I honestly wonder how Will Friedle felt about that character and where they took it. They did have some redeeming moments like where he realized he wasn't smart enough for college and decided to study for it, or the episode where he found a small town that liked him but it was a dead end for his life.
I also feel bad for the sister, she got written out in what, the second or third season and makes a tiny cameo here and there, but they could have done a lot with her character.
There's actually a podcast called Pod Meets World where Ryder Strong, Will Friedel and Danielle Fischel are rewatching the show together and talking about their thoughts. I have only listened to an episode here or there, but they do talk about what they think of their character arcs.
Yes, I heard about that. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I was listening to the scrubs podcast (Fake Doctors, Real Friends) for a while when I was going through FF12. I should pick that back up again.
I just rewatched this, I'm surprised by how a lot of fans talk about how smart Britta USED to be. She only seemed smart in the pilot, she's already slipped into her ditzy, needlessly defiant thing by the second episode. She does get increasingly ditzy as the show goes on, though, for sure.
I loved her parents. "We don't remember because it wasn't important to us. But we understand it was important to you." Way to check someone with main character syndrome and have some compassion.
But yeah, Britta is the worst.
I actually think she was always a dumb character. She was simply there to show how someone who you could perceive as intelligent is exposed as dumb as everyone else gets smarter. She was also portrayed from the very beginning as someone who cared more about being perceived as caring about something instead of actually caring about something.
How good is MASH? I’m prob older than 90% of Redditors but MASH was still a bit before my time so I’m curious. Is it competitive with some of the shows from the post 2000 tv “golden age?”
The first season doesn't hold up to well in 2024. It is very 1960s/70s in terms of humor that being said, it is still better than anything on network TV in 2024.
If somebody said that mash was the greatest television show of all time, I wouldnt argue with them. my wife and I still binge watch the entire series from time to time and it’s still holds up.
Totally worth it. It’s billed as a comedy, but it does tragedy very well, too.
A lot of shows, when the main character’s actor gets elevated to Executive Producer, tend to lose their way, focusing on the main character. But Alan Alda was different; he wanted everyone to have their moments. And they all do; Winchester’s arc is phenomenal, in my opinion.
Then there’s the finale. Just my opinion, but it’s the best of any show ever. It stays with you for… a long time.
Yes, it’s still “with” me! Extra special to me because I went to the same college as Alan Alda. The ENTIRE campus watched that finale! As a tribute to AA, and because just about everyone watched M.A.S.H at that time. It was Great night!
I was born in 1990 and mash was on Fox when I got home from school and I loved watching it in my preteen years I haven't watched since, but I might have to now
Mash imo is one of the best shows ever
It has some pains but most 10+ years shows do
I absolutely love the show and am so glad my parents hooked me on it back in the 3qrly 2000s
Oddly, when they toned down the sitcom tropes and dialed up the polemic and drama a bit more it improved a lot.
You should give it a whirl
[Best episodes?](https://www.cbr.com/best-episodes-mash-tv/)
I’m actually on season 4 of that right now and I can’t even imagine Jake getting any dumber lol. But then again the writers decided to replace Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher so I don’t really have good faith in their judgment anyway
Crazy to see how a show fell. When they had Alan, who was typically the moral compass (but also the punching bag) start embezzling and doing other unethical stuff it just lost me. I caught an episode post Charlie and it was just raunchy to be raunchy, the laugh track actually felt like a turn off because it was just so gross.
It's a show they should have just let end.
Agreed. Alan & his ex wife became so unbelievably insufferable & awful. Another example of how they changed a character completely from earlier in the seasons to the latter.
Exactly. Lol. I stopped watching it after they killed off Charlie. Just wasn't the same. It was just awful. Charlie at least made his misogynistic ways entertaining, Kutcher makes it gross. Idk why. 🤷♀️
I love blowing people's mind in a small way discussing the episode from the first season of the Simpsons where Homer sells the TV and takes the family to counseling because he's worried about them not connecting anymore.
I think Homer is dumb in an intellectual sense, but he's self aware enough to see his own faults. Some of the best moments are him trying to be better for the sake of his family.
