Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Misuse
* OnlySaneWoman: For a given value of “sane”…but then again, she is being stacked up against Bart and Rodney here.
Deleted line(s) 190 (click to see context) :
* WomenAreWiser: For a given value of “wiser”…but then again, she is being stacked up against Bart and Rodney here.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Deleted line(s) 31 (click to see context) :
* DoingItForTheArt: He puts on Shakespearean drama because he enjoys it, though he still puts on the crowd-pleasers from time to time to keep his business afloat.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 139 (click to see context) from:
** He and Doris eat dinner with the Washingtons at a fancy restaurant in "My Favorite Thing", and later join the family for Pictionary.
to:
** He and Doris eat dinner with the Washingtons at a fancy restaurant in "My Favorite Thing", and later join the family for Pictionary.''TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Deleted line(s) 167 (click to see context) :
* WhatAnIdiot: In “No Bones About It”, he doesn’t bother to check and verify whether or not the bones that he claims are Bigfoot’s are actually real. Unsurprisingly, they’re actually plaster movie props that are over thirty years old.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CaptainObvious: In "Break a Leg", he narrates a bike race with some of the most descriptive commentary you will ever hear.
-->'''Dern:''' Welcome back, folks! So sorry that you had to miss everything so far! Let me, uh, give you a recap... the bicyclists started at the beginning and are now racing towards the finish line. Yeah, that about sums it up. I now see two bicyclists have taken the lead, it's, uh, [[ViewersAreMorons it's one kid, and another... kid...]]
-->'''Dern:''' Welcome back, folks! So sorry that you had to miss everything so far! Let me, uh, give you a recap... the bicyclists started at the beginning and are now racing towards the finish line. Yeah, that about sums it up. I now see two bicyclists have taken the lead, it's, uh, [[ViewersAreMorons it's one kid, and another... kid...]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* VocalEvolution: Early appearances had him a bit more restrained and lower-key on his LargeHam personality. As the show went on, he gained something of a NoIndoorVoice trait and times where he acted mellow were few and far between.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BaldOfEvil: Such as he is. Rather, art consistently depicts him with a ''very'' bad combover that suits his character, and he once refused to plant one of his own hairs in a bowl of soup on the grounds that he didn't have much hair, and he wanted what he did have "intact, and unharmed".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* {{Malaproper}}: In "The Other Woman":
-->"I dunno about this choke 'n dagger stuff."
-->"I dunno about this choke 'n dagger stuff."
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* VillainEpisode: In "Family Values" and "A Cheater Cheated".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Also the subject of one in "Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips":
-->'''Rodney:''' Deep down inside, I think Whit likes my dad.
-->-musical interlude-
-->'''Whit:''' ''No'', Bart.
-->'''Rodney:''' Deep down inside, I think Whit likes my dad.
-->-musical interlude-
-->'''Whit:''' ''No'', Bart.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* NoodleIncident: Shakespeare asks him to recall "the fuel pump incident" so as to remember why their car is in the garage in "Break A Leg".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BlackComedy: In "Tornado!", he broadcasts a radio meteorologist's live coverage of a tornado hitting Connellsville, but the connection is cut off by the storm, leading to this remark:
-->'''Dern:''' Well, heh-heh...that was Melvin, reporting live...I ''hope''...from Connellsville where as many as three twisters have been sighted!
-->'''Dern:''' Well, heh-heh...that was Melvin, reporting live...I ''hope''...from Connellsville where as many as three twisters have been sighted!
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 148 (click to see context) from:
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Claims that he can match or beat the prices of "whatever bozo" is supplying the electrical needs for a prominent factory owner, only to find out that the "bozo" is the owner's brother.
to:
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Claims In "Rewards in Full", he claims that he can match or beat the prices of "whatever bozo" is supplying the electrical needs for a prominent factory owner, owner...only to find out that the "bozo" is the owner's brother.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Claims that he can match or beat the prices of "whatever bozo" is supplying the electrical needs for a prominent factory owner, only to find out that the "bozo" is the owner's brother.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* {{Irony}}: In "Rewards In Full", he returns a book called "How To Get Organized" to the Whit's End library and tells Connie that he "found it under a pile of junk at home".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
** He tries to recite Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy while cold-addled in “The Taming of the Two”. It goes…about as well as you’d expect.
to:
** He tries to recite Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy while cold-addled in “The Taming of the Two”. It goes…about It...goes about as well as you’d you'd expect.
Changed line(s) 52 (click to see context) from:
* PolarOppositeTwins / SiblingYinYang: Both Blackgaard twins are sharply-dressed, eloquent, and egotistical…and the similarities end right about there, with Edwin being otherwise genial and likeable and Regis being cruel and domineering.
to:
* PolarOppositeTwins / SiblingYinYang: PolarOppositeTwins[=/=]SiblingYinYang: Both Blackgaard twins are sharply-dressed, eloquent, and egotistical…and the similarities end right about there, with Edwin being otherwise genial and likeable and Regis being cruel and domineering.
Changed line(s) 77 (click to see context) from:
* DamnedByFaintPraise / ConstructiveCriticism: Being the Paula Abdul counterpart to Bryan Dern’s Simon Cowell in “Odyssey Sings!”, he tends to oscillate between the two, depending on whether the singer is horrendous or simply needs work.
to:
* DamnedByFaintPraise / ConstructiveCriticism: DamnedByFaintPraise[=/=]ConstructiveCriticism: Being the Paula Abdul counterpart to Bryan Dern’s Simon Cowell in “Odyssey Sings!”, he tends to oscillate between the two, depending on whether the singer is horrendous or simply needs work.
Changed line(s) 123 (click to see context) from:
** He also calls into question the legitimacy of a nativity scene in front of city hall because its placement near rival store King's Appliance Cave means it's taking away business from the Electric Palace.
to:
** He also calls into question the Constitutional legitimacy of a nativity scene in front of city hall City Hall in "The Living Nativity" because its placement near rival store King's Appliance Cave means it's taking away business from the Electric Palace.
Changed line(s) 139 (click to see context) from:
* {{Malaproper}}: In “Tom for Mayor, Part 1”, while announcing his candidacy for mayor and using an extended “shoes to fill” metaphor:
to:
* {{Malaproper}}: In “Tom "Tom for Mayor, Part 1”, 1", while announcing his candidacy for mayor and using an extended “shoes to fill” metaphor:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* StreisandEffect: Invokes it when persuading Edwin Blackgaard to continue his stint as a guest commentator blasting the city government, stating that a little controversy is the best publicity—a fact which Dern knows from experience.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* {{Perfumigation}}: Edwin orders him to sit at the back of the Harlequin Theatre during a performance in "Suspicious Finds" so that his cologne won't be distracting.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
Prominent, though not necessarily protagonistic, citizens around Odyssey.
