The American Film Institute's three-hour "100 Years... 100 Laughs" program was broadcast on June 13, 2000. Its goal was to choose America's 100 Funniest Movies. As they have in the past, AFI asked a jury of leaders from the film community to vote on their 100 favorites from a list of 500 nominated films. The films had to be feature-length American productions, and had to be funny, regardless of genre. (There are many films on the list that are not primarily comedies.) They are mostly classics, although there are quite a few from the 80s and 90s.

In order to make sure that the voices of classic film fans were heard, though not in an official capacity, we offered you a chance to vote during the past three months or so. Here are the final results of that voting, now with a list of the final AFI results right next to it.

Before you write to complain, please remember that these are supposed to be "American" films, which explains the absence of the Monty Python movies, as well as 60s classics such as Tom Jones and The Wrong Box. In any case, I didn't choose the nominees!

Based on the results of our survey, I predicted that Bringing Up Baby would be the #1 film in the AFI list, but as you can see, it was actually Some Like It Hot. Appearing in the most films is Cary Grant, with an amazing eight, followed by the Marx Brothers and Woody Allen, with five each. Katharine Hepburn and Margaret Dumont (thanks to the Marx Brothers) are tops among women, with four appearances each. Mel Brooks, as predicted by our survey, is the director with the most top 20 appearances, with three. He beat out Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in terms of ranking, but they both had 4 films on the list. There were quite a few films in our top 20 that appeared in AFI's top twenty, some in similar positions, including Some Like it Hot, Duck Soup, Blazing Saddles, It Happened One Night, A Night at the Opera, His Girl Friday, Dr. Strangelove, Bringing Up Baby, Young Frankenstein, The Philadelphia Story, M*A*S*H, and The Producers. Others were in quite different spots on the two polls, including Arsenic and Old Lace, The Thin Man, and My Man Godfrey, which we ranked higher, and Annie Hall, Airplane!, and The Odd Couple, which AFI ranked higher. One pleasant surprise was The General, which appeared at #18 on the AFI list, but was left off our list!

Among the other surprises, in the opinion of the people in our chat room during the program, was The Graduate ranking in the top ten (funny, but not among the biggest laughers of all time; it wasn't even on our list). There was general agreement that It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Moonstruck, Shampoo, Broadcast News, Private Benjamin, and 9 to 5, though enjoyable, didn't belong in the top 100, and that a number of films were ranked too low, including The Court Jester, Sons Of The Desert, Auntie Mame, Ball Of Fire, Dinner At Eight, The Navigator, The Freshman, Sherlock, Jr., Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein, The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek, and Ninotchka, all of which were in the bottom 50. But, of course, they can't all be in the top ten, right? I was personally disappointed that the marvelous Jean Shepherd comedy, A Christmas Story, did not make the list, though it was 11th on ours (and I didn't vote). In fact, it was the only film in our top 20 that didn't show up on the AFI list at all.

All in all, however, I think the list is fairly balanced, and will probably serve the purpose of introducing many new people to some of the great American film comedies. The fact that almost a fifth of the films on the list are from the great comedians of the Golden Age, such as Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and Harold Lloyd, is a pleasant surprise. It almost makes up for the paltry showing on the original AFI list of all films.

You can print out both lists so you can compare them offline.

