What is the meaning of "absolute joke" in this sentence?

[Rain.Angel]

Hi everyone!
2 detectives are walking beside a gutter in a TV series called "Bosch", One of them says : They've done a good job down here. Long way to go, but not the absolute joke it used to be. And the other one says: Still a giant concrete gutter.

I don't know the meaning of the "Long way to go, but not the absolute joke it used to be." :-(

Thank you for your time ;-)

 

[Raymott]

"Two detectives ..."
An 'absolute joke' is quite the opposite of being a joke. (It's ironic). It's a disaster, a very bad situation/condition. "A long way to go" means that they still have a lot of work to do before it's a good situation. But it isn't the disaster it used to be.

 

[Rain.Angel]

"Two detectives ..."
An 'absolute joke' is quite the opposite of being a joke. (It's ironic). It's a disaster, a very bad situation/condition. "A long way to go" means that they still have a lot of work to do before it's a good situation. But it isn't the disaster it used to be.

Thanks a lot