# Favourite funny foreigner from a fully fictional fatherland **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [May 22, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441 "2023-05-22T21:18:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/21 "2023-05-23T14:08:39Z")
Tony Shalhoub as the taxi driver in _Quick Change_. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/22 "2023-05-23T14:22:05Z")
How about any of the Solomon’s on **3rd Rock from the Sun**? I don’t think their supposed planet of origin actually exists (?) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/23 "2023-05-23T15:02:11Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Borat from Kazakhstan I agree. I wish to complain in a whiny voice about the OP excluding this stellar character just because Kazakhstan is a real place. Maybe so, but Borat’s version of it isn’t – e.g.- alleged traditions like the “Running of the Jew”, or Borat’s sister being highly regarded for her work as a prostitute. Besides, this silly rule also eliminates the greatness of Manuel, the inimitable waiter in _Fawlty Towers_! But if my choice is going to be rejected I’ll gum up the works with a character that probably no one’s heard of: Pepe – not from a sitcom, but from one of the best of the “Carry On” movies, _Carry On Abroad_. Pepe, played by Peter Butterworth, is the hapless owner of a half-finished hotel on the fictional Mediterranean island of Elsbels who must suddenly play host to a busload of British tourists. Not only does he have only half a hotel, he also has no staff – so Pepe must simultaneously be the doorman, the manager, the porter, and the maitre’d, assisted only by his ill-tempered wife cursing in the kitchen. Pepe’s broken English is priceless. This isn’t a particularly good clip (the actual movie is far better) but it does give you a glimpse of Pepe … 😃 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2rSmnFB0qCc/hqdefault.jpg "Carry On Abroad, Stupid What") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rSmnFB0qCc) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/24 "2023-05-23T15:56:45Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Tony Shalhoub as the taxi driver in _Quick Change_. … And the newsstand owner in _ **Frasier** _. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKtwY0g0CcA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKtwY0g0CcA) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/25 "2023-05-23T19:02:28Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Not a television example [It can be](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett%27s_The_Colour_of_Magic). Not that Sean Astin would get my vote, though. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/26 "2023-05-23T19:07:39Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I’m now kicking myself for not including Molvanîa’s most famous celebrity, Zladko Vladcik, in the poll: No mention of his theological treatise? > **[Zlad! - I Am The Antipope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxxhAS16vB0%2F)** > > Molvanian heart-throb Zladko ("ZLAD!") Vladcik's 2nd disqualified entry to Eurovison. Clearly-devastated, "ZLAD!" insists his song "I Am The Anti-Pope" is no... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/27 "2023-05-23T19:58:00Z")
Since nobody’s mentioned Fez, I will. Compared to most of the others, his shtick was reasonable rather than over-the-top approaching psychotic. The show used him well and progressed the character in a realistic way. Heck, he practically took over the show after Eric left. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/28 "2023-05-24T01:51:27Z")
One of the writers said they named him Fez as an initialism of Foreign Exchange Ztudent. ‘Exchanged’ from absolutely anywhere. ps: I’m always impressed with his acting when I see him currently playing a tough cop without an accent (in… ?.. one of those ubiquitous cop shows). ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/29 "2023-05-24T02:46:38Z")
How about the Coneheads? They weren’t really from France. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/30 "2023-05-24T03:45:00Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > My vote actually goes to Carol Kane as Simka Grava from _Taxi._ Simka Dahblitz, but not _the_ Simka Dahblitz. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2023, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/31 "2023-05-25T05:20:45Z")
[Deleted - redundant] ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/32 "2023-05-30T14:46:38Z")
How about [Mlepnos from Brooklyn 99](https://brooklyn99.fandom.com/wiki/Mlepnos)? Only shows up a few times, but they were memorable. Weird, strange traditions, and just a hint of mystery about him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441/33 "2023-05-30T15:01:31Z")
Areola from _Not Another Teen Movie_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-funny-foreigner-from-a-fully-fictional-fatherland/984441.md?page=1)