Has Ralph lost his comedic edge?

[Sniper Squirrel]

I hate to write this about such a great character, but I feel in recent seasons they've just made Ralph dumb for the sake of being dumb. In earlier episodes if he said something stupid, it would at least pertain to what was happening in the story, such as "I'm going to Bovine University" or "Daddy says I'm this close to living in the yard." But recently his phrases have been much more disconnected to the show and the other characters.

[Adamm R)))]

He's just gone way too crazy recently, to a point where it's not funny anymore.

[Snack Related Mishap]

you are correct.

[Simpsons Forever!]

I don't think he's any less funny - which recent examples do you think have made him lose his edge?

[Adamm R)))]

http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/ralph/media/framegrabs/GABF04/images/01.jpg

[729]

He's just turned into an emotionless moron. I blame the medication.

[Willmak5389]

Ralph has gotten too stupid. I think they need to get back to the classic moments.


R.I.P.
Good Ralph

"My cat's breath smells like catfood."
"I bent my wookie."
"Ms. Hoover, I glued my head to my shoulder. Heh-Heh."
""Love that chewing gum walk"" "Veryyy wrigley!"

[TerrorK]

I think they squeezed Ralph dry with "This Little Wiggy" actually. Though I admit that I liked his little scene with Dexter Colt.

[The mayor of Albuquerque]

Look! It's Lisa! And she's winning us back!

Or not.

[brody]

Ralph was funny when he was just a dimwitted child. Now he's a mentally challenged freak, and whenever he talks, he just stands their blinking.

[Handsome Peter]

Not entirely, there were some funny scenes in episodes after This Little Wiggy ("Dying tickles!", for one), but Ralph's peak of humour was definitely seasons 4-9.

[TriforceBun]

I think taking Ralph out of the classroom environment and away from the "straight man" Ms. Hoover lessens his comedic punch. Additionally, he says all his one liners now in a predictable blissful/happy tone all the time, and they seem squeezed into each scene randomly. Some of Ralph's funniest moments are from when he's confused/scared (as well as Hoover's reactions), so they should mix it up a little with the delivery and put him back in the second-grade class.

[Faucet]

yeaht hat's true. Ralph sorta got less funnier. Ehh he's still pretty funny though.

[That Jerk]

Has Ralph lost his comedic edge?

I would have asked this three years ago, but not now.

[Jeremy]

I'd say he lost it when he went from being just naive and ignorant to a complete retard in need of serious treatment.

[TheFlandersMan]

Has Ralph lost his comedic edge? How about have the writers lost their comedic edge?

[Nightshade]

My favorite ralph scenes were the ones in the classroom. Now he's a retard who isn't as funny as he used to be.

[DKsimpson2]

what about him in the newspaper he wasn't dumb then.

I think now that there are 'dumb' people all over TV that people will not find him the same as he was. I also think its a matter of to many people quoting him.

I never liked him that much. I like people on the show that people don't talk about a lot. -the bar flys -lenny -skinner

if to many people are quoting something from the show its not as funny as it was.

[somewhat]

There a bit too much of the assumed dependence on some of the best material he's had in the past. With some of the great lines he's had in the past and the amount of viewers that like him so much (It could potentially be argued that he is easily one of the most loved characters of the casual viewing audience, from what I've seen.), perhaps the writers have turned to him almost purely as a referential character.

[Cerpin Taxt]

Wait a minute Ralph was supposed to be funny?

[Cartoonnetwork]

From all the characters of the show this is one I think this is one it hasn't changed much after all those years. If only they have overused him a little and they have done several gags that went on too long. But he has always been pretty dumb and freak and making more cartoony gags with him normall makes him funnier (him eating Wiggum's money like a machine in See Homer Run was one of the few really funny gags in that episode). I've never been a great fan of Ralph, though there is the ocasional episode where I find him hilarious and lovable, like in the Hamlet segment in TFTPD. Anyway I also miss his exchanges with Miss Hoover.

[SideshowTim]

i liked the ralph in i love lisa. the complete naivety yet still some true human emotion within him. in recent episodes however they are just using him as a character for idiotic jokes every now and then. it might work if the jokes were decent but they aren't. give ralph his real character back i say.

[M0leman]

Ralph has always been stupid, correct, but it is getting to a point that it only childish humour, it's gags aimed toward the younger viewers of the show. But, after watching the show from season to season, previous posts are current, he appears to now hold no emotion what so ever, and could get stun by a bee and laugh saying it tickles.

