History TheComicallySerious / LiveActionTV

** At least once Data and Worf both pulled this off in the same scene. In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E6Phantasms Phantasms]]", Data asks Worf to take care of his cat Spot:

** Indeed, much of the humor on [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel's own show]] was derived from his being deadpan in comical or bizarre situations, or how absolutely seriously he took his role as Brooding Hero of the Night With a Dark Past, to the point where it became a bit absurd. Cases in point: his dancing (it's ''dreadful'' but thankfully imaginary), leaping heroically into the ''wrong convertible'' and thereby averting a car chase scene, the discovery that he enjoys Barry Manilow but cannot sing to save his unlife, and dressing up in a [[HawaiianShirtedTourist ridiculous tourist outfit]] in order to apparently ''annoy'' information out of a local mafia boss. All of these he treats with complete seriousness or hides to keep his brooding cred.

** Generally speaking, Graham Chapman has been described by other Pythons as hating the stereotype of the man who knows that he's funny, in comedy, which is why so many of the characters he played can definitively be described as The Comically Serious.

** Same applies to Data's daughter Lal in "The Offspring", who summed up the essence of this trope after noting that other children were laughing at her.

*** It's lampshaded in "Redemption", when Worf tries to claim that Klingons do not laugh, and Guinan immediately calls him on it -- they totally do; ''he'' doesn't. It's backed up later in the story when Worf goes to fight in a Klingon fleet. In between battles, [[ScrewTheWarWerePartying the other Klingons join their]] ''[[ScrewTheWarWerePartying enemies]]'' [[ScrewTheWarWerePartying in a bar to boisterously drink together]], but Worf has to be all but dragged into the fun, and is still not really enjoying himself.

*** A ''Deep Space Nine'' episode "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." reveals a possible reason for him being so uptight: when he was much younger, he was more enthusiastic than we see him today. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm (paired with [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength his Klingon strength]]) led to him ''accidentally killing an opponent during a soccer match''. [[MyGreatestFailure He never really recovered from it]].
*** It's frequently lampshaded that he's a DeadpanSnarker wnen he feels like it. This comes up a lot in later seasons when he starts hanging out around Martok, who tends to laugh like hell at Worf's jokes.
** In TNG's "The Outrageous Okona", Data discovers the concept of humor and attempts to learn to tell jokes and stand-up. The image of Comically Serious Data, on par with Worf, trying to tell jokes and failing miserably is -- on paper - more hilarious than the jokes themselves could ever hope to be. Unfortunately, to say they misfired would be a dramatic understatement -- the resulting episode is regarded as one of the worst in the entire ''Trek'' canon. He can hardly be blamed for getting it wrong considering the jokes being endorsed by Guinan and [[InformedAbility the greatest comedian of the 20th century.]] "Because you're a 'droid and I'm a 'noid."
** At least once Data and Worf both pulled this off in the same scene. In "Phantasms", Data asks Worf to take care of his cat Spot:

** And of course, Spock [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries himself]]. While a DeadpanSnarker on his own, the Vulcan generates even more laughs by his lack of emotion and [[LiteralMinded frequent]] [[BluntMetaphorsTrauma misunderstandings]]. [[Film/StarTrek2009 Zachary]] [[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness Quinto's]] [[Film/StarTrekBeyond Spock]] pushes it a notch further. Note that even when Spock is shown having a rather sharp sense of humor, his stoicsm just plays so well against the original series' campiness (salt vampires, space hippies, the entire plot of "Spock's Brain") to make this trope stand out further.
** [[ThoseTwoGuys Agents Dulmer and Lucsly]] from [=DS9=]'s "Trials and Tribble-ations". Especially [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore their reactions to everyone making time-related jokes]].

** Teal'c was the team's Unfunny. He might have laughed only once in the show's 10-year run -- at a [[ProudWarriorRace Jaffa]] joke no-one else on the team got. Once in a while he was a bit of a DeadpanSnarker, and he was frequently the victim of {{Metaphorgotten}}, but he was always a serious person. He did let his hair down more in the company of his own people, so FishOutOfWater may have been a contributing factor. Made even more hilarious on a meta level by how downright ''jolly'' his actor Creator/ChristopherJudge is in real life. At first his understanding of human humor is more limited, but he learns more as the series goes on, giving us such moments as early on when O'Neill is lying sick in bed:

** See also [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/kanger3/51sk0w.gif his utter failure at pretending to be an]] FBIAgent, and:

*** The best was when he was turned into a muppet in "Smile Time". For most of an episode he was a dour, brooding, serious ''fuzzy puppet'' while everyone else was intensely amused.
*** In episode five of season three, "Fredless", Cordelia and Wesley subject the Buffy/Angel [[StarCrossedLovers relationship]] to something that goes beyond a send-up and into a blow-up, leading to this immortal line from Wesley: "Oh Buffy, I love you so much I almost forgot to ''BROOD''!"
*** Earlier, in the season two episode "Guise Will Be Guise", Cordelia gave this impression of Angel: "Oh no, I can't do anything fun tonight. I have to [[TheAtoner count my past sins]], then [[UpToEleven alphabetize them]]. Oh, by the way, I'm thinking of snapping on Friday."

