The world is full of unanswerable questions; questions about the universe, God, and the nature of stuff.
Among those unanswerable questions is this one: why is Saturday Night Live not funny?
The question would be less unanswerable if the series hadn't prompted so many very good movie spin-offs, including The Blues Brothers, Wayne's World, Coneheads, A Night at the Roxbury, and aspects of A Mighty Wind.
It would be simple if there were not so many good comedians that have passed through it.
From the cast list over the years come names such as John Belushi, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell, comedians who have done some great things over the years, despite the fact you may be well sick of some of them.
But Saturday Night Live, the American sketch comedy that has been running since 1975, and now pops up on a regular basis on Comedy Central, isn't funny.
The skits are too long, they lack punch lines, and, while I know this is an American problem not peculiar to Saturday Night Live, the comedians spend too much time laughing at their own jokes.
The other question is this; what has happened to Ricky Gervais? After a brilliant series of DVDs of his stand-up comedy, which were truly excellent, comes Ricky Gervais IV: Science.
Science begins with a long, rambling, vituperative attack on the overweight, something that could only be OK if it was actually funny.
But it's not.
On top of that, the Gervais-inspired An Idiot Abroad, Karl Pilkington's world tour, on TV3, has been disappointing.
One can only hope for a return to form.
That may, possibly, have started with his recent appearance on an episode of Louie (Mondays, 8pm, Comedy Central).
The American series is written and directed by the show's creator, stand-up comedian Louis C. K, who stars as a fictionalised version of himself.
It has no regular characters beside Mr C. K, and each episode contains live stand-up performances by the comedian, and guest appearances by other stand-up comedians, including Gervais.
The show has apparently met with critical acclaim, and after viewing one episode, seems worth hanging in for, if you can deal with the sometimes confronting material.
Louie includes everything from divorce, sex, depression and sexual orientation, to that comedy staple, Catholic guilt.
There must be at least one thing in there to give everyone a case of the giggles.
