January 4, 2016

Five “Dumb” Sitcom Characters That Deserve Better

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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