The Funniest Scenes Ever, Period

Over on his blog, former "Happy Days," "Odd Couple" and "Laverne & Shirley" writer Mark Rothman has listed 16 scenes/episodes that always make him laugh. It's a great list, but since I was born post-"Happy Days," I thought I would list my choices, too, which are understandably a little newer.

-1968: Annoying Man (Marty Feldman) in the book store

-1969: Laugh-In with guest Peter Sellers... the "very interesting" section always makes me laugh.

-1972: All In the Family: the scene in "Sammy's Visit" when Archie introduces the family (much funnier than the kiss)... honorable mention to this scene from the episode "Archie Goes Too Far"

-1973: The famous "assume" scene from "The Odd Couple" (co-written by... Mark Rothman!)

-1974: So many great scenes in "Blazing Saddles," but this scene brilliantly and hilariously lays out the entire plot

-1974: Jack Benny, Mel Blanc and Johnny Carson recreate "Si, Sy, So" and other classic Benny routines... these, of course, have their origins in the 1940s or before, but this "Tonight Show" clip is somewhat more poignant since it's one of Benny's final appearances

-1977: I can't find it online, so I'll just spoil it... the "Happy Days" episode "A Shot In the Dark" ends with Richie missing a shot at the end of a key basketball game. To cheer him up, Mr. Cunningham says, "here, have a Lifesaver," a reference to a commercial of that era

-1978: The Bob Newhart Show, "Son of Ex-Con Job"... there is a scene near the end in which Taurean Blacque (later of "Hill Street Blues") confronts Bob, Emily and eventually Howard. Classic. Not easy to find online; it's the 8th-to-last episode of the series.

-1979: I love Albert Brooks, but the film "Real Life" was a disappointment after the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately for the film, the trailer is much funnier.

-1986: "Who's On First?" with Brother Theodore from a Billy Crystal special; this clip also features Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

-1995: I love all these scenes featuring Phil Leeds as Hank's (Jeffrey Tambor) agent on "The Larry Sanders Show"

-1995: SO many classic "Simpsons" moments, but I had to pick this one with Milhouse from the classic "Lemon of Troy" episode, which finally shows us Shelbyville

-1997: Norm Macdonald hijacks an interview with Courtney Thorne-Smith on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"... what makes this is the last 3 minutes, leading to one of the biggest laughs I've ever heard from a live audience

-1997: Mr. Show, "Titannica"... I have never heard an audience laugh so much out of pure shock. Honorable mention to "The Audition" (1998).

-2001: Larry David takes Cheryl out for coffee on "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

-2004: Walter & Perry on "Home Movies" were usually a bizarre sideshow, but they absolutely slay me when threatening a bigger kid in this scene.

-2008: Don Rickles and Denzel Washington on David Letterman (read about it here)

-2009: Mr. Chow confronts Stu in "The Hangover." "Of course, Stu, that IS cool." (I've linked it at the bottom of this post)

-2016: Family Guy... Peter Griffin remembers a distant relative, The Queen of Burlesque

-NOTE: I recuse SNL because there's too many to choose from. And I recuse Mr. Rothman's work -- especially his "Odd Couple" episodes -- which all were among my favorites well before I realized he had co-written them all! (The Ides of April, My Strife In Court, The Hustler, Gloria Moves In, The New Car, A Barnacle Adventure, Cleanliness Is Next to Impossible, The Flying Felix, Shuffling Off to Buffalo, The Odd Candidate, The Subway Story, Two On the Aisle)