Charlie is a wonderful character because he is the most insane member of the group and the most relatable/well adjusted of the gang at the same time

"Frank you just created a 4 way intersection, if anything you made this intersection safer!" That will never get old to me 😅

You forgot "The gang Hits the Slopes" where Charlie is the only character not involved in the 80s plotline and constantly questions everything like a normal person would.

The fact that Charlie can play the straight man while torturing a leprechaun is amazing

Danny literally makes no effort to make it sound like soul instead of hole and it makes me laugh every time.

What is so genius about Charlie being the straight man, outside of the initial subversion that you're misled to believe he's the most screwed up of them all, is although he's a selfish and egotistical gremlin just like the rest of them, the childlike innocence and vulnerability to him due to his upbringing makes it easier to get behind him or empathize with his goals than you would the others. And with him being the quintessential runt of the litter in the group with the lowest class status job literally being called "Charlie work" it means he doesn't ever feel the same unwarranted prestige the rest of them have that gives them their ridiculous narcissism, and so it creates a warped result where he inadvertently winds up being the most self-aware of them all, thus the one who finds it easiest to recognise the delusion and insanity the other four have, because that's how he's perceived and looked down on by them to begin with.

"Charlie Work" (the one with the health inspector) was, and remains, my favourite IASIP episode without exception. Such a clever and entertaining episode with Charlie being the straight man the whole time. (Just stop asking questions and move the god damn dumpster, dee, i swear to god...)

I think it’s important that most of these are Mac and Charlie. Charlie is more likely to be a straight man with Mac bc they’ve been getting into such nonsense for so long that he absolutely had to get some sense of reason so they didn’t die.

i think charlie and mac are the two members of the gang who actually still have a chance of escaping the perpetual cycle of negativity that they’ve been trapped in all these years. i really feel bad for them. mac has had to repress his sexuality for his whole life and his parents both hate him, and charlie is a fatherless victim of childhood sexual abuse. those two never stood a chance at being normal, but they’re much more sympathetic and redeemable than the reynolds family is

i love how when the only times charlie acts like a reasonable human being, everyone thinks he’s crazy

charlie playing the straight man really puts on display what sets him apart from the rest of the group, he's absolutely the most normal out of all of them. the other 4 are all too insane and too far up their own asses to change or improve, whereas Charlie probably would've been a completely normal person (or at least more normal than them) if he hadn't been huffing chemicals his whole life

“I don’t think we are suppose to make wild assumptions about black people based on whether or not we have stuff in our pockets.” This advice changed my life.

I love that on the surface Charlie is the most insane and Dennis is the most normal, but as the show goes on it’s completely switched lol

the best thing is scenes like 3:36 where a character saying those lines absolutely would NOT be the straight man in any other show. but this is sunny and we are all mad here

“And then you proceed to just eat the man” is hands down my favorite Charlie as a straight man moment.

I think Charlie started out at rock bottom and seeing the gang drop to his level kicks on a fight or flight mode where he has to become the rational one so he can go back to being the wildcard, it’s self preservation

“We can’t talk about snakes, or smells? What else is there??” Super underrated line

What I like is that each character lives in their own perception of reality. Mac’s where he’s a God’s chosen badass. Dee’s where she is funny, talented, and liked. Dennis’s where he’s a golden god of sex and perfectly sane. Frank’s where the world is his oyster where he can do whatever he wants. And Charlie’s where magic exists and he’s living the most ideal life. Whenever a character is presented with another’s reality that isn’t actual reality (or at least a reality that isn’t their own), they challenge it and try to correct it (usually Dennis or Dee) and I think this concept is perfectly represented in compilations like these and the gas station robbery episode

2:03 Artemis and Charlie clearly need more time on screen. Something about their non-verbal communication hasn't been achieved since.

Charlie was the straight man in the episode where Mac, Dennis and Dee tried out for the Eagles until Frank drugged him. He yelled at the gang for arguing all the time, he made everybody go outside, he just wanted to watch the tryouts and chill with a couple of beers and he refused to put on Green Man until Frank gave him acid and even then he didn't do anything crazy but dance with the McPoyles who he normally hated.

7:07 "that kind of rubbed me the wrong way dude" absolutely perfect delivery, so funny man

Any of them acting normal feels strange and scary.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I didn't mean to thunderstrike you..."

I love it when Charlie is the straigtman. It works even though they already established him as a completely different type of guy. Lol.

You know the episode is gonna be stellar when Charlie seems like the most reasonable one

Charlie Work is my favorite episode of the entire series because he might be illiterate but the man can keep the bar running when he's not turning on the "Coors" sign

‘The Night Man Cometh’ is the pinnacle of theater.

It's insane how these clips make Charlie look like a mostly normal human being

4:35 the way charlie owns dennis in this scene is amazing.... Stops talking and just points at his hair

Dee's facial expressions in the scene where Dennis has died his hair are so good.