%%* ''Series/{{Veep}}'': Kent, Marjorie and Sue all embody this trope.
* ''Series/Victorious'': Beck Oliver, the resident PrettyBoy at Hollywood Arts constantly maintains a level head despite all the antics at Hollywood Arts and rarely gets involved unless it benefits him. Given how over the top Hollywood Arts is, his absurdly calm demeanor is as mind-boggling as it is hilarious.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Dr. Sheldon Cooper. In fact, it's pretty much his entire shtick (aside from neurosis, passive-aggressiveness and love of trains).

--->'''Worf''': Sir, I protest! I am '''not''' a merry man!

--->'''Lal''': Then, without understanding humor, I have somehow mastered it.

* ''Series/{{Batman}}'':

'''Dalek Jast:''' [[AC:[[NoYou State your identity!]]]]\\

'''Dalek Jast:''' [[AC:Daleks have no sense of ''elegance!'']]\\

* Officer Crabtree from ''Series/AlloAllo''. Arguably one of the most outrageous characters in the series, with the straightest face. Probably because he has no idea how horrendous his French is...

* [[{{Creator/CNN}} Wolf Blitzer]] {{Invoked}} this trope when he was guest-hosting an episode of ''Creator/AndersonCooper 360''. The show has a light-hearted segment called "The Ridiculist", and Wolf decided to use it to [[TakeThat get back]] at Anderson for making fun of his new glasses. He showed many examples of Anderson {{Corpsing}}, and then showed how he can say even the most childishly ridiculous statement with a straight face.

* PR consultant and professional snoop Nick Hewer has shades of this in ''Series/TheApprentice'', which the editors occasionally play up - the man's so deadpan that the second he comes within five metres of a stuffed toy he becomes instantly funny. The real life equivalent of the Batman comedy mannequin. Following an appearance on a [[Series/WouldILieToYou popular BBC panel show]], however, it turned out that the Apprentice team had, if anything, been ''down''playing Nick's deadpan genius. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SRwrdsm0lI And all he had to do was wear a jumper and make some faces...]]
* Michael Bluth of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''.
** Also, Wayne Jarvis, the self-described consummate professional.
--->'''Michael:''' Are you serious?\\

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' got a fair amount of mileage out of putting the frequently very serious Commander Susan Ivanova into ridiculous situations. Like the time she had to wrap her head around the fact that there were, in fact, ''ten'' identical-looking fur-wearing, hairy caretakers of the Great Machine, [[FantasticNamingConvention all of them called Zathras]]. She probably was intended to do this even more often, but the actress lobbied to let her character be less staunch.

%%* Jack Soo as Nick Yemana, and later Steve Landesberg as Arthur Dietrich on ''Series/BarneyMiller''.
* In the classic TV ''Series/{{Batman}}'', Batman and Robin are the straight men to the lunacy of the villains.

* About seventy-five percent of the funny moments on ''Series/{{Bones}}'' come from other characters' jokes going over LiteralMinded Temperance Brennan's head and her correcting them. ''Series/{{Bones}}'' also gives us Dr. Zack Addy (who is very similar to Brennan), workaholic Clark Edison, and [[TheEeyore Colin Fisher]], who was revealed in one episode to moonlight as a stand-up comic. [[GallowsHumor His "jokes" were indiscernible from his usual dialogue.]]

* Lilith on ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' and ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. She also thinks [[StraightMan Zeppo Marx]] is the funniest of the Creator/MarxBrothers. Interestingly, Zeppo was often said to be the funniest one in real life.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': NSA Agent John Casey is the most serious out of the 'Operation Bartowski' team, but he's often the bringer of the most laughs, usually because he's put into amusing circumstances.

* Francesca "Frankie" Dart of ''Series/{{Community}}'' is the Dean's HypercompetentSidekick and the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] at the college. She usually plays StraightMan to the more eccentric main cast; most of her comedy moments come from her exasperated reactions to the absurdities around her.

