Dumb characters are as old as sitcoms my friends. They’re either
smart but socially backward (Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang, Screech on
Saved By The Bell) or a bit dense but always mean well (Charlene on
Designing Women, Cody on Step by Step, Chrissy on Three’s Company) or
they’re just flat out stupid and never get anything right (Homer
Simpson, Waldo on Family Matters…remember him?). And that’s fine until
the writers start to overuse that fact they are dumb characters. The
problem with some dumb character is they get exploited by writers. If
they need a easy joke, just have the dumb character do something stupid.
Know one will question it because the character is an idiot, right?
This doesn’t always happen. Zack on Big Bang Theory has been pretty
consistent with his stupidity, and creators have shown there is a brain
in his head. On Night Court Bull was dense but it was always clear that
everyone respected and cared for him. Eric on Boy Meets World was a
little, out there, but showed enough brains that we still took him
seriously. And while Woody was a bit slow on Cheers I don’t remember any
episode where he was the butt of a joke just for the sake of being the
butt of a joke, his denseness came from basic misunderstanding. Heck
even on Family Ties as much as Alex teased Mallory you knew he really
loved his sister. And she proved she was smart in one thing-fashion.
Unlike the characters below who are never allowed to be smart in
anything they do.
I am not saying that the following characters aren’t dim witted, they
clearly are, I am just saying that very often the writers would take
advantage of that to get cheap laughs at their expense, ignoring the
fact there is more to them.
Fred Flintstone from The Flintstones
A couple weeks ago I talked about “A Flintstone Family Christmas”. The
set up in the episode is that Fred and Barney are mugged by a guy in a
Santa costume. Turns out to be two kids, we only meet one who is
caveless. The thing that annoys me is when the kid is revealed, Betty
and Wilma can’t stop chuckling! Oh that stupid Fred, being afraid of a
child! Except, as Fred himself tries to say, there was no way to know
that when he hidden in the shadows and disguised. Of course this kind of
thing littered the series. Heck The Great Gazoo constantly refereed to
Fred and Barney as dum-dum’s. Even the live action movie made Fred out
to not only be dumb, but the dumbest guy in the quarry! But Fred is a
good husband, a good father, and will actually care for others and try
to solve any mess he got into. Is really smart? No, he’s a caveman.
and speaking of cartoons, Shaggy doesn’t count because while he was a
little slow it was clear his friends respected him and they never put
him down.
Ray Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond
Far be it for me to say that this characters is perfect. He is lazy,
selfish and has an overactive sex drive which drives me nuts in several
episodes. He’s a 40 year old married man and he acts like a horny 16
year old who’s never had sex before! But I digress. The one time I do
feel the need to defend him is when his dumbness gets called in even
when he does something smart. Don’t get ne wrong, Ray is not the
sharpest knife in the drawer. But then we have scenes like one where Ray
is talking about Pickles, and Debra pretends to slam her head in the
wall in furatration. Not to mention her eye rolling and flat out calling
him an idiot. Ok Ray is not perfect but when does do something right
and still can’t get credit…that annoys me. Like when he got a party
dress for his daughter..only to find that the dress code changed making
him look like a jerk. Or when Debra ruined the Christmas picture for
Ray’s mother somehow Ray came off as the bad guy. Or when Debra went out
of her way to make Ray say he’d like her better with big breasts just
to yell at him about it! Even Ray knew that was entrapment.
What about Doug Heffernan? His weight and other and habits were usually the focus of attention more than his dimwitted-ness
Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls
Oh Rose. Thank goodness for Betty White who played this character so
simple minded that she couldn’t seem to realize Blanche and Dorothy
thought she was stupid. Sophia once said she was a simpleton really,
which makes perfect sense. And she was a little slow on the uptake, but
let’s be honest a lot of these moments it wasn’t so much that Rose was
stupid but Dorothy was short tempered with no patience. Rather than just
answer Rose, she would give a sarcastic comment. Bea Arthur was
fantastic at somehow making a very coarse character extremely likable.
Dorothy was a softer version of Maude, who I hated. But we’re talking
about Rose. The thing that drove me the most crazy was when she did do
something smart and the other girls would almost deny it. There are
episodes where Rose either had to bend over backwards to prove she did
know what she talking about, or the girls were left speechless that Rose
had a brain under there after all. Yes she was simple minded, and yes
her stories went on a bit to long..but she cared for people and really
tried to be the best person she could be. One clip show ended with Rose
basically saving the day. When she stated that they’re acting like it’s
the first smart thing she’s ever done and she has done many smart things
over the years, the other three struggle to come up with one other
moment. This was a cheap gag to close the show but also kind of
insulting.
Gene Gatling from Benson
I realize this one is a bit more obscure, but for those watched Benson
in the 1980’s you know what I am talking about. This show was created by
the same woman who created Golden Girls, and I guess she just had to
have one dim witted character who loved to tell long stories in every
series she created. (She did it again with Laverne in Empty Nest and
still again with Julie in the mostly forgotten Nurses). Gene Gatling was
a great guy, but the problem was he was no politician. He ran a lumber
mill until he got pushed into running for governor..and won. And while
he can be slow to catch on to things he usually gets it and when push
comes to shove he can be a good governor. One episode I love is one
where he and Benson have to fly a plane (long story) and Gene thanks
Benson for seeing him the way he sees himself, that if he can’t stay
with the small talk it’s because he’s got other things on his mind.
That’s why Benson may roll his eyes at the long stories and such, but he
respect him. In fact I loved the friendship they had, it was one of my
favorites on any seris. To be fair. yes his stories do tend to go on and
on. And on.
Joey Tribbiani from Friends
Ah you knew this name was coming didn’t you my friends? No character
exemplifies what I was saying at the top better than this one. Yes Joey
is a bit dense and yes he can be a little slow on the uptake, but man
the way the writers on this show take advantage of that for cheap
laughs. Joey is a great friend and really cares for people, even if he
is a child at heart. One of the reason people were so impressed with the
story line when he falls for Rachel is because Matt LeBlanc finally got
to do more than just be there for stupid gags. There were lots of
times when the characters would just go to the cheap joke, even if the
situation didn’t really need it. And I am not just referring to
Chandler. One episode, Joey had bad news for Chandler. He runs into
Central Perk and asks Ross if Chandler was there. Ross mimed checking
his pocket, and said no he wasn’t. This was a cheap gag, since Joey
asked a legitimate question (Chandler wasn’t present but he could still
have been in the building somewhere) but it was an easy joke so that’s
what Joey was often there for. There was another cheap gag in the final
season involving Joey wearing two belts, for no reason. The worst part
was that the show had done this joke two years earlier!!! And of course
there is the Christmas episode where Joey is the one of all of them who
knew how to turn off the broken furnace. The other five just stare in
stunned silence. It’s a funny gag, but in hindsight kind of insulting.
Isn’t it possible for Joey know something??
Some lists like to include Phoebe, and while I think the series tried
to make dim witted early on it was clear she was a smart cookie. She
just had a different background and saw the world a little different
than the other five.
Ah sitcoms and stupid characters. This is one trope that has been around forever, and probably wont be going anywhere either.
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