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Comment by hairofadog | Hacker News Reader

I'm a middle-aged (or depending on your perspective, SUPER OLD) guy. I had the good fortune to work with some bright young millennials at my last job, and we sometimes talked about pop culture. I really had a hard time conveying how subversive and groundbreaking Gary Larson and David Letterman were in their time.

Their sensibilities are ubiquitous now and so if you grew up in the 2000’s it would be easy to look at them and say, what's the big deal? But at the time their absurdist humor felt rebellious, new, and important.

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A permanent high school memory is returning from my job at McDonald’s around midnight. Was tired but turned on David Letterman. Voices were all dubbed over in Spanish, with English subtitles. No one onscreen acted unusual. I was dying to go to bed but stayed up till the end to hear the punch line or payoff. Then the show finished without a single reference to it. I was awestruck. I’ve never heard anyone remark about this — I wonder if I imagined this or it just didn’t shock/impress people like it did me.

Wait, some guy on youtube made the same comment seven years ago. Is this some absurd long-con of yours?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDBZpBgBsWI

oh man. I remember coming home from my job at McDonald's (!) and this episode was playing. I was dead tired but stayed up to see how they'd finally stop the subtitling thing. They never did -- the kept it up throughout the show and never made a single mention of it. That made it 10x more hilarious. Wonder when this aired? must have been 1989 or 1990ish

Either way amazing

What impresses me is that you have an encyclopedic memory of comments found on relatively forgettable YouTube videos! Not being facetious here, but I have to say I’m gobsmacked.

I figured mynameishere just searched youtube to find what episode audiometry was talking about and happened to see the comment.

Although your idea is cooler :)

Seriously what is happening

2020 is the year of glitches in the matrix.

Either that or there's two people who worked at mcdonalds and had the exact same experience.

Actually, probably quite a few, only two (at least) of whom mentioned it on the internet.

Here’s a link to the full episode:

https://youtu.be/zUEWILMJIlE

“November 27, 1989“ “Broadcast on Repeat Monday with no pre-announcement. The original airdate was February 10, 1989.”

“Was it overdubbed on the original airing?”

“No.”

and see all Pike Bishop comments: “as a native Spanish speaker from Chile, I must say this is priceless stuff! This was dubbed in Mexico. I contribute to a website that identifies and lists the voice actors of Spanish dubs made for Latin America, so I know several of the voices in this video; in fact, I grew up listening to them, along with millions of other people!”

Why would it be a long con of his? It's not the same comment, it's a similar comment describing the same thing - I mean in all the U.S there are lots of people who work at McDonalds, probably a good portion of those in the late 80s coming home from work watched Letterman.

The comment is of course on a video showing exactly what was described, Letterman dubbed into Spanish with subtitles.

on edit: Or even better it's the same person making a similar comment on two different platforms many years apart on the same subject? Still not seeing the long con aspect under those conditions.

Yeah, in fact, it was me in the original youtube. Even I forgot I ever saw this on youtube...

But you're right -- 1989 summer job.... 3 network channels + some UHF channels. I doubt I was the only burger flipper sitting there thinking, "huh?" at midnight.

Millennials will never appreciate how edgy Far Side, Letterman, Howard Stern, etc. were to that era. Of course, I'll never appreciate most of the nonsense my teen son watches on youtube now either. (he even thought 'Heat' was a lame movie...)

I suspect they didn't literally mean they were running some kind of scheme to defraud anyone, but it was a funny/playful way to note the coincidence.

Hahahahah wow... "M S, 7 years ago" That's me. Totally forgot I'd even seen this on youtube.

Well, at least my story was consistent -- like that line from Glengarry, Glen Ross, "tell them the truth, it's the easiest thing to remember"

Yeah, I don't know why this episode made an indelible memory for me, but it sure did.

I remember this episode. Figured it was just an accidental airing of the wrong version of the show. I didn't make it as far as you -- I turned it off after about 5 minutes.

Agree and I have the same issue seeing some of the value in certain contributions, especially ones that haven't been driven into my head (Louis Armstrong, Elvis, Robert Johnson for music). A similar parallel would be Lenny Bruce. He fought obscenity regulations and made a ton of things possible. He self published records to get money and his voice out there. Today, he'd have a Netflix special.

Agreed. The edge of absurdity is still funny though, the boundaries just shift over time, and new creativity finds it. I would argue that Sean Tejaratchi is one to chart such waters:

https://liartownusa.tumblr.com/

...whom, incidentally was also (somewhat) recently profiled in the New Yoker:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/01/the-brilliant-...

It’s sad he’s mostly devolved into pandering to right-wing memes, selling anti-SJW calendars and other stuff that’s really just beneath him, I guess to try and remain relevant or make a buck. His early zines were funny and fantastic.

>I really had a hard time conveying how subversive and groundbreaking Gary Larson and David Letterman were in their time.

I don't know. Knowing French and Italian comic strips from the 70s, but also underground US stuff like the Freak Brothers, Crumb et al, I can hardly imagine Gary Larson being "groundbreaking".

And watching some older US hosts, like Dick Cavett, I find them much better than David Letterman (or anybody there today)

Larson and Letterman had mainstream syndication, though, even if they weren't the edgiest or the first.

Yeah, their mainstream audience is a fundamental part of the joke.

Dick Cavett thought of himself as a serious journalist, and he conducted himself as such.

Letterman was foremost an entertainer (as was Carson). But he also (credibly) acted the part of cultural critic. Letterman laid some of the groundwork that John Stewart ultimately perfected.

And, as a sibling comment notes, Letterman had widespread (mainstream) reach. Much more so than any of the other fine examples that you cited.

It is only appropriate to close this comment by quoting Letterman himself - "if you accept the premise, you'll enjoy the show."

I find this also holds for Seinfeld.

TV Tropes literally treats Seinfeld as the definitive example of a show that used to be groundbreaking and isn't any more. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/main/seinfeldisunfunn...

Isn’t that the whole point of breaking new ground?

Some people/groups keep changing, breaking ground that’s new for them all the time. Others hit on a success, and keep doing that.

People have issues with the latter, where breaking new ground turns into milking previous success.

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