“That’s My Bush” – the short-lived sitcom set in the George W Bush White House got a lot of mileage out of mocking sitcom tropes and classic sitcom gags.
One bit they did every episode was to play out Ralph’s “to the moon!” threat… but without the whimsical hyperbole. George Bush would quip to Laura “One of these days, Laura… I’m gonna punch you in the face!” The audience would chime in and gleefully say it in unison with George, then erupt into laughter, and George and Laura would laugh lovingly and go on with their scene.
Despite the laugh track (and George and Laura making lovey-eyes at each other), it was both unfunny and distinctly uncomfortable to watch. Which I think was exactly the point. It stripped Ralph’s “to the moon” down to its abusive core and made the fact the people thought it was hilarious disturbing. Which I thought was a nice bit of commentary.
Or would have been, if any appreciable percentage of the audience in the year 2000 had watched the Honeymooners, which I’d wager most had not.
