TV Characters that went from kind of dumb

[Madmartigan21 0]

Anybody else ever wonder why that happens on sitcoms sometimes.

 

Examples:

 

Kelly Bundy the first couple of seasons was actually portrayed as being reasonably intelligent. She may not have been an A student, but she certainly wasn't the space cadet that she is mostly remembered as.

 

Similarly, Joey from Friends and Homer Simpson underwent inexplicable changes to the point that the things that would come out of their mouths were like retards or head-injury victims.

 

Mark from Roseanne is another example.

 

I'm sure others can come up with many more. I just never understood why some dummies become not much more than water heads. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[Richard 0]

It's not just stupidity. Any trait a character may have, can be exaggerated as a work progresses. The factors include a change in writers, and underestimating audience comprehension. Here is a list of examples.

[Chazz 0]

Vint from "Momma's Family" hands down. When the series started, he was a resonably intelligent adult man. In the few years before the show ended it's run, he had the brain of a 7 year old child.

[Black Lushus 0]

That list hit the two I was thinking of:

 

Eric from Boy Meets World

Chelsea from That's So Raven

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Sam Malone seemed to get dumber as the series "Cheers" progressed.

 

Not kind of dumb to monumentally stupid...but just street smart to kinda dumb.

[Ravenbomb 0]

Eric from Boy Meets World

 

Best example I could think of. He wasn't even that dumb at the beginning from what I remember, and near the end he was one dimension short of being a cartoon character.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm finding the opposite to happen with Jake from Two-And-A-Half Men

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Xander in Buffy The Vampire Slayer...

 

Reasonably intelligent and a goofily comic nerd guy from Seasons 1 - 5 but from Season 6 on, he went from that to more serious guy to Season 7 where his character got assassinated into Joe Schmo who evidently despised Andrew (Who was more Xander than f'n Xander!) and his geekdom.

 

Spike - Name says it all really. Smart, creepy, and just cool but got transitioned into a comedic foil in Season 4 (which did work although his evilness got toned down quite a bit) through Season 5 until he became Angel Version 2 during Season 6 and especially Season 7. Ironically, he went to Angel Season 5 and returned to his S4/S5 mode, which makes the final two seasons of Buffy even more frustrating. Although he never really returned to his evilness from S2, which was a true shame.

[mfn 0]

I'm finding the opposite to happen with Jake from Two-And-A-Half Men

 

absolutely. he's half the reason i watch that show.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm finding the opposite to happen with Jake from Two-And-A-Half Men

 

absolutely. he's half the reason i watch that show.

 

Was that on purpose? I assume you were playing off the fact Jake is the "half" in the title? Or is Charlie Sheen meant to be the "half"? I'm not so sure.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm finding the opposite to happen with Jake from Two-And-A-Half Men

 

absolutely. he's half the reason i watch that show.

 

He probably is the funniest character, yeah. But I don't find him as dumb now as he was during the first few seasons; he's more of a jerk than dumb now.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Peter Griffin yet. The guy went from being a joe six pack type who wasn't that bright, to being legally retarded.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Peter Griffin yet. The guy went from being a joe six pack type who wasn't that bright, to being legally retarded.

 

I thought he wasn't REALLY retarded, but just very... open about what he says/does, that it doesn't mesh with what psychologists would consider "normal". In fact, it seems to me that Peter is just a fun-loving anarchist in a way.

[haws bah gawd 0]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Peter Griffin yet. The guy went from being a joe six pack type who wasn't that bright, to being legally retarded.

 

I thought he wasn't REALLY retarded, but just very... open about what he says/does, that it doesn't mesh with what psychologists would consider "normal". In fact, it seems to me that Peter is just a fun-loving anarchist in a way.

 

I dunno. Theres been a few instances on Family Guy where Peter has actually been shown to be borderline legally-retarded. An example would be the episode where they're all sitting around the table playing Trivial Pursuit, and Lois has to give Peter the preschool-version questions. He even struggled with the question she gave him.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

A legally retarded person couldn't succeed in life as well as Peter can. He's just really dumb. Like hideously dumb. But legally retarded? I don't think so really.

 

[edit] Well let me correct myself. He is legally retarded because in canon, he is outed as such. But personally, I don't think he fits the real definition of it.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

In fact, I remember when Peter found out he was "retarded" he exploited the label to its fullest. That shows an advanced mindset who just happens to be really dumb.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

IIRC, the doctor who gave him the test said he was just over the line. So he's not a helmet, and he's a little bit smarter than Forrest Gump, but he's pretty below average in terms of actual intelligence.

