History OnlySaneMan / LiveActionTv

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Basil ''thinks'' he's this, but the role actually belongs to Polly, who does her best to mitigate everyone else's ridiculous or just plain selfish behaviour, although she doesn't have much luck.

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': the eponymous Malcolm to his delinquent, dysfunctional family, his impossibly nerdy, neurotic, and socially inept friends, his nasty, petty, stupid neighbors and classmates, ''and'' the entirety of the shallow, unappreciative, unfair society around him. Deconstructed, as [[TheSnarkKnight being this trope for too long and going through too much frustration as a result of his sane-ness]] turns him cynical and bitter enough for his OSM-cred to start slipping in the last couple of seasons (thought the finale strongly hints that he earns it back once he dares to live up to his potential). When it's not him, usually Francis plays the role instead. Lois thinks she's this even though she’s usually the least sane member of the family.

** Recurring CEO Andy Wallace came off like this too, only seeming to crack when Dunder-Mifflin was bought out.

* ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'': Anders, to some extent. He seems to take his job a bit more seriously than Adam and Blake, and doesn't take drugs as much. But he still does them.
** Bizarrely, any time Anders tries to accomplish something, he ends up turning into an over-confident A-Hole, and Blake becomes the only sane man... in that he's the one who supports just skipping out on the plan to go home and smoke weed. This is used in "Old Man Ders" as Ders is wasted and on drugs for his birthday (afraid of getting older) and Blake is desperately trying to calm the situation. Adam, is never this trope, however.

* ''Series/{{Workaholics}}''
Anders, to some extent. He seems to take his job a bit more seriously than Adam and Blake, and doesn't take drugs as much. But he still does them.

** In the ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "The Search Part II", [[spoiler:Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Bashir, and T'Rul are put through a Virtual Reality MindScrew which posits a treaty between the Federation and the Dominion, an alliance that gives the Dominion the upper hand -- and Bajor. These five are the only military officers (four Starfleet, one Romulan) on Deep Space Nine who see the treaty for what it is: a betrayal of Federation ideals, Bajor, and ultimately the Federation itself. Sisko turns down a bribe-promotion and our heroes risk vaporization or court-martial and a trip to Elba II to keep the Dominion away. Odo and Kira get them released and whew, it was AllJustADream.]]

* ''Series/KirbyBuckets'': Belinda, the put-upon and often ignored best friend of Kirby's sister Dawn. Given the show's general tone, she's occasionally NotSoAboveItAll. Of the three boys, it's almost always Kirby himself in the role.

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': the eponymous Malcolm to his delinquent, dysfunctional family, his impossibly nerdy, neurotic, and socially inept friends, his nasty, petty, stupid neighbors and classmates, ''and'' the entirety of the shallow, unappreciative, unfair society around him. Deconstructed, as [[TheSnarkKnight being this trope for too long and going through too much frustration as a result of his sane-ness]] turns him cynical and bitter enough for his OSM-cred to start slipping in the last couple of seasons (thought the finale strongly hints that he earns it back once he dares to live up to his potential). When it's not him, usually Francis plays the role instead. Lois is someone who is trying to be this but is constantly driven off the edge of sanity by her husband and children.

** Benton begins to take this role in the episodes where the Doctor is otherwise occupied. He is able to see through the Master's disguises without trying, and in "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" is the only person who's bothered to take notes. In "Robot", where the Doctor is barking mad after a regeneration, Benton gives the Doctor the idea for how to stop the robot simply by being the only person paying attention.

%%* ''Series/FraggleRock'': Boober frequently plays the role of Only Sane Fraggle; though not as often as he believes he does. The Minstrels have Murray as their Only Sane... Something.

* ''Series/ICarly'': Freddie, complete with ''volunteering'' for a [[OnlySaneEmployee Liz Lemon Job]] (almost exactly [[Series/ThirtyRock Liz Lemon's]] [[ShowRunner actual job]], for that matter.) Also Carly early on but they seemed to move away from this so she could do more physical humor.

