History TookALevelInDumbass / LiveActionTV

* Kel from ''Series/KenanAndKel'' only lacked common sense and good judgement in the first two seasons, though he still wasn't immune to accidentally injuring [[TheChewToy Roger]], Kenan's father. However, beginning with season 3, he comes so excruciatingly brainless to the point where he couldn't even understand the most obvious of hints or implications and his LethallyStupid tendencies rose to the point where he traps Kenan in a fence so he could help Kenan fetch his yo-yo ''while knowing the whole time they could just walk around''; he also has no qualms against covering Kenan's eyes ''while he's driving'' and his stupidity '''even''' gets to the point where he thoughtlessly ''pulls out the car's wires'', causing it break down, just because "they were so pretty". Because of these reasons given, some fans believed Kel has ventured into [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] territory.

* Kel from ''Series/KenanAndKel'' only lacked common sense and good judgement in the first two seasons, though he still wasn't immune to accidentally injuring [[TheChewToy Roger]], Kenan's father. However, beginning with season 3, he comes so excruciatingly brainless to the point where he couldn't even understand the most obvious of hints or implications and his LethallyStupid tendencies rose to the point where he traps Kenan in a fence ''while knowing the whole time they could just walk around'' and '''even''' to the point where he thoughtlessly ''pulls out the car's wires'', causing it break down, just because "they were so pretty". Because of these reasons given, some fans believed Kel has ventured into [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] territory.

* Kel from ''Series/KenanAndKel'' only lacked common sense and good judgement in the first two seasons, though he still wasn't immune to accidentally injuring [[TheChewToy Roger]], Kenan's father. However, beginning with season 3, he comes so excruciatingly brainless to the point where he couldn't even understand the most obvious of hints or implications and his LethallyStupid tendencies rose to the point where he traps Kenan in a fence ''while knowing the whole time they could just walk around'' and '''even''' to the point where he thoughtlessly pulls the car's wires, causing it break down, just because "they were so pretty".

* Kel from KenanAndKel only lacked common sense and good judgement in the first two seasons, though he still wasn't immune to accidentally injuring [[TheChewToy Roger]], Kenan's father. However, beginning with season 3, he comes so excruciatingly thoughtless and incompetent to the point where he couldn't even understand the most obvious of hints or implications and his LethallyStupid tendencies rose to the point where he traps Kenan in a fence ''while knowing the whole time they could just walk around'' and '''even''' to the point where he inconsiderately pulls the car's wires, causing it break down, just because in his words "they were so pretty".

* Drake in ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' wasn't exactly very bright during the first season, but he wasn't stupid either. He was somewhere in between being BookDumb and StreetSmart. It isn't until the later seasons where he becomes extremely dumb to a point where he is unable to pronounce even a simple word such as "cone" correctly.

* Averted on ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow''. Newhart threatened to quit if the writers gave his character children because sitcom fathers tend to be lovable idiots (a trope that endures to this day) and he was convinced they would retool his character accordingly. When a writer who had either forgotten or was unaware of Newhart's objection suggested having Emily become pregnant, Newhart replied "who would you get to play Bob?"

* The unaired ''Film/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' pilot made TheFlash, who is a police scientist in the comics, into an unemployed, directionless slacker.

* Chelsea from ''Series/ThatsSoRaven''.

* Joe from ''Series/{{Wings}}'' after season five.
* Max from ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''.

* Radar O'Reilly of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' could be regarded as a variation of this. He didn't get ''dumber'', per se, but more [[ManChild childlike and naïve]] as the series progressed. There's an element of PingPongNaivete there too, however, as he was apparently still savvy enough to make deals for supplies with other units, keep all the paperwork straight, and otherwise serve as HypercompetentSidekick to Colonel Blake (and, later, Colonel Potter).
** Possibly justified. A recurring theme of the series was that people found odd and near-insane ways to cope with what they were experiencing. Radar's steady retreat towards childhood is actually one psychological response people have to stress in the real world.
** Radar's character regressed in a lot of ways. Early in the series, he was seen smoking cigars, drinking Henry's booze, and had several references to him peeping in the nurses' showers and enjoying developing their chest x-rays. As the show progressed, he got dumber, more naive, and less experienced to the point that even grape Nehi was a strong drink for him.
*** To be fair, [[GRatedDrug grape Nehi]] is a strong drink for ''anyone.'' Creator/BillBryson [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin solemnly swears that he once saw the edge of the universe after drinking it as a child.]]

* Nearly everyone from ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' but Paige was probably the worst affected, going from one of the best things about Seasons Four and Five to becoming a spazzy idiot. Best example of this? [[IdiotBall ORB THE FUCKING GUN, PAIGE]]!

** Mr. Linderman. He began as a cryptically whispered name that made the most BadAss among the cast cower in fear. He was revealed as an AffablyEvil WellIntentionedExtremist [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] who had been engineering events across the entire first season. When DL and Jessica show up, what is his plan? [[spoiler: "Take this money and kill your husband."]] [[SarcasmMode Yeah, really bright, Linderman.]]

