I was watching The Beverly Hillbillies a couple days ago, the episode that introduced Dash Riprock. As usual, there was a misunderstanding and Dash was led to believe that Miss Jane was Elly. There were several jokes about her, frankly, not being as physically appealing (at least, not as conventionally appealing) as Elly May, and I instantly felt for Nancy Kulp, who had to read through these scripts and act through the scenes, which had the subtext of "Miss Jane isn't very attractive". Had to be a little humiliating, really.

I started thinking about other incidents of this that I could recall. I came up with Rerun from What's Happening!, who was always the butt of jokes because of his weight, Bookman from Good Times, likewise, and Ben Linus, from Lost, who was compared to a rat at one point and whose "bug eyes" were mentioned at least once!

I wonder how the writers approach that scene with the actors. "OK Nancy, in this scene, we're basically, uhm, making fun of the fact that you don't have a curvy figure or blond hair or a conventionally appealing look like Donna Douglas..."!? I know the actors are professionals but this is their APPEARANCE we're talking about; that seems to be automatically personal.

Anybody have any other instances of this?

On Three's Company there an episodes where Jack is trying to win back a girl and goes to her apartment to serenade her but mistakenly doesn't know he's serenated the wrong person and when the wrong girl turns up at Jack's house it turns out to be an overweight woman.

There was an episode of Taxi where Alex had a "phone friendship" with a woman. He was anxious to meet her, but when he did she turned out to be obese. Although he still wanted to get to know her, there were lots of jokes from Louie about Alex's "big date".

what about Ralph Kramden on THE HONEYMOONERS? Ed Norton, his best friend and even his wife Alice, used to make cracks about his weight sometimes like when he said once "This is the biggest thing I've ever gotten into!" And she replies "The biggest thing you ever got into was your pants!":lol:
I don't remember Barney Rubble etc. making cracks about Fred Flinstones weight, but I'm sure they did.
Also, on THE BEVERLLY HILLBILLIES once; in the episode GETTING SETTLED in that sweet scene where Jed's talking to Elly he says "Just like mother nature made you a girl...and lately she's been gettin' more an' more positive about it."

Ralph Monroe on Green Acres! The lady carpenter of the Monroe Brothers Ralph and Alf . They always made her out to be a homely women. And she really wasn't !! Monroe brothers, but she was really a sister! She was always in overalls and wearing a cap on her head, no makeup , hair not done and cut short. And the most obvious being named Ralph and referred to as a 'Monroe Brother"! How was this poor girl ever expected to have any confidence or self esteem if she couldn't even have a sense of her own femininity ? :confused:

She was a really sweet girl, had a beautiful personality and a pretty smile.;) She just never was given a chance. She loved Hank Kimball, but was always made to feel like the ugly duckling and even a goofball like Hank Kimball wasn't interested in her! How sad! Lisa did give her a make over in I think two eps. and she looked really pretty!:) ;)

How can anyone forget Sanford And Son's Aunt Esther. Fred constantly called her ugly and made jokes about her.

In the TV movie RETURN TO MAYBERRY Thelma Lou was talking to Helen about Barney in one scene and said something like "I know he's not (something) and his physique's nothing to write home about..."
In the 2nd or 3rd episode of GREEN ACRES Kate Bradley is talking to Lisa in one scene about cooking and when Lisa tells her she doesn't know how to, Kate says "When Mr. Douglas married you didn't he ask if you know how to cook?" Then she looked at Lisa and said "No, I can see he didn't."

Dorothy Zbornak owns this thread. Not only did the writers on Golden Girls make her out to be hideously ugly, but also suggested that she looked and acted like a man.

Joy Skroggs gets positively BRUTALIZED on Hot in Cleveland, with constant references to her "man-hands", looking and dressing like a prostitute and acting too young for her age.

Bud Bundy got treated pretty badly as the writers of Married...With Children had him as an 18 year old bedwetter who no right-minded girl would be caught dead with. I though David Faustino was quite attractive back in the day.

