Fatuosity

This is a list of archetypes that I identified after watching too many sitcoms (especially US ones), over the years. It isn't a definitive list, the definitions are self-invented, arbitrary and generalised and the examples below may not be an precise match for a given archetype. In practice any self-centred character (or any character) in a sitcom may display aspects of one or more of these archetypes. Also it is always best to write real, true-to-life characters and not two-dimensional archetypes or stereotypes.

 

IDIOT SAVANT

  • A nutty friend who speaks fundamental truths.
  • A character that goes through life with his or her own particular bizarre rules.
  • They manage to have a good life without having to work for it.
  • Weird things happen to them.
  • They are prodigiously fortunate or unfortunate.
  • They have exaggeratedly human reactions .
  • They never look for or find the easy way out of any situation .
  • Their complex way of doing things has a way of working out.
  • They have a logical reason for what they do and it might even sound sensible.

Examples
Kramer (Michael Richards) - Seinfeld
Nick (Kris Marshall) - My Family
Phoebe & Joey - Friends


THICK-SKINNED OAF

  • THEY DON'T LISTEN; THEY DON'T LEARN; THEY DON'T GROW.
  • They are incredibly selfish, thinking only of their own comfort.
  • They are petty, vindictive and essentially childish.
  • They are not able to relate to the real world and exist in a one-person universe.
  • They think only in terms of self-gratification and may commit most of the seven deadly sins.
  • They've probably got a really strange or messed up relationship with their parents.
  • You can spend an hour berating them for something and they'll fail to acknowledge what you said.
  • Terrible things happen to these people but they are never quite brought low enough that they realise that they must change.
  • They always bounce back.
  • They've always got an excuse

Examples
George (Jason Alexander) - Seinfeld
Cartman - South Park
Louise (Kathryn Drysdale) - Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
Ross (David Schwimmer) - Friends

 

WISECRACKER

  • Almost a thick-skinned oaf but cleverer and witty.
  • They criticise but do it so that people laugh.
  • They judge but aren't actually cruel.
  • Their joking is often a cover for deep-seated insecurity.
  • They are compensating for a past they were bereft of cool
  • They aren't that good at personal relationships.
  • They are honest, moral and truthful (eventually).
  • They'd like to be heartless but are tripped up by their own good natures.
  • They are practical jokers but can't bear to see their friends suffer too much.

Examples
Chandler (Matthew Perry) - Friends
Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin) - Frasier
Any redheaded secretary in an office based sitcom

 

WACKY BOSS

  • They have an air of the Deus Ex Machina about them
  • They stroll through the office at the beginning of an episode making impossible demands.
  • Then stroll through the office at the end fixing the problems they caused.
  • They are powerful but childlike.
  • They will occasionally have a King/Court Jester relationship, with any Idiot Savant to hand.
  • They will have power struggles against Wisecrackers.

Examples
CJ (John Barron) - The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin
Holly (Norman Lovett / Hattie Hayridge) - Red Dwarf
Jack Gallo (George Segal) - Just Shoot Me

 

STILL CENTRE

  • Often a fairly passive character in a series.
  • Weirdness happens around them but they keep their sanity
  • The sensible person who restores order at the end of the episode
  • Avoid having one of these. At least give them a foible or weakness to make them interesting

Examples
Susan Walker (Sarah Alexander) in Coupling
Mel Steele (Sarah Alexander) in Worst Week of My Life