* Heather in ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' is so apathetic to almost everything that even when she graduates community college, she sings a song with no enthusiasm behind it.
* Hotch on ''Series/CriminalMinds'' gets a lot of mileage out of this trope. He's an immensely deadpan DeadpanSnarker on a team of people with much more overt senses of humour and a tendency to play pranks and get up to other sorts of shenanigans, so he's ended up with a reputation as having no sense of humour. And he usually is the straight man to the silliness, but he's actually quite goofy when given the opportunity (usually around his son, Jack), so it seems that he sometimes plays up being serious for comedic effect.
* Jon Stewart on ''Series/TheDailyShow'' is not generally this, but when paired with his correspondents for a bit, will oftentimes take on this role as the serious straight newsman/interviewer.

* Amy's matter-of-fact descriptions of her sexual encounters in the past and present on ''Series/InTreatment'' fall under this trope.
* More recent ''Franchise/KamenRider'' shows have developed a real love of having a [[TheStoic stoic]] Riders among the heroic cast for comedy value.

* The humor of Creator/{{Loriot}}, probably Germany's most famous comedian, is always this, revolving around people in awkward situations who always keep appearances and manners, which only makes the situations more absurd and hilarious, and frankly, embarrassing. A great deal of his early humor is attributed to the fact that people in Germany in the 60s actually did behave a lot like that and he was merely pointing out the absurdity of trying to keep one's dignity by ignoring the embarrassment.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Col. Potter, Major Freeman, and Major Winchester. They have their breakdowns, but compared to [[TheHero Hawkeye]], [[TheLancer Trapper, B.J.]], [[HypercompetentSidekick Radar]], [[ButtMonkey Frank Burns]], [[{{Tsundere}} Margaret]], [[{{Crossdresser}} Klinger]]...

* Spoofed in ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', where a man talking and acting in a blandly everyday manner causes convulsive laughter in everyone he walks past. And that's even an obscure reference. Does no one remember the Colonel? "Now I do my best to keep things moving along, but I'm not having things getting silly." He started as the straight man in his own sketch, and they kept using him to end a sketch for which they had not written a punch line.
-->'''Colonel:''' Right! Stop that! Silly! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol5Dfs7jqFI And a bit suspect, I think...]]

%%* Beau Bridges as Carl Hickey, Earl's grumpy middle-aged father, in ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''.
* Jamie Hyneman from ''Series/MythBusters'' is one of the quintessential examples, in contrast to co-host Adam Savage, [[FunPersonified who delights in clowning]].

* TNG's Worf and Data are later mirrored by ''Series/TheOrville''’s Bortus and Isaac, respectively:

--->'''Bortus''': YOU WILL BE SILENT!
** Isaac, on the other hand, gets the concept of humor (at least, some of it), but — being an android — misses the context it has among biological beings, leading him to, for example, assume "dick" is a compliment since men tend to be proud of theirs, or when his first attempt at a practical joke involved [[spoiler: anesthetizing Gordon while he slept, surgically removing his leg, and then hiding it]].
* Ron Swanson and Ben Wyatt in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''. Ron Swanson because he's RatedMForManly with the corresponding lack of sense of humor, and Ben because he's simply [[OnlySaneMan trying to be sane]].
* Dr. K from ''Series/PowerRangersRPM''. For a character who is a complete DeadpanSnarker with NoSocialSkills, she provides almost as much humor as the designated ButtMonkey of the series. It mainly comes from the fact that she is often placed in socially awkward situations. (See "Ranger Yellow, Part 2", "Doctor K", and ''especially'' "In Or Out" for proof.)
* James Lester from ''Series/{{Primeval}}''. His [[StiffUpperLip British stuffiness]] is played up to the point where everything he says comes off as a joke.
* Arnold Rimmer in ''Series/RedDwarf'': Takes everything seriously but gets everything wrong. The polar opposite of Lister who is usually making a joke at Rimmer's expense but generally quite smart at figuring things out, and The Cat who makes fun of Rimmer on every occasion possible but often gets stuff right because he goes with his gut reaction and doesn't overanalyse it.

* Dr. Wen from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. Carla as well: you can get plenty of laughs out of her and her storylines, but it's actually made a point of a few times in the show that she can't tell or do good jokes. ([[SoUnfunnyItsFunny It doesn't stop her from trying, though.]])
* Ichabod Crane in ''Series/SleepyHollow'' maintains the poise and decorum of an 18th century British gentleman no matter what happens around him. He even has an elegant way to hide behind a wall during an explosion.

* Much of the humor in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' comes from putting Worf through this. Data and Odo are also frequent targets.
-->'''Worf''': Sir, I protest! I am '''not''' a merry man!