 

Another good example is Randy Marsh. I don't even think he was outed as Stan's father until the second season or so, because in his first appearance he's just a geologist when the volcano erupts and Scuzzibut appears, and I don't remember him much from the first season at all. But he went from the stereotypical mid-westerner - AKA Joe Six-Pack - to a full-on retard, while all of the boys got much smarter than they really have any right to be at the age of 9.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Family Guy's about the last show that lends itself to terms like "canon" and "character development" so I wouldn't worry about continuity or anything.

 

The Gang from It's Always Sunny started out as kinda stupid/misunderstood and have evolved into the worst people alive. Plus I don't think Charlie's illiteracy was played up until season two.

[Timmy8271 0]

Homer Simpson without a doubt. He started of stupid but has really got stupid for about 6 years now.

 

Urkel from Family Matters.

[NoCalMike 0]

I don't even think Homer was that stupid in Season 1. He was more of the over-bearing overreacting dad. Then he evolved into an uber-idiot.

[Nighthawk 0]

Urkel from Family Matters.

 

Hm? Perhaps socially and culturally stupid, but in fact something of the reverse happened as far as his intelligence. He began as a nerdy overachiever... ended up inventing time machines, teleporters, clones, etc.

[Slayer 0]

Not quite the same as a character intelligence devolution, but as long as we're talking about the show, what about Meg Griffin? In the original series run she had a fair amount of dignity, and even had some strong character moments, but in Neo-Family Guy she's suddenly become the resident punching bag, and is apparently so ugly/undesirable that people would rather commit heinous acts to avoid going out with, talking to or even looking at her

[The Truthiness 0]

Samoa Joe

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

You know, it's not just intelligence. Whenever a certain attribute start getting noticed by the fanbase or beyond, the creators usually key those attributes up by 10, to make them more marketable. If Homer being a dummy sells, then he becomes a flat out retard. If Meg Griffin being ugly is funny, then she'd be the most undesirable girl in the entire world. It's classic Hollywood. Yes I'm aware this did not need explaining, but fuck it. I'm just saying that there has been many different variety of keyed up attributes to make a character more marketable.

[Black Lushus 0]

I don't watch Family Guy near enough to even begin to understand it's characters, but I always thought Meg was not meant to be seen as flat out ugly and unwanted but more like that chunky girl that's just cute enough to throw one in, but not cute enough that you'd want your boys to see you hanging out with?

[Maztinho 0]

I don't watch Family Guy near enough to even begin to understand it's characters, but I always thought Meg was not meant to be seen as flat out ugly and unwanted but more like that chunky girl that's just cute enough to throw one in, but not cute enough that you'd want your boys to see you hanging out with?

 

Initially that was likely the character, but now she's like a walking leper, even to the point that when she asked a random character out he shot himself in the stomach with a nailgun to avoid the date.

[haws bah gawd 0]

I didn't really consider Randy Marsh. Even though he's been shown to be a bit of a goober in recent seasons. I was asking a friend after one of the more idiotic things Randy did this past Season, "isn't this guy supposed to be a Geologist?".

 

Regarding Family Guy, you also have to take a look at the Quahog Doctor. In the first Season, or perhaps the Second, Peter thought he may have had Cancer, so he went to the Doctor. The Doctor said something about "what do I know? I've been sued by every patient I've ever had! ". Then, when the show was brought back, Peter went to the Doctor for a Prostate exam, and promptly sued the Doctor for sexual harassment / rape. The Doctor then went into a frenzy trying to protect his good name, but eventually lose a court case due to the Judge having memories of being "raped" by the Doctor.

[Nighthawk 0]

Initially that was likely the character, but now she's like a walking leper, even to the point that when she asked a random character out he shot himself in the stomach with a nailgun to avoid the date.

 

And another boy murdered his little brother.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Family Guy's about the last show that lends itself to terms like "canon" and "character development" so I wouldn't worry about continuity or anything.

 

[Gary Floyd 0]

I don't watch Family Guy near enough to even begin to understand it's characters, but I always thought Meg was not meant to be seen as flat out ugly and unwanted but more like that chunky girl that's just cute enough to throw one in, but not cute enough that you'd want your boys to see you hanging out with?

 

Initially that was likely the character, but now she's like a walking leper, even to the point that when she asked a random character out he shot himself in the stomach with a nailgun to avoid the date.

I think the problem really is lazy writing. When "Family Guy" came back, most of the old writers had moved on, so Alex Borstein brought in some MadTV writers as replacements-hence one of the reasons I can't stand the show anymore. It's almost like Seth is going on autopilot with the show and giving more attention to "American Dad", which I think has become the superior product.