# TV characters who have a drug problem but....no one cares **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 8, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034 "2021-01-08T13:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/41 "2021-01-08T18:15:40Z")
That makes me think…has any show featured someone getting a DUI who _didn’t_ have a drinking problem? Who wasn’t even drunk, but just happened to blow over the limit. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/42 "2021-01-08T18:20:44Z")
Roy in The Office wasn’t portrayed as drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/43 "2021-01-08T18:32:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Frank will take just about any drug, and Dee and Dennis got addicted to crack. The whole crew at the bar including Mac are alcoholics, as well as Bill Ponderosa and The Waitress. Bill doesn’t seem averse to any other drugs either. And Cricket will do anything for a hit of anything. I was going to bring up Frank, but yes, Bill Poderosa seems the ultimate one, though while in AA, Frank is his sponsor which largely just involves Frank giving him permission to do everything and anything, along with Frank sometimes too. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/44 "2021-01-08T18:35:53Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > On _Cobra Kai_ Johnny is usually shown with a Coors Banquet in his hand. It’s mentioned once or twice early on that he drinks a lot, but nobody seems to care after that. > > The show is also full of consequence free drunk driving by both Johnny and Daniel. At least through season 2. Johnny’s life is clearly a mess and doesn’t his car get totaled due to drunk driving in season 1? And I can’t remember Daniel driving drunk at all ---
**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:** [January 8, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/45 "2021-01-08T18:44:30Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > And I can’t remember Daniel driving drunk at all There are quite a few dinner and country club scenes where he drinks, and then drives home. He might not be visibly drunk, but you don’t have to be to blow over the limit. But then, I’ve noticed this in other shows as well. I think Hollywood in general has a bad idea about how much it takes to have problems. They routinely have people chug whole bottles of booze and still be functional. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/46 "2021-01-08T18:56:00Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Wow, I guess I didn’t watch the later seasons very carefully. Or my memory is not what it used to be. That happened in episode 45, the season 3 opener. It’s early on in the series. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/47 "2021-01-08T18:58:30Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > That makes me think…has any show featured someone getting a DUI who _didn’t_ have a drinking problem? Who wasn’t even drunk, but just happened to blow over the limit. Happened to Ned Flanders in a 1994 “Simpsons” episode: > NED: I told you, Officer, I’m not “hepped up on goofballs”! > CHIEF WIGGUM: [_bored_] Yeah, right. > [_a church tour bus drives by_] > REVEREND LOVEJOY: Ned Flanders! I never would have imagined. > [NED _feels weak with shame, then faints_] > WIGGUM: High as a kite, everybody! Goofballs! [_forces him into the back of the police car_] Yeah, where’s your Messiah now, Flanders? ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/48 "2021-01-08T19:31:47Z")
Johnny’s life is a mess, and in the beginning the show suggests that the drinking is part of it, but then even when he gets things together, he still drinks constantly. Very minor spoilers, if you’re watching for the cars: The Firebird gets smashed up when the girls hit it in one of the very first episodes. I don’t remember if the driver was supposed to be drunk, or just a bad driver. The Firebird is finally burned up by the guy from the car dealer and his friends. Yeah, Daniel isn’t really shown to be an alcoholic in the constantly-drinking sense, but as @Horatius says, Daniel does have many drinks at the club and at restaurants, and then drives home. I think it is that kind of Hollywood thing, of showing somebody having four or five drinks, but they still seem sober. Four drinks in two hours can easily get a 170 pound man well into DUI territory. The person will probably also be noticeably drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/49 "2021-01-08T19:38:08Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > There are quite a few dinner and country club scenes where he drinks, and then drives home. He might not be visibly drunk, but you don’t have to be to blow over the limit. We’ve seen him have a glass of wine or a bottle of beer at a country club and drive afterwards, but with cuts and scene changes it’s hard to tell how long he spends there. But if he drank that much over an hour or two I highly doubt he’d be over the legal limit. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/50 "2021-01-08T19:40:47Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > Very minor spoilers, if you’re watching for the cars: > The Firebird gets smashed up when the girls hit it in one of the very first episodes. I don’t remember if the driver was supposed to be drunk, or just a bad driver. The Firebird is finally burned up by the guy from the car dealer and his friends. Now that you’re reminding me of the scene it’s coming back to me – yeah it’s Sam’s friend who she swears wasn’t drinking but was driving really fast - but IIRC Johnny backs up by slamming the gas in reverse which he does due to being angry and drunk, so I’d put at least some of the blame on him! But yeah Johnny does have Movie Drunkard Luck ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/51 "2021-01-08T19:41:29Z")
Jim from Taxi. Probably more of a result of a drug problem rather than an ongoing problem. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/52 "2021-01-08T20:07:38Z")
Queer as Folk, USA version. Brian in particular. Ted is definitely a different story, but he’s one of my least favorite characters ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/53 "2021-01-08T20:15:10Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Jim from Taxi. Probably more of a result of a drug problem rather than an ongoing problem. My impression was that Jim was not continuing to use drugs. Instead we were seeing the result of someone who had used drugs to excess previously. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/54 "2021-01-08T20:41:45Z")
Johnny Fever on WKRP was a heavy drinker. In one episode he even demonstrates that his coordination improves as he drinks. We are supposed to assume that he uses other drugs but I’m not sure if they actually say that directly.\ ETA: I think there’s an episode where Johnny leaves some brownies around the office and Mr. Carlson eats one by accident and gets high. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/55 "2021-01-08T20:51:54Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > It’s kind of debatable whether or not **Dr. Johnny Fever** still had much of a problem but there’s no doubt at all the he’d been up and down and back again on anything and everything in every possible combination for decades. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Johnny Fever on WKRP was a heavy drinker. In one episode he even demonstrates that his coordination improves as he drinks. I was just about to mention that: he no longer has a drinking problem, a drinking problem has him! > [@TriPolar](#): > > ETA: I think there’s an episode where Johnny leaves some brownies around the office and Mr. Carlson eats one by accident and gets high. That’s the “Wonderful Life” episode, at the end of which it’s revealed that there wasn’t anything special in the brownies but Mr. Carlson thought there was. Whatever Johnny was on or not on, he objected to heavy drugs. Like the payola cocaine. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/56 "2021-01-08T20:56:17Z")
On Just Shoot Me! Nina Van Horn is an alcoholic and does drugs. I’ve watched about half of the episodes and nobody seems to care yet. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/57 "2021-01-08T20:57:41Z")
Has anybody on _The Simpsons_ ever staged an intervention for Otto Mann? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/58 "2021-01-08T20:58:31Z")
I haven’t watched Homer & co. in a long time but ISTR Otto getting clean once. Everyone preferred him the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/59 "2021-01-08T21:07:02Z")
There are a bunch of those guys on _Deadliest Catch_ that, when not on the boat, are Methed right out of their minds. But as long as they can haul them pots, nobody seems to care, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![GreaterZamboni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GreaterZamboni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreaterZamboni)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034/60 "2021-01-09T02:09:50Z")
Olivia Pope on “Scandal” proudly subsisted on wine and popcorn, and it did not bother any of her employees, friends, parents or lovers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-have-a-drug-problem-but-no-one-cares/930034.md?page=4)