Carol Burnett Weighs in on Today's Comedy

Carol Burnett is one of my favorite comedians and actresses. For decades, she has been a fixture in the theatre, on television, and in the movies, and she’s been consistently funny.

At 91 years old, Burnett hasn’t stopped working. She’s up for an Emmy for her work on the Apple TV+ sitcom “Palm Royale.” Of course, most people remember her for her eponymous sketch comedy show that ran for 11 glorious seasons in the ’60s and ‘70s. Most of Burnett’s show holds up today.

One of the most memorable moments from “The Carol Burnett Show” was the cast’s send-up of “Gone With the Wind,” which Burnett reminisces about in this clip:

So if anybody knows and understands comedy, it’s a legendary performer like Burnett. Fox News reports that she weighed in on today’s comedy and how it compares to the classics.

"I’m not a prude, but sometimes I think some of the stuff today… it’s been kind of easy to get a laugh by being a little blue,” Burnett said on "Variety’s Awards Circuit" podcast. “I don’t mind if it’s within the character, but if they do it just to say a bad word, I think it’s boring, and it’s not funny."

Flashback: A Comedy Legend Pays It Forward

What does Burnett consider funny? The classics, of course.

"Funny is ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’ Funny is Mary, Bob Newhart, ‘All in the Family’ – and they hold up today," she said. I would add “The Carol Burnett Show” to that list, too.

Burnett also explained why these classic comedians and series are funny, noting that "They are funny and character-driven; they’re not scatological or blue."

Burnett hits the nail on the head. Far too much of today’s comedy is crude and profane, and it’s not necessary to be either to be funny. Call me a prude if you want to, but I’ve long held that profanity is rarely necessary to get a point across and that an overreliance on it is a sign of laziness or lack of creativity. Sometimes, only a curse word will do, but that’s a rare occasion. (And yes, I realize that our resident funny men Stephen Kruiser and Kevin Downey, Jr. might disagree with me.)

It's true that some of our best comedians from Lenny Bruce to Richard Pryor to Eddie Murphy heavily peppered their acts with profanity and crude humor, but with so many of today’s comedians, the blue humor is egregious and, like Burnett claims, isn’t funny.

For an In-Depth Discussion of Comedy, Check Out: Faith All Over The Place, Episode 1: Kicking Things Off With British Christian Comedian Paul Kerensa!

Fox News didn’t say whether Burnett brought up political humor — it might not have been on her mind at all — but that’s another facet of today’s comedy that isn’t funny. Current late-night “humor” consists of little more than mean-spirited cheap shots at conservatives, especially Trump. For many of today’s comics, the narrative takes precedence over the joke, and that’s problematic.

The gatekeepers of cancel culture aren't helping us, either. Many classic comedies get a warning label or get buried because they're not politically correct or sensitive to today's culture. As a result, people are missing out on some of the timeless funny moments that older generations enjoyed for years. 

Good comedy isn't hard to find. As Burnett says, we've got the classics, and some modern comedians don't resort to crass and crude humor or political cheap shots. It's nice to have options to laugh at.