Workplace Comedies

Happy Labor Day everyone! The holiday originally founded in the late 1800s to pay tribute to all the blood, sweat and tears done by the American workforce, but now pays tribute to killer shopping deals at the expense of the American workforce, 'Ummm, I'm gonna need you to go ahead come in tomorrow. So if you could be here around 9 that would be great, mmmk... oh oh! and I almost forgot ahh, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday too, kay.' It's unfortunate how things change for the good, but when things get too good we change them all over for the bad. The pendulum of life, or something like that. 

But enough of that sadness, let's switch gears to why I'm actually excited for Labor Day. Most obvious is that it means, essentially, the summer season is over. And that's great. Cuz I don't know about you but I'm over this summer. It's been hot. Like annoyingly hot. It's been so hot that it reminds me of two specific hilarious film moments:

1. A Rick Ducommun line from The 'Burbs, "It got real hot. It was sweltering. Ya know that heat where your underwear sweats and it crawls up the...anyway, it's hot, okay?"
2. An early scene from Weekend at Bernie's when Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman were forced to work on a tar-melting rooftop because their office building's air-conditioning was on the fritz. 

Perhaps the main reason why I'm excited about this year's Labor Day - we're just one month away from October, or as a prefer to call it, National Scary Movie Month. It's true. The entire month of October is a 744-hour Hall Pass to watch horror films without any sniff of judgment from family, friends and colleagues. You wanna wake up at 5am and pop in The Shining? No big deal. You wanna binge the entire Nightmare on Elm Street franchise on a Sunday? Go for it! I'm guilty. I've already begun to make a list of films I wanna watch next month. And while I'm not ready to share that list with you now, I will say that it's heavy in A24 and Blumhouse content. Oh! On the podcast front, we'll also be publishing a series of horror film and horror-adjacent episodes. Stay tuned!

And while I'm totally ready to turn the page on this year's summer season, I do want to take this sidestep to recognize what Labor Day is really all about - the people who make this country [insert whatever adjective you wanna use here]. People work their asses off... everyday - and most of them are underappreciated and almost all of them are underpaid. So here's to you! *cheers* Thank you for all that you do. Hopefully you'll have a day to do absolutely nothing work related. 

So in honor of you - here's a list of eleven workplace comedies (many of them with shitty bosses) you should watch this Labor Day... Weekend at Bernie's not included, but you should still watch it anyway. Or if you'd like a break from the whole 'work thing' you can always watch a Labor Day vacation film like What About Bob?

• Tootsie (1982) 
  • 'That is one nutty hospital'
• Ghostbusters (1984)
  • 'If there's a steady paycheck in, I'll believe in anything you say.'
• Joe vs the Volcano (1990)
  • 'But can he do the job. I know he can get the job but can he DO the job? I'm NOT arguing that with you. I'm not arguing that with YOU. I'm not ARGUING that with you. I'm not ARGUING that with you Harry! Harry... Harry... Yeah Harry... but can he DO the job. I know he can GET the job but can he do the job?'
• Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)
  • 'I'm right on top of that Rose.'
• Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
  • 'Did you ever wish you could sometimes freeze-frame a moment in your day, look at it and say this is not my life?'
• Clerks (1994)
  • 'I'm not even supposed to be here today!'
• Office Space (1999)
  • 'I’d say, in a given week, I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual work.'
• Bridget Jones' Diary (2001)
  • Richard: 'Why do you wanna work on television?'                                              Bridget: I've got to leave my job because I shagged my boss.'                              Richard - 'Fair enough. Start on Monday.'
• Anchorman (2004)
  • Ron: 'I'm Ron Burgundy?                                                                                      Ed: 'Dammit, who typed a question mark on the TelePrompter? 
• The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
  • 'Let me know when your whole life goes up in smoke. Means it’s time for a promotion.'
• Horrible Bosses (2011)
  • Bobby: 'Oh yeah, we've got to trim some of the fat around here.'
    Kurt: 'What do you mean by trim the fat?'
    Bobby: 'I want you to fire the fat people.'
    Kurt: "What?!'
    Bobby: 'They're lazy and they're slow and they make me sad to look at.'

Honorable Mentions (These didn't make the cut because they're technically dramas. They're still really funny tho) - Glengarry Glen Ross, Swimming with Sharks, The Wolf of Wall Street, Erin Brokovich, Working Girl

And because you made it all the way to the end, I present a gift. This is, without question, the funniest You're Fired scene in cinematic history. It comes from Crazy People: Crazy People - You Are So Fired

You're still here? It's over. Go home.  Well, not yet. If you are still reading, do us a favor and leave a comment or two on what your favorite workplace comedies are. Reviews on the podcast are also highly encouraged. Thanks again for reading!