# TV characters whose life is a fantasy camp. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140 "2010-08-04T13:38:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/21 "2010-08-06T16:40:45Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > > > I asked my son who watches the show where they get all their money and he replied that Spencers art work sells really well and their dad sends them money. That being said he did admit he didn’t think it would work in “real life”. > > I asked my daughter where their parents were and she had no idea. Even in an episode where their Grandad considers taking Carly away to live in some backwater, the parents are never mentioned. Perhaps they’re dead and both kids got a big inheritance. > > Of course, not having parents is a fantasy world in itself. Not that most kids would actually want their own parents dead, but there’s a lot of mileage in the fantasy of being parent-free. Yeah, their mom is never, ever mentioned. We don’t know if she’s dead or abandoned them or what. The dad is a naval submarine person, maybe the captain or something. I can’t remember, but he is mentioned from time to time, (but not in the episode you cited). Ok, I admit it, I watch the show too, not just my kid. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/22 "2010-08-07T01:22:15Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@Shagnasty](#): > > > > Spencer is a dork though and doesn’t appreciate anything he has. Even the girl scouts pick on him and his idol made-fun of his sculptures and then faked it to make him feel better. Carly’s life does sound like a fantasy. Things only go slightly wrong for her and it is only for part of an episode when it does. There is something sinister about that show however. One parent is completely MIA in the proud tradition of other fucked up shows like the Brady Bunch and Andy Griffith. > > Despite my boundless contempt for the Brady Bunch, I don’t think that’s quite fair. Certainly it’s not fair for Andy Griffith; it’s explicit that Andy is a widower. Mike Brady is too, and of course Carol’s first husband would surely have come home had he not been trapped on that island with the two hot chicks and their friends. Don’t screw with me when it comes to the Brady Bunch. I know every episode inside and out and as well as the subtext involved. I only used them as an example but you obviously have problems with them so throw down the gloves and show me the cards. Andy Griffith is much the same. I have written about the Andy Griffith show and its subversive elements even here. I am sorry I even brought them up as a comparison to iCarly. My point was that the missing parent syndrome started early on in TV shows until it climaxed into complete sociopathy which is what the current generation feasts on today. That explains a lot. iCarly has some serious problems that go unacknowledged in the show. She leads a double life for one thing as well as some of the other characters. Carly pimps herself out on other shows like Drake and Josh as an evil little sister and no explanation is ever given. Things are not as they seem in Nick-land and I do not approve. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/23 "2010-08-08T14:08:38Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > Despite my boundless contempt for the Brady Bunch, I don’t think that’s quite fair. Certainly it’s not fair for Andy Griffith; it’s explicit that Andy is a widower. Mike Brady is too, and of course Carol’s first husband would surely have come home had he not been trapped on that island with the two hot chicks and their friends. > > Don’t screw with me when it comes to the Brady Bunch. I know every episode inside and out and as well as the subtext involved. I only used them as an example but you obviously have problems with them so throw down the gloves and show me the cards. Andy Griffith is much the same. I have written about the Andy Griffith show and its subversive elements even here. I am sorry I even brought them up as a comparison to iCarly. 😕 I’m going to say something profoundly unRhymerish here. Dude–cut down on the coffee. > [@](#): > > My point was that the missing parent syndrome started early on in TV shows until it climaxed into complete sociopathy which is what the current generation feasts on today. That explains a lot. As my great-grandmother said right before they hanged her for sedition, bullshit. There are no mysteriously missing parents in the Brady Bunch, because the absence of the parents is explained in the first few episodes. Mike’s a widower, Carol’s a divorcee. The fact that the kids & parents and siblings so swiftly grow to consider themselves a single family is certainly unrealistic, but the show still presents an intact nuclear family unit. > [@](#): > > iCarly has some serious problems that go unacknowledged in the show. She leads a double life for one thing as well as some of the other characters. Carly pimps herself out on other shows like Drake and Josh as an evil little sister and no explanation is ever given. Things are not as they seem in Nick-land and I do not approve. Seriously, dude, no coffee for you. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/24 "2010-08-08T14:34:42Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > > > I asked my son who watches the show where they get all their money and he replied that Spencers art work sells really well and their dad sends them money. That being said he did admit he didn’t think it would work in “real life”. > > I asked my daughter where their parents were and she had no idea. Even in an episode where their Grandad considers taking Carly away to live in some backwater, the parents are never mentioned. Perhaps they’re dead and both kids got a big inheritance. > > Of course, not having parents is a fantasy world in itself. Not that most kids would actually want their own parents dead, but there’s a lot of mileage in the fantasy of being parent-free. Mom is dead and Dad is ‘permanently’ serving an a Navy submarine. It was briefly mentioned in that episode. Some of the lifestyle may have been funded by life insurance/ lawsuit settlement from Mom’s death. Why, yes. My daughter has made me watch that show too much. Why do you ask?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/25 "2010-08-08T15:11:48Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Why, yes. My daughter has made me watch that show too much. Why do you ask?🙂 I kinda like the show on my own behalf. It’s kind of sweet in its own way, and they get a LOT of crap past the censor’s radar (see [here](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Radar/Ptitle61iywy45)). And I have sort of a totally inappropriate crush on Sam. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/26 "2010-08-09T04:54:55Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > … > > SpongeBob Squarepants may be a better choice. Things go wrong all the time but he doesn’t have parents either and he is a stoner and everything makes him happy. … SpongeBob has parents and a grandmother as well. Admittedly it’s slightly puzzling as to why his parents are natural sponges while he seems to be a dish sponge. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/27 "2010-08-09T05:23:23Z")
I admit I watch iCarly and Spongebob and don’t have children to use as an excuse. The fantasy camp escapist element is precisely the reason I watch. I wish I could be as giddily happy over a crappy dead-end job as Spongebob. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/28 "2010-08-09T05:33:11Z")
