Dumbest character in television history?

[BlueIris]

My submission: toss up between Kelso from That 70s Show and Brandi Shannon--I just finished rewatching the episode of In Plain Sight where Brandi says she thought lemons were just really, really ripe limes. Jesus.

Honorable mention: Kim Bauer from 24. Well, in the early seasons, anyway.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. Jethro from Beverly Hillbillies.

[targetpractice]

23. That show was brilliant...

I crack up whenever I think about the Clampett's "cement pond" or Ellie May's "double-barrel slingshot".

[ArnoldLayne]

2. Hank County your Kimble Agent I mean Hank Kimble your County Agent

on Green Acres.

[hifiguy]

6. Yep. Hank Kimball made Jethro look like a genius.

At least Jethro could remember the last sentence he spoke. Not Hank.

Honorable mention to Tony Nelson. The guy has a genie who looks like Barbara Eden, who has to do anything he asks, and he keeps his day job? I'd be on an island somewhere with Jeannie and have a vault full of gold bars in Switzerland given similar circumstances. :silly:

[kentauros]

10. Yeah, at least Roger had some imagination,

though he also kept his day job. He just acknowledged he could do that too and be comfortable the rest of the time ;)

[rurallib]

19. nobody ever mentions that Darren Stevens never exploited his

situation.
They always talk about how dumb Tony Nelson was. Who could argue, BTW?

[annabanana]

3. snookie. . . . n/t

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. Gilligan. Kelly Bundy. Chrissy from Three's Company.

[DebJ]

25. Ugh. Chrissy from Three's Company was totally annoying.

No one could be that stupid and live outside of an institution of some type.

[HopeHoops]

5. Vinnie Barbarino - only because he was SUPPOSED to be an idiot.

The ones that most people will list aren't TRYING to be idiots - like that bimbo from Jersey something or another.

[XemaSab]

7. Ugly Betty

One would think that after several YEARS at a fashion magazine she would cop a clue and stop trying ineffectively to change the magazine to be what SHE wanted it to be.

That and get some better clothes. :P

[Taitertots]

33. She is just a beautiful women with glasses and braces

All she would have to do is get stylish glasses and put on properly fitting clothes and she would be the best looking person on the show.

[XemaSab]

34. This feeds into my comment

She's getting paid good money and she lives with her family, so why not go get a flattering haircut?

Her obtuse nature is meant to be charming, but it comes off as Asperger's squared after the first season.

[KamaAina]

61. And what, might I inquire to ask, is wrong with Asperger's, squared or otherwise?

It works well enough on The Big Bang Theory.

[XemaSab]

63. There's nothing wrong with being an Aspie

If I may be so bold, the problem is that she's 90% non-Aspie, but her determination to change the magazine and her freakish personal style make her seem intransigent and unlikeable after a while.

[Dr. Strange]

8. Zack is awesome.

[provis99]

9. Gomer Pyle.

that is all.

[Tabasco_Dave]

30. Hey! He did manage to stay out of Vietnam.

That dumb hick thing was probably an act.

[woo me with science]

40. Actually, pretty much all of Mayberry except for Andy, Opie, and Helen Crump.

So many of the later episodes had a plot in which Andy manipulated things to fix the mistakes and save the feelings of the poor, stupid townspeople.

[woo me with science]

41. Delete. Wrong place. nt

[trof]

11. "My mother the car"

Dumber than dumb.

Synopsis

The show follows the exploits of attorney David Crabtree (played by Jerry Van Dyke), who, while shopping at a used car lot for a station wagon to serve as a second family car, instead purchases a dilapidated 1928 "Porter" touring car. Crabtree heard the car call his name in a woman's voice, which later turned out to be that of his deceased mother, Gladys (voiced by Ann Sothern). The car, a valuable antique, is a reincarnation of his mother who talks (only to Crabtree, of course) through the car's radio. The dial light flashed in sync with "Mother's" voice. In an effort to get his family to accept the old, tired car, Crabtree brings it to a custom body shop for a full restoration. The car was originally coveted by a collector named Captain Manzini even before its restoration, but Crabtree purchases and restores the car before Manzini can acquire it.

For the rest of the series, Crabtree is pursued by the avaricious Captain Manzini (Avery Schreiber), who is determined to acquire the valuable automobile from Crabtree. In a running gag characterizing his shifty nature, Manzini (who resembles a 1920s silent film villain) always mistakes Crabtree's name when speaking to him. "Now, then, Crabapple..." "That's Crabtree." "Whatever."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Mother_the_Car

[KamaAina]

12. Most really good sitcoms have a complete dunce.

Edith Bunker. Mallory Keaton. Rose Nylund. Ernie "Coach" Pantuso AND Woody Boyd. And so on. :dunce:

[nolabear]

13. Sarah Palin.

[madinmaryland]

14. Anyone who is on the Fox Noise Channel.

:shrug:

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Baldrick of Blackadder, of course

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K71MckOTt1M

http://reflexionreflection.blogspot.com/2008/03/from-dish-and-dishonesty-blackadder.html
"Baldrick may look like a monkey who’s been put in a suit and then strategically shaved, but he is a brilliant politician. The number of votes I cast is simply a reflection of how firmly I believe in his policies."

Hmm, what real-life politician does that sound like?

