If Bertie was an idiot then Lord Peter Wimsey was an idiot savant.
Absolutely what I was going to say. One of the best fictional characters ever created, and an utter moron.
And you know Bertie is “too stupid to live”, or at least stay out of jail, if it weren’t for the interventions of Jeeves.
And it’s a social commentary by Wodehouse, as well. A look at how the noblesse oblige are useless at best (and often bumblingly dangerous), and need to be constantly rescued by the lower class.
One of the classic morons in literature exposed one of the classic morons in real life for me. My brother excoriated me (a class warrior of the old school) for being a fan of a novelist who “glorified the upper classes”
He completely missed the point of PGW’s body of work!
I can’t believe the Three Stooges haven’t come up yet. What do we all think of them?
I still laugh out loud when I watch them. Of course their physical comedy skills were nonpareil, but I also think their verbal banter was often hilarious. Each character was stupid in a different way, making for a solid ensemble dynamic.
Some I like, some annoy me.
For the record, I consider Jed Clampett ignorant, not stupid, and he did dress up a few times (google “Jed Clampett dressed up”). As to why he remained so, even in later seasons, because it is a 1960s/early 70s sitcom
Brian
Personally, I was never a huge Stooges fan, but I will always think of them fondly because of my son’s reaction when I introduced my kids to them. He was probably 5-6, and he laughed so hard, he had to run out of the room to pee. I’m pretty sure that is the only instance I’ve ever encountered of someone laughing so hard they were in danger of peeing themself. 
Nice thing is that he knows it, calling himself and buddies “drones”. He isn’t really a bad sort, being loyal and friendly. Just useless and foolish.
The best and bravest were siphoned off in two world war, especially the incompetently led Great war with it’s idiotic “over the top” tactic.
Woody from Cheers has been mentioned. I think he’s more naive than stupid. I do like Coach from Cheers.
Monk: Randy Disher got worse during the series. He was better at the beginning. But, I like the other characters better.
Newsradio: Matthew (Andy Dick). He was okay, but I do like other characters better.
Michael was clueless but Kevin was mistaken for having an intellectual disability.
Like the Admirable Crichton???
I forgot about that, that was hilarious acting from both Kevin and Holly.
Even when they had cast changes they didn’t lose a step. I don’t think their type of comedy translated well to movie length productions, but their shorts are still funny today. Probably helps that I only see one every few years so it’s like rediscovering them every time.
He did really did get worse towards the end. When it was revealed that he was moving to be with Sharona I said to myself “Of course he would, he needs to bottom out somehow.” As you can tell, I didn’t think too much of Sharona either.
Yeah, Michael was the Peter Principle in action. As shown when he went on calls, he is a dynamite salesman, just in completely over his head as a boss (and completely unaware of it).
IIRC correctly, Kevin got progressively stupider as the series went on, which is not uncommon in sitcoms.
You have to remember that Burt Lancaster started out as a circus acrobat and didn’t start acting until after serving in World War II. When you’re performing in the center ring of a three ring circus everything has to be big if you’re going to be seen at all.
I didn’t mind her, and I think the series suffered from her absence. Natalie I hated.
Lots of actors got their start on stage, which requires a broader acting style. I remember Michael O’Hare demonstrating it at a convention. He gave the example of the actor spotting someone walking across the room. On stage, he would turn his head; in film or TV, he would just use his eyes.
Lancaster took longer than usual to learn how to tone down and still be effective.
The chili opener will never not be funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcYG-5b7448
I know. I do a little background acting, and once the scene was we were at a post funeral reception, and Abigal Spencer and Ron Perlman were having a tense conversation sotto voce. The job of the background was to quietly observe the interaction and slowly and inconspicuously drift away, because in the context of the show, Ron, playing Big Graham, was a serious badass.
One stage actor couldn’t manage the “quiet observation”. He’d notice Ron, then jump as if a live tiger had been teleported into the room. He was the first background actor I’d seen sent back to holding for overacting. Normally it’s the other way around, background actors are doing nothing. As they say; acting is reacting.
There’s one exception to Not Liking Dumb Characters: the bad guys in a stupid kids’ comedy.
When my kids were little, they loved movies like that, and we rented the VHS tape of The Three Ninjas dozens of times.
It got to be a thing where they’d want me to say “I lovvvve dumb bad guys!”, mostly because of this scene …
These three Bargain-Basement Ted Logans are supposed to kidnap three kids, but the first time they try, the FBI shows up, so the “head surfer dude” gives up, by asking “Slurpee?”
So that became our catchphrase. I’d be driving the kids, and the cue for any kind of snack was my asking “Slurpee?” “Radical…” “Slurpee?” “Duuuuude…!”
Of course, I cued this up for you (though for maximum gnarlyism, be kind, rewind to the beginning).
eta: Naah, after rewatching this, I’ve realized that no one’s going to like this like we used to. Watch a minute or so, then bail…
I’m rather fond of the idiot in Ruthless People
