Saturday, October 31, 2009

Geico Commercials (The Eyeballs and "Tiny House")

Ever since Scott Thompson's brother was in the "Tiny House" commercial (which probably remains the best spoof of reality-TV-culture), I've been consistently amused by Geico commercials.

For at least six months now (a year?), they have been running a series of "money with eyeballs" commercials which never fail to make me laugh.

342. What is it about this incredibly simple conceit that I find so funny? Sometimes I think it's the look on the human characters' faces (the guy in the diner is just classic), sometimes I think it's the ridiculous heavy-beat theme song, and sometimes it's just laughing at myself for my previous outbursts.

343. Physically/biologically-speaking, what makes laughter work? Is it your vocal chords? Your lungs? Are there certain people who are more biologically prone to laughing? Can you train yourself to laugh more (I have heard about either "laughing yoga" or "smiling yoga," and I guess that must be part of the idea there)?

344. Who is the funniest current politician? What kind of sense of humor does Obama have? Does he crack jokes when playing basketball? Is Obama's sense of humor sophisticated and sarcastic, or can he go low-brow like most guys that I know?

345. Why are some people good at coming up with funny nicknames? Where do they get the ideas for the nicknames? This is a skill that I would like to nurture -- I think giving someone a clever nickname is a huge compliment.

346. Is the new Leno show getting good ratings? There was so much talk about it this summer and whether it would change the landscape of network television. Has it been commercially successful so far?

347. The Office was funny again on Thursday night -- they're on a roll this season; what accounts for the revamp? New writers? How did Steve Carrell rediscover his mojo?

348. Will there ever be another sitcom that is as popular -- across multiple demographics - as Seinfeld? Which sitcom is currently most popular? How do its ratings compare with Seinfeld's?