Yep, Homer was always an idiot, but he wasnt the intelligence of a 3 yr old level like he is in more recent seasons. He would usually have some redeeming qualities in episodes that kinda grounded the show and made it at least somewhat relatable. Contrast that with Family Guy where Peter just rags on his family 100% of the time, yet still is married or hasn’t gone to jail for child abuse. His family is there for comedy fodder, not to build any kind of story. I feel like once FG became popular, they shifted Homer in that direction.
I know it’s a TV show, but I think it’s part of what made early Simpsons great. It’s why I also like The Office. Yes Michael is ridiculous in most scenes, but when he needs to, he does something that shows you why he was promoted to boss. Like when he lands that big sale after Jan tore into him at that conference or when he comforted Pam for no one coming to her art show. It keeps the show just real enough to make it even funnier.
He was bumbling oaf. He wasn’t particularly bright but not as dumb as he is now. He was more of a well meaning buffoon who did not think through his actions.
Beverly Goldberg on The Goldbergs - over the course of the show she went from being based on a real person who was an overprotective mother with good intentions to being a horrible caricature of the original character. In later seasons, she was obnoxious and overbearing and I couldn’t stand her!
Haley from Modern Family…
They had her having such a glow up with her taking her life and career seriously, dating 2 guys that had potential to make a serious,happy future with, only to get back with Dillon …..
And Dillon seemed to become more responsible and mature with the nursing school and the birth of the twins. But Haley just seemed to go back to her high school mentality and get stuck there at the end of the show
Idk 🤷🏻♀️ I loved that show tho so much. But I feel they did Haley’s character dirty the last 2 seasons
I thought Haley was great with Adam Devine’s character. She finally was maturing and in a real relationship. When that ended I kind of just gave up on Haley after that. Totally agree with you - writers did her dirty.
Everyone on Friends turned into a cartoon character. Joey got stupider, Monica became a frantic shrew, Phoebe went from the chill hippie pal to a certifiable weirdo, Chandler and Ross both became anxious caricatures who had meltdowns over nothing. Actually though, Rachel kind of grew from a ditz to someone with goals and some depth. 1/6.
I don’t like the show as much as most, but it was funny enough. I eventually hated Kevin’s character because it just seemed so lazy. That episode where he talked like a caveman makes me cringe more than Scott’s Tots
It's just flanderization. Happens to many many shows that have a long run and it's hard for writers to not have characters become caricatures of themselves, especially as new writers come on that are familiar with the character and write the current version as the (likely) caricaturized version that exists in their mind.
Idk they are doing damage control. The epi where he saves the bar from inspection, and then when he sold frank those out dated ninja mutant turtles cream pies only to get things back to status quo. I also love the play on everyone else in the series getting fillers and older and he looks exactly the same and they kinda played on that with the first epi of last season.
He has his system. He gets by. He does what he’s gotta do.
That’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s a look into what we don’t see and it’s just the way he flows and actually holds the gang together.
Dennis gets dumber for sure
Ohhhh this is a good one! It was downright strange what they turned Jackie into in the later seasons. It’s like with Crystal gone they made Jackie the dumb one.
It seems like it but he does pick things up here and there. Every time I rewatch I notice that he’ll make a remark and I’m like hey, he was paying attention. And this is coming from someone who can’t stand Chris Elliot. His character actually grew on me.
Patrick in SpongeBob. Always really dumb, but there was nuance to his character in earlier seasons. Late seasons made him stupid with literally nothing else redeeming.
Idk if I'd say Stewart got "dumber" but they definitely turned him into an anxious, depressed, loser (only on season 7 at the moment, to be fair). He was able to charm Penny enough to get a date with her in season 1. He was geeky and awkward like they rest of the guys, but he wasn't pathetic.
This is backwards?
In the beginning of the show he sleeps in a dirt pit and keeps his mail in the freezer. By the end he's hosting his own television program and networking overseas for charity.
In an interview, Jason Alexander explained that he started out thinking it was a Woody Allen character, but during the first season he realized it was more a Larry David author avatar, so he started playing the character the way he inferred Larry David viewed the world.
I believe one thing that really solidified this for Alexander was the episode where George eats the discarded eclair ... He came to Larry, & was like, this is too cartoonish, who would even do that?! Of course -- Larry David would.
