Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Not all heroes wear capes.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

We will not go back.

You are here: Home / Humorous / RIP Carl Reiner

RIP Carl Reiner

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Carl Reiner died last night. He was 98. Here’s the New York Times obituary.

He started out as second banana and writer on Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows, which was where I saw him. Ernie Kovacs was my favorite comedian, but Caesar was a close second. They introduced a new strain of comedy that flows through Mad Magazine and Saturday Night Live.

Here’s some of his work:

https://youtu.be/BcA6bqY8AxQ

More here.

Open thread for good stuff.

Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    Catherine D.

    At least Mel is still hanging in there. I love the 2000 year old man routines.

    ETA – Ernie Kovacs was wonderfully surreal.

  3. 3.

    piratedan

    that’s a damn good run for a damn funny man. I’m sad to see him exit stage left, but glad he was on the stage for us all to enjoy.

  4. 4.

    Mary G

    Yesterday:

    As I arose at 7:30 this morning, I was saddened to relive the day that led up to the election of a bankrupted and corrupt businessman who had no qualifications to be the leader of any country in the civilized world…— carl reiner (@carlreiner) June 29, 2020

    Resisting until the end. So unfair that he won’t see the traitor leave the White House.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I commented on the NYT obit — very similar to a comment I posted here this morning (if you go there, it’s about the fourth comment down under the NYT picks) — and when I checked it a little while ago was highly chuffed to see that it had garnered something on the order of 850 likes/recs, as well as a couple of nice replies.

    The embarrassing thing is that shortly after I hit send, I realised I had made a silly mistake in referring to Reiner, rather than Brooks, as the 2,000-year-old man! One of the replies caught and corrected it, but at least 850 Times readers missed it :-)

  10. 10.

    laura

    The joy he must have felt when efgoldman opened his arms and led Carl Reiner in this fine day. That’s my take on his passing and I wish his name be a blessing and his memory bring comfort and laughter.

  17. 17.

    Brachiator

    I heard that Reiner and Mel Brooks would have breakfast or lunch at a place in the San Fernando Valley. Every now and then I had fantasies that I would try to go there and just sit at a table near them and listen to them talk to each other.

    I loved his Alan Brady character on the Dick Van Dyke show. He would roar like a lion, but was really a pussycat. Great ensemble show. But he was somehow never a one-note caricature. There was always something human, and a little lovable about the guy. That’s a neat trick that some comedies don’t get right. It’s easy, sometimes, to just go for the joke, or make a character look ridiculous. But to add a humanizing grace note…

    Some radio station would play the 2,000 year old man routines. Great stuff. And I was able to catch some of his earlier TV work.

    And of course, some of his films, as a actor or director. A full life.

    Some stars you admire, or even adore.  Carl Reiner. I really liked the guy. Just something about him.

    I’m glad he had a long and productive life. May he rest in peace.

    ETA: A longish interview with Reiner and Brooks from The Guardian. Love and Free Food.

  18. 18.

    Skepticat

    @piratedan:

    That’s a damn good run for a damn funny man. I’m sad to see him exit stage left but glad he was on the stage for us all to enjoy.

    This copywriter won’t even pretend to be able to say it better than that.

  20. 20.

    Redshift

    I first discovered him when I got the second 2000 Year Old Man album. I don’t even remember how I happened to get it, a present, maybe? What a great body of work, and survived by great offspring, too.

  23. 23.

    tokyokie

    I understand that Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks would get together most nights and watch TV. I always figured that their running commentary would be much funnier than the shows they were watching.

  25. 25.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    What Carl had, was as you say, a real humanity about him. He went for the laughs, but not the cheap laughs. He earned his laughs. You didn’t like him because he was crude or rude, you liked him because he made you laugh by actually being funny.

  26. 26.

    BruceFromOhio

    They introduced a new strain of comedy that flows through Mad Magazine and Saturday Night Live.

    Native languages where I came from. RIP, friend.

  27. 27.