I feel bad for Lucy Lee Flippin, who seemed to get typecast in these type roles.

always lt bad for rerun must of hurt the actors like crazy to have to go through that

I started thinking about other incidents of this that I could recall. I came up with Rerun from What's Happening!, who was always the butt of jokes because of his weight, Bookman from Good Times, likewise, and Ben Linus, from Lost, who was compared to a rat at one point and whose "bug eyes" were mentioned at least once!

Actually, Shirley from What's Happening!! was on the receiving end of the fat jokes as well. And Mabel King was actually the largest member of the cast.

I agree Dorothy Zbornak owns this thread. In the later seasons, it got even worse with most of Sophia's zingers aimed at Bea/Dorothy's height, butt, voice, etc.

On "That '70s Show" the scripts often made light of Topher Grace's skinny frame as well.

Couple examples from Cheers: There's one whole episode of Cheers devoted to Diane dating someone who has everything she's looking for...except that he's homely. And then there's a cold opening where Coach gets a call from upstairs for someone with a dinner reservation, and he calls out, "Table for the Blubberbutts!"
Or remember the episode where an IRS agent, who's investigating Norm for accounting fraud, offers to drop the charges if Norm sleeps with her? Everybody in the bar acts like he's committing suicide. And when Cliff says she's hot, the laugh track breaks out.
Another good example is the Gidget episode "My Ever Faithful Friend" where Gidget gives LaRue a makeover because the local kids make fun of her looks. Cause it's so embarassing being next to this. (http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rvC8qsHHGmM/maxresdefault.jpg) If anything, LaRue should get more dates because she's much curvier.

My vote for the worst use of this is "Jan's Aunt Jenny" from season 3 of The Brady Bunch. Aunt Jenny (Imogene Coca) isn't called names, but Jan is devastated that she might grow up to look like her. Mike and Carol have to explain to Aunt Jenny that Jan keeps avoiding her because she's unattractive. How would you like to be on the receiving side of that conversation? :eek:

A season 4 episode of "Diff'rent Strokes" had Willis wanting his own room so he said he was going to take Adalaide's room and have her move in w/ Arnold.

Arnold goes, "I don't want Adalaide in here, she can see me in my underwear. Even worse, I could see her in hers." :lol:

My vote for the worst use of this is "Jan's Aunt Jenny" from season 3 of The Brady Bunch. Aunt Jenny (Imogene Coca) isn't called names, but Jan is devastated that she might grow up to look like her. Mike and Carol have to explain to Aunt Jenny that Jan keeps avoiding her because she's unattractive. How would you like to be on the receiving side of that conversation? :eek:

I know! I thought that was mean for Aunt Jenny!:( And I didn't think Aunt Jenny was bad looking for an older women, she certainly wasn't ugly!

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTqU43E5vXb4l3JFLxfHtvDOkFzjqCizHhJmcK3LC9XxR03sDPj

Her gaudy eye shadow reminds me of Samantha's mom Endora! :D

What about Meg Griffin from Family Guy? OMG she gets brutalized. Her brother does too. Sometimes Peter and Lois.

JJ on Good Times - they were constantly making fun of him being so goofy lookin and skinny

A few examples that come to mind for me:


---The Dick Van Dyke Show: Buddy insulting Mel about his baldness, which was always my favorite part of the show


---Danny Thomas (Make Room For Daddy) and Al Molinaro (The Odd Couple and Happy Days) were both constantly insulted on their shows about their big noses, including one scene from Happy Days where both of them stood "nose to nose" and compared sizes.


---I Love Lucy: Fred would insult Ethel about her weight, and anything else he could think of

---The Monkees: The other Monkees would insult Davy about him being short

---Beverly Hillbillies: Jane Hathaway's "plain Jane" looks were used for laughs to explain her terrible luck in attracting men.

---The Phil Silvers Show: Doberman - fat, ugly, and dumb, a triple threat!

---The Munsters: The family always worried about Marilyn being too ugly that she would scare away her dates, but of course nothing could be further from the truth. Then there were the times when Herman would look in the mirror and the mirror would crack.

---McHale's Navy - McHale's crew would call Capt. Binghamton "Old Lead Bottom", and it wasn't because of his military record.

