# Supposedly Comic Characters Too Evil to Like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155 "2005-01-17T04:11:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/1 "2005-01-17T04:11:23Z")
I’m not counting Cartman because _South Park_ is supposed to be a way-outside-the-box cartoon, but those from more mainstream media. Sometimes characters on sitcoms or in movies that are supposed to be sassy or mischeivous just come across as evil little trolls who need to be kicked until they stop moving. A few examples: Junior from _Problem Child_- while the movie was supposed to be fluff, all I could think of was that this kid was Rosemary’s baby and not in a good way; the only parent who should adopt him is Andrea Yates. His stunts weren’t mischeivous but potentially homicidal and at very best thoroughly sociopathological- I can totally see him torturing animals before growing up to be a week of episodes on A&E’s serial killer sweeps weeks. The writers (presuming they had some) went just a little too far with the demon (and with his girlfriend in the next one). Sophia from _Golden Girls_- I flat out couldn’t stand this old bat and thought Dorothy did a good day’s work when she deposited her in a low rent nursing home. She was belittling, abusive, conniving, selfish and Dorothy owed her nothing than a well chosen ice flow. Zach from _Saved by the Bell_- I’ve only seen a few episodes of this show, but I remember when it went off the air Mark Paul Gosellaar took a role as a date rapist because he said he wanted to get as far as possible from the role of Zach. It didn’t work for my part because I have no problem imagining Zach as a date rapist. Some of his stunts would totally scar for life some of the nerds and fat-chicks he pulled them on and if it werent’ for the image of him going to juvie and being Slater’s bitch there’d of been nothing to like on the show. Who would you add? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/2 "2005-01-17T04:13:12Z")
Gilligan springs to mind. There’s just so much ineptitude I’m willing to tolerate in a survival situation before resorting to bludgeoning and cannibalism. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/3 "2005-01-17T04:23:21Z")
**Bryan,** I can totally get behind the bludgeoning but in case stupidity can be aborbed through diet, I’d feel safer if Gilligan’s remains and my appetite were one step removed from each other on the food chain. Fertilizer, perhaps, or nice shark-bait chum. “James Junior” Evans was supposedly a funny, talented painter and a successful ladies man. EXCUSE ME? The circumsized foreskin on my infant dick hax had more pussy, talent and innate humor than that whole shrill coon stereotype. DynOmite THIS, ya raggedy punkass beeyotch. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/4 "2005-01-17T04:32:01Z")
That reminds me of when I was a kid and I would be trying to enjoy the Carol Burnett show and Tim Conway would do this terrible character who was slow and frustrating and it was awful! You would wait and wait for the funny and it would never come. He walked so slooooowly. Ew! George on Seinfeld always really sickened me because he was an ugly jerk liar. How is he funny? He’s horrible. His dad also horrible. But his dad never seemed evil, just too loud. George seemed evil, mean, dishonest and spoiled. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/5 "2005-01-17T05:10:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Sophia from _Golden Girls_- I flat out couldn’t stand this old bat and thought Dorothy did a good day’s work when she deposited her in a low rent nursing home. She was belittling, abusive, conniving, selfish and Dorothy owed her nothing than a well chosen ice flow. They didn’t make a lot of this on the show, but at least some of the Sophia character’s tendency to insult others and make inappropriate comments was supposed to be the result of her stroke. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/6 "2005-01-17T05:30:21Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > George on Seinfeld always really sickened me because he was an ugly jerk liar. How is he funny? He’s horrible. His dad also horrible. But his dad never seemed evil, just too loud. George seemed evil, mean, dishonest and spoiled. Pretty much the entire cast of Seinfeld was like that to me: whiney, self-obsessed, self centered, lying, empty, vapid and just generally people I wouldn’t want to know, and yet for some reason I loved some of the episodes. (Of course you don’t get much more self-centered, manipulative and shallow than Fred Sanford and that show was brilliant.) Mike the Meathead from _All in the Family_ was a character I respected far less than Archie. He was a freeloader (oh boo hoo hoo… you don’t have money and want to go to college… WORK! You won’t be the first student to have a job while getting an education!), he never missed an opportunity to insult the man who was supporting him, he obviously looked down on his very sweet mother-in-law (and to a lesser degree on his wife), he was prone to temper tantrums and ultimately left Gloria for one of his students. In some ways, bigoted Archie was actually the real “man” on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/7 "2005-01-17T05:32:35Z")
The fairy Lucinda from _Ella Enchanted_. [spoiler]Granted, she was more of an “unwitting villain” than pure “comic relief,” but that just made her worse. It made her _frightening._:eek: With the nature of her powers and her personality, she was effectively a mad god. Omnipotent and unstoppable, but petty, vindictive, and unwilling to accept when she’s wrong. And she’d thoughtlessly ruined people’s lives because of it. [/spoiler] I know _I’d_ sleep better if Van Helsing could come along and put an iron bullet through her slaugh heart. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/8 "2005-01-17T06:04:53Z")
The entire cast of _Married With Children_. Other people seemed to like it, but they were just so obnoxious, shrill, and unfunny. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/9 "2005-01-17T07:26:11Z")
