# TV characters who are incompetent at their jobs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112 "2009-08-03T01:07:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/81 "2009-08-04T04:45:49Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Nope it was after him. Bale wasn’t incompetent, but he was a bit of an ass. > > AM I thinking of Eddie Gibson? Well, Bale was the last commander, up to the last episode. Are you thinking about Lieutenant Dalto (Denise Crosby)? She was the one who was right after Fancy. She was there for two days, and pissed off all the detectives so badly, they managed to get her reassigned, and then Gibson came in. ---
**Author:** ![SmashTheState](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@SmashTheState](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmashTheState)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/82 "2009-08-04T06:16:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The point of Les winning those awards was to make fun of such awards. He was preposterously inept. He _was_ a competent farming news reporter. And I’ll take “Chy Chy Rodrigweez” any day over Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage. > [@BiblioCat](#): > > Wasn’t Harris one of the better detectives? > I would have picked Wojo or Dietrich before Harris. The only thing Harris cared about was his book, “Blood on the Badge.” He was self-absorbed and totally uninsterested in his actual job. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/83 "2009-08-04T06:30:55Z")
James Hacker in Yes Minister/Prime Minister ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/84 "2009-08-04T06:42:31Z")
“incompetent” “lazy” “clumsy” “dim-witted” “monstrously ugly” “Oh, nuts to this! I’ll just go get Homer Simpson.” ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/85 "2009-08-04T13:53:42Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, Bale was the last commander, up to the last episode. Are you thinking about Lieutenant Dalto (Denise Crosby)? She was the one who was right after Fancy. She was there for two days, and pissed off all the detectives so badly, they managed to get her reassigned, and then Gibson came in. Nope, not her. Gibson was commander shortly before Bale and couldn’t be bothered with anything that was actually goin on in the squad. Bale came in right after that and made it his mission to “clean the place up.” But then, looking at Season 12 on [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYPD_Blue_Episodes_(Season_12)), the ep “Bale to the Chief” has another LT in charge who would rahter golf than run the squad. I barely remember him. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/86 "2009-08-04T14:06:42Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I like to pick random reasons to hate poeple. It’s the Rhymer way. But… there’s no Rhymer reason to do that! Sorry! Couldn’t resist! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/87 "2009-08-04T15:31:17Z")
> [@SmashTheState](#): > > He _was_ a competent farming news reporter. And I’ll take “Chy Chy Rodrigweez” any day over Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage. Limbaugh and Savage aren’t news reporters and so are not valid comparisons. Limbaugh, at least, is exceptionally good at his job, but his job isn’t reporting. It’s just IMO, but Les seems to get those awards because he’s the only reporter in the area who reports farm-related news, and he’s sent little trinkets by the local agricultural boards because he sucks up to them. (Which is, incidentally, one hundred percent realistic.) We never see any evidence on screen that he is anything other than a complete boob, and whenever Bailey starts to demonstrate legitimate competence, Les is consumed with envy. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/88 "2009-08-04T15:39:39Z")
> [@SSG\_Schwartz](#): > > Now, Jim and Louie from Taxi could have each used a different career. > > SSG Schwartz Of course Jim was generally incompetent as a human being, but Louie, although abusive, corrupt and venal, was quite competent. In fact, he once got out of the dispatcher’s cage and bet Alex on who was the better cabbie. Louie got more fares, but Alex won because he got more tips. Incidentally, the scene where Jim took the cabbie test is still one of the funniest in sitcom history. What does a yellow light mean? Slow down. OK. What… does… a… yellow… light… mean? Slow down! OK. Wwwwhhhaaaat dooeesss aaaa yyyeeeellllowwww lllliiiight mmmmeeeannn? Slow down! OK. Wwwwwwhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaat dddddddoooooooeeeeeesssssssss aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa yyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllloooooooowwwwwwwww liiiiiiiiiigggggghhhhhtt mmmmmeeeeeeaaaaaan? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/89 "2009-08-04T15:44:11Z")
On\* Spin City\*, Mayor What’s-His-Name was incompetent, as was Governor Whose-His-Face on the old 1980s show _Benson_. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/90 "2009-08-04T17:11:12Z")
Actually, pretty much everyone on WKRP was incompetent except for Jennifer and Bailey. I guess Venus Flytrap showed no onscreen evidence of incompetence, but DJ’ing wasn’t really his background, either. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/91 "2009-08-04T17:30:17Z")
A lot of posters seemed to have missed the part of the OP that said “Not COMICALLY incompetent” - finding examples of incompetent people in comedies is shooting fish in a barrel. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/92 "2009-08-04T17:43:40Z")
