20 Reasons Why the Original Arthur is the Greatest Comedy of All Time

By Tim Rich / August 22, 2012

17. Uncle Peter and Aunt Pearl

One of the funniest scenes in ANY comedy is Arthur's meeting with his Uncle Peter and Aunt Pearl while taking a prostitute, named Gloria, with him to dinner. As a cover for Gloria's profession, Arthur decides to pass her off to his relatives as a princess. Peter and Pearl are dripping with disdain for Arthur's condition, but he soldiers on despite their contempt. The ensuing jokes with Arthur describing the extremely tiny size of Gloria's imaginary country are priceless. With lines like "Rhode Island could beat the crap out of it in a war..." and "They recently had the whole country carpeted...", you can't help but snicker through the entire scene.

18. Burt Johnson

Burt Johnson is the perfect villain for a comedy. He's mean and vengeful. He's capable of murder. He's the epitome of the mythical "evil rich person". And yet, we understand his character and viciousness.

We'd be scared of Burt Johnson in real life, and we're scared of what he might do to Arthur. Oh, we never really believe he'll kill Arthur, but we're scared for him and Linda nonetheless.