    Edmund Dantes

    I had saw some earlier today that we have FDR’s new deal to be thankful for as Reiner was on a different path till his brother told him about a WPA class on acting. He went and as they say the rest is history.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    @Mary G:

    This, I think, is my overarching disappointment for Mr. Reiner. He at least goes on with the knowledge that sleepy/corrupt/something-something Joe is likely to mop the floor, walls, ceiling and fenestration with Trump come November.

    Provided we’re good and eat our vegetables.

    No individual will be able to summarize Carl’s life, career and body of work, they are too vast. But I will be there for the attempts because for everything I know, there are ten I do not.

    R.I.P.

  32. 32.

    frosty

    I haven’t seen any mention of my favorite movie he was in: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming. Great comic timing, great physical comedy, playing “Whitaker Walt”

    ETA just got to the bottom of the comments, and two others remembered it too.

  33. 33.

    opiejeanne

    @Mike in NC: We watched that not long ago and were pleasantly surprised to see how well it holds up. The commentary by Carl Reiner and Alan Arkin is great, too.

    I saw it when I was 16, 1966, and thought it was hilarious then, and I still do. And it makes you think, if you’re even half-way paying attention.

  35. 35.

    Keith P.

    For some reason, the #1 thought I had when I read that Carl Reiner died was Greg Giraldo at the Joan Rivers roast.  About Reiner: “Carl’s such a comedy icon that Joan named one of those shitty watches she sells on QVC after him.  It’s the ‘Carl Reiner Edition’ – it’s got liver-spotted hands and it’s running out of time.” (this was over 10 years ago, so the Carl Reiner Edition kept ticking long after Greg Giraldo died)

  36. 36.

    Miss Bianca

    @frosty: Saw that movie a couple years ago, might have to dig it up again.

    Does anyone but me remember there being an animated special of The 2,000 Year Old Man on TV in the 70s? That’s how I got introduced to him. Never knew there were records!

  37. 37.

    Origuy

    @Miss Bianca: I was listening to an interview show on Sirius XM earlier today, called “The Bennington Show”, with Carl Reiner. Recorded some time ago, of course. He said that he and Mel would do the 2000-year old man bit at parties for years before they recorded it.

  38. 38.

    kindness

    Carl Reiner was more my folks generation comedian but I did watch the Dick Van Dyke show.  Well, my parents did and we only had one tv in the house in the 60’s so the kids watched what the parents watched.  A black & white tv at that.  We didn’t get a color tv till 1970.  They were pricey then.

  39. 39.

    phein60

    @Brachiator: The episode where Mel Cooley, his brother-in-law, threatens to blackmail him to save the writers is absolutely wonderful.  For me, it ranks up there with the walnut episode.

  40. 40.

    Ruckus

    @kindness:

    We had a very early TV, from the late 40s. B&W, 9 inch screen, almost unwatchable because of the ghosts. But then there wasn’t a whole lot on at the time anyway. That TV sat in the corner until maybe the mid 60s. It had been replaced probably in the late 50s.

  43. 43.

    scottinnj

    Carl Reiner also is the proud father of Martin Di Bergi, one of the greatest Rockumentary filmmakers of all time.

  44. 44.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    This is sad. Carl Reiner was a comedy genius. I’m sure Mel Brooks is grieving deeply right now and my condolences to him and Reiner’s son Rob. I know Jerry Seinfeld isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but his Netflix show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee – one episode he stops by to watch TV with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. They got together regularly (maybe once a week, maybe nightly, I can’t remember) and were long time best friends.

  45. 45.

    JML

    Carl Reiner was a genius. So funny, and so interesting! The Dick Van Dyke Show is probably him at his peak, when it was all working…but there’s so many great highlights!

    I adored him in the Ocean’s movies as well; he showed he still had it and added so much. And I loved the respect they showed him, how his character got the last moment at the fountains alone in 11. Kinda how I’m going to think of him in passing.

    My goodness, he and Mel Brooks were funny together.

    Also, if you havent watched “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast” do it now.

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