Good rule of thumb is: IF you can lift out (remove) a scene and nothing is hurt or thrown out of whack by its absence, leave it out! If the story doesn't skip a beat or become confusing or improbable because a scene is removed, leave it out! It's not always easy to let things go -- some scenes are just plain FUN! And it's painful to slash around with a red pen or highlight and strike the Delete button, but if a story is made tighter and less redundant and cumbersome, then it's worth it!!

As a quick check: has anything changed by the end of the scene? If not, the scene isn't necessary (or you haven't got it working right yet, at least)...

There’s a scene in FARGO... ...The one where Officer Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) meets an old (high) school friend Steve Park (Mike Yanagita) for dinner at THE RADISSON... Seems this might fit the profile of a sceen that could have been cut...? I for one am glad the Coens’ left it in as it is truly entertaining!

I agree with everyone above - if you can take it out and the nothing in the story changes - take it out - even if it was really funny - try and embed that fun into a scene that is necessary. Kevin, I always wondered about that Fargo scene myself - is it there to learn more about Marge? I think so, but I think we already know enough about her for the story that is being told. I also enjoyed it though.