@SideshowTim: I agree, Ralph was at his best in "I Love Lisa." He was funny, sweet and a character with a little emotion whom was broken hearted like most people in real life are if a girl they're interested in doesn't like them in return.

[lindsay]

Ralph is one of my favorite characters and it's a shame to see him became an emotionless idiot. I can't really explain it, but he isn't what he used to be. There are still some funny moments with him now and again, but it's not the same. I also miss his interactions with Ms. Hoover. My favorite characterization of him was in "I Love Lisa" which is one of my favorite episodes. He was able to still be really dumb, but he had more depth to him.

[Jamie]

He lost his innocence somewhere around season 10 and now he's just cardboard cutout propped up to say a cute little "Ralph" line every once in a while

[Snack Related Mishap]

I think the problem is his line used to be cleverly dumb, but now there just dumb. Take for examples the following line:

"When I grow up, I wan to go to Bovine University."

Now, this was right after they showed you it was a slaughter house. Just like a normal kid would say they would want to go to a certain college, Ralph is saying he wants to go to a slaughterhouse, but he doesn't even realize that BU is that. Now his lines are as follows:

"You're Lisa's brother."

Although, I liked the follow up to this gag, this killed it. What the fuck? That's not even a joke. It's just dumb. Yeah, that joke made me angry. :angry:

[TheForbiddenDonut]

I don't watch many new episodes, but from what I hear he seems to really be losing his edge. Ralph is a fun character if used correctly. In the older episodes, he would be clearly stupid, but his stupidity would be used in random ways that made the situation funny, and then set up something even funnier. For instance Ralph bringing in Star Wars action figures for his diorama. This is so random that it's funny in and of itself, but when Skinner gives him first prize, it's a lot funnier. To just hear him say, "You're Lisa's brother" doesn't make me laugh at all.

[90'sCartoonMan]

I think they probably rely on him too much to deliver a punchline these days. Before he was funny just because, and yeah, the school environment and the cleverly dumb stuff helped.

One recent Ralph joke I really didn't like was the "Duck, Duck, Goose" thing. It went on too long and wasn't that funny to begin with.

I still really like him, though.

[moonwalker69]

Ralph has been sorta been 'hit-down' lately. By this, I feel the writer's haven't given him enough dignity and have just allowed him to be overtly dumb and stupid. He needs more scenes like in 'Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy' where he is just stupidly looking at a wall trying to find someone to cook his dinner.

But he's really a loveable character. I think 90'sCartoonMan is right in saying that he's expected to deliver more punchlines than off-beat gags.

[IAMHOMER]

I actually thought (Lisa's Rival apart) that it was after I Love Lisa that Ralph's characterisation went downhill, as that episode portrayed him as an autistic if slightly disturbed child with a special gift for acting, rather than just being mentally retarded. He had a lot more depth to his character than the writers seem willing to give credit for in most other episodes, but the potential has been mostly ignored.

[coltonwiggum]

what about him in the newspaper he wasn't dumb then.

I think now that there are 'dumb' people all over TV that people will not find him the same as he was. I also think its a matter of to many people quoting him.

I never liked him that much. I like people on the show that people don't talk about a lot. -the bar flys -lenny -skinner

if to many people are quoting something from the show its not as funny as it was.
I agree with you. Enough with the over quoting people!

[garret]

I agree ralph has become an emotionless blob. All he's had in in recent seasons are boring one-liners and lines that are just plain dumb. His best characterization was definately in "I Love Lisa" as he was both funny and the story had an emotional core. This episode portrayed him as naive and autistic, not a retard. His characterization first started to go down hill in "This Little Wiggy" as that portrayed him as a retarded scitzophrenic kid. Even though there are some redeeming parts of this episode, it just aint right. I think he had his last good characterization in "Tales from the Public Domain" he was quite pleasent in this episode.
I hope the writers can eventually get his character right, and give him back a little bit of depth, which now, he has none of.

[Toli]

He lost his innocence somewhere around season 10 and now he's just cardboard cutout propped up to say a cute little "Ralph" line every once in a while

Answers the topics question in brief.

