unlike Raising Arizona or Blazing Saddles though, There's Something About Mary is able to keep focused on whats going on, and rarely gets carried away with it's madness. That's pretty admirable actually. It has it's own flaws, but for the most part, it keeps on track of it's madness.

 One thing I'm not mad about in the film though is Ben Stiller's character Ted. He's your typical nice guy, and quite frankly he's a little boring. Nothing against Ben Stiller, but he's just kind of dull in this film. He doesn't have any massive defining traits apart from the fact that he loves Mary. That's kind of it. Yeah, his personality is... protagonist. It's even worse when you place him next to some of the more colurful and fun characters in the movie. My favourite is Matt Dillon's character, Healy. This guy is an asshole, plain and simple. I love how depraved this guy is, and how he gradually stoops lower and lower as the film progresses. He's a lovable asshole, one who gets worse and worse as the film progresses. And it's awesome. This guy is hilarious with how much of an absolute prat he is, and I love every second of it. I also love Lee Evans (one of my favourite stand ups) as Tucker, a Englishman who walks with crutches. Without giving too much away about his character, he also turns out to be an absolute scumbag. And I love it. He's the highlight in this film for me for sure. The scene when he tries to pick up his keys always gets me.

It's scenes like that that make me love this movie, and I think it's mostly hilarious. Mostly. Yeah, while this movie is great, funny and charming for the most part, it falls flat in other areas. For one, it often feels like they're trying way too hard with some of the jokes. Sometimes the comedy even feels a little forced in places. It's not a big thing in the film, but some jokes don't really hit as well as the writers probably wanted them to. Another problem, and this is the big one, is that sometimes the writers go to out of their way to shock the audience. Hey, the first sentence just became relevant! But yeah, one or two scenes (and you know which ones I'm talking about) really weren't needed at all, and only exist to shock. Which is when the shock and gross-out humour fails. It actually does work here for the most part, especially, when highlighting how depraved some of Mary's suitors are. In those cases, the shock humour works because these are shallow, petty people prepared to do these awful things to achieve their goals. When the writers focus on that, it's often hilarious. But it's when these kind of jokes just appear for no other reason but to shock that the movie feels puerile and stupid. For the most part they handle it well though, and use the shock humour in a way that not only feels needed, but gets laughs too.

And that's why it feels unbalanced. See, There's Something About Mary really suffers from the flaws I mentioned earlier. Some jokes feel forced, the main protagonist is boring as all hell, and the shock humour sometimes feels unnecessary, but despite these issues, I really enjoy this film. All my problems aside, it's hilarious when the jokes hit, the other characters are wonderful, the set-pieces are really creative, and the film also has this really bizarre, messed up heart to it. It's a romantic comedy for people who don't like romantic comedies. And even those who do might be surprised with how much it sticks to the genre despite being so low brow and stupid (in a good way).  It's a breath of fresh air for the genre, one that's refreshingly stupid and immature, but never loses it's charm. When it misses, good God does it miss, but when it hits, you're in for a offbeat, feelgood and honestly very funny watch, one that's far form art, but it never pretends to be. It's a lot of fun, and I definitely recommend it, if you can look past it's flaws.

June Jokefest Day 9: Blazing Saddles (1974)

HE RODE A BLAZING SAAADDLLLLEEE. This movie is awesome. Definitely one of Mel Brooks best, and absolutely one of his funniest. The satire is top notch, the writing is great and the jokes never stop coming. Ever. The plot here... really doesn't matter. I mean, there's a plot to run a small western town into the ground by appointing a black sheriff, but that seriously doesn't matter. It's a movie about how many jokes Mel Brooks can cram into 92 minutes. Spoiler: it's a lot. And he never stops once. And it's great. This movie is pure comedic anarchy. It never slows down once. Which really works. Most of the time anyway, but we'll get into that later on. For now, let's talk about Blazing Saddles!

I mean, you've got to give credit to the delivery of the jokes in this movie. They never stop. The jokes just keep coming at a dizzying speed, and when one fails, there's like three more that come directly after it that hit bullseye. It leads to the odd problem here and there, but for the most part, it's pure Mel Brooks. And that's a very good thing. The film is jam packed with his particular style of humour, and it's hilarious. Undoubtedly one of his more crass works (along with History of the World Part I, which is saying something), but it's also easily one of his funniest, and a lot of that is down to the cast. Cleavon Little, Madeline Kahn, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, and the man himself: Gene Wilder. The cast are consistently hilarious, especially Wilder ("My name is Jim... but people call me... Jim"). The guy really can never give a bad performance. He's charming, likable, and downright hilarious.

 Another thing I love about this aspect is that everytime I watch the film, I always notice like ten jokes I missed first time around, so it's incredibly re-watchable in that regard. It never slows down, and it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately though, this has it's drawbacks.

