10 Funniest Far Side Comics That Reference Classic TV Shows

By Robert Wood Published 2 days ago

From Star Trek to Lassie to The Flintstones, Gary Larson’s Far Side takes on a host of classic TV shows, with hilarious results.

Summary

• Gary Larson takes classic TV shows and adds his dark, humorous twist, featuring iconic characters in bizarre scenarios for comedic effect.
• The comic strips cleverly poke fun at beloved shows like The Flintstones , Lassie , and Star Trek .
• The Far Side 's surreal and morbid humor shines through as it parodies popular shows, providing a unique and entertaining perspective on classic TV entertainment.

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While Gary Larson's The Far Side is famous for its timeless humor, there have always been some occasions where the pull of pop culture is too much for the single-panel comic to resist. Larson's body of work includes comics targeting iconic movies like King Kong and Alien, as well as rival comic strips like Peanuts and major franchises like Disney. Indeed, for those with a love of classic TV entertainment, The Far Side can be a surprising gold mine.

Here are the ten funniest The Far Side comics which target classic TV shows, from cultural touchstones like Lassie to still-running favorites like the gameshow Jeopardy! Stick around for our end of the article poll, and vote for which of these The Far Side comics you think is funniest.

10 The Far Side vs The Flintstones

Gary Larson Kills Off Fred Flintstone

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

The Far Side is famous for its many, many comic strips depicting cavemen in unusual situations, so a couple of Flintstones jokes were basically mandatory. Here, Fred Flintstone's "Yabba dabba doo!" catchphrase is used to strongly imply a scene where he's devoured alive by sabre-toothed tigers. Turnabout is fair play, as The Flinstones often shows 'Catasaurus' hides being used as clothing, decoration, and furniture.

9 The Far Side vs Lassie

Lassie Is Getting a Little Sick of Canine Heroics

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

Starring in 19 seasons of the original TV show and 10 movies, it's no wonder that Lassie's heroic dog is still well-known today, or that in this The Far Side comic, the collie is a little frustrated at not being able to get a drink in peace without being called on to help the Miller family, and Little Timmy in particular. Surprisingly, Larson manages to avoid the usual "Timmy fell in the well" punchline that's often leveled at the show — perhaps because he's familiar with the surprising fact that in all 591 episodes of the show (and many life-threatening scenarios for Timmy), Lassie's charge never actually falls down a well (in fact, Lassie pushes a corrupt water company executive into a well after he attempts to scam the Millers.)

8 The Far Side vs Star Trek

Scotty Goes to Hell, and the Enterprise Faces a Truly Unique Threat

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

Given the number of Far Side comics about astronauts and aliens, fans might expect Gary Larson to have a lot to say about Star Trek, however he created very few comics about the cultural juggernaut. Arguably the best sees Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, aka the Miracle Worker, consigned to Hell, where his iconic warnings about the Enterprise's engines are now applied to the 'megafurnace' which is apparently required to keep the underworld so incredibly hot.

It's a very surface-level joke focusing on a famous line, though it does at least include the surrealism of Hell requiring a furnace to stay hot and Scotty inexplicably being consigned to Hell after his service in Starfleet (perhaps connected to the secret marriage he maintained throughout the original series.) Far more bizarre is Larson's comic in which the Enterprise crew encounter the floating head of Zsa Zsa Gabor, which has been puzzling fans since its debut in 1991.

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

7 The Far Side vs The Dating Game

Larson Manges to Hit Disney, Looney Tunes and Rocky and Bullwinkle At the Same Time

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

Larson goes for a quadruple here, as snakes playing The Dating Game also reference Disney, Looney Tunes, and Rocky and Bullwinkle. Launched in 1965 — but revived repeatedly throughout the years, most recently in 2021 — The Dating Game sees a single contestant ask three potential suitors romantic questions, eventually choosing a date based on their answers. The Far Side does what it does best with the premise, introducing animals to a usually mundane situation and emphasizing their very different priorities.

6 The Far Side vs Bewitched

The Claws Come Out Towards This Beloved Sitcom

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

A rare occasion where The Far Side actually critiques one of the classic TV shows it's lampooning, this comic takes place in the writers' room for the long-running fantasy show Bewitched, where a suburban businessman suffers through the unusual experiences that come along with marrying a real-life witch.

