When you think about it, have you ever heard the same joke from a Southwest Airlines flight attendant? And have you ever heard a really bad joke? Think about it: those people have gotta be doing dozens of flights a week, and they never have to recycle their material. OK, sometimes they elect not to tell a joke. But when they do grace you with that upon-landing one-liner, it always feels fresh and unrehearsed, and is hardly ever groan-inducing. For over 20 frickin' years. That's a commitment to comedy excellence.
And really, think about the razor-thin line their family-oriented comedy must tread; they can't touch on any hot topics like terrorism, race or politics. All they can talk about is your flight experience, in which they may riff on the local weather, turbulence, or the pilot, without ever implying that the captain is in fact drunk, or that you, the passenger, are in actual danger. That is a pretty small and delicate window of cleverness. I'm not saying I've ever busted a gut over one of their bits, but I'll take that human touch over a two-inch TV screen any day.
