Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 15 2012, 10:44 AM BSTYup.
Linehan says that they made him too-unlikeable and it damages the comedy on the DVD commentary - and he's right.
Do sitcom characters have to be likeable? Page 3
Not likeable; but not evil. 
Quote: Godot Taxis @ July 17 2012, 2:02 AM BSTLinehan says that they made him too-unlikeable and it damages the comedy on the DVD commentary - and he's right.
That's one of the joys of comedy, it's subjective, and you might enjoy it even if the creator isn't keen.
Quote: Andymack @ July 16 2012, 6:14 PM BSTDanny De Vito's character Louie De Palma in 'Taxi' is a great example of a dislikeable character in a sitcom.
...and DeVito is definitely a far nastier piece of work in Always Sunny.
It may help to come up with a character is bad, but not really evil.
For example, there is Damien Day in Drop the Dead Donkey. He is not really black-and-white in terms of his badness. He is just amoral, without any sense of right and wrong. To him it doesn't matter if someone gets hurt provided the item he filmed in question looked good.
There's also Alan B'Stard. I remember the writers of The New Statesman saying on an episode of Comedy Connections saying that the reason people liked him was because he was not a hypocrite, saying, "He is the only man in all of Western fiction who is proud of the fact he has a really small penis and takes only a few seconds to reach sexual climax."
In fact you could argue that most political comedy characters are unlikeable people. Sir Humphrey Appleby is scheming and calculating, and Malcolm Tucker is rude to just about everyone, but people like them because at least those characters are doing what they think is right.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 17 2012, 9:03 AM BSTThat's one of the joys of comedy, it's subjective, and you might enjoy it even if the creator isn't keen.
'Tursiops' brought up the notion that he/she enjoyed it as some sort of bizarre rejoinder to my point.
Because people like it that doesn't mean it's not flawed/badly done/awful/shit/misjudged etc.
Quote: Godot Taxis @ July 19 2012, 12:24 AM BST'Tursiops' brought up the notion that he/she enjoyed it as some sort of bizarre rejoinder to my point.
Because people like it that doesn't mean it's not flawed/badly done/awful/shit/misjudged etc.
Look...ach, no, forget it.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 19 2012, 9:02 AM BSTLook...ach, no, forget it.
No, go on - make your point - if for no other reason to prove you have one.
Quote: Godot Taxis @ July 19 2012, 2:58 PM BSTNo, go on - make your point - if for no other reason to prove you have one.
Nah. 
Will you be entering the Sitcom Trials again...the Halloween submissions are happening now. It might be a good idea to shelve what you're currently working on and start afresh with something completely new. You might be able to go back to your original characters and see changes you can make.
At least with the Halloween spin, you can invent someone nasty and stick to it if you want.
Quote: Joyce @ August 1 2012, 11:20 AM BSTIt might be a good idea to shelve what you're currently working on and start afresh with something completely new.
No, you're alright thanks
What I meant was...take a break and do something else as a distraction. THEN go back to it and see how you feel. Even a few days can give you a fresh new perspective.
I read your script for the Sitcom Trials and I like the way your dialogue flows. It's believable. I actually like the whole set up. It appeals to me because I'm not really a stickler for lovable main characters myself. I prefer the characters around them to be jointly vulnerable.
I know it's often preferable for a character to have a few different sides to their personality so you never got bored with them, but I also find it rather annoying to have them constantly change from being nasty to being uncharacteristically nice.
Max Branning on EastEnders is a wanker most of the time, but as soon has he starts with the tears and slimey snot, everyone wants to stroke his...bald head and say, "There, there". Well...I don't, but you know what I mean.
So...don't think I'm telling you your original idea is pants. I'm not.
The main character should have some similarities to the viewer whether it's political, atheism or general opinions about life. But its funny as hell when they get into an argument with someone and they speak there mind and offend them (something which most people including myself don't have the balls to do).
For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDm27PhS4Ng
I read this tread for reference to my own writing and thought I'd my tuppence-worth to this thread, even though it's starting to disappear.
Does the lead character have to be likeable?
I'm in the sympathy camp. A classic example is Basil Fawlty? Is he nice? Is he likeable? I would say no. But we feel sympathy for him because of his situation - nagging wife, surrounded by (what he considers) inept staff.
Likeable is great.
Sympathetic is also great.
But 'funny' is what matters in a comedy script.
If he's funny, everything else is negotiable.