* ''Series/AnotherPeriod'' - as befits its Series/DowntonAbbey[=/=]Series/UpstairsDownstairs dynamic - has two, both female. In the main household, eldest daughter Hortense Bellacourt fights to keep from being sucked into the craziness of her family, especially her younger spoiled-rich sisters Lillian and Beatrice. Meanwhile, new chambermaid Celine[=/=]"Chair" is struggling with similar lunacy in the servants' quarters.

* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': The title character is this among the Buy More staff. When he's with his spy team, however, he becomes the BunnyEarsLawyer.

* ''Series/CornerGas'': Has Lacey, although the title passes to Brent or Karen occasionally.

* ''Series/DocMartin'': Martin likes to paint himself as one of these, however Joan and her replacement Ruth have far better claims on this (albeit in different ways).

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Polly, though Basil thinks it's himself.
* ''Series/FraggleRock'': Boober frequently plays the role of Only Sane Fraggle; though not as often as he believes he does. The Minstrels have Murray as their Only Sane... Something.

-->'''Tyrion''': What sort of imbecile arms an assassin with his own blade?
-->'''Rodrik''': Should I gag him?
-->'''Tyrion''': Why? Am I starting to make sense?

* ''Series/GamersGuideToPrettyMuchEverything'': Conor.

* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': Luke Danes.

* ''TheGrinder'' Nearly everyone in town is so star-struck by former actor Dean Sanderson, they ignore or accept his antics -- except for his brother Stewart, who tries in vain to get ''anyone'' to realize that everything Dean says is nonsense. Stew's wife Debbie and co-worker Claire also seem to be immune to Dean's celebrity, but only for Stew is it a constant aggravation.
* ''Series/HalfwayAcrossTheGalaxyAndTurnLeft'': X is a female example. Not only does she have to live with a gambling-addicted father, a scatterbrained mother, and a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} sister, she is also has to keep said family safe from the enemies it's made entirely on her own ''at around age 10'' (a result of her literally [[AlienAmongUs alien culture]]). Also contains a subversion as her younger brother is a genius but otherwise perfectly ordinary for his age - yet X seems ''see'' him the same way the rest of her cuckoo family, mostly because his slight immaturity and [[InsufferableGenius genius]] causes her no end of problems.
* ''Series/HenryDanger'' has Charlotte in this role.

--> '''Carrie:''' I'm not the one who got it wrong, I'm the ''only'' one who got it right!

---> '''Carly''': How come ''I'' can hear me?
* Tripp Campbell from ''Series/ImInTheBand''. When it's not him it's usually his mom in the role.

* ''[[Series/ICPTheater Insane Clown Posse Theater]]'': Sugar Slam is pretty much the voice of reason here.

* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' has [[AntiVillain Takatora Kureshima]]/New Generation Rider Zangetsu Shin, only Ygdrassil rider who keeps to PragmaticEvil and actually wants to save the world from [[EldritchLocation Forest Of Helheim]]. This is among god wannabe MadScientist [[note]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse no]], not that [[Series/KamenRiderExAid one]] [[/note]], his [[BodyGuardBabes assistant]] and [[HateSink lock dealer]].
* In ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'', the Special Investigation Unit consists of an eccentric chief obsessed with fortune telling, a hardheaded lieutenant who cannot pronounce the monsters' name right and [[LargeHam is prone to overacting]], an Otaku internet researcher who carries around his doll collection, a MadScientist, and a terminally lazy detective who moonlights as a monster-fighting hero. And then there's patrolwoman Kiriko Shijima, who despite being high-strung, is easily the most rational officer in the unit.
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' plays with this. Emu Hojo is the sole kind person in a group consisting of a [[DoctorJerk narcissistic]] colleague with no bedside manner, a Back-Alley Doctor with [[ItsAllAboutMe no interest]] in his patients, and a [[CryingWolf secret keeper]] with Mad Scientist aspirations respectively. Unfortunately, they are better informed, more skilled, and ignoring him, at least early on.
* In ''Series/KCUndercover'', KC herself fills this role to a T.
* ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'': Richard. And also Elizabeth and Emmett.