---Leave It To Beaver: Both Larry Mondello and Lumpy Rutherford would get insulted, usually by Beaver or Eddie, about being fat

---Car 54, Where Are You?: Toody (short and fat) and Muldoon (tall and skinny) were always kidded about their looks. When they were shown together, the physical contrast made for great visual gags.

Her gaudy eye shadow reminds me of Samantha's mom Endora! :D

Yeah, Imogene was totally channeling Agnes Moorehead there.

Another example for the list:

Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence) was constantly tormenting Pam (Tichina Arnold) on "Martin." He would make jokes about her hair, her face and breath. Pam would always snap him right back though.

they originally weren't going to have Buddy make cracks about Mels baldness on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, but once during a rehearsal Richard Deacon flubbed a line and Morey Amsterdam said "Dick, I think I know what happened to your hair. It didn't fall out, it fell in and it's clouding your brain!":lol: :lol:
Carl Reiner thought it was so funny so they decided to make Buddy make jokes about Mels baldness and to make them a regular feature.

The Jeffersons - George got cracked on for being short and Tom got cracked on for being fat.

Malcom & Eddie - There were quite a few fat jokes at Tim's expense.

Mr. Belvedere got cracked on for being fat.

On Home Improvement, Tim costantly made jokes about Al's mom's weight. (Al even commented to him about this a number of times as well. Even after she had died, Tim was still making jokes.)

I think Steve Urkel from Family Matters would certainly qualify- though he was picked on for other things too, he was definitely made fun of for his size and weight and upper body strength, etc.

The same goes for Mark Foster-Lambert on Step By Step to some degree.

The same goes for Screech Powers on Saved By The Bell to a lesser degree. (At least he few times, he's been referred to a skinny little geek or something to that effect.) As with Steve Urkel, Screech is usually ribbed for more than just his body weight and size, but that's certainly part of it.

To confirm someone else mentioned earlier, Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones definitely got some teasing about his weight every now and then.

One of the running gags on "Living Single" was the classy ways in which Max(ine) Shaw and Kyle Barker would always insult each other.

Also, we can't forget how much Will Smith (playing a fictional version of himself) would torment Carlton Banks for how short he was, and also how much Will Smith and the other characters would torment Uncle Phil (Banks) for being overweight.

On Home Improvement, Tim costantly made jokes about Al's mom's weight. (Al even commented to him about this a number of times as well. Even after she had died, Tim was still making jokes.)

You definitely have a point there. One of the cruelest (yet quite hilarious) jokes about Al's mom was when she fell to her death in the restaurant and an earthquake broke out.

To that extent, Peg Bundy's mother would also qualify for this list. Heck, most of the people on that show would qualify. Al commonly referred to Marcy has having chicken legs among other insults. And Al acted like having sex with Peg was the worst tragedy that could befall a human being.

To some actors it may not be that bad. I tend to think Richard Deacon's Mels Cooley went along to get laughs. But one poster mentioned Jane Leeves' Joy Stroggs who is mentioned having big hands, flat chest, and having mannish features. That I find may be true of Jane. You wonder, if glamourous/handsome actors have any problems.

In the TV movie RETURN TO MAYBERRY Thelma Lou was talking to Helen about Barney in one scene and said something like "I know he's not (something) and his physique's nothing to write home about..."
In the 2nd or 3rd episode of GREEN ACRES Kate Bradley is talking to Lisa in one scene about cooking and when Lisa tells her she doesn't know how to, Kate says "When Mr. Douglas married you didn't he ask if you know how to cook?" Then she looked at Lisa and said "No, I can see he didn't."


LOL!! Yeah back in the day it was thought that the real pretty girls didn't have to cook or clean or anything! :D

JJ on Good Times - they were constantly making fun of him being so goofy lookin and skinny

Also on Good Times, they were constantly calling Bookman, "Buffalo Butt".

Carol Seaver on Growing Pains was often called fat and ugly by her brothers, Mike and Ben; mostly Mike.


Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women had an entire arch relating to her weight.

on Living Single, Regine was often the butt of jokes for being overly concerned with her looks, wearing too much make-up, etc.

Carol Seaver on Growing Pains was often called fat and ugly by her brothers, Mike and Ben; mostly Mike.

