Through its short, but impressive ten-year run in publication, Calvin and Hobbes Offered a unique perspective on modern culture, as insightful as it was entertaining – included Many classic strips where creator Bill Waterson explored the impact of television on society through his young protagonist CalvinWho loved television as much as anything.
Watterson’s comic often touches on prevailing criticisms of television, which was prevalent in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, when Calvin & Hobbes Ran in newspapers across America. The artist used Calvin’s POV, as a young and often iconoclastic child, to undermine the criticism at times – but also to offer an honest account of when they might have merit.
In each case, some of Calvin and Hobbes Most memorable jokes involved television, as part of the setup, or the punchline, which makes it a valuable subject to explore the names of the strip in more detail.
10
Calvin argues in favor of the decline in American attention spans caused by television
First published: January 6, 1989
“I think the short attention span of television is great“, Calvin tells Hobes in this passage; he proves that he does not have time for something so complicated that it takes more than ten seconds to explain. Calvin’s argument rests on the premise that a shorter attention span allows him to think about more things, more quickly. – Completely skimming the traditional logic of attention.
This is one of Bill Watterson’s classics Calvin & Hobbes moves. Calvin’s idea is not childish in the sense that it is simple, or unsophisticated, but rather in that it is a response to a criticism of television that Calvin has evidently heard, but does not fully understand. The cartoon’s humor derives from its young characters missing the larger context of lived experience, which generally validates the idea that a longer attention span is more valuable.
9
Hobbes questions Calvin’s commitment to watching bad TV
First published: February 4, 1989
in this Calvin & Hobbes Comedian, Calvin Wilde the TV show he’s watching, call it “Poland,” and unimaginative, stating that the intended audience for the show must be unintelligent. Naturally, Hobbes indicated that Calvin was the target audience he was humiliating – to which the boy responds that he is only watching because of a lack of more quality programming.
Here, Watterson embodies a common counter-criticism of television – that a critic must watch television to complain about its standards and practices, its quality and content. The punchline is funny, but what really makes this comic great are the minor details; Namely, the way the TV set bounces off the stand it’s on, suggesting that Calvin is watching something loud, deep, and perhaps as dumb as he says it is.
8
Calvin & Hobbes questions the meaning of existence without television
First published: May 13, 1989
In this comic, Calvin deals with a tragic loss after his beloved television is taken away from him, leaving only “A blank wall to watch“, in his place. “So here I am not entertaining,“Calvin bemoans, to which Calvin commiserates by calling their new life”A senseless existence” – Hilarious commentary on America’s dependence on media and entertainment, something that has only grown more blatant in the 35 years since Calvin & Hobbes Passport is issued.
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Bill Watterson’s strip is often richly infused with social commentary, and the cartoon’s point has only become more relevant over time; In any case, this Calvin & Hobbes Cartoon provides a great example of the artist’s keen ability to recognize cultural trends and extract powerful punchlines from them.
7
Calvin threatens to boycott TV – for being too “angry”
First published: July 13, 1989
in one of Calvin & Hobbes The funny comics about TV, Hobbes finds Calvin absorbed in writing a letter, which the boy explains is to the companies he is ready to boycott “If they don’t pull their ads from a TV show [he] Find out[s] Offensive“As Hobbes and the reader soon learn, though, What Calvin findsobjectionable“The thing about this show is that it actually completely lacks objectionable content, as he mutters that”This clean, healthy TV! oh It makes me sick.”
Once again, Bill Watterson subverts a familiar cultural phenomenon; Rather than a parent writing to complain about their child being exposed to violent and sexual content on television, the cartoon presents a child frustrated in the absence of such things. In this way, Watterson copied a conversation that was going on during the cultural period, while putting his own patented spin on it.
6
Calvin goes to extreme lengths to watch TV when he’s not allowed to
First published: October 3, 1989
in this Calvin & Hobbes Calvin is in big trouble, but he’s willing to risk it all for some time in front of the TV. Locking his babysitter Roz out of the house, Calvin implores her to keep quiet so he can watch TV.Just to say he is “Not supposed to be watching TV” Calvin then tries to settle with Roz, bargaining that if she will and then to “Go rent [them] A VCR“He’ll put the TV where she can see it. When that doesn’t work, Calvin, undeterred, even suggests that the hapless babysitter could earn them an adult movie.
