Despicable Characters from Classic TV

[LDAHL]

Based on a podcast he recently heard, a friend challenged some of us to point out TV characters who were actually pretty dark despite being painted much differently by the writers. Among those we cited were:

Darren Stevens. His wife can work miracles with a twitch of her nose, but he demands she wash dishes by hand. He also gets by at work by taking credit for her ideas. Incipient alcoholic.

Hawkeye Pierce. Upset by being drafted, he resorts to childish insults, unimaginative pranks and joyless womanizing. Always ready to lecture others on morality while pretending to be an iconoclast. We get it. War is unpleasant.

Lorelei Gilmore. Obsessed with her creepily clingy relationship with her daughter, she demands everyone around her does the same. Outside that, has no clue what she wants.

Michael Stivic. Professional student sponging off his wife and working class in-laws, who he regards with smug condescension. Leaves his wife when he no longer requires her income.

I’m sure there are many others.

[happystuff]

All of the characters in Seinfeld.

[iris lilies]

I enjoyed Jake Tapper’s rendition of Michael Stivic’s (Rob Reiner) reaction during a 2024 watch party of the Presidential debate between President Joe Biden and DJ Trump. Reiner shouted “we are f…ked!” when Biden showed his incoherence.

Stivic and Reiner are one of a kind.

[iris lilies]

Ricky Arnaz was a controlling freak of a husband on the “I Love Lucy “show according to Lucy anyway since he wouldn’t let her be in show business or do much besides stay in their little apartment and be a housewife.


There’s plenty of evidence to show that Captain James Kirk on Star Trek was Kind of an idiot as a leader. He made boldly stupid decisions more than once. narcissust i think.


I remember as a kid disliking the Jackie Gleason character in his TV show. He kept threatening to send his wife “over the moon “or some such thing which I thought meant he was going to beat her. I disliked that show intensely. But maybe he was a character we weren’t really supposed to like anyway, hard to know.

[catherine]

What about Major Nelson and Major Healey hiding an innocent sexy babe in a bottle and she could only come out of the bottle to save their hides when they were in trouble. Who knows what was going on when the cameras were off.

[iris lilies]

What about Captain Nelson and Captain Healey hiding an innocent sexy babe in a bottle and she could only come out of the bottle to save their hides when they were in trouble. Who knows what was going on when the cameras were off.

Oh yeah, that was…a problem.

[LDAHL]

Who knows what was going on when the cameras were off.

Well, she did call him “master”, which caused bells to jangle in my pubescent brain.

[KayLR]

I always thought Mr. Burger had a homicidal look about him. Like he'd like to meet Perry Mason in a dark alley.

[LDAHL]

I always thought Mr. Burger had a homicidal look about him. Like he'd like to meet Perry Mason in a dark alley.

Best theme music in the history of TV.

[Tiam]

This description of despicable characters reeks of Gen Z, dripping with scorn for anything "Boomer".