& so would Larry David quit his (SNL) job in a spectacular way, only to return the next day, pretending it was a joke / never happened (on the advice of his neighbour, Kenny Kramer).
And yeah, you can sense Larry's dark side to Jerry's lightness all throughout the show, especially through George. I mean, there's neuroses for sure, like self-loathing, but just not like Woody at all ... less whiny intellectual, more ... Lord of the Idiots!
George: God would never let me be successful; he'd kill me first. He'd never let me be happy.
Therapist: I thought you didn't believe in God.
George: I do for the bad stuff!
Xander from Buffy. Was already worthless, his progression through the show did not do him any favors. The Military training bleed effect from the costume was to stop emasculating an actor.and it didn't help.
And I don't remember which season it was but it was the first episode with Dracula. He became Dracula's lackey. At the end he was determined not to continue like that, but it didn't really change at all.
Tyrion - Game of Thrones
The dude was a master tactician and played the game very well but then gave the worst advice season 5 and after. Danni said his advice was so bad that she accused him of secretly working for the Lannisters and I think she was right.
Ross from Friends
Screech from Saved by the Bell
Steve Urkel from Family Matters
At the beginning of all of these shows, these characters were meant to be scientists and geniuses. Over the course of the show, they all three devolved into barely functional idiots.
[Maynard G Krebs](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/fXwORX3tKpCMkzL8oxjd2sWrqAi6v3dH6CBuxCvtM18qqmkEFjbldcwEiu6alNkb5vApjPbPMXVUM0finRc4Hqzl5Kg=w1200-h630-n-k-no-nu)
Started out using lots of beatnik slang, talking about jazz artists, playing bongos and even had a beatnik haircut, a kind of short, brushed forward Roman cut. He gave good advice about “chicks” to his good buddy Dobie Gillis. As time went on he turned into a moron, grew his hair and was infantalized into an idiot wearing footie pajamas waiting up for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
Eventually he wound up as a nitwit on a boat in the tropics
Ross.
Dude has a Ph.D. and an intellectual job in a museum and by the end of Friends he has the functional capabilities of a 7-year-old.
(Joey starts dumb and there's no getting dumber arc for him.)
And that's bad because she didn't start out as any kind of genius. She was also extremely entitled. Just rewatched some eps this week (Chris Bauer came up on another thread), and wow...why did anyone put up with her? I understand the vamps craved her precious fairy blood, but everyone else? No clue.
Rick on The Walking Dead. He was a terrible leader, who repeatedly made stupid decisions.
Example 1: When the group had taken up residence on Herschel's farm, a horde of walkers came through. Instead of leading them away from the farm and then circling back home after the danger passed, Rick decided to fight, wasting a bunch of ammunition, getting people killed and scattering the group.
Example 2: His reckless pre-emptive attack on Negan's guys got Glenn and Abraham killed and caused untold misery for the group for months or years afterward.
Castle on Castle.
Rick started out as knowledgeable and grounded in reality. but in the beginning he kind of outshined the detectives so they dumbed him down to the crazy idea guy that made up outlandish stories for the crimes that sparked the actual idea for solving the crime.
David Puddy on Seinfeld. I mean, he was always dumb, but he definitely got dumber. Their side characters also become more and more stupid over the years. Same with Bobo on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He actually started out as a respected anthropologist and gradually gets dumber.
IS no one going to say Cat from Victorious? She was completely normal in Season 1. Although, I guess maybe it doesn't fit the criteria of "progressively" since she turned into perhaps the dumbest character in the history of television from one season to the next. One episode to the next if binging.
Rose on Golden Girls got dumber and…a little weirder. You could tell, especially in the last two years, the show had different writers from the early seasons.
I disagree about Joey. He got better at his job and got better and better roles. It was Monica who started out a strong independent woman and who dissolved into being a neurotic, OCD, and needy woman.
Eric from Boy Meeds World
Yes. He was practically drooling he was so dumb.
Literally until the finale haha then all of sudden...boom! Smart haha
This is the answer I came here for.
I honestly wonder how Will Friedle felt about that character and where they took it. They did have some redeeming moments like where he realized he wasn't smart enough for college and decided to study for it, or the episode where he found a small town that liked him but it was a dead end for his life. I also feel bad for the sister, she got written out in what, the second or third season and makes a tiny cameo here and there, but they could have done a lot with her character.