Return to the main character page [[Characters/AdventuresInOdyssey here]].
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:R. Edwin Blackgaard]]
->'''First appearance:''' “Double Trouble”
->'''Last appearance:''' “A Class Reenactment”
->'''Voiced by:''' Earl Boen
* AlliterativeFamily: [[spoiler:Ronald]] Edwin and his twin brother Regis.
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Proves to be his undoing in “Double Trouble”, when no one will trust that he is who he says he is because of Regis.
* AnxietyDreams: In “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”, when he’s convinced that the town will hate him because he left when Regis came back during Darkness Before Dawn.
* [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Arrogant Actor Guy]]: But we all love him for it.
* TheAtoner: Thinks he has to do this when he comes back to town in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”.
* AttentionWhore: He really loves being in the spotlight.
* BeamMeUpScotty: Indulges in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard” the misquotation [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} “Alas, poor Regis! I knew him…well.”]]
* BerserkButton: Critiquing his acting ability and mooching off of him are equally likely to enrage him.
* BreakTheHaughty: “Break A Leg” has Shakespeare incapacitated because of the titular injury, so Edwin has to organize a bike race as a fundraiser for the Harlequin Theatre and go about his daily tasks and tend to his assistant; by the end, Edwin has run himself ragged and admits to Shakespeare that he never realized just how much Shakespeare worked.
** He has Wooton as a co-star in his play, but only wants him around in a bit role due to Wooton’s lack of ability; when Wooton fumbles his one line and starts to play to the audience, Edwin flubs the rest of his soliloquy and the people who praise the play are more interested in Wooton than himself.
** He tries to recite Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy while cold-addled in “The Taming of the Two”. It goes…about as well as you’d expect.
* CluelessBoss: His treatment of Shakespeare comes off as well-meaning-but-insensitive rather than actively spiteful; for example, in “A Capsule Comes to Town”, he doesn’t quite understand that Shakespeare isn’t pleased to be referred to as a harlequin and instead thinks that Shakespeare’s reaction means that he is simply embarrassed not to know what it is.
* ConservationOfCompetence: It’s quite clear that in terms of everyday tasks, he is significantly stunted in comparison to Shakespeare—he can’t even recognize that a door he walks through every day opens inward because he’s so used to Shakespeare opening it for him.
* CuriousQualmsOfConscience: When he decides to give away all the Electric Palace’s merchandise in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”, Shakespeare questions whether or not he even has a conscience, and Edwin admits that he too was unaware.
* DeadpanSnarker: When he’s not making bite marks in the scenery, he’s probably putting his other Shakespearean sensibilities to good use.
-->'''Jack Davis:''' I’d really like to play a tough detective type! I’m even growing a mustache—see?
-->'''Edwin:''' Really? How exciting! We’ll all get our magnifying glasses and have a look!
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: In “A Class Reenactment”, he crows that the play he eventually wrote and directed is enough to impress “that naval-gazing hack”, the critic he was trying to impress with the play…while Shakespeare is waiting with that critic. He tries to correct himself, to no avail, and the critic delivers a Stealth Insult to him on the way out.
* DoingItForTheArt: He puts on Shakespearean drama because he enjoys it, though he still puts on the crowd-pleasers from time to time to keep his business afloat.
* DramaQueen: Natch.
-->"Can’t you see I’m having an overdramatic ''fit?!''"
* EmbarrassingFirstName: [[spoiler:Ronald]], which he refuses to use because it reminds him of a certain clown of the same name.
* EveryoneHasStandards: The only reason why he still owns the Electric Palace (a fact that he considers to be a "painful reality") is that Regis’s will requires him to or else the trust fund to take care of their ailing mother is dissolved; he really doesn’t care for Bart’s poor customer service, get-rich-quick schemes, or general deceptiveness.
** He also may be egotistical and occasionally willing to perform desperate and slightly shady acts for money, but he also recognizes that his brother is well and truly evil.
* EvilTwin: Inverted; he’s introduced to the audience later than Regis as his good twin.
* FatAndSkinny: Skinny to Shakespeare’s Fat.
* {{Greed}}: He falls victim to it from time to time; in “A Class Act”, he casts a girl with absolutely no talent as the lead in a play and caters to her every whim because her father is funding the class.
* ItsAllAboutMe
* ItsAllMyFault: Blames himself for Regis’s takeover and what he perceives as his cowardliness in the face of his brother.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He can be self-aggrandizing, hypocritical, and insensitive, but he’s still genuinely friendly and enjoys working with people who are legitimately talented and interested.
* LargeHam: Created largely for this purpose.
* LaserGuidedKarma: When he bends over backwards to pamper Shannon Everett in “A Class Act” because her father is funding Edwin’s acting class, he also doesn’t give her any constructive criticism; as a result, her father is furious that Edwin would let her make a fool out of herself and pulls the money.
* MeaningfulName: Edwin means "rich friend", and he's known for his appreciation for the finer things.
* MrViceGuy: Arrogance and greed.
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Considers the protesters who are railing against his repeated insults against the Odyssey city government (during his brief tenure as a Shock Jock in “When Bad Isn’t So Good”) to be free publicity for his upcoming play.
* NoblewomansLaugh: Indulges in a bit when he thinks he’s a step ahead; he lets one loose when telling Eugene that “audiences don’t listen to the radio to hear the truth” in “A Class Reenactment”.
* NotSoAboveItAll: For all his posturing, he’s still prone to greed and some of his money-making ventures tend to blow up in his face.
* OddFriendship: With the down-to-earth and practical Whit and the quiet and composed Jack.
* OnTheMoney: He needs to pay $10,000 in inheritance tax for the Electric Palace, and borrows the money from Bart Rathbone (who, conveniently, wanted to buy the Electric Palace in the first place).
* PolarOppositeTwins / SiblingYinYang: Both Blackgaard twins are sharply-dressed, eloquent, and egotistical…and the similarities end right about there, with Edwin being otherwise genial and likeable and Regis being cruel and domineering.
* PragmaticHero: In the aforementioned “A Class Act”; while he still should have done the right thing and been honest with his students, he does have a point hardened by experience that many students in acting classes tend to be very entitled and throw fits if they’re told that they’re anything less than wonderful.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He has every reason to want Bart to clean up his act, as Bart recounts in “A Cheater Cheated”; Edwin owns the Electric Palace, and wants his name associated with a store of at least decent repute.
** Even as he’s altering almost everything about the play to suit his purposes in “A Class Reenactment”, he does rightly correct Mandy and Trent when they protest about their characters being a married couple, pointing out that professional actors work with what they’re given and that, as he is a seasoned professional and they are middle schoolers, he has every right to work with the script as he sees fit.
