THE LOVABLE LOSER - Reelfilms

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DEBRA: So, what did you tell her? RAY: I told her heaven was too crowded. DEBRA: You what? RAY: And then, I faked a cold and got the hell out of there. DEBRA: I don't believe this! You wanted to act like a mature adult! Why didn't you stay and talk to her about it? RAY: Because I studied for the sex talk! (Notice the punctuation and the multiple Triplets.) All Ray wants is peace with not only his wife and kids, but also his parents and his brother. But somehow he always manages to put his foot in his mouth. One thing to remember is that it is this hopeful quality that often gets The Lovable Losers into the worst predicaments. They desperately want something so bad that they will consciously put blinders on and not realize what they‟re doing isn‟t smart. It‟s what I call being “consciously oblivious.” What this means is that a dumber person (see The Dumb One in Episode 4) will happily go along with a crazy idea and not have any clue (or concern) as to why it isn‟t working; whereas, The Lovable Loser IS smart enough to know that this is a crazy idea and that it might not work. BUT they will do it anyway. They have a conscious understanding that this might be a bad idea, but they will put blinders on, focusing intently on getting what they want (achieving their goal). When The Lovable Loser doesn‟t achieve his or her goal, everything crashes around them. But still, they are not easily deterred. They are not clueless. They are just in denial, as they should be. Essentially, The Lovable Loser‟s character arc (and thought pattern) from week to week is as follows: “This idea has to work, this time I‟ll get rich, this time I‟ll succeed.” TO “I‟m a failure, nothing ever works for me, I‟m such a loser.” TO “This idea has to work, this time I‟ll get rich, this time I‟ll succeed.”
Remember, this character fails over and over again. But each week, they try again, facing their new venture with optimistic enthusiasm, blocking out the lessons they should have learned from past failures. One final note on these particular characteristics; not every Lovable Loser shows optimism and hope as outwardly as others (i.e., Al Bundy), but it is there and it is what keeps them going day to day. It‟s important to remember that without hope and optimism, the sitcom could quickly turn into drama. You need to make the viewer cheer for you and your dream no matter how ridiculous it seems. Reality check Commercial Break A good example of a reality TV Lovable Loser comes from one of my students. Here's Jim Marty ka‟s stoiy of his experience on “Oblivious.” “So just arriving in L.A., I was eager (and desperate) to find some odd jobs of any kind. After quite a bit of browsing, there it was ... the most perfect pan-time job for me. The posting read „Spend your summer as a Little League Baseball umpire!!!'' Now, I always thought it would be cool to be an umpire. I quickly called, got an interview, turned on my natural charm and they loved me. All I had to do was get my certificate. My „training‟ started with this weird guy „teaching‟ me how to scream 'STTRR1IIIIKKE!!!' as loud as I could and showing me how to do a little bootyshaking dance when signaling a home run. Oh, he also spent a good 20 minutes preaching to me about the importance of dusting off home plate with your butt up in the air pointed at the pitcher. Okay, this was getting weird, but whatever—I was still excited. But then, this guy said he was going to simulate a player throwing a fit after a bad call. He wa?ited to see how I would handle myself. For the next five minutes, he proceeded to throw an absolute tantrum. And for five minutes, I sat there looking clueless, wondering what I had gotten myself into. That's when a familiar face po ped out from behind a dugout and informed me that I was on the Spike TV hidden camera show „Oblivious. Back to our show ...
Page 1 and 2: FADE IN: EPISODE 2 THE LOVABLE LOSE
Page 3 and 4: ROBERT: You obviously haven't read
Page 5 and 6: "The Parkers. ” You ' 1 see incre
Page 7 and 8: Later on, we were introduced to Kev
Page 9 and 10: To return to his glory days is an u
Page 11: This use of sarcasm helps establish
Page 15 and 16: JANITOR: Can I play? (He knocks J.D
Page 17 and 18: e a success. Think of how many obst
Page 19: Character Actor Show Eric Forman To

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