Quick what was Rodney Dangerfield's first "I don't get no respect" line? "I played hide-and-seek, and they wouldn't even look for me." If you got caught up in the "Path to 9/11" stuff or just had to see the Colts-Giants game, you probably missed this Comedy Central tribute to one of my heroes (and it's worth looking for the rerun):
This first entry in the new Legends series is filled with vintage clips of Dangerfield on the old Tonight and Ed Sullivan shows, and is worth a look if only for that. But the show also features tributes to Dangerfield from comedians as varied as Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Jeff Foxworthy, and Roseanne (among others). It's hard to think of anyone else with such widespread appeal. But as Seinfeld points out, there was just something about Dangerfield's act that appealed to everyone's basic sense that life is not fair.
Even though he's gone, Dangerfield's “no respect” jokes are so well known that newspaper headline writers use the comedian's name without feeling the need for any explanation. Pluto is now the Rodney Dangerfield of plants, zucchini this time of year is the Rodney Dangerfield of vegetables, etc. But one thing perhaps not everyone knows about Dangerfield is that not only did he restart his comedy career at 40, but in his 70s he became something of an Internet pioneer.