** [[ThoseTwoGuys Agents Dulmer and Lucsly]] from [=DS9=]'s "Trials and Tribble-ations." Especially [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore their reactions to everyone making time-related jokes]].
* [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Castiel]] on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. He doesn't even react when he sits on a ''whoopie cushion'', inadvertently interrupting his own {{Serious|Business}} speech about the AntiChrist.
-->'''Cas''': ''[completely serious]'' That wasn't me.

* Derek Hale from ''Series/TeenWolf''. His glaring or hostile reactions to other people's actions, especially [[DeadpanSnarker Stiles']], are often much funnier than the initial joke. And he's been nicknamed the [[InseriesNickname sourwolf]] by Stiles because of this.
-->'''Derek''': Shut up.\\
'''Stiles''': Don't be such a sourwolf.
* [[RobotGirl Cameron]] of ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' is a solid example of this, when she is put in absurd or socially delicate situations, and tends to react in an extremely straightforward and practical manner. Fellow Terminators John Henry and Catherine Weaver tend to be this, too. The odd thing here is how much quiet comedy the writers generate between two comically serious characters.
* Red Foreman embodies this trope in ''Series/That70sShow''. While he does have a lighter side that pops up from time to time, 99% of the humor derived from his character comes from his stern personality clashing with the absolutely absurd plots going on around him.

* ''Series/{{Veep}}'': Kent, Marjorie and Sue all embody this trope.

* ''Series/{{Veep}}'': Kent, Marjorie and Sue all embody this trope

* ''[[Series/Veep]]'': Kent, Marjorie and Sue all embody this trope

* ''Series/Veep'': Kent, Marjorie and Sue all embody this trope

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Daleks are {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s genetically engineered to have no sense of humour whatsoever. The frequent results in more light-hearted moments involving them can be memorable:

'''Dalek Jast:''' [[AC:[[NoYou State your identity!]]\\

*** It's frequently lampshaded that he's a DeadpanSnarker wnen he feels like something. This comes up a lot in later seasons when he starts hanging out around Martok, who tends to laugh like hell at Worf's jokes.

---

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'':
** Various guests, including Mr. Hutchison from "The Hotel Inspectors", and the Abbots from "The Psychiatrist", and especially Dr Price from "The Kipper and the Corpse".
-->'''Dr Price:''' Look, I'm a doctor. I'm a doctor and I want my sausages!
** Basil Fawlty himself was designed with this trope in mind. Creator/JohnCleese has mentioned in interviews that the guiding principle he had when designing Fawlty was that someone having something embarrassing happen to them isn't funny; someone having something embarrassing happen to them and trying to press on as though everything is normal is hilarious.

** After his first take he was told to "do it again, but like it wasn't funny"
* Arnold Rimmer in ''Series/RedDwarf'': Takes everything seriously but gets everything wrong. The polar opposite of Lister who is usually making a joke at Rimmer's expense but generally quite smart at figuring things out, and The Cat who makes fun of Rimmer on every occasion possible but often gets stuff right because he goes with his gut reaction and doesn't overanalyse it.
** In the episode "Bodyswap" Rimmer describes what ageing is like. His delivery is deliberate in its bathos:
-->When you're younger you can eat what you like, drink what you like and still climb into your 26" waist trousers and zip them closed. Then you reach that age - 24, 25 - your muscles give up, they wave a little white flag and without any warning at all suddenly you're a fat bastard."
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Creator/SethGreen as Oz. Also, Giles.
** Anya Jenkins, by a long shot.
---> '''Dawn''' ''(with chopsticks hanging from her mouth):'' When I was younger, I used to put my chopsticks in my mouth like this, and then Buffy would chase me around the house yelling, "I am the Slayer! I'm going to get you!"\\
'''Anya''': That's disturbing. You're emotionally scarred and will end up badly.
** Angel. The fact that he's periodically-evil while his companions are all Happy Meals with legs might have something to do with all the jokes at his expense, to keep him grounded. When he becomes Angelus it's more a matter of EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor.
* Indeed, much of the humor on [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel's own show]] was derived from his being deadpan in comical or bizarre situations, or how absolutely seriously he took his role as Brooding Hero of the Night With a Dark Past, to the point where it became a bit absurd. Cases in point: his dancing (it's ''dreadful'' but thankfully imaginary), leaping heroically into the ''wrong convertible'' and thereby averting a car chase scene, the discovery that he enjoys Barry Manilow but cannot sing to save his unlife, and dressing up in a [[HawaiianShirtedTourist ridiculous tourist outfit]] in order to apparently ''annoy'' information out of a local mafia boss. All of these he treats with complete seriousness or hides to keep his brooding cred.
** The best was when he was turned into a muppet in "Smile Time". For most of an episode he was a dour, brooding, serious ''fuzzy puppet'' while everyone else was intensely amused.
** In episode five of season three, "Fredless," Cordelia and Wesley subject the Buffy/Angel [[StarCrossedLovers relationship]] to something that goes beyond a send-up and into a blow-up, leading to this immortal line from Wesley: "Oh Buffy, I love you so much I almost forgot to ''BROOD''!"
** Earlier, in the season two episode "Guise Will Be Guise," Cordelia gave this impression of Angel: "Oh no, I can't do anything fun tonight. I have to [[TheAtoner count my past sins]], then [[UpToEleven alphabetize them]]. Oh, by the way, I'm thinking of snapping on Friday."
* Spoofed in ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', where a man talking and acting in a blandly everyday manner causes convulsive laughter in everyone he walks past. And that's even an obscure reference. Does no one remember the Colonel? "Now I do my best to keep things moving along, but I'm not having things getting silly." He started as the straight man in his own sketch, and they kept using him to end a sketch for which they had not written a punch line.
-->'''Colonel:''' Right! Stop that! Silly! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol5Dfs7jqFI And a bit suspect, I think...]]
** Generally speaking, Graham Chapman has been described by other Pythons as hating the stereotype of the man who knows that he's funny, in comedy, which is why so many of the characters he played can definitively be described as The Comically Serious.