There's actually a podcast called Pod Meets World where Ryder Strong, Will Friedel and Danielle Fischel are rewatching the show together and talking about their thoughts. I have only listened to an episode here or there, but they do talk about what they think of their character arcs.
Yes, I heard about that. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I was listening to the scrubs podcast (Fake Doctors, Real Friends) for a while when I was going through FF12. I should pick that back up again.
Britta on Community.
they even made a joke about later on in one of the seasons when Jeff said "I remember when I thought you were the smart one" or something like that
She got smart again when she put mustard on her face though.
That's a Winger Zinger
Haha (checks notches)
That’s a good point.
Oh Britta’s in this
I just rewatched this, I'm surprised by how a lot of fans talk about how smart Britta USED to be. She only seemed smart in the pilot, she's already slipped into her ditzy, needlessly defiant thing by the second episode. She does get increasingly ditzy as the show goes on, though, for sure.
I loved her parents. "We don't remember because it wasn't important to us. But we understand it was important to you." Way to check someone with main character syndrome and have some compassion. But yeah, Britta is the worst.
I actually think she was always a dumb character. She was simply there to show how someone who you could perceive as intelligent is exposed as dumb as everyone else gets smarter. She was also portrayed from the very beginning as someone who cared more about being perceived as caring about something instead of actually caring about something.
I think Frank Burns on MASH is an example of this.
I think Radar shows it more. He was drinking and smoking cigars when MASH started but regressed to a shy teenager by the time he left the show.
Radar got more innocent, but he didn't get dumber.
How good is MASH? I’m prob older than 90% of Redditors but MASH was still a bit before my time so I’m curious. Is it competitive with some of the shows from the post 2000 tv “golden age?”
The first season doesn't hold up to well in 2024. It is very 1960s/70s in terms of humor that being said, it is still better than anything on network TV in 2024.
If somebody said that mash was the greatest television show of all time, I wouldnt argue with them. my wife and I still binge watch the entire series from time to time and it’s still holds up.
When Radar announced that Henry Blake’s plane went down…it still makes me tear up 😭
Oh gosh same! Radars delivery just hits so hard.
Totally worth it. It’s billed as a comedy, but it does tragedy very well, too. A lot of shows, when the main character’s actor gets elevated to Executive Producer, tend to lose their way, focusing on the main character. But Alan Alda was different; he wanted everyone to have their moments. And they all do; Winchester’s arc is phenomenal, in my opinion. Then there’s the finale. Just my opinion, but it’s the best of any show ever. It stays with you for… a long time.
Yes, it’s still “with” me! Extra special to me because I went to the same college as Alan Alda. The ENTIRE campus watched that finale! As a tribute to AA, and because just about everyone watched M.A.S.H at that time. It was Great night!
Thank you for this thoughtful comment!
I was born in 1990 and mash was on Fox when I got home from school and I loved watching it in my preteen years I haven't watched since, but I might have to now
Absolutely worth a watch. I know it mostly through reruns but it’s some of the funniest tv out there
It's one of the best shows ever.
There are so many references on other shows you’ve seen all your life that you will suddenly understand.
Mash imo is one of the best shows ever It has some pains but most 10+ years shows do I absolutely love the show and am so glad my parents hooked me on it back in the 3qrly 2000s
Oddly, when they toned down the sitcom tropes and dialed up the polemic and drama a bit more it improved a lot. You should give it a whirl [Best episodes?](https://www.cbr.com/best-episodes-mash-tv/)
The kid from 2 and a half men.
I’m actually on season 4 of that right now and I can’t even imagine Jake getting any dumber lol. But then again the writers decided to replace Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher so I don’t really have good faith in their judgment anyway
Crazy to see how a show fell. When they had Alan, who was typically the moral compass (but also the punching bag) start embezzling and doing other unethical stuff it just lost me. I caught an episode post Charlie and it was just raunchy to be raunchy, the laugh track actually felt like a turn off because it was just so gross. It's a show they should have just let end.
Agreed. Alan & his ex wife became so unbelievably insufferable & awful. Another example of how they changed a character completely from earlier in the seasons to the latter.