[Demoiselle]

16. Yes...

[Mojambo]

22. This. n/t

[ohnoyoudidnt]

17. Jar Jar Binks nt

[TK421]

18. he pretty much ruined the new trilogy for me...that was the last straw

[mucifer]

20. the flying nun.

[DainBramaged]

21. George W. Booshe

[A Simple Game]

24. Maxwell Smart. n/t

[Initech]

26. Rush Limbaugh

[Hugabear]

27. Patrick from "Spongebob Squarepants"

n/t

[Brother Buzz]

28. Dwayne Doberman

[csziggy]

29. Maynard G. Krebs, Ernest T. Bass, Ernest P. Worrell

I'm going for the classics here. All the other dumb TV characters are just pale imitations.

"Maynard G. Krebs (the G. stood for Walter) was the "beatnik" sidekick of the title character in the U.S. television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis....Maynard's middle name was Walter. Named for his aunt, the "G" was silent." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_G._Krebs

"Ernest T. Bass was a fictional character on the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. He was played by Howard Morris.
Ernest T. was an ignorant and obstreperous mountain man with a penchant for troublemaking, particularly vandalous rock throwing, which wreaked havoc on the otherwise sedentary town of Mayberry. He lived in the mountains neighboring Mayberry, and his appearance in town almost invariably meant trouble for Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife.
His behavior was summed up succinctly (and repeatedly) by Barney Fife: "He's a nut!"" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_T._Bass

"Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character most principally portrayed by the late American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials, and later in a television series (Hey Vern, It's Ernest!) as well as a series of feature films." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_P._Worrell

[BlueIris]

31. Oh, I forgot one: Joey from Friends.

Yikes.

[Taitertots]

32. Mr Derp.

Derp!

[Archae]

35. Most of these were characters that could be dumb, but have a good heart.

Frank Burns was inept, greedy, a liar, philanderer, suck-up, snitch, just about anything and everything that was just rotten.

Yet he ends up with a promotion and stationed stateside. :eyes:

[Bucky]

36. If you mean literally "dumb" then the answer is...

the audience

[Liberal Veteran]

37. Lois Lane from the old Superman series.

Really, Lois? You are supposed to be a crack investigative reporter and a pair of glasses fools you?

[Eyerish]

38. Peter Griffin

A royal idiot and not likable at all.

[HughBeaumont]

69. Seconded. Screw that ball-chinned bastard.

An even worse laugh than Spongebob and a mean-schtick that gets old within seconds.

[brettdale]

39. Homer simpson

Homer,ralph wiggum, suzanne sommers from threes company, hehehe like the poster that said kim from 24, britney from Glee.

[woo me with science]

42. Also, Alan's second wife, Candy, on Two and a Half Men. nt

[woo me with science]

43. Lumpy Rutherford nt

[woo me with science]

44. Gilligan nt

[Hayabusa]

45. Pro Wrestler Sting

He isn't called the dumbest man in wrestling for nothing. So many people have pretended to be his ally only to turn on him that it isn't even funny.

[GoCubsGo]

46. Dauber from "Coach"

Although, Larry, Darryl and Darryl on "Newhart" might actually have him beat in the stupid category.

[xmas74]

57. Personally, I think L,D&D were some sort of backwood

savants.

Dauber was just not all there.

[no_hypocrisy]

47. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin.

[IDemo]

48. Horshack from 'Welcome Back Kotter'

[GReedDiamond]

49. "Eb Dawson" & "Hank Kimball" of Green Acres...

Eb Dawson

Hank Kimball

of Green Acres.

And then there was also Eva Gabor's "Lisa," from the same series.

It's a dumb character Trifecta!

[jmowreader]

50. That chick in the red pantsuit at the 2008 RNC

Oh man she was dumber than a fucking stump.

[Hepburn]

51. Palin? Bachman? Hummm...

...hard choice on which of those TV characters is the dumbest. :hi:

[Suji to Seoul]

52. peter or chris griffin

[MorningGlow]

53. Does "fried" count?

If so, then I vote for Jim Ignatowski.

Otherwise, I'd go with Larry, Darryl, and Darryl. And Brittany S. Pierce from Glee.

[dixiegrrrrl]

54. Bullwinkle?

[JonLP24]

55. OK

Badger Mayhew from Breaking Bad. Probably not the dumbest but felt he deserves a mention.

[frogmarch]

56. Clem Kadiddlhopper (Red Skelton)

[tblue]

58. Ted Baxter

[SmileyBoy]

59. Peggy Hill

Hell, a majority of the characters from that god-awful show.

[KamaAina]

60. Peggy was the smart one!

:scared:

[lpbk2713]

62. Herb Tarlek, Frank Burns, PeeWee Herman

Can't put names with some of the others I'm thinking of.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

66. Of all mentioned

(some of of the newer ones I don't recognise and I need to go rattle some pots and pans)
I vote Frank Burns
No heart, totally socially inept
I met someone whose sister worked with Larry Linville in theater and he said/she said he was a thoroughly nice guy

[bif]

64. Everyone on "Arrested Development"

Even the smart ones were dumb as a bag of nails.

[progressoid]

65. Dumb....and hiiiilarious.

[Kaleva]

67. Harold Green of "The Red Green Show".

[valerief]

68. Fox's Sarah Palin. nt

[titaniumsalute]

70. Larry on Three's Company