* TheRival: His is Shakespearean actor and expert Malcolm Lear in “The Taming of the Two”.
* SecondHandStorytelling: Of the time he apparently ''rapped'' Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy when a boom box was brought to a performance of Shakespeare in the Park.
* ShockJock: Tries his hand at it in “When Bad Isn’t So Good”; it doesn’t go very well, if the people who tried to set fire to the Harlequin Theatre are any indication.
* ShoutOut: Everything about his life is one big send-up to Shakespeare, from constantly putting on the Bard’s plays and using lines of his in everyday speech to having his antagonists named things like Malcolm Lear and Duncan Banquo.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Talented and sophisticated though he may be, his career is much less star-studded than he thinks it is.
* TarAndFeathers: Dreams that this will happen to him in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”.
* ThemeTwinNaming: Alliterative type, and almost an AerithAndBob example; his first name is [[spoiler:Ronald]] and his twin brother is Regis. (Incidentally, both names have roots meaning “ruler”.)
* ThirdPersonPerson: When boasting of his magnificence.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Shakespeare.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Has a great fondness for lemonade, which he refers to as "heavenly nectar".
* UnusualEuphemism: Lets out a “What in the name of Hamlet is going on here?!” in “The Taming of the Two”.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Walter Shakespeare]]
->'''First appearance:''' “Double Trouble”
->'''Last appearance:''' “A Class Reenactment”
->'''Voiced by:''' Corey Burton
* BeleagueredAssistant
* ConservationOfCompetence: He’s the reason why anything gets done around the Harlequin Theatre.
* DamnedByFaintPraise / ConstructiveCriticism: Being the Paula Abdul counterpart to Bryan Dern’s Simon Cowell in “Odyssey Sings!”, he tends to oscillate between the two, depending on whether the singer is horrendous or simply needs work.
* DeadpanSnarker: When on more equal terms with Edwin:
-->'''Edwin:''' Six weeks of painful rehearsal, two weeks before our performance, and...have you ''seen'' what’s been going on in there?
-->'''Shakespeare:''' Not on purpose, sir.
* FatAndSkinny: Fat to Edwin's Skinny.
* HiddenDepths: Tamika mentions in “Odyssey Sings!” that Shakespeare used to be in a folk band.
* HypercompetentSidekick: So much so that Edwin is completely overwhelmed while trying to manage even the most basic tasks by himself.
* TheJeeves
* NiceGuy: In “Odyssey Sings”, it is noted that Shakespeare as a judge is much more fair and polite to the “America Sings!” contestants than Cryin’ Bryan Dern.
* PhraseCatcher: To Edwin's frequent cry of "SHAKESPEEEEAAAAARRREE!".
* ServileSnarker
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Edwin; "Odyssey Sings!" is the only time that Shakespeare appears without him.
* WithDueRespect: Usually prefaces his advice to Edwin with some variation of this, with added praise to butter up his ego.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Bart Rathbone]]
->'''First appearance:''' “An Act of Mercy”
->'''Last appearance:''' “Suspicious Finds”
->'''Voiced by:''' Walker Edmiston, Robert Easton (“Suspicious Finds”)
* AlwaysABiggerFish: Jellyfish is this to him and Rodney, infinitely better at plotting and vandalism.
** So is Cryin’ Bryan Dern; as Whit points out in “A Cheater Cheated”, both Dern and Bart are pretty nasty, unscrupulous, deceitful people, but Dern is the one with the widely-broadcasted radio show.
* AndNinetyNineCents: Frequently advertises products this way.
* BeautyContest: Sponsors one in “A Model Child”.
* BigEater: Eats his way through a bowl of [[ChocolateFrostedSugarBombs Honey Puffs cereal]] and multiple slices of cheesecake at the Washingtons' house in "Sunday Morning Scramble", and the reason he's there in the first place was because Doris kicked him out of the house for eating cheese doodles in the shower.
* BookDumb: Doesn’t know what lyrics are or what an acronym is.
* BumblingDad: Downplayed, if only because all of the Rathbones are like this.
* ButtMonkey: When he’s not part of the conflict, he’s caught in the middle of one; in “The Taming of the Two”, he’s forced to put up with Edwin Blackgaard’s increasingly melodramatic rivalry with Malcolm Lear just to try to get someone to act in commercials for the Electric Palace.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In his first appearance, he plays parenting straight and believes that Rodney should be disciplined for stealing Tom’s apples and breaking his fence after Rodney beats up a kid for not paying him a dollar; this is in stark contrast to a man who encourages Rodney’s bullying and plays SitcomArchNemesis to Tom and Whit.
** “The Winning Edge” establishes that he’s a very competent coach and his competitive strategies work; by the end of his run, he’s as incompetent as he is dishonest.
* CheatersNeverProsper: His corner-cutting and dishonesty almost always ends up backfiring on him.
* ComicallySmallBribe: He has no concept of what constitutes an appropriate tip, particularly for an upscale restaurant; in "My Favorite Thing", he tries to scam Ed Washington into paying for his and Doris's meals at a [[FrenchCuisineIsHaughty high-class French restaurant]] and is promptly disappointed when Ed appears to fall for it, only to agree to cover the tip:
-->'''Bart:''' Whooptee-doo, what's fifteen, twenty cents?
-->'''Doris:''' Yeah, big spender.
* ConArtist: Though not a particularly successful one, most of the time.
* CuttingCorners: In “A Rathbone of Contention”, he tries to build and promote the Electric Palace in three weeks—he sells Whit bad transformers, has Eugene wire the building rather than bring in an actual electrician, and allows Rodney to refuse to pay Lucy for fliers that Rodney claims he “wasn’t satisfied with”. Naturally, this backfires; when Eugene turns off the generator so the building will be powered on his wiring job, it catches fire because he used Bart’s faulty equipment.
* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Plenty of episodes that feature him seem to follow the formula of “instant conflict, just add Bart”—and it works, for the most part.
* DoWrongRight: He regularly teaches Rodney how to be a dishonest, swindling bully.
-->“How many times have I told ya never admit to nothin’?
* DontCallMeSir: Hates it when Rodney calls him “Pop”, less because of the unwanted deference and more because it just annoys him.
* DoomItYourself: Has Eugene do the wiring on the Electric Palace instead of a professional electrician (and doesn’t pay him). Because Eugene used the poor equipment Bart had on hand as products, turning the building on starts an electrical fire.
* ElSpanishO: In a flashback to how he and Doris fell in love, he recounts trying to escape the cops with a hasty “No comprende English wordos!”.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Just about his only consistent redeeming quality is that he loves his wife and son.
