PBS gets on laugh track with program

By NEAL JUSTIN

According to most historians, the first comedy bit took place in 3,000 B.C. when a caveman bopped his roommate on the head with a club, sending his startled victim into the flames of a nearby fire. That classic clip isn’t included in PBS’ “Make ’Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America,” a three-night documentary that plays out over the next three consecutive Wednesdays (8 p.m.), but there are plenty of other historic moments to savor, from Jack Benny chewing over his choice between his money or his life to excerpts from Judd Apatow’s super-bawdy films.

The title and the involvement of PBS may suggest an academic approach that would trigger more chin stroking than belly laughing, but the series is light on its feet, more committed to sharing side-splitting footage then deconstructing the nature and history of humor.

“E.B. White famously once said, ‘Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested, and the frog dies,’” said Michael Kantor, the show’s creator and director. In his last TV project, “Broadway: The American Musical,” Kantor said he was “able to give insight into American history and the evolution of our culture, and I thought I could do that as well through comedy with all of its glory and weirdness.”

Not that there isn’t a lot to learn. Sprinkled throughout the six hours are nuggets on how Harold Lloyd discovered his inner nerd when he donned a set of glasses; why Bart Simpson is the son of Eddie Haskell, that brown-nosing, two-timing weasel on “Leave It to Beaver”; how Harry Houdini nicknamed Buster Keaton after the youngster took a stumble at 6 months of age and didn’t shed a tear; and why a scathing review convinced Harpo Marx to hit the mute button.

But those who expect Ken Burns-type revelations will be disappointed. (In fact, the project sets itself apart from the PBS master in an opening sketch by host Billy Crystal, poking fun at Burns’ somber approach.)