Werner Klemperer only agreed to play Col. Klink on the condition that his character never showed a shred of competence.
What about Beavis? Butthead is the brains of the pair, often setting the strategy for them, which isn’t saying much. Beavis seems utterly worthless, but then has his own moments of clarity, with the whole “Fire! Fire!” thing, and Cornolio.
I came in to enter Jack. “Son of a bitch must pay” and so forth.
And I would have submitted Hi as my also-ran.
Yes! Mister Milquetoast. I discovered him in my high school library (of all places) in 1966, never would have thought of him for this thread. If I remember correctly the only time he ever stood up for himself was when he refused to use a particular salad dressing. Russian something?
You’re nuts if you think Phil Dunphy is a loser. He’s a successful real estate agent, has a gorgeous & intelligent wife who is crazy about him, has 3 kids who he loves and who love him. No one in his family has any major problems (at least until the older daughter gets pregnant). At best, he’s somewhat clueless and goes his own way in life. But if he’s a loser, I’d be happy to be a loser as well.
Jerry Lundegaard.
Fargo was certainly not the only film in which WHM portrayed a hapless loser.
So true, my friend!
Good to see you again.
Bill Dauterive.
I’d class him with Darryl from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, who by all indications has a successful career and a nice house but still comes across as hopelessly loser-ish.
And he also is misplaced, lost, clueless, his wife makes fun of him all the time, and he’s a bumbling bonehead.
He is all that and also what you say. Phil is a lovable loser.
It’s like saying Frank Burns is a Major in the US Army, one step down from Lieutenant Colonel and two steps down from full bird Colonel. He is no longer a company grade officer, he is a field grade officer.
And he’s a loser.
That makes him a lovable goofball, not a lovable loser.
To you, maybe. Not to me.
Phil Dunphy may or may not be a loser - personally, I think he’s more of a dork - but he certainly isn’t hapless. He’s a generally happy person with a good life.
Another favorite was Otis Campbell (Hal Smith), the town drunk from The Andy Griffith Show. Though typically a happy drunk, and didn’t mind being arrested so he could sleep it off in peace, he’s still considered a loser.
He certainly is hapless. He is unlucky, ill-fated, and cursed. That’s hapless.
What about Paulie Pennino from the Rocky franchise? While he has a job in the beginning, he certainly glommed onto Rocky when he found success. He never did anything worthwhile did he?
Please post examples of him being unlucky, or ill-fated, or cursed. He has a loving, caring, & healthy family, a job he loves which supports a pretty high end lifestyle, and is happy almost all the time we see him. Sure, his FIL is a pain in his ass, and he has a nemesis in Gil Thorpe, but that hardly makes him a loser. He’s certainly a goofball, but any definition of “loser” that includes him would have to include 90% of the population.
I think of Phil as hapless, but I wouldn’t mind having his life. You can measure haplessness in isolated events but still have a hapful life overall.
Haplessness was rampant in Mayberry, Barney Fife, Gomer and Goober Pyle, Ernest T. Bass, and Howard Sprague were totally hapless characters. Even though Floyd seemed to be a successful barber he was still pretty hapless. And every one of the crooks was hapless, some of them even got caught by Barney or Goober.
The Washington Nationals.
Stewart has them both beat. He wants to be Beavis and Butt-head’s friend, but even they think Stewart is too much of a loser to hang out with. He even goes so far as to donate a kidney to Beavis to try to win their friendship.
Is it my job to convince you?
No, it’s not.