"People are tired of the old setup-joke formula, especially young viewers".
Mr. Cohen divides most jokes into two categories: the short fictional story, and the formula joke like the light bulb series and ethnic jokes.
The unpinkness of Obama's hair is considered for a few sentences, which culminate in a very bad Grecian Formula joke, and then you hear the sound of thousands of people clicking "close tab" and getting on with their lives.
I couldn't seem to break into sitcoms because they were also a formula, three jokes per page, minimum.
(Part of the brilliance of "Modern Family" is its ability to infuse a sitcom formula with an antic, joke-driven energy that stays just this side of absurd).
Too often, the pair default to a dull formula, whereby a joke peaks with its mildly amusing setup (Brits abroad miss their biscuits; why are no crimes other than murder re-enacted on activity weekends?) and is then demonstrated to death.
One anonymous reviewer, possibly Evert Augustus Duyckinck, joked that Chivers was formulaic and suggested the formula included 30% Percy Bysshe Shelley, 20% Poe, 20% "mild idiocy", 10% "gibbering idiocy", 10% "raving mania" and 10% "sweetness and originality".
He pre-empts this by varying the rhythm, inserting musical and visual interludes, and keeping jokes that use the same formula apart from one another.
His playful patter with the frequently befuddled contestants was delivered with knowing winks to the audience, who grew to love the formula of cheesy jokes, slapstick comedy and terrible prizes.
If you find it degrading to pay a woman to laugh at your jokes, keep in mind that the formula has proved so successful that about 100 "host" bars have opened in Kabukicho, catering to Tokyo's affluent professional women.
