Mental Floss

COMEDY

Bob Odenkirk stars in 'Better Call Saul.'

Bob Odenkirk is best known for playing ethically-malleable lawyer Saul Goodman, but he has enjoyed a decades-long career as a versatile writer and performer.

Jake Rossen






Jessica Rothe and Rob Mello star in Happy Death Day (2017).

The most effective horror comedy movies serve up our greatest fears while also playing with them, making us question our own emotional responses to everything from witches to alien plants. Here are 25 of our very favorites.

Scott Beggs


Will Forte plays the title role in MacGruber (2010).

'MacGruber,' the 'MacGyver'-inspired send-up of 1980s action movies, transformed a one-joke Saturday Night Live sketch into one of the best smart-dumb comedies of the last two decades.

Todd Gilchrist






Jean Smart stars in Hacks.

Ever since she played the sweet but sharp-tongued Charlene Frazier on 'Designing Women,' Jean Smart’s fans have been waiting for the rest of the world to realize just how terrific she is.

April Snellings


Nora Ephron arrives at a screening of Julie & Julia in Westwood, California, in 2009.

If romantic comedies are synonymous with anyone, it’s writer/director Nora Ephron. Her landmark movies, including 'When Harry Met Sally...' and 'Sleepless in Seattle,' are widely credited with saving the rom-com genre.

Lana Schwartz




Dr. Demento makes a live appearance in Los Angeles in 2014.

Radio personality Dr. Demento spent four decades curating weird novelty songs for an enraptured audience—including a young "Weird" Al Yankovic.

Jake Rossen


L to R: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, and Ellie Kemper star in Bridesmaids (2011).

In 2011, 'Bridesmaids' silenced chauvinists who believed that men had the monopoly on laughs and spearheaded a wave of female-fronted comedies. It also turned Melissa McCarthy into a bankable leading lady.

Jon O'Brien


Tom Hanks appears during the 2020 Carousel of Hope Ball benefiting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation.

You know that Tom Hanks is an Oscar-winning actor, and that he recently played Fred Rogers on the big screen. But did you know that he's actually related to Mr. Rogers? (And to Abraham Lincoln, too.)

Dana Rose Falcone