The funniest minor but recurring characters on sitcoms

What is TBBT?

Yeah, I have no idea what that is.

The Big Bang Theory.

A terrible show in my opinion, but it was very popular so I must be in the minority.

OP, yes, she was funny. Mostly because she called them on their crap.

Ursula on Mad About You.

Newman!

Bebe on Frasier.

Bebe should be a DL icon.

Debbie Reynolds as Grace's mother in Will and Grace.

Sandra on 227 (Jacquee Harry).

Fleur and Catriona on AbFab

The fabulous Miss Rebecca De Mornay on Seinfeld

Two from Roseanne: Estelle Parsons and Shelley Winters as Bev and Nana Mary.

Barnard Hughes as Father Majeski on All in the Family

R10, she was a principle player on 227!

Llewella Gideon as the bitch nurse on Ab Fab.

I watched The Big Bang Theory and I am not afraid to admit it!

Aunt Frieda from 'The Nanny'

Dennis Duffy, Alec Baldwin's mom and Dr. Spaceman from 30 Rock

Shelley Berman as Larry's dad on Curb Your Enthusiasm

Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn, and Liza Minelli as Lucille Austero from Arrested Development.

R18 I did watch it. Harmless fun.

Maggie Lizer - Arrested Development

OP she now plays a similar nurse character on Bob (Hearts) Abishola. She was also on General Hospital as a hospital social worker and still returns from time to time, when her sitcom is on hiatus.

Gene Parmesan (Martin Mull) from "Arrested Development," if only for the delighted squeals he would produce from Lucille when he would reveal himself when disguised.

From It's Always Sunny... Artemis, Mac's mom, Charlie's mom, Gail the Snail, & Maureen Ponderosa.

Beverly of course.

Almost anyone who worked at "British Vogue" with Patsy on "Absolutely Fabulous," especially Kathy Burke as Magda, the cynical editor with the impenetrable accent.

Minna Häkkinen from 'Veep.'

Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld.

Anna Camp as Deirdre Robespierre, Jacqueline White's UES frenemy on "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."

Another Martin Mull role: Bob Bradley on Veep.

Nancy Walker as Ida Morgenstern (mother of Rhoda) on The Mary Tyler Moor Show.

Karen McCluskey, Martha Huber, and Felicia Tilman on the earlier seasons of Desperate Housewives, when the show was still good.

Sam Richardson on "Veep" became my favorite character during the last seasons.

R36 The scene where he learns where sperm comes from is a classic.

Kristy McNichol owns this thread as Carol in The Golden Girls!

R38 I also loved Barbara. "Dan and Morothy!?"

Wait. Carol was the neurotic, and Barbara was the cop.

Stanley Zbornak (Herb Edelman), Golden Girls.

Janice loving on Chandler

Gil Chesterton from "Frasier."

I'm pretty sure we did this topic not too long ago, but I'll play again.

Millie Helper as played by Ann Morgan Guilbert on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Her comic timing and high energy enlivened any scene she was in.

Speaking of Ann Morgan Guilbert...

Lilith

I really liked Sherry Dempsey from 'Frasier.'

Mrs. Dubcek from 3rd Rock from the Sun

Betty White as Katherine Piper from Boston Legal.

Lucille Tarlek

Speaking of Lucilles. Lucille Two

Georgia Engel on Everybody Loves Raymond, especially in the episode where Robert finds out about her secret filthy habit.

Sue Ellen Mischke, heiress to the O. Henry candy bar fortune, and Puddy on Seinfeld.

Salma Hayek on 30 Rock

Pamela Adlon from "Louie"

Mabel Albertson as Mother Stephens on "Bewitched"

Even funnier was the nosy Gladys Kravitz.

Edward Winters as 'Col. Flagg' on "MASH."

