When Is A Reference Dated And When Is It A Fun Throwback?

[90'sCartoonMan]

Let's see, in the past two weeks we've seen The Simpsons spoof the California recall election, South Park make fun of Free Willy, and Family Guy make a reference to something that happened in the 80's.

When is a reference "too late" to make light of? Everyone was saying that The Simpsons were too late in making fun of the recall election, which happened a couple years ago but still think it's funny when Family Guy references GI Joe. Is it because The Simpsons should've done the joke at the height of its popularity? Family Guy made fun of peanut butter jelly time past it's prime, and it was still funny, right? Same with American Dad and the Star Wars kid.

South Park didn't have any problem with spoofing Free Willy, a ten year old movie. It based an entire episode around it. When The Simpsons did it, they tried to be relevant and do a "director's cut" version of the movie (when it was still being talked about). Is Free Willy now old enough so we fondly remember it like an old show Family Guy would reference?

I guess what I'm getting at is where do you draw the line between a referring to something people will fondly remember and laugh at and referring to something that will make the audience go "This would've been funny a few years ago"?

[Jave]

If you are going to make a joke that's a reference that only SOME people will get, then you need to make the gag funny on its own. An example would be the "It's Tom Hanks!" gag in Family Guy. Of course the gag is funnier if you've seen "Philadelfia", but those who haven't would still laugh at how much of a jerk Peter is.

In short, a gag is dated only when the mayority of the audience won't laugh at it, yet you can still reference anything as long as the execution is right. A fine example about how NOT to do it? Watch The Simpsons "Dude, Where's my Ranch". References all over the place (Misery, Britney Spears, LOTR) and not one of them is funny.

[Classic Speedy]

Family Guy made fun of peanut butter jelly time past it's prime, and it was still funny, right?

I beg to differ.

[Ultra Mike]

A joke/refrence is dated when you put it in the episode as IF it were still a popular point/commerical/movie when it isn't. The Simpsons ep with the recall election was something that was pushed around for years and now they've finally shown it when it is dated. But because they wanted to have it still be a point, it's also dated to the point it isn't funny. Also when something is old enough to not be exactly in the public's eyes but still be rememberd, it's nostaligia so you can remember it without it seeming dated. Even if some of the FG's 80 refrences aren't funny anymore, they aren't exactly dated due to Nostaligia. Also in general it's hard for something to be that dated on FG because the joke usually ends up in a cutaway that takes place in the past anyway.

[tb4000]

Look at Looney Tunes cartoons. While they were more wit and slapstick, they have a lot of pop culture references from the 1930's-60's as well, and while they are dated, they're still funny.

[candy17]

Look at Looney Tunes cartoons. While they were more wit and slapstick, they have a lot of pop culture references from the 1930's-60's as well, and while they are dated, they're still funny.

But that's only if you understand the history behind the references in the Looney Tunes cartoons. I mean, yeah, it's easy to laugh at the slapstick and wit of Looney Tunes, but if you're smart enough, you can pick up some history about the world at the time of the cartoons, kinda like The Simpsons back when it was still funny (for me, it was seasons 3 to 10, even though there are some good episodes in the seasons I don't like [1, 2, 11, 12, and 13. Fourteen and beyond is a dead zone]).