Your own "Dude Not Funny" moments

Admitedly, very few of the characters in that show seem like they're supposed to be sympathetic.

Honestly, I think people in that show are only supposed to be sympathetic in certain situation, but otherwise they all have the sympathy of cannon fodder.

Even Ed and Edd aren't so sympathetic. Ed's a space case and Double D lacks anything close to a spine.

@49 Yeah I agree there are times when Jimmy can be a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and a Smug Snake, (Tinker Ed and the violin episode, and so on), but sometimes, he acts nice and has no problems with the Eds and usually Eddy pushes his buttons.

Sarah is a whole different story. Her, Kevin, Lee, and Marie don't get any sympathy because they act like jerks at least 70 - 90% of the time. I bet if she started getting bullied, fans would like seeing her suffer (she is a scrappy).

@50 Exactly.

It's just that people do seem to forget that Jimmy is not Sarah and Sarah is a jerk all the time, unlike Jimmy.

From South Park: ANYTHING involving Butters' abuse at the hands at his parents and friends. I didn't watch the show for a long time after he took a shuriken to the eye.

I wasn't fond of his first few episodes, where most of the characters even broke personality just to mean to him like with Meg and Dr Zoidberg. Same for how Pip was treated (even Kyle and Chef were intolerant prats to him). I'm not fond of instances they try to make a character more pitiful by skewing everyone else to be a jerk to them.

As time passed though, Butters developed and he gained proper chemistry with the characters that made his treatment seem less cruel.

That'd be around the point where Trey and Matt suddenly started liking Butters. Instant death for running gags.

I always thought that Dr Zoidberg was an example of "mean" humor done right. Granted, I haven't gotten around to watching it much after it was Uncanceled, so maybe the newer episodes are different. In the episodes I've seen, the characters have at least a minor Jerkass side to them, so their treatment of him isn't entirely out of character, and they were nice to him other times.

In addition, the 'abuse' isn't physical. Typically people belittle him or make backhanded remarks. Part of the humor comes from how cheerfully oblivious he is to most of it. He's also sometimes a jerk to the others himself.

If anyone fit this trope, it would be Fry. I love the show, but the episode where he was in a robot insane asylum was one of my least favorites. But, he's the protagonist, and he gets his share of Crowning Moment Of Awesomes to make up for it. Kif also occasionally falls into this.

edited 29th Dec '12 8:26:55 PM by Topazan

In the Wayside School cartoon, just about any time Todd gets sent home early. The same could probably go for the books, but the show somehow seems worse because Todd is the primary, and most sensible, character there...and Mrs. Jewls wasn't such a freaking moron in the books.

The show was just a pale imitation of the books that really should've just been called something else entirely anyway.

Though, in all honesty, regarding your criticism, the Only Sane Man character being the other characters' punching bag isn't exactly a new thing.

edited 4th Jan '13 11:48:36 PM by 0dd1

I remember one episode where Bobby noticed a shelf filled with plants, and Hank told him he built it before he was born for all the football trophies he would win. Dude, really? Hank comes across as a dour, bitter, argumentative prick bordering on Jerk Jock who molds his son to fit his expectations rather than the other way around. I find characters like that insufferable and don't enjoy watching them.

I think it's this case again, of a character being a Butt-Monkey more for unfair reasons and the rest of the cast devolving into apathetic jerks in order for it to work.

A lot of Only Sane Men are Butt Monkeys for example, but bring it on themselves out of stubborn arrogance to prove they are right over everyone or are mistreated inadvertantly due to the other characters being Innocently Insensitive (eg. Twilight Sparkle in Friendship Is Magic). In other cases it just seems like the world is designated to crap on them deliberately and spitefully.

Some shows seem to have problems making one character into a loser while still making others sympathetic.

Yeah, I get a lot of Bobby's dilemma was Hank being a "Well Done, Son" Guy but I think they had to stretch it as time went. I mean Stan of American Dad shows more tolerance of his geeky son, and he's a obsessive sociopath in making him in his own image.

edited 5th Jan '13 7:05:26 AM by Psi001

The episode of Batman The Brave And The Bold where Bruce finally finds the man who killed his parents, and two supernatural beings basically make a bet over whether he will kill him or not. It felt so out of place with the more lighthearted tone the series had. Sure it still had its redeeming moments -like having Adam West voice Bruce's father, whom he gets to team up with via time-travel- but it still gets pretty dark. Not to mention that we never get a clear answer because the villain conveniently manages to kill himself. Also, I resent the notion the episode gives that Revenge is as valid an option as Justice.

edited 5th Jan '13 7:32:25 AM by Sijo

I think you missed the point of that episode; I don't know if you noticed, but the episode dropped a lot of hints that the Spectre was very much wrong. His entrance, his ominous whispering in Batman's ear, his position over Batman's shoulder being where the little devil usually appears, and the subtle implication that he arranged for Batman's parent to be killed. Plus, in the end, Batman turns away from revenge, and the Spectre just has his way with Chill anyways.

