Years ago, I had rented a DVD set from the local library of some 50s variety show (could have been 40s or early 60s, I guess). One of the characters in the show was exactly like Milton from Office Space – mumbly voice, thick glasses, the works.
It might have been the Jack Benny show, but it also might not have been. Any idea?
Milton used to exist in cartoon form on SNL.
No, it was definitely not animated.
(ninjaed by Biffster)
Mike Judge based Office Space on a series of animated shorts he did, about Milton, which aired on SNL and on MTV’s Liquid Television, in the early 1990s (i.e., before his big break with Beavis and Butt-Head). The Milton character in the shorts was also voiced by Stephen Root, who played the character in the movie.
Judge says that his inspiration for Milton was a co-worker he had at an office job in Silicon Valley in the the 1980s. As per Wikipedia:
Now, whether Judge was also inspired (consciously or not) by a nerdy character on an older TV show is another question.
Wrong link earlier. Good explanation Kenobi; you’re my only hope.
“I asked for no salt. No Salt!”
The “sad sack” is a perennial character going back decades if not centuries.
Are you possibly thinking of Ernie Kovacs as Percy Dovetonsils?
That’s it! Thanks!
I wouldn’t have ever thought of Percy Dovetonsils as an inspiration for Milton, as Percy was more of an effete highbrow poet, rather than a sad-sack/nebbish. But, I hadn’t seen/listened to a Percy Dovetonsils skit for years, until I followed @Shoeless’s link, and I do hear a similarity in the voice.
Yes, very similar, plus the lisp, plus the glasses.
Percy Dovetonsils as a personality is far, far removed from Milton. I don’t see him as an inspiration for the Mike Judge character at all.
Plus Judge has never mentioned such.
No, but I think was an inspiration for Stephen Root’s portrayal of Milton. Just the mannerisms and way of speaking.
Yeah, when I suggested Percy Dovetonsils I wasn’t thinking so much as an inspiration for Milton, but more as a response to the OP’s question about a character from a 50s/60s TV variety show with thick glasses, talked funny, etc. There’s a similarity but I think it’s probably more coincidence than anything else.