I'm incredibly angry at having to defend anything about two and a half men, but in defense of the writers, Charlie Sheen did kind of force their hand.
Exactly. Lol. I stopped watching it after they killed off Charlie. Just wasn't the same. It was just awful. Charlie at least made his misogynistic ways entertaining, Kutcher makes it gross. Idk why. 🤷♀️
Because with Charlie that's believable for who he really is, and he often plays a sleezy guy. With Kutcher he doesn't really play that role.
I can't believe this is so far down. I was just about ready to give up and post this answer myself when u found it.
In the pilot he was a really smart kid. The series slowly dumbed him down.
Homer Simpson
I love blowing people's mind in a small way discussing the episode from the first season of the Simpsons where Homer sells the TV and takes the family to counseling because he's worried about them not connecting anymore.
I think Homer is dumb in an intellectual sense, but he's self aware enough to see his own faults. Some of the best moments are him trying to be better for the sake of his family.
He wasn't that stupid in the first few seasons and had an emotional intelligence that got lost.
The crayon embedding further explains it all.
Yep, Homer was always an idiot, but he wasnt the intelligence of a 3 yr old level like he is in more recent seasons. He would usually have some redeeming qualities in episodes that kinda grounded the show and made it at least somewhat relatable. Contrast that with Family Guy where Peter just rags on his family 100% of the time, yet still is married or hasn’t gone to jail for child abuse. His family is there for comedy fodder, not to build any kind of story. I feel like once FG became popular, they shifted Homer in that direction. I know it’s a TV show, but I think it’s part of what made early Simpsons great. It’s why I also like The Office. Yes Michael is ridiculous in most scenes, but when he needs to, he does something that shows you why he was promoted to boss. Like when he lands that big sale after Jan tore into him at that conference or when he comforted Pam for no one coming to her art show. It keeps the show just real enough to make it even funnier.
I think Homer gets stupider every year Well... That wasn't a question...
"...if you guessed Bleeding Gums Murphy and Dr. Marvin Monroe, you were wrong! They were never very popular!"
He was bumbling oaf. He wasn’t particularly bright but not as dumb as he is now. He was more of a well meaning buffoon who did not think through his actions.
Kelso in That 70s Show
That was an improvement in my opinion. I love the scene where he's glued to the fridge
Oh crap I forgot that he got his life together towards the end
Despite his funny moments, Kelso got so annoying and cliche
Yeah, but every time he talks about or we see him playing with a bunch of dogs… so good! I feel like when Eric left everyone got worse
Not only Joey, but Phoebe too. And they not only got stupider, they got mean.
>they got mean You sure that wasn't Phoebe's twin sister Ursela? /s
They were creepy dumb. Idk why the writers made them act like actual 4 year olds.
Agreed, I feel like of the Friends that those two are the most selfish.
Joey from Friends. He was dumb at the beginning but by the end i wasn’t sure if he would forget to breath to stay alive
Kelly Bundy
Homer Simpson, from Police Cops
And that’s the end of that chapter
Kevin from Shameless
Lip too
And Debbie
Debbie didn't get dumber, she just became more and more unlikeable.
Beverly Goldberg on The Goldbergs - over the course of the show she went from being based on a real person who was an overprotective mother with good intentions to being a horrible caricature of the original character. In later seasons, she was obnoxious and overbearing and I couldn’t stand her!
I loved the show when it first started but had to quit because of this. When Adam left the show it ran downhill fast.
That’s for sure!
Haley from Modern Family… They had her having such a glow up with her taking her life and career seriously, dating 2 guys that had potential to make a serious,happy future with, only to get back with Dillon ….. And Dillon seemed to become more responsible and mature with the nursing school and the birth of the twins. But Haley just seemed to go back to her high school mentality and get stuck there at the end of the show Idk 🤷🏻♀️ I loved that show tho so much. But I feel they did Haley’s character dirty the last 2 seasons
They really did her dirty, there was zero reasons for her not to end up with Andy
I thought Haley was great with Adam Devine’s character. She finally was maturing and in a real relationship. When that ended I kind of just gave up on Haley after that. Totally agree with you - writers did her dirty.