* ''Series/TheOfficeUs'':

* London from ''TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody''. And ''again'' on ''The Suite Life On Deck''.

* Cat from ''{{Victorious}}''. She goes from being of relatively normal intelligence in the early parts of Season 1 to a girl who is apparently intelligent enough to just color a "pretty tiger" purple and realize that "that doesn't happen in nature".
** Robbie also qualifies, as many of the problems the kids get into over several episodes (notably ''The Great Ping-Pong Scam'', ''How Trina Got In'' and ''Locked Up!''), are directly his fault. His behavior in dealing with Rex (notably in ''Wi-Fi In The Sky'') also puts him in this category.

* In the pilot episode of ''StarTrekVoyager'', Neelix was a savvy, knowledgable, independent, and most importantly ''competent'' operator who not only is engaging in Obfuscating Stupidity to throw the Voyager crew off his scent while he gets to know them, but is quite capable of manipulating Janeway and the rest of the crew into getting the Kazon Ogla off his back and onto theirs. The writers seemed to have forgotten all this by the time the show hit regular production.

* Sheldon from ''{{The Big Bang Theory}}'' -- as his neurotic tendencies take over his character, he becomes a sloppy scientist and thinker. While he starts off as an unquestionably brilliant scientist, by the fifth season he can be tricked and manipulated easily by his friends.
* Baldrick from ''{{Blackadder}}'' -- there's the obvious leap between series one and two (while Blackadder himself does the opposite and takes a level in smartass), but even after that, he does still manage to get gradually worse over the next three series, until in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' he's what Tony Robinson described as "[[TooDumbToLive terminally stupid]]" -- you literally can't imagine how he's survived to adulthood. Of course, in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' his childlike personality is both hilarious & tragically poignant, given the hopelessness of the World War I trench setting. He even gets some moments of childlike wisdom in the finale, simply questioning why they can't all just stop fighting and go home.

* Eric from ''BoyMeetsWorld''.

* Sam Malone in ''{{Cheers}}''. He went from earthbound jock to idiot after Diane left.
** This was uneven. Some episodes he was still portrayed as being reasonably bright, others he was a lecher dominated entirely by his reproductive organs. It went back and forth depending on whether Sam was being a reality check for Rebecca or trying to bed her.
* Britta Perry on ''{{Community}}'' Lampshaded by Jeff Winger in the season 5 premiere: "Repilot":

* Rosie Webster of ''{{Coronation Street}}'' went from a clever, cynical, down-to-earth goth girl who was eligible for a school for high achievers, to a shallow, ditzy airhead whose crowning moments include bringing her little brother out for the day and having to be told she'd arrived home with a little girl, and complaining about darkness and blurriness after a 3D movie to which she wore sunglasses rather than the ugly ones they give you in the cinema.

* The title character from ''{{Everybody Loves Raymond}}'' was flanderized from being a witty, intelligent EveryMan who wins national writing awards into becoming a bumbling buffoon over the course of the show, so that the creators could more easily [[{{CharacterShilling}} shill]] his wife as "[[{{BlatantLies}} the reasonable one]]", pander to her fanbase for ratings, and make her the {{DesignatedHero}}ine of the show in the later seasons.
* Jayne over the course of the short run of the ''{{Firefly}}'' series seems to go from unsophisticated but frighteningly cunning in the pilot to just plain stupid.
* Joey from ''{{Friends}}'' seems to have lost quite a few IQ points over the years, to the point where in the final season he can't tell left from right.

* Nate Archibald on ''GossipGirl''. While he wasn't as intelligent as Chuck or Blair in season one he was still a guy of normal intelligence. By season four even his actor is complaining about what a moron he has become.

* Granted, Potsie Weber of ''HappyDays'' started out a little on the dim side, but he only got dumber as the seasons went on.

* A mild example and ultimately positive in the long run with Robin Scherbatsky on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''. The first season she developed as a well-rounded character but was ultimately defined mostly by the feelings between her and Ted. By season two she acquired a lot more quirky traits, gaps in her understanding of American culture, and general insanity (*salutes* General Insanity) that made her sillier and more prone to stupid mistakes. This resulted in giving her much greater depth and it even makes sense that she would hide certain things about herself until she became more comfortable with a new group of friends.
* Charlie on ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia''. He was always the least intelligent/educated member of the group, but over the course of the first few seasons he got hit with this trope so hard he lost the ability to read and write (though he seems to ''think'' he can). One explanation? He is sniffs glue ''every night'' and the cumulative ''brain damage'' catches up to him.

* Reese in ''Series/{{Malcolm in the Middle}}'' always had below average intelligence, but as time went on, it went from failing school to his homework being mistaken for something Jamie made. (That said, it was also occasionally implied that he was actually as smart as [[{{Teen Genius}} Malcolm]], but just [[{{Brilliant but Lazy}} didn't apply himself]].) After his character is firmly entrenched in dumbass territory, he discovers he ''loves'' to cook and turns out to be a ''brilliant'' chef.
* Kelly Bundy from ''MarriedWithChildren''. The more her intelligence decreased, the more the show's quality increased in direct proportion.
** Subverted in the episode "Hi, I.Q.," in which she accomplishes what Al couldn't--assembling his workshop bench. Which could just suggest she is simply BookDumb.
*** Or that she's actually BrilliantButLazy and is simply playing dumb.

