It’s the long overdue return of The Schleicher Spin’s Guest Blogger Series!
The gauntlet was laid down, and guest blogger Nicky D was asked to make a list of the best comedies of all time.
Which of these films will top Nicky D’s list?
Introduction:
Hello, my name is Nicky D and I am the smartest man alive. I work alongside of Mr. Schleicher on an everyday basis. Mr. Schleicher can’t seem to get over the fact of how brilliant of a man I truly am. I have completely annoyed him with the mentioning of my top lists of movies, especially comedies. So he challenged me to come up with a top comedy list, and I came up with a nice uneven number for you to review and comment on. I love movies and not just comedies either. I am into most genres except for romance, family, documentaries, musicals, and westerns. I still do watch them and try to give an honest opinion on them. My favorite actor is Daniel Day Lewis and my favorite movie is The Last of the Mohicans. I have very strong opinions about movies in general, so if you want to have a spirited debate, as I always say, “Bring it On” (not on the list, by the way). There may be some movies that I left off of the list because of the fact that I might not have seen them, but if you mention a movie I will absolutely check it out and respond with my opinion. Thanks to Mr. Schleicher, and have fun with my top 47 comedies all time.
Parental Guidance Suggested: Raw, uncensored comedy quotes below.
Nicky D’s Top 47 Comedies of All Time:
1. Coming to America (1988)
“Oh sir, the Giants of New York took on the Packers of Green Bay. And in the end, the Giants triumphed by kicking an oblong ball made of pigskin through a big “H”. It was a most ripping victory.”
2. Caddyshack (1980)
“Last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it.”
3. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
“They’ve done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.”
4. Airplane! (1980)
“There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?”
5. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation & National Lampoons Vacation (1983 & 1989)
“Hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I’d like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where’s the Tylenol?”
6. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
“She is my sister. She is number-four prostitute in whole of Kazakhstan.”
7. Major League (1989)
“The post-game show is brought to you by… [searches through his papers] Christ, I can’t find it. To hell with it.”
8. Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
“Hi I am Bobby Taylor and I am a black actor”.
9. National Lampoons Animal House (1978)
“What? Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!”
10. Spaceballs (1987)
“I bet she gives great helmet.”
11. Plains, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
“If I wanted a joke, I’d follow you into the john and watch you take a leak. Now are you gonna help me or are you gonna stand there like a slab of meat with mittens?”
12. The Hangover (2009)
“Tigers love pepper, they hate cinnamon.”
13. Blazing Saddles (1974)
“Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges.”
14. Young Frankenstein (1974)
“You know, I’m a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump. What hump?”
15. Groundhog Day (1993)
“You’re missin’ all the fun! These people are great! Some of them have been partyin’ all night long! They sing songs ’till they get too cold and then they go sit by the fire and they get warm, and then they come back and sing some more! Yeah, they’re hicks, Rita!’
16. Dumb & Dumber (1994)
“Yeah I called her up. She gave me a bunch of crap about me not listening to her, or something. I don’t know, I wasn’t really paying attention.”
17. Tommy Boy (1995)
“Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That’s all it is, isn’t it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer’s sake, for your daughter’s sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.”
18. Trading Places (1983)
“Cause I’m a karate man! And a karate man bruises on the inside! They don’t show their weakness. But you don’t know that because you’re a big Barry White looking motherfucker! So get outta my face!”
19. Wedding Crashers (2005)
“John, I was first team All-State. I can put the ball anywhere I want to. I’ll make it rain out here.”
20. Robin Hood Men in Tights (1993)
“Wasn’t your… didn’t your mole used to be on the other side? I have a MOLE?”
21. Old School (2003)
“Whoa. Whoa. Why the F-ing? Why in front of the kid? All ya gotta do is say “earmuffs” to him, and you can say “Fuck, shit, bitch.”
22. Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
“Name: Loc Dog, baby. Height: Six-deuce! Age: 19. Father’s name: mmm… I dunno. Sex: hell yeah, nigga! Salary desired: 3 million dollars! Cash!”
23. Billy Madison (1995)
“He called the shit “poop”.”
24. The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
“I Hope You Got a Big Trunk, Cause I’m Puttin My Bike In It.”
25. American Pie (1999)
“M-I-L-F: Mom I’d Like to Fuck!”
26. Meet the Parents (2000)
“That smell, Bob, is our shit. Focker flushed the toilet in the den so the septic tank is overflowing.”
27. Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
“Price check on Vagiclean, aisle five. I repeat: price check on Vagiclean, aisle five. That’s Vagiclean. We’ve got a customer down here with a full-on fallopian fungus. She’s baking a loaf of bread and I think it’s sourdough.”
28. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
“Imagine you’re a deer. You’re prancing along. You get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put your little deer lips down to the cool, clear water – BAM. A fuckin’ bullet rips off part of your head. Your brains are lying on the ground in little bloody pieces. Now I ask ya, would you give a fuck what kind of pants the son-of-a-bitch who shot you was wearing?”
29. Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2 (1984 & 1987)
“Tell Victor that Ramon – -the fella he met about a week ago? – -tell him that Ramon went to the clinic today, and I found out that I have, um, herpes simplex 10, and I think Victor should go check himself out with his physician to make sure everything is fine before things start falling off on the man.”
30. Friday (1995)
“She said she look like Janet Jackson, Bitch got outta the car lookin’ more like Freddie Jackson!”
31. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
“We got this one kid, Mongo… He’s got a forehead like a drive-in movie theatre, but he’s a good ship. So we don’t bust his chops too much. So, one day Mongo gets out of his cage…”
32. Naked Gun 1, 2 ½, 33 1/3 (1988, 1991, & 1994)
“Yeah, you know, a white guy. A moustache. About six-foot-three. Awfully big moustache.”
33. Rush Hour (1998)
“The Beach Boys gonna get you a great ass whuppin’. Don’t you ever touch a black man’s radio, boy! You can do that in China but you can get your ass killed out here, man!”
34. What About Bob? (1991)
“Death Therapy, Bob. It’s a guaranteed cure.”
35. Bad Santa (2003)
“I’ve always had a thing for Santa Claus. In case you didn’t notice. It’s like some deep-seeded childhood thing. So is my thing for tits.”
36. The Princess Bride (1987)
“Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Yes. Morons.”
37. Raising Arizona (1987)
“Oh, don’t make me laugh. Without my say-so they wouldn’t piss with their pants on fire.”
38. Back to School (1986)
“Lay off Vanessa. She gives great headache. Lou, I can’t believe it. Married five years, seems like yesterday.
39. The Great Outdoors (1988)
“It buzzed me! We need a plan. It’s bigger than I thought. It’s about a two pounder.”
40. Austin Powers 1, 2, & 3 (1997, 1999 & 2002)
“Of course I’m not happy! Look at me, I’m a big fat slob. I’ve got bigger titties than you do. I’ve got more chins than a Chinese phonebook. I’ve not seen my willie in two years, which is long enough to declare it legally dead.
41. Superbad (2007)
“I’ll be like the Iron Chef of pounding vag.”
42. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
“Hey there boy! Man, you got big. How long’s it been? Three, Four months? Ten Years. Ten Years? Man, I gotta lay off the peyote.”
43. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
“Nobody makes me bleed my own blood.”
44. Office Space (1999)
“There *was* nothing wrong with it… until I was about twelve years old and that no-talent ass clown became famous and started winning Grammys.”
45. Clerks (1994)
“People say crazy shit during sex. One time I called this girl “Mom.””
46. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
“I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!”
47. Wildcats (1986)
“Don’t worry baby, this my uncle’s car, he lets me borrow it whenever I want. Oh Yeah! Then why did you have to hot wire it!”