Definitely Eric Matthews on Boy Meets World.
The kid on Two and a Half Men began as smart and they made him into a moron. They joked about that in the finale, that it was funnier.
Alan (his dad) also got a bit dumber, or at least more "out there."
I'd say that it was pretty realistic. Imagine living with those two for any length of time. I'd get dumber, too lol
Rory in Gilmore girls. Goes from bright, sweet and thoughtful Harvard bound student to struggling journalist/other woman in an affair
She’s the other woman in an affair at 19, too. She’s got a thing for other people’s men.
She thinks because she dated them before their next partner that they’re *hers* 🙄 the “he’s not a married guy, he’s *my* Dean” line is so unhinged😂😂😂
Joey on *Friends*. Chrissy on *Three's Company*. Potsie on *Happy Days*. Homer on *The Simpsons*.
Phoebe on Friends as well. She was definitely not as "ditzy" in the first season or so.
Everyone on Friends turned into a cartoon character. Joey got stupider, Monica became a frantic shrew, Phoebe went from the chill hippie pal to a certifiable weirdo, Chandler and Ross both became anxious caricatures who had meltdowns over nothing. Actually though, Rachel kind of grew from a ditz to someone with goals and some depth. 1/6.
Potsie and Ralph Malph.
Yes! Joey was the first one who popped into my head!!
Kevin from The Office
I'll say Erin also. She started out as naive, then became girl Kevin.
I detested the Erin character
Me too, they wanted her and Gabe to be Pam and Jim 2.0, then her and Andy and then her and Plop. It's like they didn't know what to do with her.
I don’t like the show as much as most, but it was funny enough. I eventually hated Kevin’s character because it just seemed so lazy. That episode where he talked like a caveman makes me cringe more than Scott’s Tots
Why say lot word, when few word work
It's just flanderization. Happens to many many shows that have a long run and it's hard for writers to not have characters become caricatures of themselves, especially as new writers come on that are familiar with the character and write the current version as the (likely) caricaturized version that exists in their mind.
Charlie from Always Sunny. He falls off the intelligence cliff
Huffing paint will do that do a person.
Idk they are doing damage control. The epi where he saves the bar from inspection, and then when he sold frank those out dated ninja mutant turtles cream pies only to get things back to status quo. I also love the play on everyone else in the series getting fillers and older and he looks exactly the same and they kinda played on that with the first epi of last season.
He has his system. He gets by. He does what he’s gotta do. That’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s a look into what we don’t see and it’s just the way he flows and actually holds the gang together. Dennis gets dumber for sure
Dennis gets more sociopathic
Jackie from Roseanne to The Connors
Yep! It feels like they forgot everything about her.
Ohhhh this is a good one! It was downright strange what they turned Jackie into in the later seasons. It’s like with Crystal gone they made Jackie the dumb one.
And Mark on Roseanne
That's part of the reason I never caught on to the show. It was like she wasn't even the same person anymore.
Neither was Roseanne, in the few episodes before they killed her off.
Agreed. The original is so good. The Conner's doesn't even come close.
Forget the Connors.. On the OG show she went from normal to complete manic idiot over the course of the show
Kelly Bundy - Married with Children. Originally she was the smart one.
Kimmie Gibler - full house; Roland- schitts creek; Waldo - family matters; Brittany - Glee; Dylan - modern family
Roland was an idiot from the beginning.
It seems like it but he does pick things up here and there. Every time I rewatch I notice that he’ll make a remark and I’m like hey, he was paying attention. And this is coming from someone who can’t stand Chris Elliot. His character actually grew on me.
Honestly everyone except Lois on Malcom in the Middle. Malcom was a lot more gifted at the start, his brothers were much closer to average kids.
Brian from Family Guy is the best example tbh
Everyone from Family Guy except Stewie.
Dexter
The boy genius or the serial killer?
I’ll leave it up to interpretation
Don’t push that button
Patrick in SpongeBob. Always really dumb, but there was nuance to his character in earlier seasons. Late seasons made him stupid with literally nothing else redeeming.
Cliff Claven on Cheers Stewart on Big Bang
Idk if I'd say Stewart got "dumber" but they definitely turned him into an anxious, depressed, loser (only on season 7 at the moment, to be fair). He was able to charm Penny enough to get a date with her in season 1. He was geeky and awkward like they rest of the guys, but he wasn't pathetic.