My kids watch both those shows, so I’ve seen them a lot. That SpongeBob can appeal to adults is well known, but I find that _iCarly_ is often much better than it has any need to be. It has some suprisingly absurdist and self-winking material in it sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/29 "2010-08-09T06:28:07Z")
Sam Tyler ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/30 "2010-08-09T09:22:14Z")
Jack Tripper of “Threes Company” be unemployed, barely able to scrape up your rent, have a gut and yet no woman can get within 100 feet of him without sexually harassing him. I think on almost all TV shows, money is played down. TV characters always seem to have an endless supply or a way of coming up with it (gambling etc). Even “Good Times,” that was supposed to be in a ghetto. Are you kidding? There flat was 10 times nicer than mine and the whole thing was just way too cleaned up to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/31 "2010-08-09T13:33:38Z")
Nobody has mentioned the “Friends” yet. These struggling 20-somethings have huge apartments, and the tye of jobs that let them sit around all day at a fancy coffeeshop. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/32 "2010-08-09T14:19:04Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > And I have sort of a totally inappropriate crush on Sam. :eek: You and me both. Sam makes many references to her mother, which indicate that her home life is… less than ideal. And Freddy’s mom is a character who shows up on a pretty regular basis. She’s overbearing and psychotically over-protective. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/33 "2010-08-09T14:58:16Z")
Kelsey Grammar himself use to wonder how Fraiser lived the way he did, considering his only income was a weekly radio show. He speculated that Fraiser must have bought many shares of Microsoft stock when it first was tarded. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/34 "2010-08-09T15:12:45Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > > > And I have sort of a totally inappropriate crush on Sam. :eek: > > You and me both. > > Sam makes many references to her mother, which indicate that her home life is… less than ideal. > > And Freddy’s mom is a character who shows up on a pretty regular basis. She’s overbearing and psychotically over-protective. Sam is my favorite character! She does have a rough home life. I think her mom is currently out on parole or on probation. I get the feeling she’s a hooker, but I don’t think they’ve ever said. Sam’s sister is in juvie for shoplifting. It comes up from time to time how Sam is the best of the bunch. I love that she used to do beauty pageants, but got kicked out. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/35 "2010-08-09T15:18:59Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Kelsey Grammar himself use to wonder how Fraiser lived the way he did, considering his only income was a weekly radio show. He speculated that Fraiser must have bought many shares of Microsoft stock when it first was tarded. Well, he was a successful psychiatrist before too, but I guess he does have a very expensive lifestyle. > [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > > [@Tristan](#): > > > > You and me both. > > > > Sam makes many references to her mother, which indicate that her home life is… less than ideal. > > > > And Freddy’s mom is a character who shows up on a pretty regular basis. She’s overbearing and psychotically over-protective. > > Sam is my favorite character! She does have a rough home life. I think her mom is currently out on parole or on probation. I get the feeling she’s a hooker, but I don’t think they’ve ever said. Sam’s sister is in juvie for shoplifting. It comes up from time to time how Sam is the best of the bunch. I love that she used to do beauty pageants, but got kicked out. My 12-year-old daughter loves Sam and sees her as kind of a role model. :smack: I think the only likeable adult in the entire show is the Principal. I wouldn’t count Spencer as exactly an adult, and all the others are freakshows. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/36 "2010-08-09T15:32:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Nobody has mentioned the “Friends” yet. These struggling 20-somethings have huge apartments, and the tye of jobs that let them sit around all day at a fancy coffeeshop. That’s because all of the Friends had well-paying jobs or explanations for why they were able to live the way they did. Chandler was a high-paid executive, which easily covered most of Joey’s expenses as well. Monica and Rachael lived in a rent-controlled apartment. Ross was a highly-paid and well-respected research scientist. And Phoebe lived in a less pricey area (and later with her grandmother, also in a rent-controlled apartment). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/37 "2010-08-09T15:32:47Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Kelsey Grammar himself use to wonder how Fraiser lived the way he did, considering his only income was a weekly radio show. He speculated that Fraiser must have bought many shares of Microsoft stock when it first was tarded. …that’d be when Ballmer took over, then? Man, amazing how that man can make Gates look like a charismatic man of the people. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/38 "2010-08-09T15:34:54Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Kelsey Grammar himself use to wonder how Fraiser lived the way he did, considering his only income was a weekly radio show. He speculated that Fraiser must have bought many shares of Microsoft stock when it first was tarded. I always took it that Martin’s wife came from money and both Niles & Frasier had nice trust funds. I don’t think either of them had to work (though Niles was not as well off as Maris). ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/39 "2010-08-09T17:39:10Z")
Peg Bundy and Jefferson D’Arcy led an idyllic life (sort of) on Married w/ Children. Peg didn’t work, never cleaned house, never cooked, never did anything. However she was terminally horny. I never understood how the house stay so clean. Jefferson was Marcy’s boy toy. Blanche on Golden Girls lived a fantasy life too. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140/40 "2010-08-09T21:03:46Z")
[quote=“Justin\_Bailey, post:36, topic:549140”] > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > …Ross was a highly-paid and well-respected research scientist. HA! I say! Ross was a professor of paleontology, and based on his age he would have been Assistant or (maybe) Associate professor. In no way would he be “highly paid”, especially in New York. As I recall, didn’t he date his students (I haven’t watched the show in years)? He would probably have been fired. Fantasy camp - I like it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-life-is-a-fantasy-camp/549140.md?page=3)