I did catch all that. I just felt it wasn't enough to make it clear that revenge really is not a good option. They should have The Spectre himself admit it and just leave, instead of acting, for all purposes, as the stand-in for The Devil. Overall, the episode just didn't fit with the tone of the series (which is the topic of this thread no?)

No the topic of this thread meant cruel moments that are so be funny but are not.

And from what I read it seems that episode was completely serious and anything but funny. (Correct me if I'm wrong}

edited 6th Jan '13 6:58:47 PM by DavidtheMouse14

The Spectre would never admit that; his whole purpose is exacting violent, horrific revenge on sinners.

Actually The Spectre has been reinterpreted *many* times over the character's 70-year long history, at some points he was treated just like an average superhero, even- and at others, he was a sadistic supernatural serial killer (of criminals, but still.) The whole "He's the Wrath of God" angle is from the 90's and carries serious Unfortunate Implications, they should drop it already in my opinion (and should definitely not be used in a show like Brave and The Bold.)

edited 7th Jan '13 6:11:13 AM by Sijo

Well, I think Brave and the Bold basically portrayed him as a villain.

Garbage dumpster baby, the stupid Japan scene in the multiverse episodes, later season Meg abuse, singing to a guy he has AIDS, the over-the-top gorn in the later seasons, bitch-Lois, Pedo Peter, any joke involving how Jewish Mort is, etc. Family Guy is like a posterboy for Seasonal Rot due to this trope alone.

As for American Dad, Roger ruins a lot of the show for me. He's a massive dick but totally unlikable and to Complete Monster levels to where it becomes obnoxious. The fact he hogs SO MUCH SCREEN TIME for his antics makes it worse. I could probably find the show decent if he didn't drag it down so much. But some people find him hilarious so W/E.

Oh, Powerpuff Girls has its own classic example: "WE'RE GONNA KICK YOUR BUTT!"

edited 17th Jan '13 8:05:21 AM by Vertigo_High

I admit I don't like the over the top Gorn and semi realistic violence in later Family Guy, part of the fun in most of the violent scenes earlier on was how slapstick and over the top they were (eg. the Peter vs Giant Chicken fights, Lethal Weapons' climax). Now they try to make the physical scenes as gruesome and unbearable to watch as possible (eg. Evil Stewie's rampage, the majority of graphic beatdowns Brian suffers).

Roger goes in and out for me. Sometimes he's pretty funny, other times he just sways into the same territory as Family Guy in trying to be cheaply shocking and as much of a one note irredeemable monster as possible without a lot of genuine wit put into it. He seems to be taming a bit in later seasons.

edited 17th Jan '13 8:27:25 AM by Psi001

Well, first off, you're mixing up episodes with that PPG quote—that was from the "Monkey See, Doggy Two" episode (aka: Mojo Jojo repeats a plan that didn't work and then shows the girls some home movies). Second of all, I never understood why everyone hates that ending to the episode you ARE talking about ("Mime for a Change"...and now that I think of it, that episode title would've been better if it was "Change for a Mime"). Whether it's the clown's fault or not, he still committed a pretty horrific crime. And why did he do this? Because he got bleach on his clothes. He took the life, soul, and color out of the entire world...just because his favorite outfit was ruined. It wasn't even evil bleach that he was contaminated with. Just plain ol' regular bleach. He clearly had these mystical powers he seems to suddenly gain out of nowhere already. Guy was a jerk. And he wasn't even a very entertaining clown anyway.

I always thought it was sort of a parody of brainwashed scenarios, in that Rainbow thanks the girls for reviving his true self, only for them to miss the point and send him to jail anyway.

Granted it's not the most sensical one with bleach of all things (and rock music being the antidote), but Rainbow's personality completely changes and the Narrator even mentions him turning into a different person.

The ending did seem rather melancholy however, and a possible reason Rainbow cameoed in a later episode not long after.

Admitedly Powerpuff Girls have a lot of Blood Knight moments, and nearly every episode involves them beating the villain to a sometimes gratuitous pulp, so they likely will have moments some feel belong here. Not to mention Genndy Tartakovsky's tendancy for unsettling Mood Whiplash.

edited 17th Jan '13 11:18:15 AM by Psi001

You know what, I would say a lot of moments in Powerpuff Girls are distasteful, if you think carefully. You really have to beat up villains and throw them in jail? And people cheer over it? I don't know, at least a few episodes went over the line with it.

Jewel of the Aisle (Trix parody) comes to mind.

edited 17th Jan '13 11:20:49 AM by Trivialis