* EvilCounterpart: To Whit (well-known business owner who has none of Whit’s scruples and good sense) and to George Barclay (father and husband of the slovenly and petty Rodney and Doris as opposed to the kind and friendly Jimmy, Donna, and Mary).
* EvilIsPetty: The reason why he wants to instigate a violent riot on private property that lands at least one person in the hospital in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips”? Novacom wouldn’t pick up a show he’d pitched to them.
** He also calls into question the legitimacy of a nativity scene in front of city hall because its placement near rival store King's Appliance Cave means it's taking away business from the Electric Palace.
* FakeCharity: Once started one with his future wife Doris, claiming that dogs are an endangered species as a phone scam, as recounted in “Prequels of Love”.
* GetRichQuickScheme: Uses the Electric Palace for several of these, most (if not all) of which are scams.
* GilliganCut: Subject of one in “Tom for Mayor, Part 1”:
-->'''Tom:''' It would take somethin’ even worse than Glossman to make me run for mayor!
-->-musical interlude-
-->'''Bart:''' Look, I wanna thank all a’ yas from the press for comin’ here to Rathbones Electric Palace…
* GoKartingWithBowser: Winds up in a basement swapping stories about love with Whit, Bernard, and Marvin in “Prequels of Love”.
** He and his family go on vacation to Hawaii with the Barclays in “Aloha Oy!”.
** He hangs out at the Washingtons’ house in “Sunday Morning Scramble” to escape Doris’s wrath (and apparently has done so before; Elaine asks if he’s been kicked out for putting engine parts in the dishwasher again).
** He and Doris eat dinner with the Washingtons at a fancy restaurant in "My Favorite Thing", and later join the family for Pictionary.
* HenpeckedHusband
* HiddenHeartOfGold: In “Tornado!”, he buys back Mandy’s doll from Jack Allen, to whom she sold it for money to give to the Rathbones after their house was damaged by the tornado.
* HonestJohnsDealership: The Electric Palace.
* LackOfEmpathy: With a few exceptions, he really doesn’t care about the people he screws over so long as he turns a profit.
* LazyHusband: About which Doris has voiced many complaints.
* {{Malaproper}}: In “Tom for Mayor, Part 1”, while announcing his candidacy for mayor and using an extended “shoes to fill” metaphor:
-->“I am throwin’ my hat in the ring! …Of shoes! Cuz…uh, these boots are made for walkin’, and…carryin’ a big stick! And…I’m no heel today!”
** He repeatedly screws up Whit's middle name; his substitutions include "aviary" and "honorary",
* MenCantKeepHouse: Doris grouses in “The Other Woman” that Bart’s been passing on his slovenliness onto Rodney. Apparently he’s been known to put engine parts in the dishwasher.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he finds out that he publicly accused Tom Riley of having an affair with his mentally ill wife in “The Other Woman”.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: He conspires with Philip Glossman and Jellyfish to discredit Tom Riley to help pave the way for Regis Blackgaard to take over the town, and it’s his son’s gang that takes part in the preceding wave of vandalism.
** He also instigates an anti-Novacom riot in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips” that results in property damage to the Novacom building and even lands Whit in the hospital.
* OhCrap: Any time he realizes how much he’s in over his head. Shining examples include finding out at the worst possible time that Rodney claimed he and Doris were a doctor and a lawyer in “Family Values”, and the time that the police catch him and Rodney for starting a riot on the Novacom premises in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips”.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He’s perfectly okay with making racist jokes and remarks and categorizing people into different parts of town, but refuses to consider the possibility that he is, in fact, a bigot.
* SirSwearsALot: Implied by the LongList of insults that Bart has been known to throw at his customers behind their backs, which Cryin’ Bryan Dern whips out as part of a smear campaign against Bart in “A Cheater Cheated”.
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Whit’s first.
* SmugSnake
* SnakeOilSalesman: He's been known to sell faulty products and advertise them as good quality; according to "A Cheater Cheated", he replaces wires in his kitchen appliances so that they'll fail and customers have to come back to the store for the repairs.
* StatusQuoIsGod: No matter how many other characters develop around him, no matter what good deeds he does, no matter how many times he realizes his mistakes or that he’s in too deep, he’ll never escape being a slimy, cheating, unscrupulous con artist.
* TotallyRadical: Starts speaking this way as part of his promotion for the ‘60s throwback parade in “Sixties-Something”.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pork rinds, a trait he shares with Rodney and Doris.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Doris, considering that they first met when they were trying to scam someone at a funeral.
* VillainExitStageLeft: Tries to pull one in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips” after a riot; the police rather quickly find them and give chase, and Mitch mentions that Rodney at least went to jail.
* WhatAnIdiot: In “No Bones About It”, he doesn’t bother to check and verify whether or not the bones that he claims are Bigfoot’s are actually real. Unsurprisingly, they’re actually plaster movie props that are over thirty years old.
* YouGetWhatYouPayFor: In “A Rathbone of Contention”, when he has Eugene wire the Electric Palace with faulty transformers and the building catches fire.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Doris Rathbone]]
->'''First appearance:''' “Family Values”
->'''Last appearance:''' “Prequels of Love”
->'''Voiced by:''' Pamela Hayden (“Family Values”-“Sticks and Stones”), Diane Hsu (“My Favorite Thing”-“Prequels of Love”)
* AngerBornOfWorry: In "Aloha, Oy!", after Rodney tries surfing.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: She tries to negotiate with a Hawaiian sales clerk over the price of $2.50 coin purses. The clerk responds with a deal that Doris takes almost immediately—two for $5.00.
* DumbBlonde: She's most recently been depicted with blonde hair and she's hardly the sharpest tool in the shed.
* EasilyImpressed: She gushes over the fact that La Chalet, the fancy restaurant she and Bart go to in "My Favorite Thing", has tablecloths.
* HypocriticalHumor: In "My Favorite Thing":
-->"Elaine, I have to say, your kids don't really seem to be cut out for the elegance of the fine-dining experience. ''HEY YOU! WAITER WITH THE TOUPÉE! I NEED YA!"
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: She's aghast at the fact that she and Bart attempted to create a scandal out of Tom Riley's mentally ill wife in "The Other Woman".
* SkewedPriorities: In “Aloha, Oy!”, when their captain leaves their boat behind:
-->'''George Barclay:''' This is unbelievable.
-->'''Doris:''' I’ll say. He took the pork rinds!
* SuperGullible: She gleefully takes the aforementioned two-for-$5.00 deal, squealing that she knew the clerk would see reason.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pork Rinds, a trait she shares with her husband and son.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Bart; they met trying to scam a guy in a funeral.
