97. Nostalgia 101: 😂 All Things Comedy w/ Dr. Douglas C. MacLeod

The Nostalgia Test Podcast

Dan & Manny are joined by Dr. Douglas C. MacLeod, Associate Professor of Communications at SUNY College at Cobleskill in New York to open up a deep conversation about all things comedy. They get into comedy history, some of the early television sitcoms, how the American art of stand-up comedy is growing in many other parts of the world, how Dr. MacLeod uses comedy in his writing courses, and so much more. This episode is reference central! Get ready to take A LOT of notes! Let's start class!

This episode was recorded on July 25th, 2022.

Associate Professor Douglas C. MacLeod, Jr., who earned a Doctorate of Arts in the Humanities from SUNY Albany in 2008, worked as an instructor and tutor at various institutions prior to coming to SUNY Cobleskill in 2013. He teaches intercultural communication, script writing, visual media, cinema, mass media, and composition and literature courses. An inter-disciplinarian, Dr. MacLeod stresses to his students the importance of both having a specialty and being well-rounded. He has presented on various subjects at conferences, including The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock, Marathon Man, empathy in the Digital Age, stand-up comedy as a tool for composition writers, and Oliver Stone. He is also widely published, having produced book chapters (on such topics as religion and cinema and Bonnie and Clyde); encyclopedia entries; and book reviews for various print and online academic journals, including Film and History, Scope, Warscapes, and The Journal of American Studies of Turkey (among many others). Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, he lives in Cobleskill with his wife of 14 years, Patricia, and his two beautiful furry children, Daisy and Layla. His outside interests include reading, watching movies and television programs, reading, long car rides with his wife, reading, going to concerts and comedy shows, and reading

Episode Notes

• • Charlie Chaplin
  • Buster Keaton
  • Harold Lloyd
  • Vaudeville
  • The Great Depression
  • His Girl Friday (movie 1940)
  • Some Like It Hot (movie 1959)
  • Strangelove (movie 1964)
  • Jerry Seinfeld
  • Comedian (movie 2002)
  • Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (series 2012-2019)
  • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (series 2017-2023
  • Mitch Hedberg
  • George Carlin
  • Evel Knievel
  • Bamboozled (movie 2000)
  • Spike Lee
  • Bill Burr
  • Al Jolson
  • Gilbert Gottfried
  • Marc Maron
  • WTF Podcast: "Canceled Comedy" w/ Kliph Nesteroff and David Bianculli
  • Lenny Bruce
  • Richard Pryor
  • Saturday Night Live
  • Barbra Streisand
  • Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (movie 1989)
  • Shining Time Station
  • Bob Saget
  • Full House (series 1987-1995)
  • America’s Funniest Home Videos (series 1989-present; hosted by Bob Saget 1989-1997)
  • Half Baked (movie 1998)
  • Bill Hicks
  • Jo Koy
  • Fresh Off the Boat (series 2015-2020)
  • Modern Family (series 2009-2020)
  • Conan O’Brien
  • Flula Borg
  • The Day the Laughter Died
  • Andrew Dice Clay
  • Rick Rubin
  • Nora Dunn
  • Dave Chappelle
  • Comic Strip Live
  • Lorne Michaels
  • Rolling Stone Magazine
  • Jimmy Fallon
  • Seth Meyers
  • Hunter S. Thompson
  • Mad TV (series 1995-2009)
  • Kate McKinnon
  • Aidy Bryant
  • Kenan Thompson
  • Vanilla Ice
  • Pete Davidson
  • Cecily Strong
  • Andy Kaufman
  • Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life by James Curtis (book)
  • The Great Dictator (movie 1940)
  • Tom Hanks
  • Bosom Buddies (series 1980-1982)
  • Bachelor Party (movie 1984)
  • Punchline (movie 1988)
  • Philadelphia (movie 1993)
  • Forrest Gump (movie 1994)
  • Sally Field
  • John Goodman
  • Paul Rodriguez
  • Steve Martin
  • Lawrence Kasdan
  • Big Chill (movie 1983)
  • Step Brothers (movie 2008)
  • The Rock
  • Stone Cold Steve Austin
  • Jake the Snake Roberts
  • Norm MacDonald
  • Samantha Bee
  • Steph Tolev
  • Please Don’t Sit on my Bed in Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson
  • Dennis Wolfberg
  • Tig Notaro

• Cheryl Hines

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This was recorded June 5th, 2023.

The intro and outro music ('Neon Attack 80s') is by Emanmusic.

The other music ("ABCD") is by Pudge. Any other music you hear, The Nostalgia Test Podcast does not own.