[Kiyosuki]

I think he has. It sucks because he's my favorite character in the show, and always will be. Thats the short answer, here's the long one. Sorry if its wordy but I got a lot to say about this. :D

I think the problem is it seems the writers completely missed the point of the character. What exactly made him so memorable. His random lines are always funny, yes, but what really helped the punch of each line is Ralph himself. He's such an endearing character on so many levels that you can't help but love him...and chuckle at his commentary. Its been hinted at in a lot of Simpsons comics and the series itself that he may be quite complex on the inside...and I think thats what made him so memorable. Like of course, I Love Lisa, and his occasional more serious moments like when he wanted to help Homer after the chilli, check on Lisa because "she suffering" etc. There's some great stuff in the comics, like that rock band one where he takes the fall for everyone else so they wouldn't be embarassed. It was a great reminder that nothing in the Simpsons' world is one dimensional. Bart isn't really a bad kid on the inside, in fact he's a great kid. Lisa holds a lot of insecurities underneath her tough as nails attitude. Barney is resentful of his lifestyle (or was...is...gah), Edna just genuinly wanted to help children but thats slowly erroded away due to bordom and disillusionment. Chief Wiggum may be incompetent...but somewhere in there he really does want to be good at his job.

Thats what makes the Simpsons stand out so much from all other animated comedies. Few other pieces of animation have characters that are so undeniably human feeling. I think Ralph was the best example of that up until This Little Wiggy.

As a kid I personally connected with Ralph a lot...I wasn't mentally challenged at all but I had a very active imagination, and for a while life at home was turbulent because we moved a lot. I know very well the feeling of saying something or doing something that bewilders the other kids and teachers, and that feeling of being unable to concentrate often in class because I was so all over the place for a while. In the seasons before This Little Wiggy, I never got the impression he was mentally retarded at all...just a really misunderstood...possibly artistically gifted oddball kid. It made what he said endearing for its innocence and simplicity.

Now though...he is very much as you guys put it, more of a paper cut out. Like a lot of the characters during that era, he lost what made him feel human. This Little Wiggy was a good episode for the most part still...but thats really where the insane or retard thing started to get out of control. Now most of the time...while he's still funny at times (My sash says Ultraman! was a great one. :D) a lot of the times its just not endearing anymore...and thus losing its punch. In the past two seasons a lot of characters who had this problem have been getting better and more rounded again slowly...but sadly Ralph hasn't yet. I just don't buy that he'd be exactly the same in his high school years as he was when he was a kid...I much preferred the little teaser of adult Ralph in Bart to the Future (the only thing I liked about that episode).

I fear they've just banked on his one liners more than the character too much. He's still my favorite character though. Can't listen to the Bloodhound Gang song and not reafirm that. But I do wish before the series ends (or even briefly in the film) he'd be given one more episode, where he'd be the Ralph we all know and love. I'd actually not mind an episode spotlighting Wiggum's entire family, I think they're one of the things the Simpsons has yet to do that could make for a great episode.

[bluemoose]

He's still an okay side character (as he still has some funny lines/actions), but he's not the great one that he was in the early years.

Instead of just being rather dumb, and completely oblivous (the oblivious part is what made him so funny), now he just seems like a retard who belongs in an institution. For example, in the bacon commercial, in the Pie Man episode, he was going into the grinder. What was up with that? That's just something that a total retard would have done, and it just seemed to be inserted for a cheap, not-so-funny shot at Ralph.

Classic Ralph is gone.

[Kiyosuki]

He's still an okay side character (as he still has some funny lines/actions), but he's not the great one that he was in the early years.

Instead of just being rather dumb, and completely oblivous (the oblivious part is what made him so funny), now he just seems like a retard who belongs in an institution. For example, in the bacon commercial, in the Pie Man episode, he was going into the grinder. What was up with that? That's just something that a total retard would have done, and it just seemed to be inserted for a cheap, not-so-funny shot at Ralph.

Classic Ralph is gone.

Yeah thats a good example. He just feels so cheap when he's treated like a retard. I find it really really sad, because its almost mean to the character. :sigh: I only hope the writers...even at least one..will come around and realize whats gone horribly wrong with Ralph before the end.

So far the Ralph we all know and love tends to appear more in the comics from time to time than the series now. But hopefully in the series he'll get one more chance to shine.

[Imperciph]

I agree with what has been said in this thread, but I have to defend the following joke :


For example, in the bacon commercial, in the Pie Man episode, he was going into the grinder. What was up with that?