Certainly, this is one of Calvin and Hobbes More risky punchlines, but in a way it needs to be, because the humor of the panel relies on a sequence of escalation, with Calvin’s behavior becoming increasingly outrageous with each passing panel.
5
Calvin knows how to spend “precious moments” doing what really matters in life: Watching TV
First published: October 21, 1989
Bill Watterson often injected deeply existential musings into Calvin & HobbesConstantly because his characters ruminate on the afterlife, human nature, and the meaning of existence. This is the case here, as Calvin speculates that if there is no afterlife, and no such thing as reincarnation, people cannot afford to waste a single moment of their “All-too-short“Live.
Hilariously, that’s not the point of the comic, but just being set up – As the final frame cuts to Calvin’s parents’ room, as his mother is startled awake, shaking her husband and saying “Honey, wake up, are you listening to the TV on?“ In other words, Calvin’s reflection on mortality and living life to its fullest prompted him to do what was most important to him: watch television.
4
“Eminent TV Commercial” Calvin stars in a commercial for “Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs”
First published: October 3, 1990
Readers familiar with Calvin & Hobbes will recognize the name of Calvin’s favorite cereal, “Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs” – here, Calvin envisions himself as a spokesperson for the brand, holding up a cardboard frame to mimic a TV screen and making Hobbes sit through an extended monologue about sugar bombs..
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The comic’s punchline comes when Calvin concludes his “business” by noting that if the audience, Hobbes, is not convinced by his pitch, he “Can repeat this every twenty minutes“, to which Hobbes objected: “Don’t dare me.” The strip brilliantly pokes fun at the idea that it’s not just TV programming that has the ability to warp people’s minds, but that TV advertising also has its own consequences of long-term viewer exposure.
3
Calvin’s mom vetoes his plan to skip school for a day in front of the TV
First published: March 14, 1991
In this simple, yet effective Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, Calvin starts definitively informing his mom that he is “Didn’t go to school today.” When she responds with skepticism, he explains his plan: ditch school, see TV. The third and final panel Calvin sits at his school desk, against a stark white background, and solemnly observes “Apparently I was misinformed.”
The fact that Calvin was “informed‘ By nothing more than what he wanted to do, rather than was forced to do, is a great height of the joke, which rests on the difficult “cut” between locations from panel to panel. There is also an arc to the expression on Calvin’s face – from indifferent, to excited, to disappointed – which once again reminds readers that Bill Watterson was a master of minor details.
2
Calvin & Hobbes explores the generation gap when it comes to television
First published: April 13, 1991
In this episode, Calvin again finds his plan to watch TV at odds with his parents’ expectations for him. Here, Calvin’s father gently tries to encourage his son to go outside, rather than sitting in front of the TV all day. That is, he begins gently— When Calvin brushes him off by saying “Things sure change, huh, Dad?He was then thrown out the front door.
The final panel makes light of the disconnect between father and son, as Calvin—now accompanied by Hobbes—walks through the woods, noting that “The father brings up topics that he does not want to talk about.“This makes it clear that Calvin did not understand his father’s intent, or his reaction, during their exchange, suggesting that there are sure to be more miscommunications to follow.
1
Calvin & Hobbes tackles the theme of audience desensitization to violence
First published: August 29, 1993
The arrival of television as an accessible entertainment medium also brought with it an argument that has permeated the last century of popular culture: what effect television violence has on viewers, especially younger audiences. in this Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, Bill Watterson tackles this difficult subject, with Calvin came down emphatically on the “pro-television violence” side of the conversation.
Calvin extols the virtues of violent entertainment at length, to which Hobbes simply asks if Calvin is worried about its desensitizing effects. Calvin’s controversial answer that he would “How to shoot the idiots who think that stuff affects me“is darkly satirical, making it evident that Watterson believed that fictional violence, especially on television, could actually have a negative effect on impressionable viewers. Violence and its consequences – making the other deeply socially relevant Calvin & Hobbes Cartoon.