Post written and list compiled by Nicky D.
Tell us your favorite comedies of all time by making a comment!
The Schleicher Spin 
Nick – a most stupendous and arbitrary list indeed, sir!
I love how it started out as a Top Ten – and naturally evolved into a Top 47.
Comedy, more so than any other genre, is highly subjective and usually a matter of taste based on what made us laugh the most when we were kids. Favorite comedies are often generational-based.
While I still don’t quite “get” your number one pick (admittedly I was never an Eddie Murphy fan) – if I were to make a list of the best comedies, we would share the following in common (based on the order in which you presented them, and not ranked by me):
Anchorman
Airplane!
Major League
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein
Groundhog Day
Billy Madison
My Cousin Vinny
The Naked Gun Trilogy
Bad Santa
Raising Arizona
Talladega Nights
Office Space
Clerks
For my list, I would add (in no particular order):
Used Cars
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Heathers
Wet Hot American Summer
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Monty Python and The Holy Grail
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Something from Woody Allen (probably multiple titles though one could argue Woody Allen films are more comedy-dramas than straight comedy)
The following are satires, but also laugh out loud funny:
Dr. Strangelove
In the Loop
And because I like my comedies dark, I would probably add films like:
Fargo
In Bruges
– though both are not considered by some to be comedies at all.
And then if we want to go way back and consider comedy shorts as well as films, there are:
Laurel & Hardy
Abbott & Costello (mostly features)
The Little Rascals (my favorites)
The Three Stooges
Hey David,
First, and I hope you don’t mind, as a team Abbott and Costello did not make any shorts. There was the TV series but that was strictly TV and not recyled shorts.
This is a partial list is off the top in no particular order. Probably leaving many some off.
The Gold Rush
City Lights
Modern Times
and many of Chaplin’s shorts
The General
Sherlock Jr.and many of Keaton’s shorts
Way Out West
Son of the Desert
and many L & H shorts
Some Like it Hot
Young Frankenstein
Annie Hall
The Awful Truth
Bringing Up Baby
Caddyshack
Groundhog Day
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
Horsefeathers
A Night at the Opera
The Producers
A Shot in the Dark
Adam’s Rib
His Girl Friday
NL’s Vacation
A Fish Called Wanda
Meet the Parents
To Be or Not to Be (1934)
My Cousin Vinny
Lost in America
Sullivan’s Travels
John – must’ve been the TV show I was thinking of – shouldn’t have lumped Abbott & Costello in with those others.
Anchorman is easily Will Ferrel’s best.
Excuse the rotten english, it is early in the morning and I have not had my coffee yet!
Ah, my good friend John Greco has beaten me to the punch here, (but he’s done a fabulous job as expected) citing many that would make my own list. And geez guys we are still searching for someone to take the chairmanship for the WitD comedy poll.
I’d have titles from Marx Brothers, W. C Fields, Preston Sturges, Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Mel Brooks (Producers especially) Ashby’s Being There, Hawks, Lubitsch, Bunuel, Woody Allen, Will Hay, Jacques Tati, and the brilliant Kind Hearts and Coronets for starters, but obviously there are many more that would enter the discussion.
Sam – by george, I had no idea WitD was even planning a comedy poll!
As you know David, I absolutely appreciate lists, as arbitrary and personal as they are, though I think your guest blogger is a little misguided. I don’t mean to quibble with any of his individual choices (though “The Great Outdoors” and “Beverly Hills Cop 2” are remarkably terrible movie), nor do want to sound like a smarty-pants jackass, but my problem with the list is the title. This is *not* the best of all time, but the best of the past thirty years or so. The oldest titles are from the 1970s and there are only three of them.