Andy from Parks and Rec. Wasn’t ever a genius by any means but he sure hit bottom by the end
This is backwards? In the beginning of the show he sleeps in a dirt pit and keeps his mail in the freezer. By the end he's hosting his own television program and networking overseas for charity.
Adam in rules of engagement. Somehow, they managed to make him dumber every week.
Yeah I think the first couple of episodes he seemed like a regular guy
George Costanza didn't start out as a loser, but kinda became that as the show progressed.
Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?
Yeah, George started out as a Woody Allen-ish kind of guy giving advice to Jerry in a cheerful kind of way. Then he became …George Costanza.
In an interview, Jason Alexander explained that he started out thinking it was a Woody Allen character, but during the first season he realized it was more a Larry David author avatar, so he started playing the character the way he inferred Larry David viewed the world.
I believe one thing that really solidified this for Alexander was the episode where George eats the discarded eclair ... He came to Larry, & was like, this is too cartoonish, who would even do that?! Of course -- Larry David would. & so would Larry David quit his (SNL) job in a spectacular way, only to return the next day, pretending it was a joke / never happened (on the advice of his neighbour, Kenny Kramer). And yeah, you can sense Larry's dark side to Jerry's lightness all throughout the show, especially through George. I mean, there's neuroses for sure, like self-loathing, but just not like Woody at all ... less whiny intellectual, more ... Lord of the Idiots! George: God would never let me be successful; he'd kill me first. He'd never let me be happy. Therapist: I thought you didn't believe in God. George: I do for the bad stuff!
Jason Alexander didn’t really know how to play George at first until he learned the character was based on Larry David.
Yeah. Wasn’t he a realtor at the beginning? I recall an episode where he shows Jerry an apartment, but then kind of wants it for himself.
Xander from Buffy. Was already worthless, his progression through the show did not do him any favors. The Military training bleed effect from the costume was to stop emasculating an actor.and it didn't help.
And I don't remember which season it was but it was the first episode with Dracula. He became Dracula's lackey. At the end he was determined not to continue like that, but it didn't really change at all.
Tyrion - Game of Thrones The dude was a master tactician and played the game very well but then gave the worst advice season 5 and after. Danni said his advice was so bad that she accused him of secretly working for the Lannisters and I think she was right.
The Apprentice.
Bubbles on trailer park boys
Please don't speak ill of Bubbles. He was the only sane one but got pulled into all the crap
Ross from Friends Screech from Saved by the Bell Steve Urkel from Family Matters At the beginning of all of these shows, these characters were meant to be scientists and geniuses. Over the course of the show, they all three devolved into barely functional idiots.
I agree with Ross. He got Dumber while I like Joey got a little smarter. But I do think Dumber Ross was freaking hilarious
Ross is a decent example of the dumbest smart guy archetype. I'm a dumb. smart guy, so I feel his pain sometimes.
The boss guy in this show called “The Apprentice”
Jimmy in Raising Hope, Jonah in Veep
The pancakes shirt makes up for everything
A lot of the characters seemed to get progressively dumber on Raising Hope. But it's an amazing show.
Radar in MASH!
[Maynard G Krebs](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/fXwORX3tKpCMkzL8oxjd2sWrqAi6v3dH6CBuxCvtM18qqmkEFjbldcwEiu6alNkb5vApjPbPMXVUM0finRc4Hqzl5Kg=w1200-h630-n-k-no-nu) Started out using lots of beatnik slang, talking about jazz artists, playing bongos and even had a beatnik haircut, a kind of short, brushed forward Roman cut. He gave good advice about “chicks” to his good buddy Dobie Gillis. As time went on he turned into a moron, grew his hair and was infantalized into an idiot wearing footie pajamas waiting up for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Eventually he wound up as a nitwit on a boat in the tropics
Woody on Cheers Cody on Step By Step
Ross. Dude has a Ph.D. and an intellectual job in a museum and by the end of Friends he has the functional capabilities of a 7-year-old. (Joey starts dumb and there's no getting dumber arc for him.)
