A Signature Feature of The Bold & The Wise

The Laugh Lines

The lines you earn from a lifetime of laughing. Pick a decade and see what had America laughing, then enjoy this week’s classic clip, a strip from the old funny pages, and a few lines of our own.

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What had America laughing
The Show America Laughed At
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The Comic Strip That Debuted
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The Comedian Everyone Quoted
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This Week’s Laugh Lines

A fresh set every week.

The Classic Clip
“Went with the Wind”
The Carol Burnett Show, 1976
The curtain-rod dress. If you saw it the night it aired, you remember where you were sitting. If you didn’t, you’re welcome.
From the official Carol Burnett Show channel on YouTube. More from the Carol Burnett Show and Johnny Carson official channels.
From the Old Funny Pages
Meet the Sailor
Thimble Theatre, January 17, 1929
This is the strip where a squinting, pipe-smoking sailor walked into the funny pages for the very first time. “Ja think I’m a cowboy?” He was supposed to be a bit part. He stayed for the rest of the century.
Five-panel 1929 Thimble Theatre comic strip in which a sailor with a pipe is hired onto a ship's crew.
E. C. Segar, Thimble Theatre, January 17, 1929. Public domain. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
The Last Laugh
A few lines of our own
  • My grandson asked what we did before the internet. I told him, “We guessed. And we were very confident about it.”
  • Retirement tip: tell people you’re busy. They’ll assume you have plans. Nobody needs to know the plan is a nap.
  • I finally have time to do everything I said I’d do when I had time. Turns out I was mostly bluffing.
Your Turn
Got a funny story?
The best laughs come from real life. Reply to our newsletter with yours, and tell us it’s okay to share it. We may feature it here.

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Sources: Nielsen rankings and air dates via the Wikipedia articles for each series; strip debut dates via the Wikipedia articles for Peanuts, The Wizard of Id, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes and Pickles; Bob Newhart album chart and Grammy, Carol Burnett Show Emmys, Your Show of Shows writers, Eddie Murphy and Mrs. Doubtfire via their Wikipedia articles. Thimble Theatre strip public domain per Wikimedia Commons. Clip embedded from The Carol Burnett Show Official YouTube channel.