That's a particularly sad one since it led to Tracey Gold having anorexia nervosa IRL. It nearly killed her (she was reported to have weighed 80 pounds at one point late in the series) and has killed Karen Carpenter among others. 2 of my loved ones have it and it is a very serious condition.

And I couldn't understand the jokes since I don't think she is fat or ugly by any means.

On Charles in Charge, Sarah got some ribbing at times from Jamie, but it was usually on personality issues- but I'm pretty sure there were some references to Sarah being more of a "Plain Jane" and Jamie being the pretty and popular one. (Granted, sometimes this was Sarah moping and lamenting this herself.)

On ALF, I seem to recall Trevor cracking a few jokes about Racquel's appearance every now and then.

On Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Kube got some comments at times (not generally to his face though) regarding his size and eating capacities and capabilities.

Through the various Scooby-Doo series, Shaggy and Scooby got comments at times from the rest of the gang (usually about their cowardice), but also many times regarding their insatiable appetites and at times regarding Shaggy's skinny frame. (Though to be fair, any needling here was always very light-hearted and not really mean-spirited.)

Topanga got some teasing from Cory and Shawn particularly in Season 1 of Boy Meets World, mainly for her new age practices and her unusual hairstyles and outfits, etc.

Pretty much all the residents of Sesame Street got insults from Oscar the Grouch at some time or another. (At times, he would call Maria "Skinny".)

That's a particularly sad one since it led to Tracey Gold having anorexia nervosa IRL. It nearly killed her (she was reported to have weighed 80 pounds at one point late in the series) and has killed Karen Carpenter among others. 2 of my loved ones have it and it is a very serious condition.

And I couldn't understand the jokes since I don't think she is fat or ugly by any means.She isn't. I blame this on those stupid writers. I'll bet they were male and don't understand teen girls so they make cruel jokes just to get laughs.

I'm surprised nobody has brought Max Klinger's nose on MASH. There's also George Costanza being bald(ing) and Kramer's hair on Seinfeld.

Sonny and Cher comedy hour. Sonny always made fun of Cher's nose and Cher always made fun of Sonny for being short!

I was watching The Beverly Hillbillies a couple days ago, the episode that introduced Dash Riprock. As usual, there was a misunderstanding and Dash was led to believe that Miss Jane was Elly. There were several jokes about her, frankly, not being as physically appealing (at least, not as conventionally appealing) as Elly May, and I instantly felt for Nancy Kulp, who had to read through these scripts and act through the scenes, which had the subtext of "Miss Jane isn't very attractive". Had to be a little humiliating, really.

I started thinking about other incidents of this that I could recall. I came up with Rerun from What's Happening!, who was always the butt of jokes because of his weight, Bookman from Good Times, likewise, and Ben Linus, from Lost, who was compared to a rat at one point and whose "bug eyes" were mentioned at least once!

I wonder how the writers approach that scene with the actors. "OK Nancy, in this scene, we're basically, uhm, making fun of the fact that you don't have a curvy figure or blond hair or a conventionally appealing look like Donna Douglas..."!? I know the actors are professionals but this is their APPEARANCE we're talking about; that seems to be automatically personal.

Anybody have any other instances of this?

I never thought Miss Jane aka Nancy Kulp was unattractive. I think she had incredible eyes. I guess I look for the good in people and feel we can always find something attractive about everyone.
Even though they are paid for the acting, it has to hurt them. They are human and have feelings.

I think Nancy Kulp looks a great deal like a dear friends mother who passed away a few years back. My husband always called her Miss Jane, she considered it an honor.

On the show Designing Women they had some episodes about Suzanne's weight and that burned me up. Delta Burke was and still is a beautiful woman.

God didn't make us to fit one mold, we are all unique. It's always bothered me how some of these shows make fun of people and we wonder where children learn to bully. I see adults making fun of others all the time, calling others fat or ugly. It makes me ashamed for them.