* Matthew Brock from ''{{Newsradio}}'' is another example; in the show's first season he seemed relatively normal and competent (he even secretly was [[spoiler: a registered dentist]]), but by the third or fourth season he came across as either mentally retarded or an eight-year old in a man's body. Jimmy James to an extent too, although that was more of Taking a Level in Craziness than Dumbness. Both characters were a lot funnier and more interesting due to these changes, of course, due to the quality of the writing & acting.

* ''TheOffice'':

** Erin, who replaced Pam as receptionist. When she was introduced she started off as a person of average intelligence to not knowing how disposable cameras work the next season.

** Holli, the ship's A.I. went from being extremely eccentric after spending 3 million years alone and ObfuscatingStupidity to literally having a single digit IQ due to "computer senility" a couple of series later.

-->'''Cassandra:''' Jack likes to pretend he's not as smart as he really is.

* Chelsea from ''ThatsSoRaven''.
* Michael Kelso from ''That70sShow''. He was always a [[TheDitz ditz]], but he just got dumber and dumber as the show progressed.
* Chrissy on ''ThreesCompany'' was originally mildly ditzy. By the time she left the series one wondered how she managed to dress herself or hold a job.
* Jake on ''{{Two and a Half Men}}'' transformed from a naive, lazy kid into a brain dead pothead in later episodes.

* Max from ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''
* Dr. Drew Baird, Creator/JonHamm's character on ''Series/ThirtyRock''. StatusQuoIsGod, so ''something'' had to end his relationship with Liz, so we got "The Bubble," in which Liz realizes that Drew is a barely functional idiot and doesn't know it, having been happy and successful his whole life because he's so handsome that people will do anything for him. This is an especially {{egregious}} example because his characterization up to that point had been "ridiculously perfect, especially for Liz," and because his two previous appearances had provided equally plausible reasons for a break-up if one was needed (Liz's stalker behavior, and the PlethoraOfMistakes that was their first attempt at a date).
* In the pilot episode of ''StarTrekVoyager'', Neelix was a savvy, knowledgable, independent, and most importantly '''''competent''''' operator who not only is engaging in Obfuscating Stupidity to throw the Voyager crew off his scent while he gets to know them, but is quite capable of manipulating Janeway and the rest of the crew into getting the Kazon Ogla off his back and onto theirs. The writers seemed to have forgotten all this by the time the show hit regular production.

*** The same goes for Melchett and his descendant from ''Blackadder II'' to ''Blackadder Goes fourth''.

* Granted, Potsie Webber of ''HappyDays'' started out a little on the dim side, but he only got dumber and dumber and dumber as the seasons went on.

* Rosie Webster of ''{{Coronation Street}}'' went from a clever, cynical, down-to-earth goth girl who was eligible for a school for high achievers, to a shallow, ditzy airhead whose crowning moments include bringing her little brother out for the day and coming home with a girl, and complainging about darkness and blurriness after a 3D movie to which she wore sunglasses rather than the ugly ones they give you in the cinema.

** This is even lampshaded in one of the novels. the Captain explains while he is an idiot in homicide cases, he is very good at the smaller crime cases.

** Kevin Malone. He was never the brightest bulb at Dunder Mifflin, but he showed signs during the first few seasons of just being a little dopey. By Season 5, he had lost about 25-50 IQ points. As of Season 8, he is pretty much mentally retarded.

* Reese in ''Series/{{Malcolm in the Middle}}'' always had below average intelligence, but as time went on, it went from failing school to his homework being mistaken for something Jamie made. (That said, it was also occasionally implied that he was actually as smart as [[{{Teen Genius}} Malcolm]], but just [[{{Brilliant but Lazy}} didn't apply himself]].)

* Charlie on ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia''. He was always the least intelligent/educated member of the group, but over the course of the first few seasons he got hit with this trope so hard he lost the ability to read and write (though he seems to ''think'' he can).

* Charlie on ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia. He was always the least intelligent/educated member of the group, but over the course of the first few seasons he got hit with this trope so hard he lost the ability to read and write (though he seems to ''think'' he can).

* Radar O'Reilly of ''Series/{{Mash}}'' could be regarded as a variation of this. He didn't get ''dumber'', per se, but more [[ManChild childlike and naïve]] as the series progressed. There's an element of PingPongNaivete there too, however, as he was apparently still savvy enough to make deals for supplies with other units, keep all the paperwork straight, and otherwise serve as HypercompetentSidekick to Colonel Blake (and, later, Colonel Potter).

** Of course, the characters who know him best, especially Sam, insist this is just ObfuscatingStupidity.