--->'''Michael:''' Are you serious?
--->'''Wayne:''' Almost always. I was once voted the worst audience participant ''Cirque Du Soleil'' ever had.
* Much of the humor in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' comes from putting Worf through this. Data and Odo are also frequent targets.
-->'''Worf''': Sir, I protest! I am '''not''' a merry man!
** Same applies to Data's daughter Lal in "The Offspring", who summed up the essence of this trope after noting that other children were laughing at her.
--->'''Lal''': Then, without understanding humor, I have somehow mastered it.
** In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', Tuvok was often paired with goofy Neelix. Interestingly, in a flashback, Sulu commented that Tuvok was stuck up even for a Vulcan (implicitly comparing him to Spock). Which leads to the hilarious image of him being the Comically Serious in a group of ''Vulcans''.
** And Worf, above, is often shown as being more serious than most Klingons. This may be a case of him trying too hard to follow an outsider's ideas of Klingon culture, as compared to those actually brought up in it; then again, he might just have [[TheStoic a grim and serious temperament]]. Creator/MichaelDorn has a charming smile, but the best you're likely to get out of Worf is a look of satisfaction.
*** It's lampshaded in "Redemption", when Worf tries to claim that Klingons do not laugh, and Guinan immediately calls him on it -- they totally do; ''he'' doesn't. It's backed up later in the story when Worf goes to fight in a Klingon fleet. In between battles, [[ScrewTheWarWerePartying the other Klingons join their]] ''[[ScrewTheWarWerePartying enemies]]'' [[ScrewTheWarWerePartying in a bar to boisterously drink together]], but Worf has to be all but dragged into the fun, and is still not really enjoying himself.
*** From time to time, Worf does show that he is aware of this and uses it to his advantage to sneak in some snark.
*** A ''Deep Space Nine'' episode "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." reveals a possible reason for him being so uptight: when he was much younger, he was more enthusiastic than we see him today. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm (paired with [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength his Klingon strength]]) led to him ''accidentally killing an opponent during a soccer match''. [[MyGreatestFailure He never really recovered from it]].
** In TNG's "The Outrageous Okona", Data discovers the concept of humor and attempts to learn to tell jokes and stand-up. The image of Comically Serious Data, on par with Worf, trying to tell jokes and failing miserably is -- on paper - more hilarious than the jokes themselves could ever hope to be. Unfortunately, to say they misfired would be a dramatic understatement -- the resulting episode is regarded as one of the worst in the entire ''Trek'' canon. He can hardly be blamed for getting it wrong considering the jokes being endorsed by Guinan and [[InformedAbility the greatest comedian of the 20th century.]] "Because you're a 'droid and I'm a 'noid."
** At least once Data and Worf both pulled this off in the same scene. In "Phantasms", Data asks Worf to take care of his cat Spot:
--->'''Data:''' You must feed him and pet him. And you must tell him he is a good cat. And a pretty cat.\\
'''Worf:''' ''(holding the cat at arm's length with his usual [[PerpetualFrowner scowl]])'' I will ''feed'' it.\\
''({{beat}})''\\
'''Data:''' Perhaps that will be sufficient.
** And of course, Spock [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries himself]]. While a DeadpanSnarker on his own, the Vulcan generates even more laughs by his lack of emotion and [[LiteralMinded frequent]] [[BluntMetaphorsTrauma misunderstandings]]. [[Film/StarTrek2009 Zachary]] [[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness Quinto's]] [[Film/StarTrekBeyond Spock]] pushes it a notch further. Note that even when Spock is shown having a rather sharp sense of humor, his stoicsm just plays so well against the original series' campiness (salt vampires, space hippies, the entire plot of "Spock's Brain") to make this trope stand out further.
** [[ThoseTwoGuys Agents Dulmer and Lucsly]] from [=DS9=]'s "Trials and Tribble-ations." Especially [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore their reactions to everyone making time-related jokes]].
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** A great deal of the series' humor comes from putting very serious military personnel into the utmost ridiculous science-fiction situations.
--->'''Maj. Gen. George Hammond:''' I'm allowing the use of this ship because of the obvious tactical advantage it provides you. Under no circumstances is it to be used to travel through time. Understood?\\
