alasdairm said:
right. because it's not like different people might find different things funny (and not).
alasdair
At the risk of turning this into another "elitism" thread, the people who are generally respected as being the most knowledgeable about food (like chefs) overwhelmingly agree that Peter Lugar's has better quality steak than Outback and they could give you dozens of concrete reasons for their decision.
Similarly, the people who are generally respected as being the most knowlegeable about sports (like coaches and former players) would almost unanimously agree and could explain to you in great detail what it was that made Michael Jordan so much better than Clyde Drexler.
So go ahead - call me a conceited prick if you wish, but of all of the many many many people I know who have succeeded in the business of creating comedy, either in stand-up or as comedy writers, virtually every single one of them agrees that Family Guy is among the funniest shows ever written and that Everybody Loves Raymond is among the least funny successful shows ever written.
Perhaps it might be somewhat relevant to point out that people who are actually funny enough to successfully create comedy (or food or basketball), partly because they have a better understanding of comedy (or food or basketball) in general, but more importantly and more specifically, because they, UNLIKE THE NOVICE, better appreciate the concept that some jokes, while they generally evoke a laugh, are EXTREMELY EASY TO WRITE (and hence, lack not only degree-of-difficulty, but often, too, originality), while other jokes, while more subtle and perhaps less gutbusting, ARE FAR MORE ORIGINAL AND FAR MORE DIFFICULT TO CREATE.
The experts might not always be right (e.g., Titantic), and yes, there is often disagreement among "experts" and among "non-experts" (e.g., Seinfeld).
That said, the next time I'm in <insert random city>, I'll take my chances at a randomly selected four star restaurant over the burger chain who has proudly served over 95 billion any day.
Maybe I'm just a conceited asshole who believes that even though all people should be treated with kindness, that doesn't necessarily mean that all people's opinions should be valued equally in every situation.
Or, alternatively, maybe it's a good thing that George W. Bush is allowed to run the free world for eight years.
