For my birthday several years ago, my brother gave me season one of ALF. As children, we used to love watching this '80s show, and Dad liked it a lot too. While it's not nearly as funny as I remember, it's a family-friendly show that Claire loves. Mr. Morgan has since bought seasons two and three, and Claire wants to watch or rewatch an episode nearly every night. We usually do, and last night we watched episode 37, titled "Hail to the Chief."
At the beginning of the episode, the Tanner family is watching the Presidential debate. One of the "candidates" says, "As Joe Biden once said, 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself; and by arming ourselves against the impossible, we are preventing the unthinkable from becoming the inevitable.'" While Mr. Morgan and I were shocked to hear Joe Biden's name in this old sitcom--I mean, how long has this guy been in politics?--I've been wondering why it was supposed to be funny for that decade. I know Joe Biden has a reputation for being long-winded, but I'm not sure that fact makes it funny either. Any ideas?
Solved the mystery while figuring it out for someone else: http://twitter.com/Jim_Hamilton/status/3237794134
ReplyDeleteJoe Biden was accused of plagiarism during his 1988 presidential run so the joke is he's now plagiarizing FDR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden_presidential_campaign,_1988#Kinnock_controversy