'''Col. Jack O'Neill:''' Yes sir.\\
'''Hammond:''' Never in my life would I have imagined giving that order.
** Teal'c was the team's Unfunny. He might have laughed only once in the show's 10-year run -- at a [[ProudWarriorRace Jaffa]] joke no-one else on the team got. Once in a while he was a bit of a DeadpanSnarker, and he was frequently the victim of {{Metaphorgotten}}, but he was always a serious person. He did let his hair down more in the company of his own people, so FishOutOfWater may have been a contributing factor. Made even more hilarious on a meta level by how downright ''jolly'' his actor Creator/ChristopherJudge is in real life. At first his understanding of human humor is more limited, but he learns more as the series goes on, giving us such moments as early on when O'Neill is lying sick in bed:
--->'''Teal'c:''' ''[deadpan]'' Undomesticated equines could not stop me.\\
''[{{beat}}]''\\
'''O'Neill:''' ''[realizing]'' You made a joke.
** The Jaffa race as a whole counts. The other Jaffa may smile more easily than Teal'c, but they're still deadly serious 90% of the time, and will climb up on their honor in an instant.
* Dr. Wen from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. Carla as well: you can get plenty of laughs out of her and her storylines, but it's actually made a point of a few times in the show that she can't tell or do good jokes. ([[SoUnfunnyItsFunny It doesn't stop her from trying, though.]])
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Col. Potter, Major Freeman, and Major Winchester. They have their breakdowns, but compared to [[TheHero Hawkeye]], [[TheLancer Trapper, B.J.]], [[HypercompetentSidekick Radar]], [[ButtMonkey Frank Burns]], [[{{Tsundere}} Margaret]], [[{{Crossdresser}} Klinger]]...
** [[CrazySurvivalist Col.]] [[CrazyPrepared Flagg]]. And then some.
* Derek Hale from ''Series/TeenWolf''. His glaring or hostile reactions to other people's actions, especially [[DeadpanSnarker Stiles']], are often much funnier than the initial joke. And he's been nicknamed the [[InseriesNickname sourwolf]] by Stiles because of this.
-->'''Derek''': Shut up.
-->'''Stiles''': Don't be such a sourwolf.
* More recent ''Franchise/KamenRider'' shows have developed a real love of having a [[TheStoic stoic]] Riders among the heroic cast for comedy value.
** Chase from ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' is a biomechanical being with a poor (at best) grasp of human emotions, paired with a police division staffed by [[RagtagBandOfMisfits the goofs, weirdos, and rejects]] from the rest of the department, so naturally HilarityEnsues. In one memorable episode, the Special Division hatches a plan to deal with an ObstructiveBureaucrat that involves Chase "attacking" him while pretending to be a rampaging monster; his performance amounts to waving his arms around stiffly and half-heartedly growling, which the rest of the team sells by [[BadBadActing hamming it up like their lives depend on it]].
*** This gets played up in Chase's stand-alone movie, where he's given a PersonalityChip and the sight of him acting like a normal human being (smiling, talking cheerfully about the weather, making little jokes) initially freaks everybody out.
** [[TheStoic Hiiro Kagami]] of ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' always wears a blank expression. It doesn't matter if he's [[SweetTooth eating a cake]], fighting monsters, or talking to his much zanier father. A prime example comes late in the series, where he and Taiga finally mend fences. Hiiro starts treating him more respectfully, including calling him "Doctor Hanaya", but Taiga says that it's kind of weirding him out...which prompts Hiiro to revert to his previous behavior, going stone-faced and calling Taiga "Unlicensed Doctor". After a {{Beat}}, Taiga says "...Doctor Hanaya is fine."
** Gentoku Himuro from ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' is an unusual example in that, at the outset of the series, he was a perfectly cold and serious villain. Later on it's revealed that he's a good person who was put under the effects of a HatePlague that inverted his personality; once freed from its grip, he undergoes a HeelFaceTurn and joins "Team Build". This is the point where the audience learns that his fashion sense is ludicrously gaudy (he wears things like straw baseball caps, cut-off jean shorts and transparent jackets), but he doesn't see anything wrong with it and actually gets offended when the rest of the crew is creeped out by him. When he finally settles into a more reasonable ensemble of a leather jacket and jeans, he takes to wearing {{Fun T Shirt}}s under the jacket and using them in place of verbal responses, to the confusion of his allies.