I think one of the best things about this show is that at one point they're ALL the straight man depending on the situation, there's various bits where each character gets a turn at delivering the most reasonable "what the fuck are you talking about you're an idiot" response to whatever the other characters are doing, even though they're all just about as bad as each other

Charlie is always passionate about what he's focused on. Sometimes it's work and sometimes it's finding minerals in the sewers

9:50 hahaha the way Charlie says "Weiiiird"

15:20 I have never noticed Charlie saying “I don’t remember you reading anything about that” because he’s illiterate 😂

the stop sign bit is one of the first bits I remember seeing from this show. "if anything you've made it safer!" has always stuck with me

gold standard for compilations on the entire site, thank you!

5:21 Dee’s delivery here is like my favorite line in the whole show it sounds like a middle schooler explaining it and she’s so proud of her joke stool

The lady that plays Charlie's mom is a real gem, that woman has proverbial balls the size of church bells.

Charlie as the straight man is my favorite thing. It's so rare which makes it even more of a treat 💚

The fact that this brilliant show has never won an Emmy is criminal!

“Hey babe In A Turtle’s Dream just dropped a new sunny compilation!”

There’s something about Dennis going “crime, penetration, crime, penetration” while waving his hands around makes me laugh so much

I think what I like the most about Charlie as a character is that he feels almost genuinely tragic, even within the comical confines of the show, without ever actually being tragic. He's a complete nutcase with no knowledge of boundaries or basic decency, almost like a little kid, and he KNOWS that he's kind of the kid/runt of the gang, and to a degree, he almost relishes in it. He unapologetically likes what he likes and wants to do what he wants to do, and even if he's not good at it or it's not good for him, there's a genuine enjoyment in what he does and who he is. Charlie ALMOST likes himself for completely normal and healthy reasons. The problem is that Charlie's in a group of friends that don't actually want him to be like that, or at least don't really get WHY he's like that. The rest of the gang looks down on him for being as idiotic, unaware, and generally immature as he is, and HE KNOWS that they're right because he himself sees some of that in who he is. Even if it's for the wrong reasons (basically being bullied into believing it), he's perfectly aware that he's weird in a bad way, that he's different, and that - perhaps because of the gang - something is wrong with him, but he never improves as a person because he's hearing it and getting it the wrong way. The gang doesn't find his bad quirks to be how unhinged or violent or stalker-y or unhealthy he is most of the time, they just think what he likes and does is weird. It's a vicious cycle Charlie's trapped in - he knows that, in some respect, he's not the best person, he finds himself weird and has that lucidity about himself, it's just that he thinks it's for the wrong reason. He can play the straight man so well because he's the only member of the gang who knows the kind of person he wants to be at heart, but he cannot escape the gang because he doesn't see the kind of person he ACTUALLY IS. Even if impressionable and immature enough for it not to seem like it sometimes, he's an insane, idiotic, creepy, and violent moron whose best aspects are that he doesn't REALIZE how horrible of a person he is... and if he weren't so mentally handicapped and surrounded by people who insulted and belittled him constantly for reasons ultimately unrelated to what he'd need to change or improve about himself, he MIGHT be able, in another universe, MAYBE, to see what's wrong with himself and grow as a person, but that time passed him long ago as is.

macs smile while holding the hockey stick is golden

Charlie plays the straight man: "OK, I'm going to throw this grenade in the car, the car will explode and our problems will be solved! In the meantime I need you to do a popper."

I love Charlie's delayed visible double take when he realizes he said that "we just stepped out of the shower"

If it werent for the grang, Charlie would successful as heck - he's not dumb, he's just been held back by the rest of 'em

"I'm not tellin' him shit, dude! I'm gonna hang up the phone on you!" great goddamn delivery

I need to figure out how to squeeze in, "i was left out of the finale" into my conversations

I love that Charlie being the straight man still includes the phrase "let's look for something to blow up a car"

Should have included Charlie getting a headache over Waitress yammering on about nail salon names. In Flowers for Charlie.

I miss Artemis

"I can't lie to my Charlie!!!" Proceeds to tell him about her 3 way with Luther and Eduardo 🤣🤣

I feel like all the characters have their moments to be the voice of reason. Except Frak...OH shit I meant Frank.

that scene at the end about charlie’s mom always gets me

17:38 I'm surprised this reaction from Charlie hasn't been meme'd.

Whenever Charlie is normal he’s still like hey I gotta leave bash some rats or I just wrote a musical to propose to a woman. He’s the straight man to help him become even more insane

Frank's reaction to Pondy after he says he just lies about having a vasectomy so he doesn't have to use a condom is absolutely hilarious. The entire scene Frank is pretty aloof but you can see his interest building the more underhanded Pondy gets. Danny DeVito is a legend. The scene starts 17:07.

@9:27 Mac is explaining a story from Palahniuk's "Haunted"

“So what should I do now?” “I don’t give a sh*t. Why are you here?”