Despite running for over 250 episodes, Bewitched largely traded on the plot line of husband Darrin attempting to hide his wife Samantha's magical abilities from their straight-laced friends and neighbors — generally while struggling against the antics of her disapproving mother Endora. The Far Side mocks the show for repeating this idea so often, depicting the writers as totally unaware the concept has been done to death.

5 The Far Side vs The Love Boat

The Pacific Princess Sails into Troubled Waters

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

Starting in 1977 and running for 9 seasons, The Love Boat had a great premise — the permanent crew of the Pacific Princess deal with the romantic entanglements and attendant drama of various one-off guest actors. While the show offered up both comedy and drama, it never got quite as dramatic as Larson's version, which sees the ship accidentally sail into the Strait of Hormuz. Published in 1987, this strip references political tensions over the strait, which was affected by complex restrictions imposed by Iran and Oman (each contested in turn by the United States) and conflict between Iraq and Iran focused on merchant vessels in the area. At the very least, the Pacific Princess just strayed into an international incident or perhaps worse — indeed, Larson's other comic parodying The Love Boat sees adventurous fish exploring a tragically familiar wreck.

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

4 The Far Side vs Mister Ed

Larson Got a Surprising Amount of Material Out of a Talking Horse

Close

The Far Side is famously obsessed with animals and nature, with Larson's anthropomorphized animals often delivering witty rejoinders. However, despite the commonality of talking animals in The Far Side, Larson seems to have been particularly inspired by Mister Ed, a '60s sitcom starring a talking horse. This is perhaps explained by the show's decision to never explain how or why Mister Ed could talk — a surrealist choice which is very much of a kind with Larson's humor.

Larson created various comics inspired by Mister Ed, from the goofy joke of swapping his name into the title of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to the darker idea of the horse being turned into glue, but maintaining his capacity for speech. There's also a fun gag where the production company forced Ed to speak by threatening him with a lion, parodying the behind-the-scenes movie 'magic' often involved in shows starring animals. However, the best joke sees a young Mister Ed being punished in school for talking during class, turning his miraculous speech into a character flaw.

3 The Far Side vs The Lone Ranger

The Far Side Expertly Breaks the Fourth Wall

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

As with Mister Ed, Larson got a lot of mileage out '50s Western The Lone Ranger. The Far Side's best reference sees Tonto desperately trying to get the titular vigilante ready for the show, as their iconic theme music has already started. Some of the funniest Far Side comics break the fourth wall in similar ways, suggesting a bizarre reality where the characters who fans see on TV are real, but still know they're being filmed — and have to be ready for the seemingly live transmission of their adventures.

2 The Far Side vs The Brady Bunch

The Perfect Surreal TV Reference

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

Surprisingly poorly received during its original run, The Brady Bunch became iconic thanks to later syndication, and follows the large Brady stepfamily as they adjust to life under one roof. The opening credits famously present the family in a grid format, but with each looking up and down as if they can see the other members' squares.

Larson's comic parody makes this image overly literal, as all the Brady's heads become a single, hydra-like monstrosity, created by the amoral Dr. Morrissey. The image is even funnier looking back at old The Brady Bunch promotional images, which — in an effort to squeeze the large cast into a single shot — come close to doing Dr. Morrissey's work for him.

1 The Far Side vs Jeopardy!

Far Side's Funniest Classic TV Reference Includes Some Familiar Faces

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

The Far Side loves a quiz show, and here a regular Joe finds himself competing against Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison on Jeopardy! The joke hinges on the idea that 'Jones' believes he'd have been in with a shot if his buzzer had just worked properly, ignoring the fact that he's competing against two of the most famous geniuses in history. Larson has a penchant for mocking petty characters, and here Jones attempts to save face over a 57700-point discrepancy.

The Far Side thrives when it has a simple, direct premise which it can then warp or play against with surreal jokes, and classic TV shows provide that in abundance. Whether taking The Brady Bunch credits too seriously or improving The Dating Game by adding amorous snakes, The Far Side may like referencing pop culture, but its surreal, often morbid perspective always remains entirely its own.

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  The Far Side

  Summary: Written and drawn by Gary Larson, The Far Side is a comic strip series that ran from December 1979 to January 1995. A worldwide hit, The Far Side explores life’s surreal side and uses a mix of humans and anthropomorphic animals. As of 2020, Gary Larson decided to pick his pencil back up again and has started The Far Side up, circulating the comics on his official website. Writer: Gary Larson Colorist: Gary Larson