* [[RobotGirl Cameron]] of ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' is a solid example of this, when she is put in absurd or socially delicate situations, and tends to react in an extremely straightforward and practical manner. Fellow Terminators John Henry and Catherine Weaver tend to be this, too. The odd thing here is how much quiet comedy the writers generate between two comically serious characters.

* ''{{Series/News Radio}}'': The whole reason Dave Foley was cast as Dave Nelson (a character created with him in mind) was the fact that Foley has a talent for getting laughs by subtly and seriously ''reacting'' to funny or crazy things, more so than the actors who are actually ''doing'' them, as creator Paul Simms discovered by watching him steal scenes opposite the [[Series/TheKidsInTheHall Chicken Lady]].
* [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Castiel]] on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. He doesn't even react when he sits on a ''whoopie cushion'', inadvertently interrupting his own {{Serious|Business}} speech about the AntiChrist.
-->'''Cas''': ''[completely serious]'' That wasn't me.
** See also [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/kanger3/51sk0w.gif his utter failure at pretending to be an]] FBIAgent, and:
--->''This isn't funny, Dean! The voice says I'm almost out of minutes.''
** Or his voicemail message.
--->''I don't understand. Why do you want me to say my name? (sound of buttons being pressed)''
* From Creator/ConanOBrien's recurring sketches: RealLife associate producer [[TheDandy Jordan Schlansky]].
* Jamie Hyneman from ''Series/MythBusters'' is one of the quintessential examples, in contrast to co-host Adam Savage, [[FunPersonified who delights in clowning]].
** In the episode where they tested the concept of LatexPerfection, Adam got a lot of mileage out of acting zany while disguised as Jamie (though he was able to pull off serious too). On the other hand, Jamie had a hard time acting appropriately goofy while disguised as Adam.
* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Eric Northman. A good example--though funnier in context, so spoilered punchline--is when he's speaking in Russian, and his whole speech is subtitled, but he spontaneously switches back to English to call someone a [[spoiler:gold-digging '''whore'''!]]
* Dr. K from ''Series/PowerRangersRPM''. For a character who is a complete DeadpanSnarker with NoSocialSkills, she provides almost as much humor as the designated ButtMonkey of the series. It mainly comes from the fact that she is often placed in socially awkward situations. (See "Ranger Yellow, Part 2", "Doctor K", and ''especially'' "In Or Out" for proof.)
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': Captain Raymond Holt plays this to a T. In a twist, though, the character is far from entirely serious, he just expresses himself in a very subdued, very stoic fashion. [[NotSoAboveItAll Mostly.]]
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Dr. Sheldon Cooper. In fact, it's pretty much his entire shtick (aside from neurosis, passive-aggressiveness and love of trains.)
* Ron Swanson and Ben Wyatt in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''. Ron Swanson because he's RatedMForManly with the corresponding lack of sense of humor, and Ben because he's simply [[OnlySaneMan trying to be sane]].
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'''s Dalton Academy Warblers, individually or en masse, are this to a T.
--> '''Thad:''' You mock us, sir!