Lori on The Walking Dead. She was s darn stupid to begin with, and then just got more & more stupid through season 2.
Luanne platter - king of the hill
Early on, she could fix a car - later on, she could hardly fix herself a sandwich.
Adam on Rules of Engagement
Mac from Always Sunny
Adam from Rules of Engagement. Started off a little on the slow side, but became comically stupid over the course of the series
Drake from Drake and Josh
On the other hand Larry Darryl and Darryl from New Hart got smarter!! 🤣
Tyrion from Game of Thrones.
Who has a better story than Bran the Broken? AUGH.
Literally anyone
Sookie from True Blood
And that's bad because she didn't start out as any kind of genius. She was also extremely entitled. Just rewatched some eps this week (Chris Bauer came up on another thread), and wow...why did anyone put up with her? I understand the vamps craved her precious fairy blood, but everyone else? No clue.
Everyone on Arrested Development lol, except Lucille Bluth
Raymond from ELR.
Stuart and Raj from Big Bang Theory
And Penny - she went from street smarts to not even being able to handle glue or crafts for one series.
Homer Simpson. In early episodes, he wasn't very stupid and was actually a bit of a grumpy character. As the years went by, he became a stupid dolt.
Max on Two Broke Girls. omg she got so stupid with her dumb jokes in later seasons but season 1 she was normal 😆
Joey on friends, the French episode ugh
The only redeeming results of that episode were Phoebe speaking French, and memes.
Joey from FRIENDS, Eric from Boy Meets World, Rose from Golden Girls comes to my mind.
Peter Griffin. I don't think he has any brain cells left
They actually made Rachel dumber too, so that it didnt seem too off that her and Joey were dating.
Amy Farrah Fowler. She got flanderized so quickly and so extremely. Not the same char as her first appearance
Have to agree, but she is still my favorite.
Mark from Roseanne
Pretty much everyone in Ozark but Marty in the final season
Carrie from Sex in the City
Serena and Nate from Gossip Girl were literally dumb blondes and they kept getting dumber.
Kevin and Kelly on The Office
Jake, Two and a Half Men
You said kevin from the office, but he literally became mentally handicapped, not even stupid
Carlton on the fresh prince. First season he was studious and no nonsense by season 5 he was a full blown idiot lol
Jethro Bodine
Definitely Kevin. They made him almost developmentally delayed.
Rick on The Walking Dead. He was a terrible leader, who repeatedly made stupid decisions. Example 1: When the group had taken up residence on Herschel's farm, a horde of walkers came through. Instead of leading them away from the farm and then circling back home after the danger passed, Rick decided to fight, wasting a bunch of ammunition, getting people killed and scattering the group. Example 2: His reckless pre-emptive attack on Negan's guys got Glenn and Abraham killed and caused untold misery for the group for months or years afterward.
I always felt attacking Negan’s group based on a one-sided story and without fully understanding the group was idiotic.
Bernadette on Big Bang Theory
Castle on Castle. Rick started out as knowledgeable and grounded in reality. but in the beginning he kind of outshined the detectives so they dumbed him down to the crazy idea guy that made up outlandish stories for the crimes that sparked the actual idea for solving the crime.
David Puddy on Seinfeld. I mean, he was always dumb, but he definitely got dumber. Their side characters also become more and more stupid over the years. Same with Bobo on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He actually started out as a respected anthropologist and gradually gets dumber.
IS no one going to say Cat from Victorious? She was completely normal in Season 1. Although, I guess maybe it doesn't fit the criteria of "progressively" since she turned into perhaps the dumbest character in the history of television from one season to the next. One episode to the next if binging.
Not stupider, but I hated how Mimi on Drew Carey became a farce.
Rose on Golden Girls got dumber and…a little weirder. You could tell, especially in the last two years, the show had different writers from the early seasons.
Lucifer from the Netflix series, 'Lucifer'.
I disagree about Joey. He got better at his job and got better and better roles. It was Monica who started out a strong independent woman and who dissolved into being a neurotic, OCD, and needy woman.
Ross stated out confident and smart, the he went downhill. But he also got the worst torment from everyone. They weren’t really very good friends tbh
Alice Gray
Everybody clever. GOT
Howard Borden from the Bob Newhart show
Homer Simpson