That was a callback to Lisa The Vegetarian where Ralph says "When I grow up, I'm going to bovine university". As it turns out, he really went to bovine university. IMO, that is a nice, quick callback joke.

[bluemoose]

I don't know, even if it was a callback, it still seemed like it was reaching for a cheap laugh with him going into the grinder. They could have done the callback in a different way, instead of having him seem like some who belongs in an insane asylum.

EDIT: Wait a minute here. I just realized something. Bovine is cows. He was in a bacon factory, so to speak, which is pigs, so wouldn't it be Porcine University? So how could it be a callback?

[Kiyosuki]

Yeah I think so too.

I mean...I know its a cartoon but I thought it was kind of disturbing. ^^;

I still prefer Ralph to just be an oddball kid, whats going on inside you figure out....rather than a blatant retard. It just seems like a cop out to me, which sucks because I know he could be used in more imaginative ways than that.

I've learned one thing in storywriting. Randomness has nothing to do with stupidity. I think thats why he has less of a punch comedy wise than before. Its not so random more than it is..expected.

He was like...the weird kid everyone wanted to cheer. Now he's just getting a bit creepy. I still can't help but love him as a character but...its just not quite right.

[Talking Pie]

He really lost it with that "You're Lisa's brother!" joke on Sunday's US repeat. They're not even trying anymore with the "Ralphie is weird" jokes.

[Homer4President]

What about when ralph says "Why do people run from me?" and then wees his pants classic or "I'm happy and ANGRY!"

[Kiyosuki]

What about when ralph says "Why do people run from me?" and then wees his pants classic or "I'm happy and ANGRY!"

As I said, he can still be very funny...but it doesn't have the same punch as before because of Ralph himself.

I"m Happy and Angry, and My Sash says Ultraman are two favorites of mine...but most of the time the lines are too extreme or too random. There's no subtlety to it...that subtlety being that Ralph was originally...for the most part normal kid in the 2nd grade that just happened to be an oddity. The "Why do people run from me" line is kinda funny on its own...but I thought it was just too extreme or blatant.

He's still funny yes, but when it comes to his comedic edge, I definitely think the writers have lost touch with that. Its all in the execution I think, not necessarilly the joke or scene itself.

[sikkbones]

i used to like ralph and wiggum and there relationship but now Raplhie just annoys me.

[zippy]

Ralph always has been, and always will be one of the worst characters in my opinion.
Every joke it too similar, the cat food/breath one, eating glue etc. Just grow up you freak!

*breathes*

[Moe Gets a Cellphone]

I've been tired of Ralph for a long time. Not only has he become crazier but he's too damn adorable and happy compared to the other kids on the show. In I love Lisa, Ralph was spazzy and oblivious but not so out of it that he couldn't be hurt by the rejection of his peers. Nowadays he's a completely content tard who just says dumb shit sad fat girls quote all the time. I much prefer characters like Milhouse and Nelson for their portrayal of how soul crushingly depressing childhood can be.

[The Homer]

The comedic edge of some characters have been diminished over the last few years. Mainly since other characters aren't used as much.

[Kiyosuki]

I've been tired of Ralph for a long time. Not only has he become crazier but he's too damn adorable and happy compared to the other kids on the show. In I love Lisa, Ralph was spazzy and oblivious but not so out of it that he couldn't be hurt by the rejection of his peers. Nowadays he's a completely content tard who just says dumb shit sad fat girls quote all the time. I much prefer characters like Milhouse and Nelson for their portrayal of how soul crushingly depressing childhood can be.

Yeah thats what I think too. Ralph had the potential to be both very funny with the random stuff and at the same time, be a really memorable and endearing character because he felt so human. Actually responding to his surroundings in interesting ways. Like how you said the example with Milhouse and Nelson...I wish Ralph followed in similar suit because I think he was a lot more interesting in how he actually responded to things. Now its just too random. It sort of loses the meaning of the character that way.

[Red Hot Homer Simpson]

Ralph Would Be The Young Version Of Homer. So IMO Ralph Gets Stupider Every Year.

[Kiyosuki]

I believe he was originally envisioned as a mini-homer...but evolved into a completely different character from that point on according to commentary.

[thesimpsonsfreak2112]

yah, theres a point where hes not funny anymore, but i have to admit he can be funny at times.

[Thats A Paddlin]

IMO, Ralph just isnt funny anymore. I cant put my finger on why, but I think he's definitly jumped the shark.