** On the sitcom ''Series/DharmaAndGreg'', Greg got laughs like this too. It seems to be a Thomas Gibson specialty.

* The humor of Creator/{{Loriot}}, probably Germany's most famous comedian, is always this, revolving around people in awkward situations who always keep appearances and manners, which only makes the situations more absurd and hilarious, and frankly, embarrassing. A great deal of his early humor is attributed to the fact that people in Germany in the 60s actually did behave a lot like that and he was merely pointing out the absurdity of trying to keep one's dignity by ignoring the embarrassment.
* PR consultant and professional snoop Nick Hewer has shades of this in TheApprentice, which the editors occasionally play up - the man's so deadpan that the second he comes within five metres of a stuffed toy he becomes instantly funny. The real life equivalent of the Batman comedy mannequin. Following an appearance on a [[Series/WouldILieToYou popular BBC panel show]], however, it turned out that the Apprentice team had, if anything, been ''down''playing Nick's deadpan genius. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SRwrdsm0lI And all he had to do was wear a jumper and make some faces...]]
* Red Foreman embodies this trope in ''Series/That70sShow''. While he does have a lighter side that pops up from time to time, 99% of the humor derived from his character comes from his stern personality clashing with the absolutely absurd plots going on around him.
** He does have a dry and sardonic sense of humor that plays up now and then, such as when he remarked on Bob's less than stellar military courage:
--> '''Red''': Imagine that, a Minuteman serving chicken!
* In the classic TV ''Series/{{Batman}}'', Batman and Robin are the straight men to the lunacy of the villains.
** Also Chief O’Hara and Comissioner Gordon. For {{Camp}} to work, the material must be handled with subdued drama. Comissioner Gordon [[TookTheBadFilmSeriously delivered the most inane lines with great aplomb, utter conviction and just the right amount of drama]].
* ''Life's Too Short'' gives us Creator/LiamNeeson's [[AdamWesting attempt]] at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKTh7zBIcrM improv comedy.]]
* Jack Soo as Nick Yemana, and later Steve Landesberg as Arthur Dietrich on ''Series/BarneyMiller''.
* Ichabod Crane in ''Series/SleepyHollow'' maintains the poise and decorum of an 18th century British gentleman no matter what happens around him. He even has an elegant way to hide behind a wall during an explosion.
* Beau Bridges as Carl Hickey, Earl's grumpy middle-aged father, in ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'' got a fair amount of mileage out of putting the frequently very serious Commander Susan Ivanova into ridiculous situations. Like the time she had to wrap her head around the fact that there were, in fact, ''ten'' identical-looking fur-wearing, hairy caretakers of the Great Machine, [[FantasticNamingConvention all of them called Zathras]]. She probably was intended to do this even more often, but the actress lobbied to let her character be less staunch.
** G'Kar usually becomes this when he's interacting with [[LargeHam Londo]], especially once their OddFriendship starts developing. There's a blooper reel that plays on this dynamic. Londo explains that G'Kar is his bodyguard. G'Kar, dead serious, puts on a pair of CoolShades.
--->'''Londo:''' He cleaned out the liquor cabinet on First Class.
* James Lester from ''Series/{{Primeval}}''. His [[StiffUpperLip British stuffiness]] is played up to the point where everything he says comes off as a joke.
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'':
** Andy Samberg's "Creator/MarkWahlberg Talks to Animals" sketch mocks Wahlberg by portraying him as this. As the title suggests, it's just two minutes of Wahlberg trying to have a completely straight-faced conversation with a dog...ending it with a dead serious [[MemeticMutation "Say hi to your mother for me!"]]
** Rachel Dratch as [[TheEeyore Debbie Downer]] always interjects with a new mood-killer, accompanied by a [[{{Sting}} sad trombone]] sound, which was so hilarious in its effect that everyone, including Rachel, ended up {{corpsing}} at times.

-->'''[[NumberTwo Davos]] [[UndyingLoyalty Seaworth]]:''' Lord Celtigar called it admirable.
-->'''Stannis:''' Had I shown him the contents of my privy, he would have called that admirable too.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Oliver often plays this role next to the likes of Barry and Ray, who are '''quite''' enthusiastic.

* Francesca "Frankie" Dart of ''Series/{{Community}}'' is the Dean's HypercompetentSidekick and the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] at the college. She usually plays StraightMan to the more eccentric main cast; most of her comedy moments come from her exasperated reactions to the absurdities around her.
* About seventy-five percent of the funny moments on ''Series/{{Bones}}'' come from other characters' jokes going over LiteralMinded Temperance Brennan's head and her correcting them. ''Series/{{Bones}}'' also gives us Dr. Zack Addy (who is very similar to Brennan), workaholic Clark Edison, and [[TheEeyore Colin Fisher]], who was revealed in one episode to moonlight as a stand-up comic. [[GallowsHumor His "jokes" were indiscernible from his usual dialogue.]]
* [[{{Creator/CNN}} Wolf Blitzer]] {{Invoked}} this trope when he was guest-hosting an episode of ''Creator/AndersonCooper 360''. The show has a light-hearted segment called "The Ridiculist," and Wolf decided to use it to [[TakeThat get back]] at Anderson for making fun of his new glasses. He showed many examples of Anderson {{Corpsing}}, and then showed how he can say even the most childishly ridiculous statement with a straight face.
--> ''The pussy willows blowing in the wind on the shores of Lake Titicaca are almost as magical as ({{beat}}) Uranus,''

* Heather in ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' is so apathetic to almost everything that even when she graduates community college, she sings a song with no enthusiasm behind it.
* ''Series/DeadRingers:'' Both in radio and television format, humour is derived from having BBC newsreader Kirsty Wark reading out song lyrics completely stone-faced as if they were actual news.
-->'''Wark:''' You liar, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot. Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's your last. ... more on that story later.