My Doctor

Even medical professionals can't bring themselves to respect Dangerfield. "I told my doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to stop going to those places." "My psychiatrist told me I was crazy. I said I wanted a second opinion. He said 'okay, you're ugly too.'"

The doctor bits work because they take a relationship that's supposed to be caring and professional and reveal the same contempt Dangerfield finds everywhere else. Doctors are supposed to help you. Dangerfield's doctors can barely hide their disgust.

The rapid-fire format is perfect for medical humor: each joke is a mini-sketch, a complete doctor's visit in two sentences. Setup: patient describes symptom. Punchline: doctor confirms patient is worthless. Next patient.

It's also stealth health-care satire. Decades before anyone was complaining about impersonal doctors, Dangerfield was performing the entire experience in twenty seconds: walk in, get insulted, walk out. The system works exactly as described.