…even Bud and Steve? ☹ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/10 "2005-01-17T07:46:38Z")
Yes, even Bud and Steve. They could be absolutely nasty, just when you hoped they’d rise above the dreck. Steve may have redeemed himself on the way out. I couldn’t make myself keep up with it. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/11 "2005-01-17T08:55:24Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > The entire cast of _Married With Children_. Other people seemed to like it, but they were just so obnoxious, shrill, and unfunny. > [@Mehitabel](#): > > …even Bud and Steve? > [@Yllaria](#): > > Yes, even Bud and Steve. They could be absolutely nasty, just when you hoped they’d rise above the dreck Although I only watched the show sporadically, I don’t know if I’d call the characters evil. They were such pathetic losers that, even at their worst, I couldn’t really find them truly evil. Now, if you want **evil** , check out Edmund Blackadder and his descendents. However, I don’t think they’d qualify because, despite their nastiness, they’re still funny. > [@Sampiro](#): > > Mike the Meathead from All in the Family was a character I respected far less than Archie. He was a freeloader (oh boo hoo hoo… you don’t have money and want to go to college… WORK! You won’t be the first student to have a job while getting an education!), he never missed an opportunity to insult the man who was supporting him, he obviously looked down on his very sweet mother-in-law (and to a lesser degree on his wife), he was prone to temper tantrums and ultimately left Gloria for one of his students. In some ways, bigoted Archie was actually the real “man” on the show. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the show, but didn’t Mike eventually get a job while he was in college? I seem to recall one episode where Mike told Gloria he’d been working nights to contribute his share of the family income. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/12 "2005-01-17T09:24:11Z")
Raymond’s wife in _Everybody loves Raymond_. I guess she’s supposed to be funny and charming, but I just see a hateful, insufferable bitch who hates her husband. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/13 "2005-01-17T09:52:28Z")
Everyone except Khan Jr. on _King of the Hill_. I like the show well enough but I don’t know why – I hate everyone on it and wish to see them die slow and gruesome deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/14 "2005-01-17T10:40:33Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Now, if you want **evil** , check out Edmund Blackadder and his descendents. However, I don’t think they’d qualify because, despite their nastiness, they’re still funny. I think that’s a major difference between British and American comedy: American comic characters, no matter how nasty on the surface, always have to have a heart of gold deep down, whereas in Britain they’re given full rein to be despicable: you only have to compare Archie Bunker with his British progenitor, Alf Garnett - Archie Bunker, while on the surface a bigot, usually turned out to be just a lovable grouch; Alf Garnett, on the other hand, was a truly vile old man, with the humour lying in just how vile he could be. Count the number of British comedies in which the main characters are loathsome human beings with no redeeming features: Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, Blackadder, Red Dwarf… American comedy tends to go for a more morallly didactic approach, in which values are taught and valuable life lessons are learnt, whereas the best British comedy isn’t afraid to see that being horrible can be funny in its own right, _sans_ message. ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/15 "2005-01-17T12:31:43Z")
This was my problem with _Meet The Parents_. Robert DeNiro was supposed to be “over protective”, but I thought he was closer to psychotic. From what I hear, he’s worse in the sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/16 "2005-01-17T13:38:43Z")
The entire cast of **Sex and the City**. Not only are they 4 complete polar opposites and best friends they have fucked everything in the city and would hump anything that moved and none of them got any STD’s. Though, Samantha, I liked, because she was honest about it all. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/17 "2005-01-17T13:58:06Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > Raymond’s wife in _Everybody loves Raymond_. I guess she’s supposed to be funny and charming, but I just see a hateful, insufferable bitch who hates her husband. For me it is the entire cast. They are all miserable human beings. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/18 "2005-01-17T14:08:09Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > For me it is the entire cast. They are all miserable human beings. Ditto. I find that show utterly unwatchable. **Roseanne** – both the show and the character – and, for that matter, I guess, the actress – got really mean-spirited about the fifth or sixth season. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/19 "2005-01-17T14:52:17Z")
Karen from _Will & Grace_. If she were a real person, she’d be one of the worst people in the world. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/20 "2005-01-17T15:06:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Everyone except Khan Jr. on King of the Hill. I like the show well enough but I don’t know why – I hate everyone on it and wish to see them die slow and gruesome deaths. Even Boomhauer?!?!?!? :eek: Nah, really, how can you think they’re evil? Sometimes nuts, sometimes obsessed, usualy weird, but not evil. American comedy tends to go for a more morallly didactic approach, in which values are taught and valuable life lessons are learnt, [/quote] Alkthough at its best it’s just about weirdly conflicted people. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155.md?page=2)