Sitcoms have enraptured audiences since their inception. The idea of complex characters in unchanging situations brings audiences a sense of challenge and growth within a context of familiarity and comfort. Sitcoms have remained ever popular since their beginning, and have birthed some of TV's funniest characters in the process. Many of these funniest characters also happen to be some of the most complex characters, proving how deep even the most seemingly surface humor truly is.

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Some of TV's funniest male characters have also brought audiences classic and unforgettable scenes, many of which remain iconic in popular culture.

Michael Scott (The Office)

Michael Scott in his office, drinking out of his mug.

Michael Scott is the regional manager at Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch. Michael started the show as an obnoxious, selfish and ignorant boss, and ended the show in much the same way. Michael is clearly problematic, which is a source of irritation for his employees. Even worse, Michael is not very good at taking care of himself even as a forty-something-year old man. He steals clothes which he wears to work, only to realize that it is a woman's suit; he burns his foot on a George Foreman grill; he tries to buy weed on work premises.

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The manager has the mental age of a toddler, and is fond of throwing tantrums, or acting out his emotions in explosive and destructive ways.

Dale Gribble (King Of The Hill)

Dale Gribble working at a restaurant, and wearing short shorts.

Animal hater and political conspiracy advocate, Dale Gribble is the neighbor and friend from Hell. His best friend, Hank Hill, worn down by Dale, once thanked Dale for teaching him just how much a friendship can be pushed to the limit. Dale believes that the government, corporations and aliens from outer space are all in on a big universal conspiracy to keep the people of Earth as slaves. He also loves to exterminate animals, and started his own business as an exterminator. Dale is a highly emotional man, who lashes out in petty ways when his friends hurt him.

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For poor Hank, Dale has also been a source of annoyance since childhood, going so far as to destroy Hank's house, Hank's property and even Hank's fiercely-curated reputation around town.

Father Ted Crilly (Father Ted)

Father Ted Accidentally Doing The Hitler Salute

Father Ted Crilly of Craggy Island Parish is clearly a man of deep religion. To show his devotion to the church, he stole huge sums of money from the church, money that remains unaccounted for till today. When questioned about the money, he always replies that "the money was just resting in my account".

Ted also once tried to seduce a woman right in the parochial house, then got angry at her when she confessed her desire to become a nun. He treats confession as a source of entertainment, and shares, with glee, the scandalous secrets that members of the parish confess to him.

The McPoyle Twins

Liam McPoyle wearing his disturbing eye patch in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

The McPoyle twins, Liam and Ryan, the most famous of the McPoyle brothers, come from a long line of in-bred people who prefer to keep to themselves. The McPoyle twins are manipulative, violent, and also very creepy. The twins are there to reveal that even the darkest of topics can have some humor in it: a general theme on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. They are hard-headed and angry, but they can also be quite socially awkward.

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When Liam loses his eye during his wedding, for example, he covers it with a flesh-colored eye patch which just makes everyone uncomfortable. To fix the situation, he draws an eye on it in watercolor, making people feel even more creeped out.

Niles Crane (Frasier)

Niles standing next to Frasier in Frasier's apartment.

Niles, an upper class, refined gentleman, is a man of taste and very high intelligence. Nile's allergies and phobias are a source of constant humor on the show, for example, his obsession with wiping everything clean before sitting, or his capacity for getting nosebleeds whenever he lies. Nile is also a very gentle man, and his antithesis to a stereotypical burly and masculine man is also made fun of on the sitcom.

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After marrying Maris straight out of college, Niles has never really lived or experience much of life, and gets excited about the little things, such as eating fast food. He is also in love with Daphne, and suffers comically, because of his hidden feelings.

Tobias Funke (Arrested Development)

Tobias Funke in Arrested Development

Tobias Funke once got in trouble with the police for printing out business cards advertising his "analrapist" service (really a blend of "analysis" and "therapist"). After the psychiatrist lost his medical license for giving a sleeping but healthy man mouth to mouth resuscitation, Tobias branched out into his dream of acting.

His goal of becoming an actor is a slow, hilarious and painful watch over many seasons, as Tobias fails at catching his big break, despite many opportunities. Tobias is best remembered for "bluing himself" during his stint as an understudy for The Blueman Group. He also has a habit of making very innocuous things sounds very sexual, much to the discomfort of his family.

Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld)

Jerry Seinfeld as the title character of his sitcom

The ever-sarcastic Jerry Seinfeld is a former umbrella salesman and a current comedian. As a comedian, Jerry is naturally very funny, and comments on his friends' lives with his witty takes. Every week, Jerry breaks up with a new girl, always finding superficial flaws with whoever he is dating.

Jerry is obsessive about cleaning and everything being neat all the time. Despite being a comedian, he is a very stable character, in contrast to his other friends living chaotic lives. This is mostly due to Jerry's good luck where good things always happen to him without much effort on his part.

Ted Buckland (Scrubs)

Ted from Scrubs looking sad.

Scrubs' Ted has very low self-esteem, which manifests as a lawyer who is very, very bad at his job. Ted hates seeing people in love, and bullies old couples who found love, asking, "why should they get to be happy?"

Ted brings a very dark humor to the show. He is divorced, lives with his mother, sings in an acapella group, and lies to his mother that he works at the hospital as a doctor.

Salem Saberhagen (Sabrina The Teenage Witch)

Salem in bed with Sabrina.

Salem's only crime in Sabrina the Teenage Witch was attempting to take over the world. For some reason, the Witches Council frowned upon this, and sentenced the 500-year-old witch to spend a hundred years trapped in the body of a black cat. The witch, who is originally from Mars, is incredibly sassy and witty, and very good at making fun of Sabrina and her aunts.

When he isn't plotting on how to take over the world, Salem prefers to plot how he can make loads of money, or how he can become human again and get back his magic powers. Salem is a greedy, power-hungry cat-witch with a heart of gold, and a dangerous propensity for giving really bad advice to the teenaged Sabrina.

Captain Murphy (Sealab 2021)

Captain Murphy and crew in Sealab 2021

At the end of every episode of Sealab 2021, Captain Murphy kills his entire crew thanks to his stupidity. It is not clear how the captain got a job as a high ranking captain on a deep sea expedition, especially since he has no basic knowledge of science, or of being a marine.

Captain Murphy once sent his crew out to the sea to fetch his Easy Bake oven, despite the presence of a giant murderous squid trying to eat them. The captain also has a fear of electricity, believing that electrical generators will rise up, attempt to destroy humans and take over the world.

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