No Joke

A character wants to be a stand-up comedian, but it doesn't work out, usually because they're not funny.

Too Close for Comfort

Appearances

• Car 54, Where Are You?: Season 1, episode 11, "Catch Me on the Paar Show" (1961). Toody thinks a fellow officer named Charlie could make it as a stand-up comic, and he manages to get him a spot on The Jack Paar Show, but just as he's about to go on, Charlie freezes from stage fright, and Toody walks out on stage and does his act for him. The audience thinks Toody's so funny that Jack Paar wants to have him on again, but on his big night, Toody freezes just like Charlie, and Muldoon takes over and does his act for him.
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 3, episode 8, "But Seriously, Folks" (1972). Mary is dating Wes, a writer from the Chuckles the Clown show who wants to be a stand-up comedian. Mary wants to support him in his new career, so she and the gang from the station all go to see his act at a bowling alley, and it's so bad, Mary runs off to the ladies room to cry.
• The Bob Newhart Show: Season 6, episode 7, "My Son the Comedian" (1977). Howard's young son, Howie, wants to be a comedian, so he attends Mickey Melnick's School of Comedy, and Mickey thinks Howie shows promise, so he invites him to go on the road with him, but Howard isn't about to let his son throw his life away.
• Too Close for Comfort: Season 6, episode 21, "Presenting Buddy Ficus" (1987). Monroe reviews stand-up comedians at a new nightclub in Marin County, and he thinks he can do better than them, so he writes a stand-up routine and performs at the club, and no one laughs.
• The Golden Girls: Season 5, episode 9, "Comedy of Errors" (1989). Dorothy finds a list of things she wanted to do with her life when she was high school, and she decides she wants to try to be a stand-up comedian again. She performs a set at a club and kills with her jokes about being an older woman, but she decides doing it once is enough for her, and she'd rather keep being a teacher.
• ALF: Season 4, episode 14, "Make 'em Laugh" (1990). After watching a stand-up comic perform on TV, ALF thinks he could be a comedian too. He stays up late writing a comedy routine, then falls asleep and has a nightmare about being a famous comedian and then falling on hard times, so he changes his mind.
• Cheers: Season 10, episode 15, "My Son, the Father" (1992). Cliff has been writing jokes for the Post Office newsletter, and the only one who finds them funny is Lilith. Nevertheless, Cliff decides he wants to become a standup comedian and performs at an open mic night at a local night club.
• Wings: Season 3, episode 18, "Take My Life, Please" (1992). When Helen gets fired from a real estate agency, Antonio suggests she take a career placement test, but the results are disappointing, so Brian changes them to lawyer or standup comedian, and Helen chooses the latter.
• 3rd Rock from the Sun: Season 2, episode 11, "Dick Jokes" (1996). Mary is hosting a fundraiser, and she hired another professor, Ben Littmeyer, to emcee because she finds him hilarious. Dick gets jealous of Ben's ability to make Mary laugh, so he decides to try his hand at standup comedy, and his routine at open mic night at a local comedy club only elicits courtesy laughs from Harry.
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 4, episodes 9, "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life" (2008). To give Charlie a glimpse of what it's like to be her, Sweet Dee takes him to a night club open mic night, where she tries to do standup every night. She gets up on stage and quickly bombs while dry-heaving from nerves.