Ignoring how well some of the jokes have aged (I mean, the movie just oozes political incorrectness as it is), my main problem with this movie is how messy it is. The movie is always throwing more jokes at you, which is often hilarious, but the chaos can just as easily become noisy and a little distracting. It works 90% of the time, but damn this movie can easily become messy with how fast the jokes are delivered. It's hilarious, but all over the place, and even quite in-your-face sometimes too. Like there is no subtlety. At all. There never is with Brooks anyway, but Blazing Saddles is a very loud film. The chaos is a double edged sword. It's hilarious, but can often descend into unfocused anarchy. Which is sometimes awesome, sometimes not so awesome. It doesn't ruin the movie, in fact it makes it even funnier, but I can see it getting annoying quick for some people.

But speaking of chaos: THIS MOVIE HAS THE BEST ENDING.  Like... wow. The ending to Blazing Saddles drives a train straight  through the fourth wall, if there even was a fourth wall to begin with. The ending is just insane. It's absolute madness, but the way it's done is just phenomenal. It escalates and escalates, and it just keeps getting more and more ridiculous. I love escalating craziness when it's done right, and it's hard to top Blazing Saddles' crazy ending. It's one of my all time favourite movie endings, which is definitely a topic for another day.

So yeah, Blazing Saddles can get messy at times, it can trip over itself, and I guess some dialogue hasn't aged too well, but as it stands, this movie's freaking awesome. Yes, it's got problems, but damned if it isn't one of the funniest movies I've seen. It's the sheer variety of jokes in this film, combined with the razor sharp satire (which I might have to talk about another day), that make it a classic. It's got Gene Wilder at his very near best, it's got amazing comedy, it's got social commentary, it's got the French Mistake, it's got it all. Forgive it's occasional slip ups, because this one deserves it's reputation. It earns a title as one of the funniest movies ever, and is a definite landmark for Brook's career. If you haven't seen it, definitely do so ASAP. It's worth it, and it should definitely be handed out to the boys in lieu of pay.

June Jokefest Day 8: My Top 5 Favourite Monty Python's Flying Circus Sketches

My God, Monty Python man. Monty freakin' Python. Where the hell do I even start with these guys? Top notch movies aside, Flying Circus is a goldmine of laughs, with 10% of memes being traceable back to these guys. It's near impossible to do this series justice with a list like this. I do have my favourites, but honestly, you could call any skit your personal favourite and I'd completely get it. Honestly, with this show, any skit could make the list because they're all almost equally awesome. Regardless, as I said, I have my personal favourites. But hey, if I need to, I'd happily make another list of Flying Circus skits, there's certainly enough of them! But for know, let's leave logic and common sense behind, and delve into some Flying Circus!

5. The Lumberjack Song

I'll be brief on this one. For two reasons. First off, the way the joke is told. If I told you the premise it would take some of the comedy out of this one. It's absolutely hilarious though, but I think the surprise first time around really cements this sketch as one of the funniest. Second reason? It's so simple. Yeah, there isn't an awful lot to this joke, but the execution really makes up for that, resulting in some serious laughs

4. Ministry of Silly Walks

From one simple joke to another. The premise here? Well, it's called "Ministry of Silly Walks", I'm sure you can figure out what it's about. But damn if the physical comedy here isn't top notch. The silly walks themselves are absolutely ridiculous, and John Cleese's delivery of them is spot on. John Cleese is my favourite of the Pythons, by the way, so expect to see quite a bit more of his stuff on this list. Also the dialogue here, particularly the stuff delivered by Michael Palin is genius

3. Bavarian Restaurant

This skit is ridiculous. Basically, an American couple order a meal at a traditional Bavarian restaurant. In Bavaria, where, well, I'm sure you get the gist. Anyway, the actual meal is served in an... interesting way. From prawns down the shirt, to being beaten with a chicken to literally BEING THROWN OUT OF A WINDOW (with sautéed potatoes, of course), this sketch is crazy. And it's also hilarious. John Cleese is great, something about the character he plays just makes me laugh every time. Especially when he calls the customer "Daddy-o". He's just so odd, that you have to laugh at his antics. It's Python at their silliest, but you have to love it.

2. Self Defense Against Fresh Fruit

Well, maybe Python weren't at their silliest in Bavarian Restaurant. But wow. This short is hilarious, from the memorable quotes ("AND THEN, YOU EAT THE BANANA! THEREFORE DISARMING YOUR ASSAILANT!"), to the crazy physical stuff (the tiger kills me everytime), this one soars. John Cleese is at his best here Python-wise (to see him at his best, you'll have to book a stay at Fawlty Towers, I'm afraid), delivering some incredible lines and an outrageously funny performance. When he frantically looks around for the pineapple, I lose my shit everytime. This ones a winner right here.