Nobody’s mentioned Counselor Troi from TNG yet. She might have been the bestest ship’s counselor ever (doubtful), but as a Captain’s advisory, she was as useless as a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. \ Troi: I sense a lot of hostility Captain. Picard: \ Thank you counselor. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/93 "2009-08-04T21:14:27Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I’m not sure that Meredith and Alex really shine in comparison to them, either. Cristina is usually referred to as a technical genius in surgery, so it’s probably unfair to use her as the standard of measurement. I expect, that at the end of Grey’s Anatomy’s run, we’ll get a Seinfeld-like revelation: Meredith Grey is the Angel of Death. I swear, every patient she touches dies. So she does virtually no doctoring on the show…she just stands in the hallways and whines. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/94 "2009-08-04T22:07:08Z")
The **Vorlons & Shadows** from Babylon 5. They were supposed to take care of and guide the younger civilizations and at the end started to destroy what their duty was to protect. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/95 "2009-08-05T00:27:04Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Frink, at least, screws things up all the time, with stupid excuses for a “scientist” like “I forgot to carry the one.” (When calculating when the robots would attack.) He invents things like the Monsterometer, Frog Exaggerator and computers that get larger, less powerful and more expensive over time. Frink is not so good with the scientisting and the inventing and the glayven. He managed to fabricate one of [these](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nlB2iavXqvs/R1LIVR6vW3I/AAAAAAAABfU/IMi4ostDAmc/s1600-R/3D+Fork+Illusion.JPG), no mean feat. Lisa was a fool not to buy it; it was going for a song. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/96 "2009-08-05T02:17:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Actually, pretty much everyone on WKRP was incompetent except for Jennifer and Bailey. I guess Venus Flytrap showed no onscreen evidence of incompetence, but DJ’ing wasn’t really his background, either. That’s not really true. In the pilot, Venus was represented as a star DJ in Andy Travis’s past as a star station manager; it was only a much later episode (near the end of the show) that revealed that he was a teacher before WKRP and that he and Andy invented the Venus persona. In the 2nd season episode “Baby, If You’ve Ever Wondered,” Andy worries that he’s lost his touch, and Venus reminds him that he’s gotten too fond of the staff to fire them. Andy then tells Venus that at least he did one thing right: “I hired you.” Venus replies, “Yeah, but that was when you were still perfect.” So it’s true that Venus wasn’t a DJ before, but no one knows that for almost all of the show’s run. The only truly incompetent people on the show were Herb, Les, and Mr. Carlson. And none of that’s relevant to the OP, because comically incompetent characters are explicitly excluded. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/97 "2009-08-05T02:30:36Z")
What??! No one’s mentioned Barney Fife, the bumbling deputy of Mayberry! Don Knotts won five Emmys for playing Barney on \*The Andy Griffith Show. \*A lot of episodes involved Barney screwing up and Andy covering up for him and making Barney look good. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/98 "2009-08-05T02:37:38Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > … Henry Blake in both the movie and TV versions of M_A_S\*H. To be fair, Blake never wanted the job and was smart enough to stay out of the other surgeons’ way in the OR, let Houlihan manage the nurses, and let Radar do all the paperwork. … Henry Blake was the paragon of managers! I am blessed to have a bunch of managers like this where I work. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/99 "2009-08-05T02:54:43Z")
E. B. Farnum was a pretty ineffectual innkeeper/mayor…even for Deadwood. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112/100 "2009-08-05T03:17:28Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > That’s not really true. In the pilot, Venus was represented as a star DJ in Andy Travis’s past as a star station manager; it was only a much later episode (near the end of the show) that revealed that he was a teacher before WKRP and that he and Andy invented the Venus persona. > > In the 2nd season episode “Baby, If You’ve Ever Wondered,” Andy worries that he’s lost his touch, and Venus reminds him that he’s gotten too fond of the staff to fire them. Andy then tells Venus that at least he did one thing right: “I hired you.” Venus replies, “Yeah, but that was when you were still perfect.” > > So it’s true that Venus wasn’t a DJ before, but no one knows that for almost all of the show’s run. The only truly incompetent people on the show were Herb, Les, and Mr. Carlson. And none of that’s relevant to the OP, because comically incompetent characters are explicitly excluded. Venus had a small radio show in Louisiana, which is how Travis first met him. Granted, Venus had a ton of jobs before he came to WKRP, (truck driver for the Army, school teacher, Texas league ballplayer) but he was a dj. SSG Schwartz [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-are-incompetent-at-their-jobs/505112.md?page=6)