Legacy strip embarrasses self again

 It's happened again. A legacy strip tries to be groovy with new technology and just embarrasses itself.

In this one, Sgt. Snorkel said he's going to stream a TV show while eating snacks. That's it. Someone on the Walker team said, "Hey there's this new thing called streaming. Wouldn't it be funny if Sarge ate snacks while streaming?"

This is what  people do. How is this funny? Is there no one at King Features to stop this?

And everyone else on the team said, "um, yeah, good work, let's hit the links!"

Blondie tries to keep up with 20-year-old technology, fails

Oh good lord. Another legacy strip pointing out 20-year-old technology as if it's new and the joke is "this new technology does what it was designed to do, isn't that a hoot!" 

The joke here is Dagwood's neighbors are keeping up with what's going on in the neighborhood with its Facebook neighborhood page.

That's the joke. That's it.

That's what's supposed to happen.

Isn't there an editor at King Features whose job it is to call cartoonists and say, "Hey, yeah, that strip you turned in about how it's funny that Dagwood's neighbors are keeping up with what's going on in the neighborhood by reading a Facebook neighborhood page? Yeah, how is this funny?"

Until then, apparently it's my job.

And speaking of Blondie's pastry maker ...  OK, Blondie introduces a new character, and it's been a year and ... what has she brought to the strip? Anything? Anything at all?

I hate to be negative, and they should be commended for trying. Would it kill them to be a little subversive. If you want to keep up with the times, read "Pearls Before Swine."

I've given up on Beetle Bailey, it will never be funny. But I have hope for Blondie. C'mon, Dagwood was the slacker-at-work 60 years before Homer Simpson, and every once in a while he'll surprise me. 

Keeping up with the times ... or not

I was impressed by Blondie on Sunday because Dagwood was working from home, and I thought, wow, Blondie's going to acknowledge and satirize the current pandemic. Pretty brave for a strip from 1930. Then the following week's dailies ignored the whole thing until Thursday when Dagwood made a "Social Distancing" joke, which actually, isn't bad. But, if they're all in the office are they not quarantining Dagwood? They seem to want it both ways.

To Dean Young I say: Sin boldly! Keep the Bumsteads home like the rest of us. Let Dagwood slowly drive Blondie mad until she's plotting his murder! Let Dagwood show up at an office Zoom meeting while in the bath tub, eating a sandwich!

Blondie's been slowly keeping up with the times and not doing a half bad job. This isn't a crisis, it's an opportunity.

Not everyone can grapple with changing times....

Which leads me to today's Beetle Bailey. Another strip where a character participates in a technological activity and that is the sum of the joke.

Here Gen. Halftrack says he hasn't had any complaints since he took down the suggestion box, and he's pleased with himself until Gizmo tells him that people complain on Twitter.

Yep, that's the joke, people complain about things on Twitter.

That's all they got.

Let's look at others in this astonishingly out-of-touch vein: Here and here.

I imagine the next jokes will involve people using their iPhones to call their friends, and people using TikTok to post videos.

Beetle Bailey why have you forsaken me?

Once again, I hate to be one of those negative bloggers. The world doesn't need more negativity. But really what's going on in the Beetle Bailey writer's room?

Have they just given up?

Are they just using a random dialogue generator?

Plato is standing between two women, so Beetle surmises that it "looks like it's a good time to be a nerd."

Based on what? Two women chatting with Plato? That's it. So we set up the faulty premise.

In the next panel, Killer dressed like a stereotypical nerd to pick up women at the library because, you know, that's where nerdy women hang out. And nerdy women love nerdy men.

You can tell he's dressed like a nerd because he's wearing a bow tie and even his sweater has a pocket protector. And plaid pants. And he's carrying a book.

And it's funny because ...

No, it's not funny at all.

Dagwood saves the day

I've been pointing out the disastrous results when Beetle Bailey tries to be hip to what the kids are doing nowadays (mostly technology.) The problem is the creative team doesn't know enough about a new technology to make fun of it; they think that simply mentioning it will be hilarious.

This made today's Blondie doubly hilarious. Dagwood takes his first Uber ride; this could have been a mess if the Beetle Bailey team had done this, but Dagwood saves the day by (literally) pulling the punch line out of his back pocket. I didn't see it coming, yet it's totally in his character.

And I laughed.

Beetle Bailey's futile search for relevance ... again

In the Beetle Bailey writers' room.

"Let's do a joke for the kids."
"Yeah, I know, we'll have a joke about the YouTube."
"Yeah, kids today like the YouTube."
"What's the YouTube?"
"Um, I think the kids today use it to prank one another."
"OK, I got it, Lt. Fuzz will get pranked on the YouTube, and the punchline will be, "You've been pranked on the YouTube!"
"Good one, let's hit the golf course!"

I spoke too soon

Just when I thought Beetle Bailey was making gains, a big relapse. In today's strip, the general is upset that  Beetle (wearing a beret) drew an abstract picture of him. See, it's funny because you know how kids are today with their abstract art, amirite?

Credit where credit's due

I've given Beetle Bailey crap for being irrelevant, not understanding modern technology while insisting on making 'jokes' about it, and worst of all, not being funny.

Today, I laughed.

Beetle Bailey's futile search for relevance

It would be very easy to be negative all the time, but I think it's important to be positive in my posts. There's usually something positive in everything.

But...

This Beetle Bailey doesn't work at all. The Mort Walker team is trying to be hip and modern, and it's like those Bob Hope specials from the 60s where he and Joey Heatherton dressed like hippies. Just sad really.

The Walker team thinks it's funny that Killer took a picture of Miss Buxley and instantly posted it on his Facebook page.

How is that funny?

That's what people do.

It's like if they thought it would be funny if Beetle hopped in a Jeep...then drove somewhere.

And why is Killer's head shaking?

This is precisely why Bill Watterson was right to quit after ten years.