4 ms·

I sorta wonder why they didn't call this Kramdenization. Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners was the original character on television who started out as a somewha

I sorta wonder why they didn't call this Kramdenization. Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners was the original character on television who started out as a somewhat normal guy and ended up a caricature of himself. He basically started the tradition of males being complete morons in relationships in popular media. At least Archie Bunker sorta started out in end-stage Kramden and they were able to make the character infuriating and endearing at the same time. You could also make an argument for something called Urkelization, for when a bit character ends up taking over an entire show and it reforms itself around him.

pimlottc 4y ago
> You could also make an argument for something called Urkelization, for when a bit character ends up taking over an entire show and it reforms itself around him. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacter https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacte... Urkel's in there, but there are earlier precedents, in particular The Fonz from Happy Days.
- MisterBastahrd 4y ago
  Yeah, forgot about The Fonz. Even so, Happy Days still revolved mainly around Richie Cunningham (Fonzie just happened to be around most of the time), whereas Family Matters was basically Urkel and the Winslows by the end.
loganc2342 4y ago
I think “Urkelization” is covered by the Breakout Character trope[1]: “What's a writer to do when a minor character that they created for a show suddenly becomes much more popular than the other members of the cast? Why, re-write them as a main character, of course! This is that character[…]other characters in the cast might be Demoted to Extra[2] due to their reduced roles and screentime[…]the popularity of the character has to have influenced the direction of the narrative and put them into a major role, or led to the creation of new content specifically for them.” I’d say there’s also shades of Spotlight-Stealing Squad[3]. [1] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacter https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacte... [2] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemotedToExtra https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemotedToExtra [3] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpotlightStealingSquad https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpotlightStealin...
- bee_rider 4y ago
  Often produces conflicting feelings. On one hand, these are fun characters and seeing more of them is great. On the other, they are often fun because the idea behind them is sort of straightforward, which makes them accessible and easy to drop into a scene, but also doesn’t give them a ton of natural depth to explore.
vlunkr 4y ago
Because people who spend time on tvtropes don’t watch sitcoms from the 50s.

pimlottc 4y ago

> You could also make an argument for something called Urkelization, for when a bit character ends up taking over an entire show and it reforms itself around him. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacter https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacte... Urkel's in there, but there are earlier precedents, in particular The Fonz from Happy Days.

MisterBastahrd 4y ago
Yeah, forgot about The Fonz. Even so, Happy Days still revolved mainly around Richie Cunningham (Fonzie just happened to be around most of the time), whereas Family Matters was basically Urkel and the Winslows by the end.

loganc2342 4y ago

I think “Urkelization” is covered by the Breakout Character trope[1]: “What's a writer to do when a minor character that they created for a show suddenly becomes much more popular than the other members of the cast? Why, re-write them as a main character, of course! This is that character[…]other characters in the cast might be Demoted to Extra[2] due to their reduced roles and screentime[…]the popularity of the character has to have influenced the direction of the narrative and put them into a major role, or led to the creation of new content specifically for them.” I’d say there’s also shades of Spotlight-Stealing Squad[3]. [1] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacter https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacte... [2] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemotedToExtra https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DemotedToExtra [3] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpotlightStealingSquad https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpotlightStealin...

bee_rider 4y ago
Often produces conflicting feelings. On one hand, these are fun characters and seeing more of them is great. On the other, they are often fun because the idea behind them is sort of straightforward, which makes them accessible and easy to drop into a scene, but also doesn’t give them a ton of natural depth to explore.

vlunkr 4y ago

Because people who spend time on tvtropes don’t watch sitcoms from the 50s.