"On Thanksgiving Day, which happened to be on his 80th birthday, comedian Rodney Dangerfield suffered a heart attack. While described by his publicist as a 'mild' event, it put him in intensive care. Last year, Dangerfield had double-by-pass surgery. While the comic legend recovers, we asked Health section contributor Christopher Wanjek - a federal agency science writer, and author of a forthcoming book on health scams and (seriously, folks) a professional joke writer who has created material for Dangerfield and others - to round up five classic Dangerfield doctor jokes.

* I went to see my doctor. I said, 'Doctor, every morning when I get up and look in the mirror I feel like throwing up. What's wrong with me?' He said, 'I don't know, but your eyesight is perfect.'

* I told my dentist my teeth are going yellow. He told me to wear a brown necktie.

*I teel your, I don't get no respect. Why, the Surgeon General, he offered me a cigarette.

*My psychiatrist told me I'm going crazy. I told him, 'If you don't mind, I'd like a second opinion.' He said, 'All right. You're ugly, too.'

*Doctors, plumbers, they're all the same, I tell you. Both bury their mistakes.