Phil: I’m an idiot, because mainstream audiences can’t handle subtle forms of comedy like sarcasm or clever wordplay. See Michael from The Office, Homer from The Simpsons, Peter from Family Guy, and pretty much every classic character in television history.
Claire: I’m a huge bitch, as are 99.9 percent of wives on television.
Mitchell: I’m gay! Look how gay I am! It’s impossible for a gay person to not be flamboyant and high-strung! Gay! GAY! GAAAAAAY!
Cameron: There are only two types of gay people: Skinny gay and fat gay. I’m fat gay, which makes me sassy instead of neurotic.
Jay: I’m Al Bundy. No one’s ever going to see me as anything else, so you might as well just write the character as Al Bundy with a different name.
Gloria: I’m from South America, which means I have huge boobs, a comically thick accent and I sometimes threaten to stab people.
Luke: There are only two types of kids: “Way too smart and mature for their age” kids and “adorable idiot” kids. I’m the latter.
Alex: I’m the first kind of kid. I have glasses, so that way you know I’m the smart and mature one.
Haley: I’m dumb, which makes me the second kind of kid, but since I’m a teenage girl, “adorable” has been upgraded to “extremely attractive.” Pedophilia is all the rage in modern media, and 21-year-old girls who look 14 are pop culture queens.
Manny: I’m the first kind of kid, but extra sophisticated and snooty so I stand out from Alex. I’m mainly on the show because they needed an Hispanic character.
Lily: Speaking of missing ethnicities, I’m an adopted Asian baby. Yay! We collected all the ethnicities!
Mike and Molly
Mike: I’m fat, which would be a refreshing change for television if it weren’t just used as an excuse to tell fat jokes without being criticized.
Molly: See above. I’m basically the same character as Mike. There is zero difference in our personalities. We both talk about farts and pooping with the same frequencency.
New Girl
Jess: “She’s Zooey Deschanel. She’s a celebrity. People will watch her.” That’s the entire transcript of the development meeting for this show. The meeting lasted five minutes, and they were correct. It’s a top rated show, and will remain so for at least five years, when the hipster trend starts to die off and middle-aged men stop fantasizing about banging a hipster girl.
Two Broke Girls
Max: I have huge boobs. Also, I was in a movie once, so people will watch me.
Caroline: I’m blonde, because some guys prefer blondes. I don’t have huge boobs, but I’m dumb enough where guys imagine they could probably talk me into doing anal.
Chuck
Chuck: I’m a regular dude thrown into an extraordinary situation. Guys imagine themselves as me. Or they would, if anyone actually watched this terrible show.
Sarah: I’m hot in a generic sort of way. People are supposed to imagine themselves banging me, but nobody does because there are so many other attractive women who look exactly like me that it’s hard to tell any of us apart.
90210
Annie: I’m a whore. It’s fun.
Dixon: I’m a whore. It’s fun.
Naomi: I’m a whore. It’s fun.
Erin: I’m a whore. It’s fun.
Adrianna: I’m a whore. It’s fun.
How I Met Your Mother
Ted: I’m whiny and boring. I was meant to be the main character, but everyone who watches this show hates me, so now I’m more of a sidekick to other characters. I am a mistake the producers are unable to remove.
Barney: I’m the reason this show exists. No one would watch it otherwise. People want to be me, so they watch me. I’m proof that whores are golden and basically print money for studios, no matter their gender.
Marshall: In contrast to Barney, I’m what most people are like in real life: Normal, but a little goofy. People relate to me, so they like me. However, people wouldn’t watch a show just to see me. I’m just a nice bonus.
Robin: I’m pretty in a way that makes men think they’d have a shot with me in real life. I’m also very independent and representative of a modern day working woman, which attracts a certain kind of female viewer. Much like Marshall, people like me but wouldn’t watch the show just to see me.
Lily: I’m also pretty in a way that makes men think they’d have a shot with me in real life. I’m also very mom-like, which attracts a certain kind of female viewer. Much like Marshall, people like me but wouldn’t watch the show just to see me.
Hart of Dixie
Zoe: Rachel Bilson is a doctor? Who the hell wrote this horseshit? Everyone who had a hand in green-lighting this show needs to be put to sleep.