Funny People

Chandler Bing – People who have known me and are reading this blog post will find no surprises here. Chandler Bing played by Mat Perry in Friends is my favorite comedy character of all time. He is intentionally funny and his comedy timing is brilliant. This character defines slapstick humor and takes sarcasm to a whole new level. The best of Chandler Bing lies in the first four seasons of Friends. In seasons 8, 9 and 10 the other 5 characters seem to draw generously from Chandler Bing. Who can forget the time when Chandler walks into the apartment when Joey’s building an entertainment unit and he says

Chandler: Heh heh hai.. So did a forest tick you off?
Joey: You know how we're always saying we need a place for the mail?
Chandler: Yeah?
Joey: Well, I started building one. But then I decided to take it to the next step.
Chandler: You're building a post office?
Funniest character ever!

Barney Stinson – ‘How I met your mother’ created a character that can be loosely termed as “male envy”. Any guy would want to be the Legendary Barney Stinson because even when he is sad he stops being sad and starts being awesome instead. This chauvinistic and lewd character has been the reason why the show has been so successful. His abysmal level of morals never denies a laugh. Neil Patrick Harris made a name for himself who was last seen in Googie Houser. “The only reason to wait for a month to have sex with a girl is if she is seventeen years and 11 months old” or “I, Baranabe Stinson, shall write the Bro code and I will make a mention that there will be no eye contact in a Devil’s 3 way.” Theories of Barney Stinson will live a long life. After all they are all Classic Stinson.

Howard Wolowitz – Arguably the favorite character of The Big Bang theory has been the lead actor who has been won the Emmy award twice, Sheldon Cooper. But my favorite character is Howard Wolowitz the horny engineer from MIT played by Simon Helberg. His diminutive appearance and his style of clothing itself can get you started on laughter. He has this innate ability to turn anything sexy and who can forget his mother who cooks “one hell of a bruschetta”. His undying spirit to run after one woman after the other even though he constantly gets snubbed is commendable. “Hello, Science bitches” and “There goes Mrs. Wolowitz” continue to entertain us.

Dwight Shrute - Rainn Wilson plays Dwight in The Office. His character is Assistant to Manager but he calls himself the Assistant Manager. He plays the classic kiss ass to his crazy boss Michael Scot to perfection. He plays the role of this typical dumb guy in office who believes that he is next up to the role of the boss in the office. He is constantly threatened by other people who sometimes have an intimate conversation with the boss. Wilson plays the dumb and obnoxious guy to perfection and his presence on the screen is enough to get the audience laughing. If you haven’t already caught it then please listen to “Ryan started the fire..”

Michael Scott - Steve Carrel plays the General Manager in The Office. He is one of the most self-absorbed and retarded bosses ever who has weird theories. Each episode exposes a weird side of him and that makes for a hilarious watch. He is eccentric and causes many an awkward situation to all his employees. His tediousness and how the other characters in the office react to him are typical of some offices we may be aware of. He is the Batman where Dwight is Robin and both of them make up one hell of a riot.

Jeff Murdock – Jeff is the central character in ‘Coupling’ that sadly got eliminated in the last season. Richard Coyle plays Jeff Murdock who in many ways can be called the inspiration to Barney Stinson. His theories such as the “Melty man” and the “Giggle loop” are indeed legendary. He plays the character of the dumb guy who gets minor to major panic attacks whenever he is confronted with a woman. His timing of saying something inappropriate or saying something that should not be said is perfect. He is the soul of the series and is amazingly funny. You can catch him on the Brit version of Coupling.

Phoebe Buffay – The first lady of my list and who doesn’t know flaky Phoebe Buffay. I am yet to meet such a character in real life. Some people I have known have come close to being like her but not quite her. This over the top crazy lady is a vegan and takes her insanity to new heights when she was pregnant is one of the major reasons of continued entertainment for over a decade. When Monica and Chandler enter their house after having dinner with their parents and Monica bursts out saying “My parents spent all the money” to which a surprised Phoebe asks “Oh my god! What did you order?” is just one line that defines her tangential thinking streak. One will always remember Lisa Kudrow as the person who created Regina Phalange.

Sheldon Cooper – The eccentric scientist who believes that he is this age’s gift to mankind is none other than the character played by Jim Parsons who has entertained the world over 5 seasons of The Big Bang theory, Sheldon Cooper. The thing I like the most about Sheldon is his absolute faith on how he and he alone can be right. “Penny, am a physicist. I know everything about everything.” Only he could have used that line. His general derogation of pretty much everybody and his style of criticism of other characters are funny indeed. His lines have already becoming memorable like when Sheldon tries explaining something to Penny and exasperates saying “It’s like talking to wall”. His not so quiet tolerance of his mother’s faith that God will heal everything and his love for his Meemaw make up a character that walks on earth as the best thing ever happened on it. That is evident from the following excerpt
Leonard: You are not Isaac Newton.
Sheldon: No, no, that's true. Gravity would have been apparent to me without the apple.

Perry Cox – John C. McGinley plays the Chief Doctor who handles all interns and junior doctors and the person who would eventually become the Chief of Medicine in Sacred Heart Hospital. His character is Perry Cox who pretty much hates everything except doing what he does best consulting patients. He has no respect or love for everything and that makes up for pages and pages of sarcastic metaphoric delivery of dialogues. His favorite person to take a dig at is Dr. John Dorian who is the lead character of the show and one who adores Dr. Cox like the father he never had. This is the cause for a lot of irritation and hence many a hilarious exchange between the two. Couple of good things you can take away from this obsessive character is his fierce commitment to work and his complete dedication to do everything possible to help a patient live. Even then you will never miss his one liners always beginning with a girl’s name for JD.
Dr. Cox: Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present, Man Not Caring.
[points to self]