What is the point about whether Susan was or wasn't funny? Hasn't anybody heard of a "straight man"? It's a comedic device which isn't used as much as it used to be, but it involves one person acting "straight", allowing the "funny" character to play off him. Abbott and Costello were a prime example of the straight man/comic duo. You couldn't have one without the other. In fact, the straight man often earned a higher salary, since the conventional wisdom of the day ruled that comics were a dime a doze
n, but a good straight man had the necessary timing to really build the jokes.
Today, the lines are drawn between the straight man and comic a little less clearly. Susan was of course pure straight man, and she perfomed exceedingly well in that role. I found her exchanges with George terrifically funny-- especially the Art Vandelay import/export inquisition which winds up with Susan decking George. Also, the pre-nuptial agreement scene was classic. She has a way of intimidating George that is priceless, and you can see that when she condescends to him, he's usually hugging a pill
ow for moral support.
Jerry also plays straight man to the other three, but gets his own jokes as well (I mean, he is a standup comic). Since J.S. is a big fan of Abbot and Costello (ref. the tribute special he did a couple of years back), I expect that he sees himself in the straight man role, and I know that the original concept was to have Jerry and George as a comic duo. The comedy duo concept has lain largely fallow in recent years, but besides Abott and Costello, some of the great practitioners in the past have included
Olsen and Johnson, Martin and Lewis, and, to a lesser extent Hope and Crosby, and Lemmon and Matthau.
So whether Susan is "funny" or "not funny" really misses the point, which is whether or not her presence made for a funnier show. I think it did. A cringing, squirming George cowering before Susan was absolutely priceless.