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Superfluous characters in good comedies

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    Superfluous characters in good comedies

    I've just been watching a bit of a recent "Red Dwarf" on Dave (first time I've seen it in years) and it reminded me how much I enjoyed the first couple of series back in the day, but also how much the "Cat" character annoyed so much. I just found his whole shtick totally unfunny, and still do. I always used to wonder what his function was. He added nothing!

    The character of Mike in "The Young Ones" is another one. What on earth was his purpose?

    #2
    Mike was supposed to be played by Nigel Planers comedy partner Peter Richardson but he fell out with everyone. He had also long been working with Mayall and Edmonson. So I think the character was originally supposed to be much more prominent in the whole thing, but ended up as an underwritten, superfluous mess.

    I reckon Cat was just a decent one-off evolution joke that got away from them.

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      #3
      Mike makes the housemates into a nuclear family, around which the trad sitcom can be structured. Neil’s the mum, he’s the dad.

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        #4
        Racking my brains for sitcoms, Bertorelli in 'Allo 'Allo was utterly pointless. And in Hi-De-Hi, there was a posh couple who seemed to get an end of show credit but never actually seemed to do anything.

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          #5
          American sitcoms have a painful tradition of ethnic-yucks characters: Fez from That '70s Show and Raj from The Big Bang Theory spring to mind. Both are more poorly developed than virtually everyone else on the show, relying on whacky accents and 'fish out of water' gags.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Furtho View Post
            Mike makes the housemates into a nuclear family, around which the trad sitcom can be structured. Neil’s the mum, he’s the dad.
            With Viv as the son and Rick the daughter.

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              #7
              I liked Cat when he got morphed into Duane Dibbley.

              Phoebe was the most dispensable Friend and the character I found least likeable.

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                #8
                Fuckin Ross man. Not that keen on Monica either.

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                  #9
                  Seconded. Loved Phoebe / Ursula.

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                    #10
                    I'll tell you the superfluous character in Friends: the bloody monkey.

                    Ross was just needy and annoying.

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                      #11
                      Fawlty Towers could have gone on without Connie Booth's character. (Although I didn't like it much, she seemed to only be in it because she wrote it.)

                      M.A.S.H. could have done without Klinger* and Fr. Mulcahy.

                      *The 'dressing up as a woman, to pretend to be crazy' wouldn't work today, and on repeat viewing actually grates.
                      Last edited by Gerontophile; 27-10-2017, 04:43.

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                        #12
                        Yes, Phoebe was really the only likeable character in Friends. Likewise Raj in the Big Bang Theory. Being a likeable character does not of course necessarily mean that they are not superfluous, but both of those shows would have been pretty much intolerable without them, so I think it probably does make them indispensible. Cat was worth having in Red Dwarf if only for that episode (by far the best episode that the show ever had) when they worked out how he evolved.

                        Fawlty Towers could have gone on without Connie Booth's character. (Although I didn't like it much, she seemed to only be in it because she wrote it.)
                        That and being married to John Cleese

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                          #13
                          Rob Lowe's character in Parks and Recreation. So superfluous that I can't even tell you what the character was called.

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                            #14
                            Ross is actually the most likable character: he's a sincere type -- neurotic and whiny and sometimes pompous and annoying, yes, but a genuinely nice guy. David Schwimmer was capable of producing believable dramatic moments and portray vulnerability in ways most of his co-stars could not; after all, he was a serious actor before Friends . And Schwimmer's comic timing was exquisite, especially his physical comedy, be it running into head-high washing-machine doors and doing that compellingly bizarre dance in Naked Guy's apartment, or the Unagi thing he did or the general awkwardness.

                            Polly in Fawlty Towers was necessary to play the straight-(wo)man role. Comedy needs those as well. Whether Booth was the best casting choice is another question (I think he was OK), but her character is the difference between the Fawlty Towers we know, and unmoderated zany madcappery which might or might not have worked.

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                              #15
                              Nah. Schwimmer might have played Ross well, but he's a deeply annoying character.

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                                #16
                                Any characters in Bottom that aren't Richie or Eddie. With those two going at it, you simply don't need anyone else.

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                                  #17
                                  Another possible controversial one here: Roz in Frasier. I liked her but she wasn't integral.

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                                    #18
                                    Yes, Phoebe was really the only likeable character in Friends. Likewise Raj in the Big Bang Theory. Being a likeable character does not of course necessarily mean that they are not superfluous, but both of those shows would have been pretty much intolerable without them, so I think it probably does make them indispensible
                                    I think they're pretty much intolerable anyway, so...

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                                      #19
                                      Brian in Spaced. Though that may be coloured by me not liking Mark Heap (or rather, that style of character) all that much.

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                                        #20
                                        Though that may be coloured by me not liking Mark Heap (or rather, that style of character) all that much.
                                        Not even Mr Lizard? Also his character in Green Wing is fantastic.

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                                          #21
                                          I despise Green Wing. I made it through ten minutes of pretentiously quirky Footlights bullshit before giving up.

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                                            #22
                                            All the characters in 'Friends' were annoying to some degree, I always thought that was the point.

                                            Mind you, I wasn't a regular viewer, so maybe I just watched the wrong episodes, or something.

                                            As for superfluous characters in (dark) comedies, I'm still trying to workout the point of the Stasi interrogation scene in the first episode of the last series of 'Fargo'.

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                                              #23
                                              The bloke who did nothing but eat in "It 'Ain't Half Hot, Mum".

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                                                #24
                                                Alexi Sayle was superfluous in The Young Ones wasn't he? But the really superfluous character had to be the fifth flatmate. An unknown and uncredited woman in the first series who just sat in the corner with her hair over her face.

                                                See https://boingboing.net/2016/06/20/th...very-stra.html
                                                and:
                                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4rOtou_Zns

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by 3 Colours Red View Post
                                                  Any characters in Bottom that aren't Richie or Eddie. With those two going at it, you simply don't need anyone else.
                                                  Although I don't think any of the other characters were interesting in themselves, you needed other people for them to play off of sometimes. Every episode with just Eddie and Richie arguing would've denied us episodes like the quiz, the Christmas nativity, the hotel prize etc.

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