Paula tells Larry that she's leaving to produce the Caryl and Marilyn show, so he impulsively promotes her to producer without consulting Artie. The quality of Phil's work goes up and down as his new girlfriend plays with his affections.
WAR
45.9
Wins Above Replacement
“Pain Equals Funny” ranks #26 of 90 The Larry Sanders Show episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 79.9 — Elite. The episode packs 45 scored jokes at 2.1 per minute, averaging 7.3 on craft and 6.8 on impact, with Larry landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Phil: Here. Catch. Then the audience, in unison, shouts, 'hey, now, Hank, go fuck yourself.'
Paula: I'm not your type. My breasts are real.
Paula Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Artie: and in 6 months, I replaced him. You don't have to worry about that. Ha! That's exactly what I said to Bob Sterling.
Paula: Phil writes better and faster when he's unhappy, and we don't have tonight's monologue. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Paula Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Artie: Well, you're never funny.
Artie Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch All Jokes — 45 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Larry: I haven't been stared at like that since the last time I had sex.
Larry Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Artie: When I find Phil, I will introduce his ass to my good friend Mr. Florsheim.
Artie Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Larry: Hello. I'd shake hands with you, but you were touching Phil's feet.
Phil: A week... and a half.
Phil Reaction Beat Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Larry: it was early conan.
Larry Observational Meta/Self-Referential ★ Rewatch Phil: it's gonna be stale by tomorrow afternoon.
Phil Observational Absurdist Artie: Yeah, the pussy cult. Whenever I'm getting pussy, I'm not funny.
Artie Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Artie: Well, you're never funny.
Artie Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: No one ever died there when it was chasens.
Larry Observational Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Larry: I don't have a natural curiosity about people.
Larry Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Larry: I don't even know which one is harriet.
Hank: You'll learn their names within the year.
Larry Hank Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Hank: I can only derive a limited amount of personal satisfaction from booking the parrot lady.
Hank Observational Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Hank: The music stopped! The music stopped!
Artie: What music?
Hank Artie Physical/Slapstick Absurdist ★ Rewatch Artie: But if they get a prize when they have it, why would anybody throw it away?
Artie Observational Absurdist Artie: You know Larry only does the jerk-off jokes that he writes.
Artie Observational Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Phil: she tells me I make her sick.
Phil Setup/Punchline Cringe/Discomfort Phil: These gophers are also suspected of kidnapping farmers and subjecting them to painful medical probes.
Phil Absurdist Setup/Punchline Artie: You're wearing my favorite cologne... 'hilarity by Larry Sanders'
Artie Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Artie: I said it's fine. ...and, by the way, I'm a dead man for telling you...
Artie Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: O.j. Simpson. He's doin' great. Sensational.
Larry Dark/Subversive Observational ★ Rewatch Artie: and in 6 months, I replaced him. You don't have to worry about that. Ha! That's exactly what I said to Bob Sterling.
Artie Observational Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: Well, I hope our whole staff gets dumped. Maybe we'd win an emmy now and then.
Larry Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: Better than skinny-dipping with jfk in the white house swimming pool?
Larry Observational Absurdist Paula: you know how well I react to gestures of sentimentality.
Paula Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Phil: You've never thanked me before.
Artie: Well, the jokes were never that good before.
Phil Artie Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Paula: he looks kind of green to me.
Larry: Well, I had a bad piece of fish.
he's gonna look like the cleveland indians' mascot.
Artie: Artie walking out during the lighting discussion
Artie Visual Gag Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch Phil: Here. Catch. Then the audience, in unison, shouts, 'hey, now, Hank, go fuck yourself.'
Paula: Phil writes better and faster when he's unhappy, and we don't have tonight's monologue. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Paula Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: that was your pick-up phrase in the seventies, wasn't it?
Larry Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Larry: numbers 17 and 56 hate me and won't take my calls.
Larry Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Paula: I just can't... what, did I push too hard? Did I do something wrong? Did I not produce the show?
Larry: I'm not a happy man. I know that I hide it pretty well,
Larry Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Paula: I'm not your type. My breasts are real.
Paula Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: You know, I could get used to that.
Larry Reaction Beat Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Larry: The cleveland indians' mascot, Chief wahoo.
Larry Callback Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Artie: Damn it, it was excellent. Except for your tie.
Artie Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Artie: You shouldn't wear stripes, Sonny. They strobe and make your face look puffy.
Artie Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Artie: I also got 5 porno channels.
Larry: I'll have a beer.
Artie Larry Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Artie: but what I didn't tell you is he was an absolute asshole.
Artie Misdirection Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Artie: That's what I was when Larry first saw me.
Artie Observational Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Artie: She said you're a really sweet guy.
Larry: Oh, she's sweet, too.
Larry: We have no monologue.
Larry Escalation Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Top Episodes — The Larry Sanders Show