Sam and John zeroed in some of the most obvious omissions, but I think it’s worth repeating some pre-1980s titles that would possibly appear on my own list:
Tillie’s Punctured Romance
The Gold Rush
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
The General
The Navigator
City Lights
The Circus
She Done Him Wrong
Animal Crackers
Duck Soup
A Night at the Opera
The Music Box
Way Out West
The Awful Truth
Bringing Up Baby
Twentieth Century
My Man Godfrey
To Be or Not to Be
His Girl Friday
Ball of Fire
Sullivan’s Travels
Hail the Conquering Hero
It’s a Gift
The Bank Dick
The Man on the Flying Trapeze
OK, clearly I can go on and on and this only gets me to the 1940s. Plus John has already mentioned most of these, but like I said I think they are worth repeating.
Jason – sounds like you might be the man for the WitD poll????
I don’t think I would be able to squeeze that in, as tempting as it sounds. 🙂
This is a great response because I love being misguided. My list is strictly 1970’s and above. I have to be honest that I have not watched to many comedies before the 1970s. My list was also put together with the sole purpose on how the movie made me laugh. Most of the movies on the list are not great movies, but they are great comedies. They are better movies out there that are good movies with comedy mixed in like “Death at a Funeral”. Well thanks for the response and look forward to more feedback.
Great list Nick! You did a fabulous job with your quote selection as well. I can’t wait to see your top 47 Horror films.
Nick … I enjoyed your list and the quotes to match!
I would also add:
The “Pink Panther” series starring Peter Sellers and
the “Back to the Future Trilogy” starring Michael J. Fox.
And Nick, if you are truly a fan of comedy, you must check out some of the timeless comedy classics (some mentioned above), especially “The Little Rascals” and “Laurel & Hardy” comedy shorts; features including “Abbot & Costello”, “Bob Hope and Bing Crosby”, and the excellent selection of comedies directed by the most talented Preston Sturges. These “older comedies” are timeless in the fact that the humor is natural and not forced. True gems! Be sure to check them out when you have the opportunity to do so!
Hey, I appreciated the list Nick. And the quotes was a great added touch. If I made a list of laugh out loud funny comedies, then Waterboy and The Other Guys would be on the list. Maybe it was the mood I was in that day, but those movies had me in tears. I get bored of lists of the “greatest”, I like this list because it’s simply based on what made you laugh.
I think this list ROCKS!!
Gina E.
Definitely agree with you on Meet the Parents, Robin Hood Med in Tights and Coming to America! I also like Opportunity Knocks! 😀
Fun list; a few of those are some of my childhood faves (Princess Bride, Groundhogs Day).
I laughed out loud throughout this post at the memories of these lines — I’d have to agree with the Smartest Man Alive on most of these!
🙂
Thanks for the Monday pick-me-up…
Mikalee
Cool lists all around! Congrats on being FP!
Great list! I would:
ADD
The Grass is Greener (Cary Grant, 1960)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Mean Girls
Clueless
DELETE
Meet The Fockers
Sorry. You’ve confused vulgarity with humor. To a very, very large degree.
Great list! My wife and I were not impressed with Anchorman when we saw it at first. Now we die laughing even though we’ve seen it umpteen times.
I don’t even think I would be able to make a list of 50 movies, ever. I have brain issues you see.
Good list, although i disagree with Borat (it started to get boring in the middle), but you can also consider “Nothing to Lose” & “Happy Gilmour”
Tommy Boy!!! a classic!!! *singing* “big man in a little coat…. big man in a little coat….” It’s a Chris Farley thing…. great selection, my friend!
Great list! I’d add have to add The Big Lebowski though.
The Bob Uecker line from Major League is my favorite.
Amazing list! I love the move Coming to America
Night at the Roxbury.
I just don’t get your inclusion of Will Ferrell movies. I don’t find the guy funny at all. But the stupid/idiot comedy genre has never been my thing. I’m not a Jim Carrey fan either. I know that these guys have fans and this genre does to; it’s just not my thing. I do love your Mel Brooks picks though.
