Veep is easily one of the funniest shows on television right now, but have you ever thought about just how funny it is, quantitatively? Over at Den of Geek, a comprehensive(-ish) study was conducted to see just how many jokes were contained in each episode of this season of Veep, and they came to a pretty interesting conclusion: Veep can squeeze more jokes into its official run time per episode than any other show on TV. They might not all be ROTFL-funny, but after establishing criteria for what qualifies as a joke (sight gags, reaction shots, insults, etc.), it was revealed that, at its highest, about five jokes were told per minute (for Episode 9: “Testimony,” which included the Jonah Ryan Glossary of Abuse). That’s a joke every 12 seconds for the entire run of an episode.
That’s kind of insane, if you think about it. As a rule, sitcoms contain jokes, many of them. But every 12 seconds? Only on Veep. I’d say Silicon Valley would be worth looking at, but as of right now, we know that Veep has the numbers to beat.
- Season 4 Average Jokes Per Minute (JPM): 4.28
- Highest JPM Episode: “Testimony” — 4.92)
- Lowest JPM Episode: “East Wing” — 3.81)
So, it’s no wonder that you laugh more than usual while watching Veep. You’re basically being mainlined comedy throughout every single episode. But enjoy it! It’s totally legal!
(Via Den of Geek)