* WomenAreWiser: For a given value of “wiser”…but then again, she is being stacked up against Bart and Rodney here.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Cryin’ Bryan Dern]]
->'''First appearance:''' “A Tongue of Fire”
->'''Last appearance:''' “The Forgotten Deed”
->'''Voiced by:''' Corey Burton
* BitingTheHandHumor: He’s not above sniping at Odyssey 105, like in “Tornado!” when he grouses about having to come into work as a talk show host on a Saturday morning or in “Break A Leg” when he clearly thinks as lowly as possible of the bike race he’s been tasked to cover.
* CausticCritic: He takes on the role of the Simon Cowell Expy in “Odyssey Sings!”
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: In “Real Time”, when he repeatedly insists that the police rescuing him hurry up and get him out of there and whines and grouses every time something goes wrong.
* DeadpanSnarker: A highly patronizing one, at that.
-->'''Connie:''' I’ll be in as soon as I can find a space!
-->'''Dern:''' Try the one between your ears, honey!
* DirtyCoward: All throughout “Real Time”, where not only does he disregard others’ safety in favor of his own, but he also repeatedly begs and thanks God for his life after insisting that he doesn’t believe in God and thinks that religion is a dangerous con.
* FullNameBasis: Always introduces himself as “Cryin’ Bryan Dern”.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Repeatedly expresses a disdain for anyone else who might get hurt by the bomb threat in “Real Time” just so that he can get out safely.
* {{Jerkass}}
** HiddenHeartOfGold: He shows real and uncharacteristic concern for the citizens of the town and his fellow news anchors in “Tornado!”; while he does make a meal out of Bart Rathbone’s typical sleaziness and price-gouging, he also takes care to interview Jack Allen about what the Red Cross shelter needs and later on broadcasts Jack’s plan to help the Rathbones.
* KentBrockmanNews: Any time he’s doing a news report, it’s bound to have a metric ton of political bias, and he makes sure his audience knows what he really thinks of some of the things he covers.
* LargeHamRadio
* LastNameBasis: He’s usually referred to as “Dern” by the other citizens around town.
* NoIndoorVoice: It’s where he gets his stage name from.
* PrayerIsALastResort: In “Real Time”, he and Whit—who are about to go on air in a Christianity vs. atheism debate—are trapped in an elevator and it looks as if a bomb will go off; as the seconds tick down, Dern finally gives in and prays for his life (on-air, incidentally, as Dern had on a secret mic that he was going to try to use to trip Whit up). Turns out the bomb was a stink bomb, and Dern has a lot of explaining to do.
* PyrrhicVictory: In “Top This!”, he stays up all day and night to take his radio station hostage in order to protest it becoming an all-polka station. Turns out it was a publicity stunt that shot the station’s ratings through the roof, but Dern is too exhausted to enjoy it.
* ShockJock
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In “Tom for Mayor, Part 2”:
-->'''Jack Allen:''' By another lapse of reason, local radio celebrity Bryan Dern has been selected to read the questions to the candidates.
-->'''Dern:''' No tampering here!
* {{Troll}}: He loves stirring up controversy by his mere presence, even off the air; he tries goading Connie, Eugene, and Bernard into talking about the potential closure of Whit’s End in “The Forgotten Deed”, and in “A Class Reenactment”, he does as much as he possibly can to piss off Mandy about her and Trent being a couple.
[[/folder]]
Return to the main character page [[Characters/AdventuresInOdyssey here]].
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:R. Edwin Blackgaard]]
->'''First appearance:''' “Double Trouble”
->'''Last appearance:''' “A Class Reenactment”
->'''Voiced by:''' Earl Boen
* AlliterativeFamily: [[spoiler:Ronald]] Edwin and his twin brother Regis.
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Proves to be his undoing in “Double Trouble”, when no one will trust that he is who he says he is because of Regis.
* AnxietyDreams: In “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”, when he’s convinced that the town will hate him because he left when Regis came back during Darkness Before Dawn.
* [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Arrogant Actor Guy]]: But we all love him for it.
* TheAtoner: Thinks he has to do this when he comes back to town in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”.
* AttentionWhore: He really loves being in the spotlight.
* BeamMeUpScotty: Indulges in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard” the misquotation [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} “Alas, poor Regis! I knew him…well.”]]
* BerserkButton: Critiquing his acting ability and mooching off of him are equally likely to enrage him.
* BreakTheHaughty: “Break A Leg” has Shakespeare incapacitated because of the titular injury, so Edwin has to organize a bike race as a fundraiser for the Harlequin Theatre and go about his daily tasks and tend to his assistant; by the end, Edwin has run himself ragged and admits to Shakespeare that he never realized just how much Shakespeare worked.
** He has Wooton as a co-star in his play, but only wants him around in a bit role due to Wooton’s lack of ability; when Wooton fumbles his one line and starts to play to the audience, Edwin flubs the rest of his soliloquy and the people who praise the play are more interested in Wooton than himself.
** He tries to recite Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy while cold-addled in “The Taming of the Two”. It goes…about as well as you’d expect.
* CluelessBoss: His treatment of Shakespeare comes off as well-meaning-but-insensitive rather than actively spiteful; for example, in “A Capsule Comes to Town”, he doesn’t quite understand that Shakespeare isn’t pleased to be referred to as a harlequin and instead thinks that Shakespeare’s reaction means that he is simply embarrassed not to know what it is.
* ConservationOfCompetence: It’s quite clear that in terms of everyday tasks, he is significantly stunted in comparison to Shakespeare—he can’t even recognize that a door he walks through every day opens inward because he’s so used to Shakespeare opening it for him.
* CuriousQualmsOfConscience: When he decides to give away all the Electric Palace’s merchandise in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”, Shakespeare questions whether or not he even has a conscience, and Edwin admits that he too was unaware.
* DeadpanSnarker: When he’s not making bite marks in the scenery, he’s probably putting his other Shakespearean sensibilities to good use.
-->'''Jack Davis:''' I’d really like to play a tough detective type! I’m even growing a mustache—see?
-->'''Edwin:''' Really? How exciting! We’ll all get our magnifying glasses and have a look!
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: In “A Class Reenactment”, he crows that the play he eventually wrote and directed is enough to impress “that naval-gazing hack”, the critic he was trying to impress with the play…while Shakespeare is waiting with that critic. He tries to correct himself, to no avail, and the critic delivers a Stealth Insult to him on the way out.
* DoingItForTheArt: He puts on Shakespearean drama because he enjoys it, though he still puts on the crowd-pleasers from time to time to keep his business afloat.
* DramaQueen: Natch.
-->"Can’t you see I’m having an overdramatic ''fit?!''"