Butterfly McQueen's Oriole in Beulah

Excellent choices by everyone. But I have to go with r46 Lilith. I've only seen a few episodes of Frasier, I can't take the laugh track, but she plays the most sympathetic, acerbic character ever written. She's despicable but you root for her anyway. She steals every scene, IMO

Nancy Walker for sentimental favorite-" I'm sorry you hate the red one (scarf)". I use that joke to this day, when I give people 2 gifts. Or, "Don't waste electricity on me, I'll just sit here in the dark"

Ralph Wiggum from "The Simpsons"

Ollie and Andy DiPesto from "Bob's Burger's"

Miranda Richardson as Bettina on "AbFab"

"Oh, we've TRIED going green, but it's no earthly use..."

Patsy's sister Jackie.

Ernest T Bass

Zara Cully as battle axe Mother Jefferson

Also, George and Louise Jefferson were always great on All in the Family.

There are a whole bunch of very funny ones in Superstore- the blonde heavy girl, the warehouse dude, the Arab/Pakistani guy, and the psycho Sandra-husband stealer. Even Sandra started as a recurring bit player in the early seasons.

Thank you R37

Uncle Arthur.

Hot In Cleveland's next door neighbor Sally usually butts head with actress Victoria

but she did take on nice girl Melanie in a Xmas decorating faceoff in the final season =

Bernice Clifton

R45, Ann was a scene stealer right to the end...

“You’ve all done very well!”

R72 She was by far the best part of The Nanny.

Jackie Chiles, Jr.

Kendra Krinklesac from The Cleveland Show.

I loved Hot in Cleveland but its like it never existed .

I'm with r44...

Angie from Gimme a Break

I was just reminded that Mrs Puff voiced by Mary Jo Catlett on SpongeBob was pretty good.

Ann Wedgeworth's "Lana Shields" on Three's Company.

^ also Felipe on 3's Co.

I remember not getting the Lana character when I was younger. I wondered why she was ALWAYS out of breath etc. So it was ALL lost on me until I recently started watching it again on Antenna TV. JESUS, she is hilarious.

I'm going with Julia Duffy on "Newhart"

Aunt Gayle, Bob's Burgers

Tammy Larsen, Bob's Burgers

r83 Julia Duffy's character was a regular, not recurring.

Brooke Shields as Rita Glossner on "The Middle."

Brad on "The Middle."

You beat me to Tammy Larsen from Bob's Burgers:

"What are you saying? Spah-unge?"

(Someone else voiced Tammy in her last appearance! And it sucked!)

Two from Curb Your Enthusiasm:

One is Cousin Andy

The other is Marty Funkhouser

Barry on American Dad. Especially where he goes off his meds and is a diabolical genius.

Hans Moleman on The Simpsons

There are so many from Parks and Recreation, but some of my favorites are:

Mo Collins as morning talk show host Joan Callamezzo

Megan Mullaly as Ron's ex-wife Tammy 2

Paul Rudd as moronic Sweetums heir and Leslie's election opponent Bobby Newport

And of course, Li'l Sebastian

Ann Morgan Guilbert was the best! (and on two shows!) And I second Zara Cully for THE JEFFERSONS. (Gladys Kravitz was a regular, but who doesn't love Alice Pearce!)

Mother Dexter

I adore Sandra Clark on "227", R10. But she (and Jackée) was part of the main cast. So she was neither minor, nor recurring.

Hey guys. Please post one clip of the minor character you want to say is the funniest. None of us follow every show mentioned.

I was watching an old Law & Order episode this morning and couldn't place a familiar face on a supporting actress. It was Margaret Sansom Harris, better known as Bebe on Frasier. Wonderful character, and the producers didn't overuse her. I think she just had one episode a year.

Bebe has to quit smoking.

Estelle Leonard in Friends always kills me.

r98 Her name is HARRIET, not Margaret.

Thanks, r101. I don't know what possessed my fingers.

The Good Wife wasn't a sitcom, but it had recurring characters who could be used comically, notably Elspeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) and Colin Sweeney (Dylan Baker). I suppose it's up to the showrunner to decide how much to use them. If they're overplayed, they grow stale, e.g., Kirsten Vangsness on Criminal Minds.

