Do Jokes Ever Get Old?

Dear Signe Wilkinson,

Thanks to my subscription to the Boston Globe, I've become acquainted with your comic strip "Family Tree." So far I'm enjoying the adventures of the green-loving Tree family, but your Sunday strip had me a little confused.

Sunday's comic had Mrs. Twig bringing dessert to the table for her teenagers and husband. Mr. Twig's way too full and tries to beg off, but Mrs. Twig protests. The son--the teenage son--delivers the punch line, "If the pants won't fit, you must quit!"

An O.J. joke?  In 2010?

At first I thought, well, it's Labor Day, so maybe this is one from the vault.  But the strip started in 2008.  Now I'm just really disturbed that a joke from the O.J. Simpson trial--and a lame one that was overused back in the day--is still the punch line in a comic strip. The trial happened 15 years ago--the comic strip son may have not even been alive when it happened.  Granted, one needn't have lived through the event to use a famous quote from it, but it kind of saddens me that a comic strip--a form of media that keeps pretty current with the times--plays it safe and goes for an easy gag. Or worse, another argument for print media not being relevant anymore.

I hope this was just some cabin fever/end of summer crank out.  From what I've read about you, you have a really impressive career (Pulitzer!), so I'm looking forward to getting to know your strip a little better.  But if you keep beating the old horses to death, it may become one strip I have no problem skipping.

Your pal,
Jill