Dr Spaceman in '30 Rock'.
Underused Characters Page 3
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ February 20 2013, 8:38 AM GMTFrank "Weazel" Weisel in Yes Minister.
Oh no, he was gone too late!
Quote: Aaron @ February 20 2013, 2:17 PM GMTOh no, he was gone too late!
Maybe you're right. But I think he didn't get enough material to judge. The premise was good; I liked his suspicion towards Appleby, and Appleby's fear of Hacker's caddy.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ February 20 2013, 4:14 PM GMTMaybe you're right. But I think he didn't get enough material to judge. The premise was good; I liked his suspicion towards Appleby, and Appleby's fear of Hacker's caddy.
I would have gone for Humphrey's clueless banker mate Desmond Glazebrook, a man for our times.
Private Sponge in Dad's Army. Perhaps not so much a character but more an uber-extra or, if you will, uber-supporting artiste
Quote: lofthouse @ July 23 2011, 6:59 PM BSTThe greased up deaf guy
On a similar note, Paddy Tanager, the Caddy manager...
Yeah, he's just a one shot catchphrase based character, big whoop, wanna fight about it?
On the Fast Show, The "Sorry I've just cum...." guy
On Big Train, The Fat handed Twat
On Father Ted, the..ha ha ha ha haaaa! Laughing Priest Heheheheh
On South Park, Lemmiwinks
And probably the most criminal of all:
On Red Dwarf: Holly.
Hey we have a new character let's just terribly underuse one of our funniest ones so he can handle all the boring exposition instead.
Yeah, Norman might be being a dick about Series 10/11 but there's no excuse for not bringing back Hattie or a third Holly for Series 10.
Particularly as the Russian Woman part was supposed to be all Holly but when Norman said no they rewrote it.
Helloooo? No Norman doesn't have to mean no Holly! It's happened before it can happen again!
Colonel Flagg from MASH
Jackie Chiles from Seinfeld
Keith in The Office, with his deadpan expressions and disturbing remarks. And Finchy.
The Bishop character could have been used a bit more in Father Ted - the episodes he was in have a bit more tension and urgency about them than some of the others. And I'd have liked to have seen more of that high-pitched priest who built an extension on his house and then another extension on that so that his house went round in a circle.
Rising Damp could just have done with more characters full stop. Too claustophobic.
Monkey Harris and Sunglasses Ron from OFAH 
I liked Spooner in Rising Damp, and I reckon there was more mileage there because of his occupation (ex-Red Devil turned wrestler), short temper and dislike of Rigsby.
IIRC, he appeared in only two episodes - the Grand one where Rigsby and Alan borrowed his clothes, and the one where he wouldn't turn down his radio after breaking his ankle tripping over Vienna. Good stuff
Quote: Silverfish @ April 21 2013, 11:50 PM BSTI liked Spooner in Rising Damp, and I reckon there was more mileage there because of his occupation (ex-Red Devil turned wrestler), short temper and dislike of Rigsby.
IIRC, he appeared in only two episodes - the Grand one where Rigsby and Alan borrowed his clothes, and the one where he wouldn't turn down his radio after breaking his ankle tripping over Vienna. Good stuff
Yup. Series 1 episodes 2 and 4.
Quote: Rupe @ 18th April 2013, 11:23 AMRising Damp could just have done with more characters full stop. Too claustophobic.
Others have said that about RD. I guess that's another reason it doesn't come higher on best sitcom lists while its fans rave about it. The closed room setting doesn't suit everyone. Chappell did write claustrophobic sitcoms - RD, Only When I Laugh, Home To Roost, few characters in closed spaces, classic theatre scenarios. They all had very good actors because he wrote longish scenes with few characters. Stage trained actors are best for this.
Porridge was claustrophobic too, and also had excellent actors although Barker was given so much to do. Didn't see enough of the superb side characters like Grouty, McClaren, Horrible Ives who were all used very sparely. Conversely OFAH which features a lot on this thread, had a great variety of settings and characters, several of whom didn't get enough airtime. The reason again being the main character hogged it a bit. But the acting also very good. I'll add Mickey Pearce to its list.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 6th May 2019, 7:29 AMPorridge was claustrophobic
That's one of the downsides of prison. But I take your point. David Jason's character in Porridge was wonderfully acted. Would have liked more. Also Brad Pitt's guest roll in Friends, palpably resentful character, acted to perfection.
Abed in community
Zak in big bang.