Laff Matters!

I'm sorry about the subject line of this posting. Really, I am.

Last night on Arrested Development, there was a black title card at the end of every commercial break which stated that this show contained coarse language, and viewers should be advised. As far as I can tell, this was NOT part of the show, as an inside joke. I also spent all episode trying to figure out exactly what was objectionable. Two possiblities:

- Homo.
- Balls.

If "homo" is the problem, it would be particularly funny. The context of the use of the word homo is the following: Buster, one of the brothers in the Bluth family, has enlisted in the army, but can't get motivated enough to go through the army training obstacle course. So he goes up to the commanding officer, and says, "Hey, aren't you supposed to yell at me, and call me homo and things like that to get me motivated?" And the officer responds that due to a recent court order, he's not allowed to say "that word," anymore.

Later on, Buster's brother, Gob, DOES call Buster a homo to motivate him into getting through the obstacle course, while the CO quietly says, "Go get 'em, Buster," as Gob is saying the words he can't say.

Just to clarify, this is NOT offensive. The whole point is making fun of political correctness, but at the same time never saying its okay to use the words.

As for "balls," one of the characters takes a close-up picture of his testicles, which is mistaken for a satellite photo of Iraq, revealing WMD's, which is eventually broadcast on TV and shown in the Pentagon on a gigantic monitor in a war-room.

However, I'm pretty sure the title card was warning people about the word homo.

In other news, SNL, which hasn't been that bad this season, had a great exchange on weekend update. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reveal they've joined a mentoring program, and are working with Lindsey Lohan. After they hector her for a while for partying too hard, and being too thin, she starts to shoot back, leading to the following exchange.

Lindsey Lohan: Oh, come on, Tina, you told me you used to have sex with guys to get into movies.

Tina Fey: But that was before Fandango made things so easy.

Don't know if that translates, but it was timed perfectly.

And by the way, to keep singing the praises of Tivo... SNL is the perfect Tivo recording. You don't have to stay up to watch it, AND you can fast forward through bad sketches and music acts. Brilliant!