* EmbarrassingFirstName: [[spoiler:Ronald]], which he refuses to use because it reminds him of a certain clown of the same name.
* EveryoneHasStandards: The only reason why he still owns the Electric Palace (a fact that he considers to be a "painful reality") is that Regis’s will requires him to or else the trust fund to take care of their ailing mother is dissolved; he really doesn’t care for Bart’s poor customer service, get-rich-quick schemes, or general deceptiveness.
** He also may be egotistical and occasionally willing to perform desperate and slightly shady acts for money, but he also recognizes that his brother is well and truly evil.
* EvilTwin: Inverted; he’s introduced to the audience later than Regis as his good twin.
* FatAndSkinny: Skinny to Shakespeare’s Fat.
* {{Greed}}: He falls victim to it from time to time; in “A Class Act”, he casts a girl with absolutely no talent as the lead in a play and caters to her every whim because her father is funding the class.
* ItsAllAboutMe
* ItsAllMyFault: Blames himself for Regis’s takeover and what he perceives as his cowardliness in the face of his brother.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He can be self-aggrandizing, hypocritical, and insensitive, but he’s still genuinely friendly and enjoys working with people who are legitimately talented and interested.
* LargeHam: Created largely for this purpose.
* LaserGuidedKarma: When he bends over backwards to pamper Shannon Everett in “A Class Act” because her father is funding Edwin’s acting class, he also doesn’t give her any constructive criticism; as a result, her father is furious that Edwin would let her make a fool out of herself and pulls the money.
* MeaningfulName: Edwin means "rich friend", and he's known for his appreciation for the finer things.
* MrViceGuy: Arrogance and greed.
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Considers the protesters who are railing against his repeated insults against the Odyssey city government (during his brief tenure as a Shock Jock in “When Bad Isn’t So Good”) to be free publicity for his upcoming play.
* NoblewomansLaugh: Indulges in a bit when he thinks he’s a step ahead; he lets one loose when telling Eugene that “audiences don’t listen to the radio to hear the truth” in “A Class Reenactment”.
* NotSoAboveItAll: For all his posturing, he’s still prone to greed and some of his money-making ventures tend to blow up in his face.
* OddFriendship: With the down-to-earth and practical Whit and the quiet and composed Jack.
* OnTheMoney: He needs to pay $10,000 in inheritance tax for the Electric Palace, and borrows the money from Bart Rathbone (who, conveniently, wanted to buy the Electric Palace in the first place).
* PolarOppositeTwins / SiblingYinYang: Both Blackgaard twins are sharply-dressed, eloquent, and egotistical…and the similarities end right about there, with Edwin being otherwise genial and likeable and Regis being cruel and domineering.
* PragmaticHero: In the aforementioned “A Class Act”; while he still should have done the right thing and been honest with his students, he does have a point hardened by experience that many students in acting classes tend to be very entitled and throw fits if they’re told that they’re anything less than wonderful.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He has every reason to want Bart to clean up his act, as Bart recounts in “A Cheater Cheated”; Edwin owns the Electric Palace, and wants his name associated with a store of at least decent repute.
** Even as he’s altering almost everything about the play to suit his purposes in “A Class Reenactment”, he does rightly correct Mandy and Trent when they protest about their characters being a married couple, pointing out that professional actors work with what they’re given and that, as he is a seasoned professional and they are middle schoolers, he has every right to work with the script as he sees fit.
* TheRival: His is Shakespearean actor and expert Malcolm Lear in “The Taming of the Two”.
* SecondHandStorytelling: Of the time he apparently ''rapped'' Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy when a boom box was brought to a performance of Shakespeare in the Park.
* ShockJock: Tries his hand at it in “When Bad Isn’t So Good”; it doesn’t go very well, if the people who tried to set fire to the Harlequin Theatre are any indication.
* ShoutOut: Everything about his life is one big send-up to Shakespeare, from constantly putting on the Bard’s plays and using lines of his in everyday speech to having his antagonists named things like Malcolm Lear and Duncan Banquo.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Talented and sophisticated though he may be, his career is much less star-studded than he thinks it is.
* TarAndFeathers: Dreams that this will happen to him in “Welcome Home, Mr. Blackgaard”.
* ThemeTwinNaming: Alliterative type, and almost an AerithAndBob example; his first name is [[spoiler:Ronald]] and his twin brother is Regis. (Incidentally, both names have roots meaning “ruler”.)
* ThirdPersonPerson: When boasting of his magnificence.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Shakespeare.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Has a great fondness for lemonade, which he refers to as "heavenly nectar".
* UnusualEuphemism: Lets out a “What in the name of Hamlet is going on here?!” in “The Taming of the Two”.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Walter Shakespeare]]
->'''First appearance:''' “Double Trouble”
->'''Last appearance:''' “A Class Reenactment”
->'''Voiced by:''' Corey Burton
* BeleagueredAssistant
* ConservationOfCompetence: He’s the reason why anything gets done around the Harlequin Theatre.
* DamnedByFaintPraise / ConstructiveCriticism: Being the Paula Abdul counterpart to Bryan Dern’s Simon Cowell in “Odyssey Sings!”, he tends to oscillate between the two, depending on whether the singer is horrendous or simply needs work.
* DeadpanSnarker: When on more equal terms with Edwin:
-->'''Edwin:''' Six weeks of painful rehearsal, two weeks before our performance, and...have you ''seen'' what’s been going on in there?
-->'''Shakespeare:''' Not on purpose, sir.
* FatAndSkinny: Fat to Edwin's Skinny.
* HiddenDepths: Tamika mentions in “Odyssey Sings!” that Shakespeare used to be in a folk band.
* HypercompetentSidekick: So much so that Edwin is completely overwhelmed while trying to manage even the most basic tasks by himself.
* TheJeeves
* NiceGuy: In “Odyssey Sings”, it is noted that Shakespeare as a judge is much more fair and polite to the “America Sings!” contestants than Cryin’ Bryan Dern.
* PhraseCatcher: To Edwin's frequent cry of "SHAKESPEEEEAAAAARRREE!".
* ServileSnarker
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Edwin; "Odyssey Sings!" is the only time that Shakespeare appears without him.
* WithDueRespect: Usually prefaces his advice to Edwin with some variation of this, with added praise to butter up his ego.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Bart Rathbone]]
->'''First appearance:''' “An Act of Mercy”
->'''Last appearance:''' “Suspicious Finds”
->'''Voiced by:''' Walker Edmiston, Robert Easton (“Suspicious Finds”)
* AlwaysABiggerFish: Jellyfish is this to him and Rodney, infinitely better at plotting and vandalism.