I don't care if someone is black, white, purple, heavy, thin, tall or short. They have feelings and those who don't like the way they look don't have the right to make them feel bad about themselves. I thought as people grew up and matured they learned compassion and tolerance but that's sadly not the case. :(

So I take it you never got your change back. :lol:

Good one!!! :lol: I don't see the need for that poster to say such an unkind thing about Shirley either. :(



Shirley and MiMi ( the lady from Drew Carey show) and Miss Hathaway too were awesome!!!!;) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I don't know them personally , but I'm sure they were all good people and therefore had an inner beauty. And these ladies were character actors. They didn't claim to be beautiful I don't see the need for that poster to come on here and dog out Shirley and MiMi in that manner!:(

I wouldn't say Nancy Kulp was ugly, but she wasn't hot either IMO.

She was pretty "average."

The same with Shirley Hemphill.

http://www.ericthompsonmagic.com/sites/default/files/shirley-hemphill%201.jpg

That a very nice picture of Shirley and Nancy.
I don't know either actress personally, only from their tv roles. Many times you get a different thought to them if you did know them other than tv.
Being a neighbor, friend, cousin, etc. Yong Fan, please don't degrade people.

Good one!!! :lol: I don't see the need for that poster to say such an unkind thing about Shirley either. :(



Shirley and MiMi ( the lady from Drew Carey show) and Miss Hathaway too were awesome!!!!;) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I don't know them personally , but I'm sure they were all good people and therefore had an inner beauty. And these ladies were character actors. They didn't claim to be beautiful I don't see the need for that poster to come on here and dog out Shirley and MiMi in that manner!:(

If you think that was bad, just wait until you read about what he said a few weeks ago about Betty White (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4913675&postcount=1).


I agree about Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway (and before that, Pamela on "Love That Bob".) She was a very funny and charming actress.

If you think that was bad, just wait until you read about what he said a few weeks ago about Betty White (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4913675&postcount=1).


I did see that back when he posted it. I can't believe he'd wish anyone to die and he pretty much did by his comment. When I see people say such cruel things I figure they must live very sad lives but that by NO means excuses what he says.

Why don't the moderators remove things like that? In my personal opinion that falls in the category of being a bully.


I'm a great believer in karma, and the vengeance that it serves up to those who are deliberately cruel and hateful.

Why don't the moderators remove things like that? In my personal opinion that falls in the category of being a bully.

If you feel that something is objectionable and should be removed then report it. I agree and would remove it myself but I can't.

If you think that was bad, just wait until you read about what he said a few weeks ago about Betty White (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4913675&postcount=1).

This individual should be ignored. Same thing with the individual on another site who called Betty White "A pathetic, decrepit liberal loser".

Sorry to bring up politics here.

Re: Growing Pains

I remember there was an episode in which Carol wanted Mike to give her a ride to a plastic surgeon's office for a nose job (Season 2, Episode 17: Jimmy Durante Died for Your Sins.) I don't remember the exact words, but Mike told her she was good looking and felt guilty about his teasing.

This individual should be ignored. Same thing with the individual on another site who called Betty White "A pathetic, decrepit liberal loser".

Sorry to bring up politics here.
yes, I agree everyone; just ignore him/her.

Did Gimme A Break ever make fun of Nell Carters weight? I know 1 episode of Punky Brewster featured a joke about Nell Carters weight; and then GAB retaliated by having an episode of their show that made fun of Punky Brewster.

Did Gimme A Break ever make fun of Nell Carters weight? I know 1 episode of Punky Brewster featured a joke about Nell Carters weight; and then GAB retaliated by having an episode of their show that made fun of Punky Brewster.

Gimme A Break did make fun of Nell Carter's weight some, but not much.

It was Gimme A Break that fired the first shot and Punky Brewster that retaliated.

Fresh Prince of Bel Air Carlton's short height and Uncle Phil's weight fat jokes.

Joy Skroggs gets positively BRUTALIZED on Hot in Cleveland, with constant references to her "man-hands", looking and dressing like a prostitute and acting too young for her age.


This was obviously NOT a rib at Jane Leeves because I think she is very beautiful and honestly the clothes she wears as Joy really aren't that bad. I mean I loved Jane on Frasier when she played Daphne, and on there she was always complimented on her looks (especially by Niles). I think the character of Joy on HIC is very beautiful too and her hands really aren't that bad. :)

There was one episode on "Family Matters", where Eddy got teased by his friends for dating a "dog". But I never thought that girl was ugly.

