Another brilliant mess o’observations from M*A*S*H’s Ken Levine:
by Ken Levine
…There are several definitions for jokes. Here’s one: A joke is something spoken, written, or done with humorous intention.
In some cases it has a punchline, or just something you didn’t expect, which amuses you.Jokes have become uncool, passé, something to sneer at and scorn. Writers who resort to jokes are hacks or old or worse – old hacks. A commenter yesterday who’s a writer on a sitcom said his showrunner threw out anything that was too “jokey.” And I will grant you there are many bad jokes, lame jokes, racist jokes, old jokes, formula jokes, juvenile jokes, and blonde jokes.