** So is Cryin’ Bryan Dern; as Whit points out in “A Cheater Cheated”, both Dern and Bart are pretty nasty, unscrupulous, deceitful people, but Dern is the one with the widely-broadcasted radio show.
* AndNinetyNineCents: Frequently advertises products this way.
* BeautyContest: Sponsors one in “A Model Child”.
* BigEater: Eats his way through a bowl of [[ChocolateFrostedSugarBombs Honey Puffs cereal]] and multiple slices of cheesecake at the Washingtons' house in "Sunday Morning Scramble", and the reason he's there in the first place was because Doris kicked him out of the house for eating cheese doodles in the shower.
* BookDumb: Doesn’t know what lyrics are or what an acronym is.
* BumblingDad: Downplayed, if only because all of the Rathbones are like this.
* ButtMonkey: When he’s not part of the conflict, he’s caught in the middle of one; in “The Taming of the Two”, he’s forced to put up with Edwin Blackgaard’s increasingly melodramatic rivalry with Malcolm Lear just to try to get someone to act in commercials for the Electric Palace.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In his first appearance, he plays parenting straight and believes that Rodney should be disciplined for stealing Tom’s apples and breaking his fence after Rodney beats up a kid for not paying him a dollar; this is in stark contrast to a man who encourages Rodney’s bullying and plays SitcomArchNemesis to Tom and Whit.
** “The Winning Edge” establishes that he’s a very competent coach and his competitive strategies work; by the end of his run, he’s as incompetent as he is dishonest.
* CheatersNeverProsper: His corner-cutting and dishonesty almost always ends up backfiring on him.
* ComicallySmallBribe: He has no concept of what constitutes an appropriate tip, particularly for an upscale restaurant; in "My Favorite Thing", he tries to scam Ed Washington into paying for his and Doris's meals at a [[FrenchCuisineIsHaughty high-class French restaurant]] and is promptly disappointed when Ed appears to fall for it, only to agree to cover the tip:
-->'''Bart:''' Whooptee-doo, what's fifteen, twenty cents?
-->'''Doris:''' Yeah, big spender.
* ConArtist: Though not a particularly successful one, most of the time.
* CuttingCorners: In “A Rathbone of Contention”, he tries to build and promote the Electric Palace in three weeks—he sells Whit bad transformers, has Eugene wire the building rather than bring in an actual electrician, and allows Rodney to refuse to pay Lucy for fliers that Rodney claims he “wasn’t satisfied with”. Naturally, this backfires; when Eugene turns off the generator so the building will be powered on his wiring job, it catches fire because he used Bart’s faulty equipment.
* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Plenty of episodes that feature him seem to follow the formula of “instant conflict, just add Bart”—and it works, for the most part.
* DoWrongRight: He regularly teaches Rodney how to be a dishonest, swindling bully.
-->“How many times have I told ya never admit to nothin’?
* DontCallMeSir: Hates it when Rodney calls him “Pop”, less because of the unwanted deference and more because it just annoys him.
* DoomItYourself: Has Eugene do the wiring on the Electric Palace instead of a professional electrician (and doesn’t pay him). Because Eugene used the poor equipment Bart had on hand as products, turning the building on starts an electrical fire.
* ElSpanishO: In a flashback to how he and Doris fell in love, he recounts trying to escape the cops with a hasty “No comprende English wordos!”.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Just about his only consistent redeeming quality is that he loves his wife and son.
* EvilCounterpart: To Whit (well-known business owner who has none of Whit’s scruples and good sense) and to George Barclay (father and husband of the slovenly and petty Rodney and Doris as opposed to the kind and friendly Jimmy, Donna, and Mary).
* EvilIsPetty: The reason why he wants to instigate a violent riot on private property that lands at least one person in the hospital in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips”? Novacom wouldn’t pick up a show he’d pitched to them.
** He also calls into question the legitimacy of a nativity scene in front of city hall because its placement near rival store King's Appliance Cave means it's taking away business from the Electric Palace.
* FakeCharity: Once started one with his future wife Doris, claiming that dogs are an endangered species as a phone scam, as recounted in “Prequels of Love”.
* GetRichQuickScheme: Uses the Electric Palace for several of these, most (if not all) of which are scams.
* GilliganCut: Subject of one in “Tom for Mayor, Part 1”:
-->'''Tom:''' It would take somethin’ even worse than Glossman to make me run for mayor!
-->-musical interlude-
-->'''Bart:''' Look, I wanna thank all a’ yas from the press for comin’ here to Rathbones Electric Palace…
* GoKartingWithBowser: Winds up in a basement swapping stories about love with Whit, Bernard, and Marvin in “Prequels of Love”.
** He and his family go on vacation to Hawaii with the Barclays in “Aloha Oy!”.
** He hangs out at the Washingtons’ house in “Sunday Morning Scramble” to escape Doris’s wrath (and apparently has done so before; Elaine asks if he’s been kicked out for putting engine parts in the dishwasher again).
** He and Doris eat dinner with the Washingtons at a fancy restaurant in "My Favorite Thing", and later join the family for Pictionary.
* HenpeckedHusband
* HiddenHeartOfGold: In “Tornado!”, he buys back Mandy’s doll from Jack Allen, to whom she sold it for money to give to the Rathbones after their house was damaged by the tornado.
* HonestJohnsDealership: The Electric Palace.
* LackOfEmpathy: With a few exceptions, he really doesn’t care about the people he screws over so long as he turns a profit.
* LazyHusband: About which Doris has voiced many complaints.
* {{Malaproper}}: In “Tom for Mayor, Part 1”, while announcing his candidacy for mayor and using an extended “shoes to fill” metaphor:
-->“I am throwin’ my hat in the ring! …Of shoes! Cuz…uh, these boots are made for walkin’, and…carryin’ a big stick! And…I’m no heel today!”
** He repeatedly screws up Whit's middle name; his substitutions include "aviary" and "honorary",
* MenCantKeepHouse: Doris grouses in “The Other Woman” that Bart’s been passing on his slovenliness onto Rodney. Apparently he’s been known to put engine parts in the dishwasher.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When he finds out that he publicly accused Tom Riley of having an affair with his mentally ill wife in “The Other Woman”.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: He conspires with Philip Glossman and Jellyfish to discredit Tom Riley to help pave the way for Regis Blackgaard to take over the town, and it’s his son’s gang that takes part in the preceding wave of vandalism.
** He also instigates an anti-Novacom riot in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips” that results in property damage to the Novacom building and even lands Whit in the hospital.
* OhCrap: Any time he realizes how much he’s in over his head. Shining examples include finding out at the worst possible time that Rodney claimed he and Doris were a doctor and a lawyer in “Family Values”, and the time that the police catch him and Rodney for starting a riot on the Novacom premises in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips”.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He’s perfectly okay with making racist jokes and remarks and categorizing people into different parts of town, but refuses to consider the possibility that he is, in fact, a bigot.