* ''Series/KickinIt'': Jack and Kim are the least goofy members of the crew.

* ''Series/LifeWithDerek'': Nora.

* ''Series/MightyMed'': Usually Oliver.

* ''Mr. Young'': Adam Young, though sometimes gets a little crazy, is almost always the straight man to everyone around him who has strange quirks and/or runs on really dumb logic. Echo Zizzleswift is also often played to this too.

* ''Series/MyFamily'': Michael. Technically an Only Sane Boy, at least in the earlier seasons. His father Ben only thinks he is.

* ''Series/NewsRadio'': Dave Nelson, but only sometimes. Occasionally he's completely crazy, and Lisa is the Only Sane Woman.

* ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'': Let us not forget Deputy Sven Jones and (most of the time) Jim Dangle. They are the only ones who aren't violent, racist idiots, or holier than thou religious zealots. Or conversely, no one but no one is sane on ''Series/{{Reno 911}}''.

* Series/SchittsCreek: Johnny Rose is often the only rational member of the Rose family and sometimes the only rational person in the entire town. Sometimes Jocelyn, Stevie or Patrick function as the sane foil to various members of the Rose family.

* ''Series/ShaunMicallefsMadAsHell'': This show, which is ''Series/TheDailyShow'' '''[[RecycledInSpace DOWN UNDER]]''', also makes use of this.

* ''Series/{{Soap}}'': Benson usually played this role within the Tate household. Mary and Jodie took turns with the SanityBall in the Campbell household.

--> '''Dr. Crusher:''' If there's nothing wrong with me, there must be something wrong with [[spoiler:the universe.]]

* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'': Moseby, Maddie, Carey and occasionally Cody trade off who gets to hold the SanityBall, though on occasion they manage to share it.

* ''Series/{{Taxi}}'': Alex Reiger and Elaine Nardo split this role.

* ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'': Although Fowler ''usually'' has his head screwed on straight enough, Habib's a lot more down-to-earth and self-aware.
* ''Series/TheThundermans'': This role rotates between Phoebe and Barb.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'': This show loved this one.
** "And When the Sky Was Opened": "My friends are disappearing!" "What friends?"
** "Judgment Night": "This ship is going to be torpedoed!"
** "The Fever": "A slot machine is following me around!"
** "Mirror Image": "My doppelganger is stalking me!"
** "A World Of Difference": "I've become a character in a movie!"
** "Back There": "I tell you, the President is going to be assassinated!"
** "Shadow Play": "This world is just a nightmare I'm having!"
** "Nothing In The Dark": "Death is stalking me and wants to take me!"
** "Person or Persons Unknown": "I am a real person! I exist!"
** "The Thirty-Fathom Grave": "My dead shipmates want me to join them!"
** "The Obsolete Man": "I'm a human being, I exist....and if I speak one thought aloud, that thought lives, even after I'm shoveled into my grave."
** "The Parallel": "I am not the person you think I am!"
** "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet": "There's a monster on the wing of this plane!"
** "To Serve Man": "It's a cookbook!"
* ''[[Series/{{Utopia2014}} Utopia]]'': Tony, in stark contrast to Rob Sitch's characters in [[Series/{{Frontline}} previous]] [[Series/TheHollowmen series]]. 9Natalie has her moments as well.

-->'''Joey:''' ''(through her interpreter, Kenny)'' And he wants to say that during the State of Union?
-->'''Charlie:''' Sign "union" again. That was cool.
-->'''Joey:''' ''*gives him a funny look, but signs "union" again*''
-->'''Charlie:''' No, must've been a different word.
-->'''Joey:''' ''*exasperated sigh, walks away*''

* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'': Justin. Jerry also qualifies.

* [[TheBarnum Mike]] from ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' is this in comparison to the other members of the flat.
* The former half of ''Series/ZekeAndLuther''.

** The ''Saturday Night Live'' "Jeopardy" sketches LIVE by this trope.
*** In the second "Hip Hop Kids" sketch the kids are trapped in a cave and Andy Samburg's character tries in vain to convince the others that having dance contests against bears is a '''very''' bad idea!

* ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'': Saffy.

--> '''Reid''': What is this rabbit hole I've fallen down?

* ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'': Makes good use of the "sane customer, insane shopkeeper" concept.

-->"Whatever it was, I'm sure it was better than my plan to get out of here by pretending to be mad. I mean, who would have noticed another madman round here?"

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Camille Saroyan zigzags between this and DaChief. Clark Edison tends to act as this when he's in an episode.

--->'''Jane''': Oh, ''Steve!'' How much longer?
--->'''Steve''': [[LiteralMinded About the usual amount.]]
--->'''Jane''': How much longer ''in minutes'' Steve?

** Poor Keeler in "The Seeds of Doom" spends the story acting like a sensible normal person dropped into a ''Doctor Who'' plot. He recognises that messing around with the seed pods is a really bad idea, fully expects everything to go horribly wrong, and doesn't understand why no-one tries to take him to the hospital when he ends up getting slowly turned into a Krynoid. When Sarah Jane attempts to treat him like a VictimOfTheWeek he finally loses his temper and starts snapping at her that he's sick of no-one treating him seriously. One should ask why he was in such a toxic work environment in the first place... although the fact that his boss was in the habit of [[BadBoss grinding unperforming employees into fertiliser]] perhaps explains why he didn't quit.

* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'': Josh Nichols.

** Arya is this in the King Robert's party in Season 1, especially on the road, as she seems to be the only one who thinks that the Hound murdering Mycah the butcher's boy is something that actually deserves action. Unlike Sansa and Ned, she manages to avoid inheriting the family HorribleJudgeOfCharacter gene, recognizes both Joffrey and Cersei for the monsters they are and is worried about the Starks coping in [[{{DeadlyDecadentCourt}} Kings Landing]] compared to Ned's straightforward naivety and Sansa's [[{{WideEyedIdealist}} wide eyed idealism.]] [[spoiler: She's right, and ironically ends up being the only Stark to escape the Red Keep while Ned is executed and Sansa is taken prisoner.]]

* ''Series/ICarly'': Freddie, complete with ''volunteering'' for a LizLemonJob (almost exactly [[Series/ThirtyRock Liz Lemon's]] [[ShowRunner actual job]], for that matter.) Also Carly early on but they seemed to move away from this so she could do more physical humor.

* ''Series/{{Taxi}}'': Alex Reiger.

** Recurring CEO Andy Wallace came off like this too, only seeming to crack when Dunder-Miffling was bought out.

* Recurring CEO Andy Wallace came off like this too, only seeming to crack when Dunder-Miffling was bought out.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': Frasier Crane ''thinks'' he's this trope — his psychiatric skills are always on overload, analyzing his acquaintances with a keen eye and all-too-aware that he's surrounded by his anxious, foppish brother, his happy-go-lucky slob of a father, his violent-tempered, sex-crazed best friend, and his {{Cloudcuckoolander}} of a housekeeper who doesn't understand Americans. What he doesn't realize is that when it comes to reacting to the problems and issues in their lives, they are all far, far more well-adjusted and sensible than he is. Also, Martin frequently receives this role in the plots. He's not faultless, but if Niles and Frasier are doing something stupid it's a pretty good bet that he'll step in with some advice that resolves things. Roz will also play this role on occasion.

** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness In earlier seasons]], writer Kevin [=McCaffrey=], journalist Michael Bryant and a number of legal figures were this, being rounded by a MinimalistCast of celebrity felons and quirky comedians.
** When Bryant and the legal figures were dropped and the cast was expanded, writers Billy Kimball, Daisy Gardner, Michael Loftus and Ted Jessup and comedian Mike Trainor shared the role with [=McCaffrey=] up to a point.
** Among the celebrity washouts, Frank Stallone, Gary Busey, and to a lesser extent, Daniel Baldwin could count as this.

* ''{{Shameless}}'': Teenage Fiona is, for all intents and purposes, the caretaker of the family, and spends almost all her time looking after her siblings and her alcoholic father.