The slow camera pan out to Mac in the wedding dresses is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen 😂😂😂 3:42

Fav Mac scenes of all time is every moment with the wedding dress. Haha

“Like a cat: Like so. *meow* .”

I’m not sure that 8:29 counts as Charlie being a straight man as he is going along with Mac’s absurd belief that the man is a leprechaun and trying to get his supposed pot of gold…unless you mean Charlie being a straight man in the heterosexual sense and letting Mac go the gay bar.

Charlie is like barely weird to me because we have the same autism. Pretty much the only difference is he’s constantly huffing chemicals and killing rats.

I do love how everyone shifts when Charlie plays straight man- you ever notice that? The other characters are impacted dramatically for that to be the case. It kinda blows a whole on the whole “Dennis is a genius narrative”. Eg: Frank is magically now a dip shit who doesn’t understand 4 way intersections despite manipulating everyone with ease. Dennis can’t be apart from his Roomate in his mid 30s and can’t eat apple skins bc mac said so. Probably the most straight man Charlie moment ever IMO absent from this awesome list: - MAC: feel like you’re making fun of me…” - Charlie: ……. “Oh?” 😂

2:44 “And what I can do is thrust this way and you can struggle.” 🤦‍♂️ Jesus Christ…. You know whenever they start playing music, someone has said something golden.

Dennis is the self-proclaimed Leonardo, Mac i think is the Donatello, Sweet Dee is the Raphael, and Charlie is the absolute Michaelangelo

I ❤ reasonable Charlie. My favorite is him dealing with concussed Mac because he's forced to be the sane one, and it's one of the first times he's in that position on the show...

The therapist DID say he was the most well adjusted member of the gang...

this is such a niche joy from the show 😭😭i can’t believe you made a compilation

0:49 - This line cracks me up, so much. 😂

4:40 He looks more like a vampire than he does Superman if you ask me.

“I’ll hop up to him like a cat. Like so. Meow.” I haven’t thoroughly watched this show since 2016 but my god it’s incredible, lmaoXD

The scene at 4:50 feels like Glenn and Charlie decided last minute to switch roles. All charlies lines sound like something Dennis would say. "-Youre supposed to serve drinks" "aaaaa- *points at black hair* thats terrible"

Straight Man, aaaaah Fighter of the Gay Man, aaaaah Champion of the right, aaaaah You’re a master of correction and loving for everyone

"OK. I'm going to throw this grenade into the car. the car will explode and our problems will be solved. in the meantime, i need you to do a popper." Charlie, somehow the more rational person in this scene.

Apparently Charlie understands how four-way intersections work

5:04 this sound kills me everytime

"Hold on. So you believe Christ comes back to life every Sunday in the form of a bowl of crackers and than you proceed to just eat the man?" Comedy at its finest.

11:31 All their faces here are oscar worthy.

charlie has always been my favorite. the character is genius. the pod cast is fantastic for work too

3:18 is honestly one of my favorite reaction shots of all time. "... We're not buying the wedding dress."

Thanks for coming back and dropping this banger buddy very thundergun of you

All the time Charlie is treated as an idiot, got brain damage from all the glue he huffs. Then suddenly he has these moments of clarity and everyone else acts like he is being crazy.

OOOOOhh yeah! Didn't think this was actually going to get made. Honestly that first scene with stop signs was probably the first time I thought Charlie was really funny as the straight man. My favorite clip is Charlie roasting Holy Communion, you can just imagine him with a fedora on. Personally, I was also hoping for the Luther Vandross clip. "I mean, Luther Vandross, Mac? Are you kidding me, LUTHER VANDROSS?!!"

I don’t think I can forgive you for cutting out Charlie yelling to Mac “Touch your toes” “I’m not a gymnast!”

By far your biggest brain idea for a compilation

I've been waiting for this video. Some of my favorite moments in comedy shows are when the character that's usually the funny man plays the straight man.

It’s always fascinating when Charlie, who is the most insane of the gang acts more normal and sane than the rest of the gang.

i love this channel so much, you totally get the dynamics between all the characters and that completely different situations can be put together in one video

"i would rather you didn't" when mac pulls the karate chops LOL

Artemis clearly correcting the script when charlie points out its soul

Who else had to rewind a few seconds to rewatch that last clip at least one more time? 😂

Thank you thank you I've been waiting for a compilation of this

Banger of an edit

05:22 🦩🗯️ _You don’t understand comedy_ 🗣️🗯️ You don’t understand comedy! *That’s not a joke, it’s a lawsuit!* Just put it in the basement. Charlie knowing what’s best for the bar *is awesome❣️*

18:40 The 3 second transition from “Tell us more!” to “Tell us less. Tell us less!” is gold

5:12 lmao his face

Charlie is somehiw the most and least sane out of all of them at the same time. He can't write, he stalks a woman, he goes into the sewer naked. But at the same time he can recognize when the gang is doing things just as insane as what he does so long as it isnt something he is onboard with.