Questions about Space Mumps

[RealBigOleDummy]

Season 4 episode 3 “Justice” , Lister has space mumps. Cat makes an observation that if they painted black stripes on Listers head it would look like a “Bengals Helmet”. I got the joke immediately as I am a real fan of football (American, Go Broncos!) and the Cincinnati Bengals helmets are orange with black stripes. My questions :

1, Are there THAT many U.K. fans of American football to “get” that joke and know about the Cincy Bengals?
2, If not, was that joke thrown in JUST for American fans of Red Dwarf? Or did/does the U.K. have another joke inserted there?
3, Or does the joke work period? I mean, do black stripes on an orangish background immediately bring to mind Bengal Tigers? I know that the U.K. has a much more intimate relationship with India than we do over here.

[Deepfreeze]

I personally found that a sharp edged, killer joke and I absolutely got the point.

[Goldfish Toes]

I am really not sure. Perhaps someone can slice this one open for you to find the answer.

[Trimmer Ex]

Hmmmm I am not sure I know the answer to this can anyone else take a stab at it?

[RealBigOleDummy]

I personally found that a sharp edged, killer joke and I absolutely got the point.

I am really not sure. Perhaps someone can slice this one open for you to find the answer.
Hmmmm I am not sure I know the answer to this can anyone else take a stab at it?

Seems like the orphans from the Red Dwarf forum haven’t lost their oh so witty retorts. Why don’t you guys go back to your dead forum as I doubt very seriously that you can kill this place like you killed that one. (see I can do it too)

[International Debris]

Not only do I not get the joke, but I don’t even remember it being in the episode. That’s very odd.

[Goldfish Toes]

I personally found that a sharp edged, killer joke and I absolutely got the point.

I am really not sure. Perhaps someone can slice this one open for you to find the answer.
Hmmmm I am not sure I know the answer to this can anyone else take a stab at it?
Seems like the orphans from the Red Dwarf forum haven’t lost their oh so witty retorts. Why don’t you guys go back to your dead forum as I doubt very seriously that you can kill this place like you killed that one. (see I can do it too)

Or like someone might kill a man in an alley by stabbing them to death

[RunawayTrain]

I assume the joke was just that his head was so big it looked like a helmet, and the wording is such that you just assume it’s a sports helmet (can you tell I didn’t get that they were referencing a real team? ;) ) but clearly it works even better if you get the real reference too. Especially with Cat being American, and Zero-G football already established in RD very obviously being the futuristic equivalent of American Football.

… I don’t actually remember the joke either, but with it written in front of me now, that’s my very sheltered English take on it :p

[Goldfish Toes]

I assume the joke was just that his head was so big it looked like a helmet, and the wording is such that you just assume it’s a sports helmet (can you tell I didn’t get that they were referencing a real team? ;) ) but clearly it works even better if you get the real reference too. Especially with Cat being American, and Zero-G football already established in RD very obviously being the futuristic equivalent of American Football.

… I don’t actually remember the joke either, but with it written in front of me now, that’s my very sheltered English take on it :p

I see your point. It is pointy.

[Deepfreeze]

(see I can do it too)

Well that’s hardly a surprise, quite frankly the types of things you can do could keep an HBO true crime show going for six seasons.

[GlenTokyo]

I can tell you when I heard this joke in the 90’s I just thought “whoever ‘Bengals’ are they, are must play in a stripy helmet”, at some point I did a Google search or Ask Jeeves or something to find out who the Bengals are.

It didn’t really affect the joke being funny, as the humour is the fact his head looks big enough to be a protective helmet, which you can gather without knowing anything about the NFL.

[Spaceworm Jim]

First time I saw Justice, I was too young to even know what the Taj Mahal was.

Thirty two years old, I was.

The black and decker drill joke horrified me as a child, haven’t really gotten over it.

[pi r squared]

I’m with GlenTokyo – the joke works regardless of wider context/knowledge. The way it’s phrased, including the use of “quarterback”, makes it immediately obvious it’s a reference to American Football (or Zero-G within the show) and the team reference – which up until now I’d always heard as the “Bangles” – could easily be a made-up team.

I guess by knowing the reference, you get the extra layer of comedy of specificity, but like all good gags it works well without it too.

[evilmorwen]

don’t forget there was a lot of interest in American football in the UK in the late 80s / early 90s – there was a high profile channel 4 programme which showed highlights weekly.

[Goldfish Toes]

First time I saw Justice, I was too young to even know what the Taj Mahal was.

Thirty two years old, I was.
The black and decker drill joke horrified me as a child, haven’t really gotten over it.

I am sorry to hear this buddy. For what it’s worth, I agree with you. RealBigOleDummy should indeed be in jail.

[tombow]

After I heard Cat’s “i can make it through walls” joke, as a kid, I thought that all adult men who had sex thrusted as fast as they could from the start, and the fastest were the best lovers. Luckily channel 5 late night movies put me right years before i ever had a sniff of a real girlfriend.

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