# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try_As_I_Might)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/101 "2005-01-20T23:53:35Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] 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. QUOTE] BlackAdder II may be the funniest season of any comedy I have ever seen. Long live Edmund in all of his vile, Balrdic-beating, Percy-punching, horribly selfish ways! As far intolerably horrible characters, I’d vote for Ralph or Richie from the Sopranos. Was there anything remotely redeeming about them? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/102 "2005-01-21T01:26:57Z")
Huh. I could’ve sworn he was. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/103 "2005-01-21T01:47:42Z")
What’s the name for the SDMB Cafe Society equivalent of Godwin’s Law, where any thread of certain length will at one point turn into a debate about _The Lord of the Rings_ movies? I’d be all excited at the prospect of Grundy’s Law, but I’m sure this has come up before… ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/104 "2005-01-21T02:18:45Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > What’s the name for the SDMB Cafe Society equivalent of Godwin’s Law, where any thread of certain length will at one point turn into a debate about _The Lord of the Rings_ movies? I’d be all excited at the prospect of Grundy’s Law, but I’m sure this has come up before… Nah. Any thread in Cafe Society will eventually turn into a Star Trek-related discussion 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/105 "2005-01-21T02:35:04Z")
> [@KJ](#): > > Am I the only one that thinks _Seinfeld_ is funny? IMHO, the characters’ sheer selfishness is what makes it funny. I guess it’s because I can sometimes see myself in them. > > One thing I never could stand, though…you know those Sylvester & Tweety/Tom and Jerry cartoons? The ones with the plot that goes like: Tom/Sylvester is out to get Jerry/Tweety, but Jerry/Tweety comes up with some clever plan to foil Tom/Sylvester’s attempts, and in the process, they make a big mess in the house, and then the cat’s owner/Granny gets mad and punishes the cat because she thinks he’s the one that made the mess. This happens repeatedly throughout the episode. When I was a kid, I always hated those cartoons. I know the cat is supposed to be the bad guy, but jeez…it makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I just wanna smack that stupid old lady sometimes. I don’t find it funny at all. I’m with you. I always liked Sylvester best. I hate both Tom & Jerry. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/106 "2005-01-21T03:37:48Z")
I found Count Olaf from Lemony Snicket’s _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ to be very unfunny and evil. I know he was a villain, but he was also supposed to be funny. The problem was that he was too good of a villain–he really angered me. ---
**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 21, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/107 "2005-01-21T05:44:38Z")
> [@Try As I Might...](#): > > … > > As far intolerably horrible characters, I’d vote for Ralph or Richie from the Sopranos. Was there anything remotely redeeming about them? Those characters weren’t comic so they wouldn’t qualify here. Also, Ralph and Richie were _supposed_ to be intolerably horrible. Even the other mobsters found them vile. ---
**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 29, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/108 "2005-01-29T05:58:34Z")
Wow, I killed a thread with more than 100 posts. I wonder if that now makes me evil. ---
**Author:** ![Dvorak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dvorak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dvorak)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/109 "2005-01-29T09:01:42Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Wow, I killed a thread with more than 100 posts. I wonder if that now makes me evil. not too evil to like. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155/110 "2005-01-29T17:32:32Z")
I’m a bit surprised at the dislike for Peter and Lois. After seeing about two episodes, I quickly concluded that their characterizations were so inconsistent they the weren’t meant to be taken as _characters_ so much as “story elements” that do whatever was funny or necessary to move the plot along. I tend to come to grips with characters by identifying what they care about. Even the most loathesome or two-dimensional character becomes interesting when we find that they have a passion for something or someone. But if Peter or Lois show devotion to a person or a hobby or an ideal, in another episode they’ll display complete callous disregard for it, if that’s what it takes to get the laugh or drive the plot. Meg and Chris are only slightly better defined. And then we have Stewie and Brian, who, according to all convention, should be shallow comedy relief, but who are actually the most complex and well-developed characters in the series. It’s a great way to draw attention to the shallowness of the typical structure of a family-oriented sitcom, with its loving and devoted and _predictable_ mom and dad, rascally but sympathetic kids, and babies and pets played solely for cutness and laughs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supposedly-comic-characters-too-evil-to-like/285155.md?page=5)