August 21, 2012 (Tuesday)
Yesterday’s blog mentioned a humorist from the past, Will Rogers. Today Jay Leno, comical late night T.V. host on N.B.C., is in the news, and sources report that he has been handed a more-than-20% cut in pay. I wouldn’t worry about his financial status, however, because he still makes $20 million, plus $5 million or so for additional appearances here and there on his own.
The other late night talk show hosts may have to take a cut in pay too, due to the changing scene in communications, the aging audiences for the genre and the ever-changing tastes in entertainment.
Through the years, comedians have served a useful purpose. They make people laugh, and, according the to the Bible, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22 KJV). Most of the people I know liked comedians much better before so many of them chose to use filthy material for their acts. Even now, some of the old performances draw big audiences as reruns. One of the funniest and longest lasting shows was “The Andy Griffith Show,” an enduring classic that produced huge laughs with clean and wholesome material.
Somebody said, “Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone.”* Try laughing more. It will do you good.
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*Actually, it was Ella Wheeler Wilcox in 1883 (the original word was “weep” instead of “cry”).