What exactly is a zany--and is there any place for zanies here? A lot of us can be zany--even Dax was once a zany.

Zanyism has led to radio shows--and the best known TV show, Monty Python's Flying Circus and all of it's attempted spin-offs. A lot of zany comes from British comedy, such as Are You Being Served or, in the US, Northern Exposure. MASH had it's definately zany moments, but the Korean War backdrop was really too serious for it to be totally zany.

Here are some definitions in order to help you decide:



Send this wherever you want it to go, Mods. I just post it here to save CG the time to post it somewhere elso.

How about the Funhouse?

I can't be zany in these topics, if I try, people take me seriously.

To the zany tv shows you might add the father of them all, The Goon Show. And Laugh-In. And Fawlty Towers.

Zany requires audience recognition, or you just have some people running around saying things. There's lots of zany. Just not here.

Thank you!

I used to like the bare breasts on "The Benny Hill Show" when it was on local broadcast but I guess the show was too zany for most folks and they quit showing it.

The Goon Show was before my time--wasn't it Australian? But I loved Laugh-In and Fawlty Towers.

You're right, Dax, there's not much zany here--or in the world. And it's such a shame. We do so need laughter.

Has zaniness turned into political commentary, now?

The Goon Show was British and starred Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. It was the first of the sometimes nonsensical, sometimes satirical comedy shows, of which the most famous descendant is Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Here's a small bit of showbiz history...when the Monty Python cast wrote their sketches, they would give them bizarre titles. For example, a sketch about a woman going to confession would be called "Camel Song." They said they did it just to sese if the BBC people were actually reading their scripts, and said that nobody ever mentioned the odd titles to them.