Who's Your Side Show Bob's?

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coolhandgopher

coolhandgopher

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With Richard Lewis' passing and the recollection of all his highlights from Curb, it got me thinking of other characters who would pop up occasionally (sometimes rarely) and who would always elevate that episode of a beloved show to another level. I'll call it the Side Show Bob Award and as best I can, I'll limit it to one or two characters from a show, at most:

Curb: Lewis and Marty Funkhouser (Leon was a regular, central character for an entire season, thus disqualified from my very scientific methods of consideration)

Seinfeld: Lots of great, great occasional appearances (Uncle Leo, Tim Watley, Newman, Morty) but the crown belongs to Frank and Estelle Costanza.

Simpsons: Even more so than Seinfeld, the cast of characters was sublime, but besides my guy Bob, Disco Stu holds a special place in my heart.

Cheers: Any episode with Gary from Gary's Old Town Tavern was fire. Harry the Hat is a strong contender also.

Andy Griffith Show: Otis, Goober, Gomer--all great. But they're not the Fun Girls

Friends: No, not Janice. Frank Jr. Jr. by the brilliant and bizarre Giovanni Ribisi

Parks and Rec: Jean Ralphio

Bob Newhart Show: The therapy group, particularly Mr. Carlin
 

Home Improvement: Wilson Wilson

Scooby Doo: Scrappy
 
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coolhandgopher said:
Cheers: Any episode with Gary from Gary's Old Town Tavern was fire. Harry the Hat is a strong contender also.
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I thought it was interesting that Gary was played by 2 different actors. Harry the Hat was integral in easily my favorite Cheers episode, when they play poker against the con man who had been hustling Coach in gin.

Others:

MASH - Maj Sidney Freedman and Col Flagg. Any Flagg episode is pure gold.

Brooklyn 99 - Madeline Wuntch (Kyra Sedgwick) and Doug Judy (Craig Robinson)

Arrested Development - Family Attorney Barry Zuckerkorn (Henry Winkler)

Edit - SkiU beat me to the punch on MASH.
 
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Ope3 said:
Brooklyn 99 - Madeline Wuntch (Kyra Sedgwick) and Doug Judy (Craig Robinson)

Arrested Development - Family Attorney Barry Zuckerkorn (Henry Winkler)
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Hahaha! Samesies. :ROFLMAO:
 

coolhandgopher said:
With Richard Lewis' passing and the recollection of all his highlights from Curb, it got me thinking of other characters who would pop up occasionally (sometimes rarely) and who would always elevate that episode of a beloved show to another level. I'll call it the Side Show Bob Award and as best I can, I'll limit it to one or two characters from a show, at most:

Curb: Lewis and Marty Funkhouser (Leon was a regular, central character for an entire season, thus disqualified from my very scientific methods of consideration)

Seinfeld: Lots of great, great occasional appearances (Uncle Leo, Tim Watley, Newman, Morty) but the crown belongs to Frank and Estelle Costanza.

Simpsons: Even more so than Seinfeld, the cast of characters was sublime, but besides my guy Bob, Disco Stu holds a special place in my heart.

Cheers: Any episode with Gary from Gary's Old Town Tavern was fire. Harry the Hat is a strong contender also.

Andy Griffith Show: Otis, Goober, Gomer--all great. But they're not the Fun Girls

Friends: No, not Janice. Frank Jr. Jr. by the brilliant and bizarre Giovanni Ribisi

Parks and Rec: Jean Ralphio

Bob Newhart Show: The therapy group, particularly Mr. Carlin
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Great list.

Jean Ralphio may be the best ever.

No one has mentioned Jason Mantzoukas yet. Pick a role from Parks and Rec to Brooklyn 99 to the show I’m Sorry and more. The guy is always gold.
 






I'm glad you brought up the Fun Girls!!

Bruce Hyde appeared in only two first-season episodes of Star Trek, but the character (Lt. Kevin Riley) and his portrayal of him were show-stealers and made him a fan favorite. After his acting career, he was a PhD and professor of communications studies just up the road at St. Cloud State until his untimely death from cancer at age 74.




That episode (The Naked Time), by the way, is a perfect little film and easily one of the top 5 of the original series. Written by the brilliant John D. F. Black and directed by the great Marc Daniels. I call it THE quintessential Star Trek episode.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm glad you brought up the Fun Girls!!

Bruce Hyde appeared in only two first-season episodes of Star Trek, but the character (Lt. Kevin Riley) and his portrayal of him were show-stealers and made him a fan favorite. After his acting career, he was a PhD and professor of communications studies just up the road at St. Cloud State until his untimely death from cancer at age 74.




That episode (The Naked Time), by the way, is a perfect little film and easily one of the top 5 of the original series. Written by the brilliant John D. F. Black and directed by the great Marc Daniels. I call it THE quintessential Star Trek episode.
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Holy Crap.... I remember him. I transferred to SCSU right before he started teaching there. Never knew about the Star Trek connection.
 

from the Bob Newhart Show - Tom Poston as "The Peeper"

going way back - Pat Buttram as "Mr Haney" on Green Acres

a couple of Star Trek candidates:
Roger C. Carmel as "Harry Mudd" on TOS
John DeLancie as "Q" in TNG, Voyager, etc.
 



On The Simpsons, I do love it when Kang and Kodos randomly show up in one of their Halloween shows.
 




Two of my favorites: Dr. Bombay on Bewitched and Colonel Crittendon on Hogan's Heroes, both portrayed by prolific Welsh actor Bernard Fox.

Bernard Fox.jpg
 



Randy Marsh from South Park
Dooley from King Of The Hill
Franklin Sherman The Critic
 
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Ski U Mah Gopher said:
MASH: Dr. Sidney Freedman & Col Flagg
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Great call on Colonel Flagg.

On a Simpsons adjacent topic I'm a big fan of Calculon and Hedonism bot from Futurama.

The Smoking Man from The X-Files, at least in the early seasons.
 



Growing Pains: Boner. I always thought he really lifted that show.
 

Eddie Haskell from "Leave it to Beaver" was maybe too regular to fit the mold but he always stole the scene.

It wasn't him but the greatest dirty TV line ever:

"Ward...don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?"
 



The Office -

Bob Vance
Todd Packard
Creed Bratton (while he was in most of the episodes, he wasn’t in all of them. He also made the most of his limited screen time).

Remember: “Sometimes a guy’s gotta ride the Bull.”

 


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