1. The Spanish Inquisition

What were you expecting? Not the Spanish Inquisition surely, because, well, who am I kidding? You've all seen it, you all know it and you all love it! For the what, three?, people out there who don't know, a man and a woman are having a conversation, when the man says: "Well, I wasn't expecting a sort of Spanish Inquisition." Cue the Spanish Inquisition. Michael Palin knocks this one out of the goddamn park. His initial shout as they enter the room never fails to make me grin. And as he fails to list the Inquisitions weapons, as well as just kind of fails in general ("get the rack!"), the skit gets funnier and funnier. It's a classic.

Look, I'm sorry if your favourite sketch didn't get on this list, but as I said, Flying Circus is jam packed with incredible skits, bu again, I'd be happy to follow this list up with another top five!

June Jokefest Day 7: Silent Movie (1976)

Finally. At last I get to talk about my favourite comedic filmaker. This is it guys, now I get to talk about Mel Brooks during June Jokefest. For the first time at least because, trust me, we'll be seeing quite a bit more of Mr. Brooks before June Jokefest is through. I mean, he's made so many of my favourite comedies, including my all time favourite, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So to celebrate the maser of parody, let's talk about one of his lesser known films, Silent Movie. I find it weird how much this film seems to slide under people's radar. Why? I'm not sure actually. Maybe because it's tonally different to most of his other films? Maybe because it's silent? Oh yeah, this is a silent film. Well, the only word spoken in the film is said by a mime. The plot here is that Mel Funn is a fantastic director, but is recovering from a drinking problem and he plans to save the studio by making a silent movie. He's aided by Dom Bell and Marty Eggs in his epic quest to get this film made.

The fact that Mel Brooks actually stars in this film means more than you might think. See before this film, Brooks mainly just had cameo roles, like in The Twelve Chairs and Blazing Saddles. But here, he plays the main character, Mel Funn. I mean, I'll put it like this. Brooks, who had only cameo-ed in his own films up to now, was making a silent comedy film in the 1970s. The fact that this DIDN'T go wrong is outstanding. The fact that it's as good as it is, well that's almost unbelievable. But hey, no time like the present to look at this film and all the risks it took, so let's talk about Silent Movie!

The comedy here is almost purely visual, so it helps that Brooks has a natural penchant for visual comedy. He works spectacularly off of Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman (and Marty Feldman's eyes). The setups are always incredibly silly, and the punchlines even more so, but that gives the film this distinct charm. It's always outdoing itself with absurd visual gags, from slapstick, to surreal imagery, to playing with the medium (like adding deliberately unfitting sound effects, or that joke with the mime I was talking about earlier.), it's all here and Brooks throws everything at you to make you laugh, and he makes it work, like he usually does. It's perhaps the silliest film I've talked about during June Jokefest so far, because of the sheer lack of sense in this movie. Everything works off of Mel Brooks logic. Not subtle, not cerebral, but it doesn't need to be. It's stupid, joyful fun. And emphasis on that joyful part, by the way.

I love the way the movie portrays the film industry. Unlike say, The Producers, which portrays people in the entertainment industry as greedy, moneygrubbing hacks, Silent Movie takes a different approach. Okay, yeah, the film does admittedly highlight a lot of the more superficial aspects of the filmmkaing industry, especially when Gulf + Wester- I mean Engulf & Devour try to take over the studio, but for me the film always had this good natured charm about it too. I think the film mainly portrays studios in an unflattering manner, but it's impossible to ignore the sheer glee of Silent Movie as Funn comes closer to making his film. The scenes at the end especially when Funn and co. are in the theater are just so joyful. It's one of those movies that reminds me what movies are, and what they can do. It's got this incredible feelgood effect, one where, when Funn succeeds, you kind of feel like you've accomplished something too. It never fails to put a massive grin on my face whenever I watch it.

And here's something else. THE CAST. Holy shit, the cast. Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Liza Minelli, Anne Bancroft and Paul Newman. Yes, Butch Cassidy himself is in this film. The cameoes here are endless, and result in some top notch gags. The shower scene with Burt Reynolds never fails to get a laugh out of me. I refuse to spoil it, just watch it for yourself. I will admit to never being too big a fan of Liza Minelli's cameo though. The joke just goes on for WAY too long for my liking. There's only so much mileage you can get out of "Funn, Bell and Eggs keep falling over each other over and over." I'm sorry, but it gets old quick.

That aside, this movie is awesome. It's funny, it's charming, and I'd honestly call it underrated. And I'm using that word correctly, before anyone says anything. It's Brooks not at his best (there's no Nazi satire to be seen here.), but it's still a film that I wholeheartedly recommend you track down. It's a movie about movies, which isn't exactly rare, but I don't think many other films have illustrated the pure power of cinema in-universe like this one. It's a lot of fun, it's absolutely hilarious, and it's just such a happy film. Go watch it if you haven't. It definitely deserves more love than it gets.

And now for a small break from June Jokefest. I will be back though, with my Top Five Favourite Monty Python's Flying Circus Sketches though, so look forward to that, and I'll see you in a bit!