Just a few I would have included though:
Tremors
Blues Brothers
Shaun of the Dead
Ghostbusters
The Longest Yard(the original)
Great List, although i’m an older movie fan there has been some great comedies recently, i.e The Hangover, Happy Gilmour are two of my favorites. Although the person who mentioned My Man Godfrey, kudos to you,probably my favorite old comedy film.
timelessmoviemagic
To this add I would definitely add – “A Fish Called Wanda”
The List is Truly Punny
John Lovins
Great list Nick! You did a fabulous job with your quote selection as well. I can’t wait to see your top 47 Horror films.
I agree with most of this list. I would also argue that Happy Gilmore deserves a spot 🙂
Manor league trilogy, for sure.
I have watched AIRPLANE more than fifty times and still I enjoy every time like the first one. My favourite scene is, for sure, when the child goes to the cockpit… GO LAKERS!!!
National Lampoon (Animal House) is also for me a fantastic film and, of course, everything in which were involved the producers Zucker, Abrahams with the GREAT Leslie Nielsen (RIP) -Naked Gun-.
Haven´t you considered BLUES BROTHERS (the first one) not so good as to be part of this list? John Belushi was tremendous (did you remember the face when he discovers that they were shooted by his girlfriend (Carrie Fisher, the America´s girlfriend at that time) and makes a little movement with his hand and face asking for calm to Dan Aykroyd?
(sorry, I´ve only find this in Italian)
SECOND 33″
GREAT POST!!!
Very Funny..and I love funny!
While I agree with a portion of your picks: Young Frankenstein, Dumb and Dumber, Beverly Hills Cop [I], There’s Something about Mary, The Princess Bride and Raising Arizona. There are [for me] some glaring omissions. Movies that flat out make me laugh so hard it’s embarrassing. Ace Ventura Pet Detective-Die! Dan! Die!. Arthur-I’m a dentist, we’re not bad people, sometimes I have to get looped just to go into my office. Top Secret- I know a little German. Happy Gilmore-Ball go into your HOME. Rustler’s Rhapsody-This is a stereotypical western bar…sure they don’t all have continuous entertainment like this. Some Like it Hot- Nobody’s perfect. I would have to add Paul the newer film by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost..Just so really funny!
Oh man, I must have seen Spaceballs about a thousand times as a kid. A bunch of Childhood Movies are on that list: Office Space, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, My Cousin Vinny. I drove my parents mad.
My favorites now are pretty easy:
Bringing Up Baby
The Circus by Charlie Chaplin
The Thin Man
The Royal Tenenbaums
Duck Soup
God, I am such a hipster.
Cxx
http://desoeufs.wordpress.com
LOVE this list! I need to revisit some of those movies that I haven’t seen in a while. Classics 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Excellent list, only one of my favorite comedies is missing from this list. Waiting (2005)… then again, maybe it’s because I used to work in a restaurant and can completely relate 😉
I think it may be time for some female input!
Elf “I’m a cotton-headed ninnymuggins!”
Splash “What you looking at? You never seen a guy who slept with a fish before?”
The Man With Two Brains (the funniest movie that no one has ever seen.)
” I am making a citizens divorce. By the powers vested in me, I hereby declare our marriage null and void! Ipso facto, coitus interuptus!”
So I Married An Axe Murderer “I’m smitten. I’m in deep smit.”
The Blues Brothers “Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don’t fail me now.”
Four Weddings and a Funeral “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy spigot.”
My Best Friend’s Wedding “I’m like the fungus that feeds on pond scum.”
Miss Congeniality “I was dating him for a little while because he told me he had an incurable disease…I didn’t realize it was stupidity.”
While You Were Sleeping “Look at the bright side. He has more room in his jockey shorts.”
Forgot a couple:
About a Boy ” No. No. You’ve always had that wrong. I really am this shallow.”
Bridesmaids ” It’s a good tub. I slept there for my 30th birthday.”