Barney Fife sometimes got ridiculed and made fun of because of his way of doing his job. I remember when two roadside farmers made fun of him. And also when Barney arrested the whole town and when Goober gave him a citizens arrest.

Remember the poem on the side of the bank?
There once was a deputy called Fife,
Who carried a gun and a knife.
The gun was all dusty,
And his knife was all rusty,
Because he never caught a crook in his life. :lol:

Barney Fife sometimes got ridiculed and made fun of because of his way of doing his job. I remember when two roadside farmers made fun of him. And also when Barney arrested the whole town and when Goober gave him a citizens arrest.

Remember the poem on the side of the bank?
There once was a deputy called Fife,
Who carried a gun and a knife.
The gun was all dusty,
And his knife was all rusty,
Because he never caught a crook in his life. :lol:

Poor Barney..... but his character knew they really loved him. :biglove:
You know he really made that show and I love all his movies. Now I'm in the mood to watch 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'. :D

Poor Barney..... but his character knew they really loved him. :biglove:
You know he really made that show and I love all his movies. Now I'm in the mood to watch 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'. :D


Remember the incredible Mr. Limpet!! That was a cute movie! :)


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they originally weren't going to have Buddy make cracks about Mels baldness on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, but once during a rehearsal Richard Deacon flubbed a line and Morey Amsterdam said "Dick, I think I know what happened to your hair. It didn't fall out, it fell in and it's clouding your brain!":lol: :lol:
Carl Reiner thought it was so funny so they decided to make Buddy make jokes about Mels baldness and to make them a regular feature.


This is a great example of how TV and society in general have changed since 1961. Back then, male baldness was always good for a few good punch lines on TV shows like "Dick Van Dyke". Any man would have killed to have great looking hair like The Fonz or John Travolta instead of having the "skinhead" look like Mel Cooley or Kojak, which was considered ugly and awkward and definitely not cool with the ladies.

Today, this sort of attitude has turned almost completely around. Now, completely bald men or men with short "buzzcut" styles (and even women with short pixie cuts like Miley Cyrus) are seen as being very hip, fashionable and trendsetting. I think this may have started with Michael Jordan when he was at the peak of his career in the early 1990s. Everyone wanted to "Be Like Mike", so they copied his bald look and that trend has continued to this day and I don't understand it at all. To me, it simply defies logic and explanation.

Lea Michelle from Glee was always getting made fun of for having a big nose.

Kim Fields from The Facts of Life (who was wearing real braces at the time) was made fun of for having them in the episode "Growing Pains".

Lisa Whelchel from the Facts of Life (who was going through a real weight problem) had a crack about her weight when Jo said that the only size 7 she is is the shoes that she wears.

Jackie from That 70s Show was always making fun of Laura Prepon's character for looking masculine.

Monica on Friends was always teased by how fat she was in high school. Everyone ribbed her about it for many years on the show.

There was a flashback when she was going to the prom and it showed how fat she was. Does anybody have it?

The King Of Queens was always making jokes about Doug's weight. One of the show's episodes is actually titled Fatty McButterpants.

Family Matters had jokes about Carl's weight.

Seinfeld had jokes about George's weight, baldness, and I think occasionally the fact that he wore glasses.

On Frasier (even though she was never seen) Maris' looks were frequently made fun of. Especially how thin and pale she was.

Ed. ETA: If I remember, on M.A.S.H., once in a while they made jokes about the size of Klinger's (Jamie Farr) nose.

on THE HONEYMOONERS Ed Norton and Alice would sometimes make cracks about Ralphs weight.

Ralph (talking about one of his "get rich quick" schemes)





























Ralph (talking about one of his "get rich quick" schemes) "THIS IS THE BIGGEST THING I'VE EVER GOTTEN INTO!"





Alice: "The biggest thing you ever got into was your pants!"

The King Of Queens was always making jokes about Doug's weight. One of the show's episodes is actually titled Fatty McButterpants.


They also made fun of how Spence looked.

Yeah that's true.

Ed.