The Ten Best Recurring Jokes on TV

Ladies and genetlemen, please welcome once again Josh Kurp, Warming Glow’s official Listführer. I think this is his finest contribution yet.

Considering no one actually reads intros to lists, I’ll just say one thing: catchphrases like “D’oh!” or “Hello, Newman” aren’t recurring jokes. To the list!

#10. Peggy’s Huge Feet on “King of the Hill”

The average-sized Peggy has gigantic feet, measuring at 16 and 16 ½ (women’s sizes), causing her much distress. Throughout the show’s (still sadly underrated) existence, the writers went back to her huge feet time and time again, including the episode “Transnational Amusements Presents: Peggy’s Magic Sex Feet,” which presumably inspired this lovely piece of slash fiction and these sensually slowed-down YouTube videos.

#9. The Misery of Hans Moleman on “The Simpsons”

Someone getting hurt is always an amusing gag, which is why Hans Moleman is one of “The Simpsons'” biggest fan favorites. According to this website that hasn’t been updated since 2000, Moleman has died eight times on the show. I will never doubt the reliability of a Lowb.org site, so we’ll go with that figure, but here’s what else we know about Hans: he’s 31 years old, looking the way he does because he’s an alcoholic; basically blind; often gets hit in the groin with a football; had his brain drilled in by Mr. Burns, who mistook Hans for the Lucky Charms leprechaun; slept with Lars Ulrich’s grandmother; and clamors for blood at youth hockey games. Most tragically, no one’s gay for Moleman.

#8. Frank’s Gun on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”

A friend once described to me an “Always Sunny” drinking game, where viewers have to take a shot every time Dennis takes off his shirt, the guys make fun of Dee, Charlie does “Charlie Work,” etc. But my favorite was this: every time Frank Reynolds, played to disgusting perfection by Danny DeVito, whips out his gun (an actual gun, you perv), the group has to drink. Considering Frank takes out his gun in situations ranging from shooting a bunny in the woods (or at least trying to) to entering Paddy’s Pub when he thinks it’s on fire, contestants get blackout drunk quicker than Charlie and Frank do huffing glue and eating cat food.

#7. Mulder’s Fascination with Porn on “The X-Files”

Recurring jokes aren’t found just on sitcoms. On “The X-Files,” David Duchovny’s Fox Mulder is both a believer in the truth being out there and a lover of porn. The FBI agent is often seen reading nudie mags, including Hanky Panky and Celebrity Skin, and in the episode “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” a psychic predicts that Mulder will die the sexiest way possible: autoerotic asphyxiation—perhaps while listening to Celebrity Skin by Hole?

[Ed. Note: Bonus points for “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” airing in October 1995, over two years before Michael Hutchence made death by stranglebation en vogue.]

#6. Brian’s Novel on “Family Guy”

I couldn’t decide which recurring joke to use—Peter’s fight with the giant chicken or Brian’s book, Faster Than the Speed of Love—until I saw the episode where Brian explains the plot of Faster to Lois. Unbeknownst to him, Brian basically ripped off the Iron Eagle trilogy, all starring Louis Gossett, Jr. (obviously). Usually “Family Guy’s” semi-obscure pop culture references bug me, but Faster is clearly the best fake TV novel since Gary Troup‘s Bad Twin.

#5. The Innuendos on “Rocko’s Modern Life”

It’s amazing that Nickelodeon let Rocko get away with so much. Nearly every episode had at least one joke that had something to do with sex, so much so that the writers must have tried to see how much they could get away with. The answer is: a lot. From Rocko working as a phone sex operator to one of Filburt and Dr. Hutchinson’s kids looking like Heffer, “Rocko’s Modern Life” is definitely the greatest Nick Toon and quite possibly the dirtiest show of all-time.

[Ed. Note: “The greatest Nick Toon” is heady praise along the lines of “biggest city in North Dakota.”]

#4. Mannix on “Mystery Science Theater 3000”

Why did the Satellite of Love crew always yell “Mannix!” (referring to everyone’s favorite Armenian-American detective) whenever anyone would jump off something, oftentimes cliffs? I can only assume it’s because they find the word funny, continuing the tradition began by Looney Tunes’ love of Walla Walla, Washington, and furthered by Krusty the Clown’s recommendation of memorizing not only Walla Walla, but also Cucamonga and Seattle.

#3. Robin Sparkles on “How I Met Your Mother”

The idea for this list came from talking about how much of this show is based on recurring jokes. While I do love Lawyered, my favorite is Robin Sparkles. “How I Met” has gotten a lot of mileage out of Robin Scherbatsky’s Canadian pop star past, a joke that should have run out of steam quickly, but is still being mentioned in the show’s sixth season, where we found out about Space Teens and the song “Two Beavers Are Better Than One.” Funny and educational.

#2. J. Walter Weatherman on “Arrested Development”

This is another show composed of nothing but ongoing jokes, from the Bluths’ Chicken Dance to Tobias’s possible homosexuality (“You can zing your arrow into my buttocks any time”). J. Walter Weatherman is only in three episodes, but he makes quite the impression, especially on Michael, Gob, Lindsay, and Buster, who remember him as the one-armed man who taught them lessons as kids. And by lessons, I mean George Sr. would pretend to run him over with a car, with Weatherman’s dying words being, “…And that’s why you always leave a note.” The kids didn’t know it was staged until years later, and yet, to this day, they always leave a note.

#1. The Fake Movies on “Seinfeld”

I would pay $12 to see any of the following movies: Blimp: The Hindenburg Story (“That’s gotta hurt!”), CheckMate (“Yes, of course…only a game”), Chunnel (“Everybody out of the Chunnel!”), Death Blow (“When someone tries to blow you up, not because of who you are, but for different reasons all together”), Prognosis Negative, and Sack Lunch. And I’d pay $15 to see Rochelle, Rochelle, going under the assumption that they’d make this young girl’s strange, exotic journey from Milan to Minsk in 3D.

[For those upset that Lana’s big fingers in “Archer” didn’t make the list: stay tuned to Uproxx. We’ve got a feature on “Archer” jokes in the works. -Ed.]

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