Comedy Is Hard

Jonah defends Fletch - its funniness, not its politics. I wonder when he last watched it. I, too, was under the impression that Fletch was a laugh riot, based on having seen it when I was about thirteen years old (I also remember enjoying Fletch Lives, which should tell you everything you need to know about my standards back then.) But then Reihan persuaded me to watch it with him, and sure enough, it's not funny. I mean, not even close to funny. I think I might have chuckled, mildly, once or twice, but that's about it. It's not just that Fletch isn't in the same league as various broad comic masterpieces from that era - it's not even playing the same sport. This, by contrast, is funny.

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http://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2007/05/comedy-is-hard/54406/