Racism and datedness at the classic comedy theater

It's amazing, and cringe-worthy, the amount of it in a British arts' sites top 25 comedy movies of all time. Duck Soup is to cringe. And, though not on the top 25, so is Blazing Saddles, despite Mel Brooks' talk about what he ran by Richard Pryor as a co-writer. The Jerk is maybe only semi-cringe-worthy.

The datedness goes with hamminess. Much of the more modern slapstick (you, Leslie Nielsen) is also cringe-worthy.

 

AT the same time, my beloved M*A*S*H wasn't free of this. "Spearchucker" Jones in the opening seasons? Really?