Baskets was a television show on FX first aired on January 21st, 2016. The dramedy, which stars Zack Galifianakis, the actor best known from The Hangover movies as both Chip Baskets and his twin brother Dale Baskets, is set in Bakersfield, California. Louis Anderson stars as Christine Baskets, Dale, and Chip's mother. The show ran for four seasons until it ended in 2019 when Louis C.K's production company, Pig Newton, cut all ties with the show after Louis C.K, a comedian known for once trying to get another comedian fired, admitted to workplace misconduct with female employees.
Even though Baskets ended less than one year ago, some of the jokes—most of which are known for their unique comedic timing—haven't aged as well as they should have. These comedic disconnections could be due in part to a lot of notable things that have happened, both socially and politically, in the last year, which might have contributed to the jokes not translating as well as they once did. Baskets isn't the only comedic sitcom where some jokes went stale over time. Even Broad City has jokes which haven't aged well. Here are just a few examples of jokes from Baskets that have aged poorly.
Uncle Dad's Deadpan Timing Can Fall Flat
There are shows like 13 Reasons Why, which address suicide. Some do a decent job addressing the sensitive topic, while Baskets missed the mark entirely. In the first season of Baskets, there is an episode where Dale helps take care of his brother Chip's kids.
In the episode is called "Uncle Dad," Dale's young daughters express different things that have upset them. Specific sensitive topics are brought up by the kids—such issues as bullying, physical altercations, and suicide. Chip makes light of suicide, by saying, "suicide is not the answer, usually," instead of noting healthier solutions or the seriousness of saying it.
Missing The Mark More Than Once
During the first episode of season two, Chip joins a group of transients who travel around the streets doing shows for tips. During the episode, Chip, who the transients nickname "Noodles," does a variety of questionable things. Then later in the episode, Trinity, a girl in the group, leaves the group, and the ring leader tells Chip to let her go, using the derogatory term "queer" to infer something about her sexuality.
Animal Cruelty Isn't A Laughing Matter
We've come a long way away from using animals for entertainment. The show Baskets doesn't precisely dress animals up in clothing, but there are jokes about the animals used in the Rodeo that Chips participates with that promote animal cruelty.
There is specifically a scene in season two when Chips finance Penelope says she will come to one of Chip's shows because the idea of seeing animals "being tortured" seems "funny." Though the show is often sarcastic, this comes off as just a bit too tasteless.
Millennial Jokes Are Triggering
Since the term first came out, Millennials have come under fire with a tremendous amount of jokes, comparisons, and insults at their expense. When Chip's mother, played by Louis Anderson, asks why Chip had been arrested, he says, "I'm a Millenial." Millennials might be one of the largest groups of people to come after the Baby-Boomers. At one point in time, these jokes might have been funny, but now Millennial jokes just seem lame, lazy, and outdated.
Jokes About Treating A Date Poorly
There's an episode of Baskets where Martha agrees to go out on a date with Dale, Chip's twin brother. However, by the end of the date, after instructing Martha how the date will go, Chip leaves Martha at the movies to find a ride home by herself. Martha does express her disappointment at being left, but she then states that "it would be a great time to download Uber." It could have been a tremendous and possibly funnier opportunity to see Martha stick up for herself.
Jokes About Race That State The Obvious
One of the unique storylines in Baskets revolves around the idea that there are two sets of twin brothers. There are Dale and Chip, both played by Zack Galifianakis, and then there are Logan and Cody, played by actor Garry Clemmons, who, like Danni Pudi, acted in Cougar Town. There is a point in the episode where one of the twins has a black eye, and Dale and Chip make it a point to say, "of course he has a black eye, he's black." Jokes like these don't hold well over time and can come off as offensive or bland.
Jokes About Systematic Racism & Oppression
One of the most poorly-aged jokes in the show revolves around Dale speaking to a female character at the estate sale for his grandmother's possessions. Out of nowhere, Dale makes a joke that seems frightfully aware of his advantages in life as a white male, due to systematic racism and oppression. He jokes, "yeah, but I'm a white man. I'm supposed to make more money than you."
Not only does the joke make light of something that is incredibly disproportionate about society, but the joke also rubs people who don't think systematic oppression is funny the wrong way.
Stereotyping Foreign Characters
There are tropes, but then there's stereotyping. The show Baskets is known for exaggerating characteristics for comedic effect. However, there are a few problematic moments in the show when the exaggeration borderline stereotyping people of a specific culture or identity. The foreign characters deserve to have jokes written to reflect their unique personalities, verses jokes made at their expense, which only exaggerate stereotypes against French and Russain people.
Jokes About Sexual Preference Or Sexual Identity
After Mrs. Baskets buys the rodeo, Dale and Chip are hired and placed in charge of helping their mother manage the property, but Dale gets in a fight with the horse handlers. The horse handlers start to make some not-so-funny jokes about Dale's sexual orientation, and even Dale plays off their jokes by clarifying his preference. Still, jokes about a person's gender or sexual preference are super outdated and can come off as offensive.
Jokes With Weapons Seem To Make Light Of Serious Issues
In one of the episodes, Dale's daughter, Sarah, runs off with a young boy on a motorcycle and will ultimately be placed in a compromising position. Sarah pleads with the boy to stop pressuring her sexually, which is never addressed or resolved until her father drives his van into the yard, waving a gun.
Not only does using weapons send an unfortunate message that guns are a tool to feel powerful, but Sarah never gets to express her discomfort at being put in a powerless situation with a preditor.