* SirSwearsALot: Implied by the LongList of insults that Bart has been known to throw at his customers behind their backs, which Cryin’ Bryan Dern whips out as part of a smear campaign against Bart in “A Cheater Cheated”.
* SitcomArchNemesis: One of Whit’s first.
* SmugSnake
* SnakeOilSalesman: He's been known to sell faulty products and advertise them as good quality; according to "A Cheater Cheated", he replaces wires in his kitchen appliances so that they'll fail and customers have to come back to the store for the repairs.
* StatusQuoIsGod: No matter how many other characters develop around him, no matter what good deeds he does, no matter how many times he realizes his mistakes or that he’s in too deep, he’ll never escape being a slimy, cheating, unscrupulous con artist.
* TotallyRadical: Starts speaking this way as part of his promotion for the ‘60s throwback parade in “Sixties-Something”.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pork rinds, a trait he shares with Rodney and Doris.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Doris, considering that they first met when they were trying to scam someone at a funeral.
* VillainExitStageLeft: Tries to pull one in “Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips” after a riot; the police rather quickly find them and give chase, and Mitch mentions that Rodney at least went to jail.
* WhatAnIdiot: In “No Bones About It”, he doesn’t bother to check and verify whether or not the bones that he claims are Bigfoot’s are actually real. Unsurprisingly, they’re actually plaster movie props that are over thirty years old.
* YouGetWhatYouPayFor: In “A Rathbone of Contention”, when he has Eugene wire the Electric Palace with faulty transformers and the building catches fire.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Doris Rathbone]]
->'''First appearance:''' “Family Values”
->'''Last appearance:''' “Prequels of Love”
->'''Voiced by:''' Pamela Hayden (“Family Values”-“Sticks and Stones”), Diane Hsu (“My Favorite Thing”-“Prequels of Love”)
* AngerBornOfWorry: In "Aloha, Oy!", after Rodney tries surfing.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: She tries to negotiate with a Hawaiian sales clerk over the price of $2.50 coin purses. The clerk responds with a deal that Doris takes almost immediately—two for $5.00.
* DumbBlonde: She's most recently been depicted with blonde hair and she's hardly the sharpest tool in the shed.
* EasilyImpressed: She gushes over the fact that La Chalet, the fancy restaurant she and Bart go to in "My Favorite Thing", has tablecloths.
* HypocriticalHumor: In "My Favorite Thing":
-->"Elaine, I have to say, your kids don't really seem to be cut out for the elegance of the fine-dining experience. ''HEY YOU! WAITER WITH THE TOUPÉE! I NEED YA!"
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: She's aghast at the fact that she and Bart attempted to create a scandal out of Tom Riley's mentally ill wife in "The Other Woman".
* SkewedPriorities: In “Aloha, Oy!”, when their captain leaves their boat behind:
-->'''George Barclay:''' This is unbelievable.
-->'''Doris:''' I’ll say. He took the pork rinds!
* SuperGullible: She gleefully takes the aforementioned two-for-$5.00 deal, squealing that she knew the clerk would see reason.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Pork Rinds, a trait she shares with her husband and son.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Bart; they met trying to scam a guy in a funeral.
* WomenAreWiser: For a given value of “wiser”…but then again, she is being stacked up against Bart and Rodney here.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Cryin’ Bryan Dern]]
->'''First appearance:''' “A Tongue of Fire”
->'''Last appearance:''' “The Forgotten Deed”
->'''Voiced by:''' Corey Burton
* BitingTheHandHumor: He’s not above sniping at Odyssey 105, like in “Tornado!” when he grouses about having to come into work as a talk show host on a Saturday morning or in “Break A Leg” when he clearly thinks as lowly as possible of the bike race he’s been tasked to cover.
* CausticCritic: He takes on the role of the Simon Cowell Expy in “Odyssey Sings!”
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: In “Real Time”, when he repeatedly insists that the police rescuing him hurry up and get him out of there and whines and grouses every time something goes wrong.
* DeadpanSnarker: A highly patronizing one, at that.
-->'''Connie:''' I’ll be in as soon as I can find a space!
-->'''Dern:''' Try the one between your ears, honey!
* DirtyCoward: All throughout “Real Time”, where not only does he disregard others’ safety in favor of his own, but he also repeatedly begs and thanks God for his life after insisting that he doesn’t believe in God and thinks that religion is a dangerous con.
* FullNameBasis: Always introduces himself as “Cryin’ Bryan Dern”.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Repeatedly expresses a disdain for anyone else who might get hurt by the bomb threat in “Real Time” just so that he can get out safely.
* {{Jerkass}}
** HiddenHeartOfGold: He shows real and uncharacteristic concern for the citizens of the town and his fellow news anchors in “Tornado!”; while he does make a meal out of Bart Rathbone’s typical sleaziness and price-gouging, he also takes care to interview Jack Allen about what the Red Cross shelter needs and later on broadcasts Jack’s plan to help the Rathbones.
* KentBrockmanNews: Any time he’s doing a news report, it’s bound to have a metric ton of political bias, and he makes sure his audience knows what he really thinks of some of the things he covers.
* LargeHamRadio
* LastNameBasis: He’s usually referred to as “Dern” by the other citizens around town.
* NoIndoorVoice: It’s where he gets his stage name from.
* PrayerIsALastResort: In “Real Time”, he and Whit—who are about to go on air in a Christianity vs. atheism debate—are trapped in an elevator and it looks as if a bomb will go off; as the seconds tick down, Dern finally gives in and prays for his life (on-air, incidentally, as Dern had on a secret mic that he was going to try to use to trip Whit up). Turns out the bomb was a stink bomb, and Dern has a lot of explaining to do.
* PyrrhicVictory: In “Top This!”, he stays up all day and night to take his radio station hostage in order to protest it becoming an all-polka station. Turns out it was a publicity stunt that shot the station’s ratings through the roof, but Dern is too exhausted to enjoy it.
* ShockJock
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In “Tom for Mayor, Part 2”:
-->'''Jack Allen:''' By another lapse of reason, local radio celebrity Bryan Dern has been selected to read the questions to the candidates.
-->'''Dern:''' No tampering here!
* {{Troll}}: He loves stirring up controversy by his mere presence, even off the air; he tries goading Connie, Eugene, and Bernard into talking about the potential closure of Whit’s End in “The Forgotten Deed”, and in “A Class Reenactment”, he does as much as he possibly can to piss off Mandy about her and Trent being a couple.
[[/folder]]