Our Poll Results 1. Bringing Up Baby 1938 2. Duck Soup 1933 2. Some Like It Hot 1959 4. Young Frankenstein 1974 5. The Philadelphia Story 1940 5. Arsenic And Old Lace 1944 7. Blazing Saddles 1974 8. Singin' In The Rain 1952 9. It Happened One Night 1934 10. A Night At The Opera 1935 11. A Christmas Story 1983 12. The Thin Man 1934 12. His Girl Friday 1940 14. Dr. Strangelove 1964 15. Tootsie 1982 16. My Man Godfrey 1936 16. M*A*S*H 1970 18. The Producers 1968 19. Harvey 1950 19. It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World 1963 21. National Lampoon's Animal House 1978 22. To Be Or Not To Be 1942 23. My Fair Lady 1964 24. You Can't Take It With You 1938 25. Adam's Rib 1949 26. Airplane! 1980 26. The Princess Bride 1987 28. The Blues Brothers 1980 29. Sherlock, Jr. 1924 29. A Fish Called Wanda 1988 31. The Lady Eve 1941 32. Ninotchka 1939 33. The Seven Year Itch 1955 34. A Shot In The Dark 1964 35. Born Yesterday 1950 36. Annie Hall 1977 36. Caddyshack 1980 38. Victor/Victoria 1982 39. Holiday 1938 40. Road To Morocco 1942 41. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House 1948 42. Mary Poppins 1964 42. Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 1997 44. Horse Feathers 1932 45. The Odd Couple 1968 45. City Slickers 1991 47. Dinner At Eight 1933 48. The Bank Dick 1940 49. Breakfast At Tiffany's 1961 50. Groundhog Day 1993 51. The Shop Around The Corner 1940 52. Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948 52. What's Up, Doc? 1972 54. The Pirate 1948 55. Stripes 1981 56. Roman Holiday 1953 56. This Is Spinal Tap 1984 58. Sabrina 1954 59. There's Something About Mary 1998 60. Charade 1963 61. Funny Girl 1968 62. Arthur 1981 63. Dumb & Dumber 1994 64. The Apartment 1960 65. Ghostbusters 1984 66. Animal Crackers 1930 66. Monkey Business 1931 68. When Harry Met Sally 1989 69. The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek 1944 70. The Great Dictator 1940 71. My Cousin Vinny 1992 71. The Gay Divorcee 1934 73. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum 1966 74. Modern Times 1936 75. The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad! 1988 76. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town 1936 77. Ferris Bueller's Day Off 1986 77. The Awful Truth 1937 79. Barefoot In The Park 1967 80. Girl Shy 1924 80. Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982 80. The Quiet Man 1952 83. Libeled Lady 1936 84. Back To The Future 1985 84. The Talk Of The Town 1942 86. 9 To 5 1980 87. The Great Race 1965 88. Romancing The Stone 1984 89. Clerks 1994 89. Pulp Fiction 1994 91. City Lights 1931 91. Day At The Races 1937 93. Babe 1995 94. Sullivan's Travels 1941 94. How To Marry A Millionaire 1953 94. Irma La Douce 1963 94. Ball Of Fire 1941 94. Cat Ballou 1965 99. The Jerk 1979 100. Auntie Mame 1958

Actual Results 1. Some Like It Hot (1959) 2. Tootsie (1982) 3. Dr. Strangelove (1964) 4. Annie Hall (1977) 5. Duck Soup (1933) 6. Blazing Saddles (1974) 7. M*A*S*H (1970) 8. It Happened One Night (1934) 9. The Graduate (1967) 10. Airplane! (1980) 11. The Producers (1968) 12. A Night At The Opera (1935) 13. Young Frankenstein (1974) 14. Bringing Up Baby (1938) 15. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 16. Singin' In The Rain (1952) 17. The Odd Couple (1968) 18. The General (1927) 19. His Girl Friday (1940) 20. The Apartment (1960) 21. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) 22. Adam's Rib (1949) 23. When Harry Met Sally... (1989) 24. Born Yesterday (1950) 25. The Gold Rush (1925) 26. Being There (1979) 27. There's Something About Mary (1998) 28. Ghostbusters (1984) 29. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 30. Arsenic And Old Lace (1944) 31. Raising Arizona (1987) 32. The Thin Man (1934) 33. Modern Times (1936) 34. Groundhog Day (1993) 35. Harvey (1950) 36. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) 37. The Great Dictator (1940) 38. City Lights (1931) 39. Sullivan's Travels (1941) 40. It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) 41. Moonstruck (1987) 42. Big (1988) 43. American Graffiti (1973) 44. My Man Godfrey (1936) 45. Harold And Maude (1972) 46. Manhattan (1979) 47. Shampoo (1975) 48. A Shot In The Dark (1964) 49. To Be Or Not To Be (1942) 50. Cat Ballou (1965) 51. The Seven Year Itch (1955) 52. Ninotchka (1939) 53. Arthur (1981) 54. The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek (1944) 55. The Lady Eve (1941) 56. Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) 57. Diner (1982) 58. It's A Gift (1934) 59. A Day At The Races (1937) 60. Topper (1937) 61. What's Up, Doc? (1972) 62. Sherlock, Jr. (1924) 63. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) 64. Broadcast News (1987) 65. Horse Feathers (1932) 66. Take The Money And Run (1969) 67. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) 68. The Awful Truth (1937) 69. Bananas (1971) 70. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936) 71. Caddyshack (1980) 72. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) 73. Monkey Business (1931) 74. 9 To 5 (1980) 75. She Done Him Wrong (1933) 76. Victor/Victoria (1982) 77. The Palm Beach Story (1942) 78. Road To Morocco (1942) 79. The Freshman (1925) 80. Sleeper (1973) 81. The Navigator (1924) 82. Private Benjamin (1980) 83. Father Of The Bride (1950) 84. Lost In America (1985) 85. Dinner At Eight (1933) 86. City Slickers (1991) 87. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) 88. Beetlejuice (1988) 89. The Jerk (1979) 90. Woman Of The Year (1942) 91. The Heartbreak Kid (1972) 92. Ball Of Fire (1941) 93. Fargo (1996) 94. Auntie Mame (1958) 95. Silver Streak (1976) 96. Sons Of The Desert (1933) 97. Bull Durham (1988) 98. The Court Jester (1956) 99. The Nutty Professor (1963) 100. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)