Don’t agree with everything on the list (BHC2 – WTF), but who cares… you included ‘My Cousin Vinny’ – hero!
The hardest I ever laughed during a movie was “The Corsican Brothers” or “Austin Powers 3”, but I believe I was drunk both times. All of these movies are excellent choices, but the Marx Bros still make me laugh, even sober.
Haha. Like the list. Can’t add to it.
Nick, your list was rockin. I would add things but I’m not about to tell you what.
you and my husband have the same sense of humour.
My list would include; Some like it Hot, Tootsie (very similar to Some Like it Hot) John Candy’s Summer Rental (I still laugh out loud at this) and Birdcage. Don’t you just love lists?
lol… cool post.
Glad to see “Coming To America” at the top–even after lots of viewings, the old men at the barbershop still make my sides hurt.
Personally, I would add “Up In Smoke” and “A Fish Called Wanda” (actually, just about anything with John Cleese would be a worthy addition). Very good list otherwise.
I am so happy you have included Borat. (Darn it, I just noticed it has an animal in it.) A couple of my very good friends could not watch it! I loved it
i saw young Frankenstein on Broadway ///maybe it might be funnier on film. ill see. great post!!
Thanks everyone for the great feedback and thanks for Dave for letting me post this list on his website. The schleicherspin.com is the best movie and tv series blog website on the net. Some of the movies that were mentioned above are great comedies and to mention a few that I do love are Summer Rental, Blues Brothers, and a Fish Called Wanda. I am a big fan of comedies and the movies that I posted on this list are movies that I can watch over and over again. I also posted on here a Top 30 Sports Movie list so check it out. Next there could be a Horror, best sequels list, and/or actors that can lose it at any moment like Gary Busey or Charlie Sheen. Keep all the feedback coming, so thanks again.
Here’s the link to Nick’s Sports Movie List for anyone who is interested:
https://theschleicherspin.com/2011/06/24/the-top-30-sports-movies-of-all-time/
Good list! I’d have to include When Harry Met Sally, Parenthood, Cousins, Annie Hall, Hannah & Her Sisters (“How do I know why there were Nazis? I don’t know how the can opener works!”), High Anxiety, The Trouble With Harry (funniest Hitchcock film ever; almost a parody of his later work), I Love You, Man, and Bridesmaids.
Haha! great!
I’ve only seen eleven on this list, but ten of them I thought was hysterical. For some reason Napoleon Dynamite didn’t appeal to me. Perhaps it’s because the first time I saw it I had to watch it at school…in spanish.
Any movie is debatable and I’m not going to bother debating all the inclusions and exclusions on this list. I will point out that you left out “This is Spinal Tap”. What’s up with that?
wow this list is really great. I am going to save this and make it a point to watch all the comedies mentioned in the list.
Brilliant list.but you missed History of the World Part 1 and Monty Python’s Life of Brian and although not movies, Ab Fab, Absolute Power and Yes Prime Minister all from the UK
B E A UTIFUL LIST!!! Love the authenticity of a “Favorites” list. I can sit here and add/subtract movies for hours but if I was interested in doing that I’d make my own list. This list is perfect because it’s Nick D’s list. For those who bash the selections, not those who suggested other titles, make your own list. I doubt it would make it past your own Email, let alone to a national blog page. Such a pleasurable way to spend 10 minutes of my time. Keep them comming. Oh yes, just one more thing, “2 Dragons”.
Groundhog Day is probably my favourite 🙂
I have my own film-blog
http://thefilmgeekfiles.wordpress.com/
Please check it out and support. Thanks
Pretty good list, although I’m not a Borat fan. Some of the stuff is just plain stupid. Love that you listed quotes.
Well, it took me almost a year and a half – but I finally have my official rebuttal to Nicky D’s list – check out The Spin’s Top 60 Comedies of All Time –
https://theschleicherspin.com/2012/06/10/the-spins-top-60-comedies-of-all-time/