Zandra from Will & Grace

The Sapersteins on Parks and Rec

Carolyn Appleby on I Love Lucy always delighted me for one reason or another. She seemed like such a snob.

I thought Judy Gellar was always an underrated guest on Friends. Her big speech after the Thanksgiving episode with Rachel's disastrous dessert always kills me.

Keeping with Friends, I loved Chandler's mom and "dad" every time they showed up.

I liked Arnie (Tom Arnold) on the old Roseanne show. My mom (RIP) would laugh when he came on, so it reminds me of her.

I loved Kristen Johnson in SATC

Another vote for Zandra

Look up recurring, R108. We'll wait.

Felipe is about as funny as a jackboot to the groin, R82.

Angela on Mr. Belvedere.

Mary Tyler Moore was hilarious on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Remember her doomed dinner parties?

Mimi Kinassis!

Joan Collins as Alexis on Dynasty. It wasn't laugh out funny most of the time but always witty and Dynasty is my favorite sitcom and Alexis is a terrific recurring character.

The very horny "Happy Homemaker," Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White) on Mary Tyler Moore Show.

The three Daryl's.

There weren’t three Daryls.

[quote] The three Daryl's.

Three of Daryl’s what?

[quote]We’ll wait.

Fuck that. Don’t nobody got time to wait for this fool.

Weren't there 7 Daryl's on The Bob Newhart Show?

Well, 8 if you count Joanna’s gentleman caller who would come on Wednesday afternoons when Bob was banging George.

Sgt. Alvinia T. Plout, "Laverne & Shirley"

Arnold Ziffel was always good for a couple of laughs, especially the way everyone would speak to him and understand his responses

Frank "YEEEEESSSSS?" Nelson from 'The Jack Benny Program" owns this category.

Wasn't Oliver Douglas the ONLY person who didn't understand Arnold?

The Daryls and his speaking brother were very secondary characters but they were indeed regulars, briefly featured in every episode.

Pearl Slaghoople, stone-age dyke extraordinaire

[quote] The Daryls and his speaking brother

*their.

Bubble on AbFab

Howard on "The Bob Newhart Show".

Uncle Leo

I am Mrs. Milburn Dryesdale.

Hirsch, Mama Carlson’s butler on “WKRP In Cincinnati”. He didn’t get many appearances, but every minute of him was pure comedic gold.

Big Rosie Greenbaum on Laverne & Shirley

I loved Big Rosie Greenbaum (Carole Ita White). There was an episode where she hosted a bridal or baby shower at her house. She and Laverne almost came to blows. Rosie's husband was a podiatrist or something. I hate to say it, but she was cooler than Laverne.

Dr. Nora (1 episode) and Dr. Mary (2 episodes) were lots of Frasier fun. I wish they hadn't burned off Dr. Nora so quickly and had her come back once a year as Frasier's radio nemesis.

"Let me help you see this from a different perspective. You're a whore."

Gregory Hines on Will & Grace.

Carlton the Doorman.

r131 Howard was a regular, not recurring.

Mrs. Wolowitz on The Big Bang Theory

Posts are useless without pics!

Parker Posey on W&G was fucking hysterical.

"Not only will I fire you, I will rehire you, pull your hair and fire you again!"

Minnie Driver was great too.

[quote]Posts are useless without pics!

Yeah--good luck with that for R139 and r141

Bubble was a regular. Parker Posey was a guest.

Digger O'Dell, "The Life of Riley."

Shelley Long was hilarious as Dede on the terrible Modern Family.

Feed Willard in just about anything but I thought he was especially great as Frank on Modern Family.

R29 another vote for Kathy Burke as Magda on 'Absolutely Fabulous'

[quote]Rosie's husband was a podiatrist or something.

Even better: a proctologist.

Noel the Pig on [italic]Designing Women[/italic]

Also, the late, great Fred Willard on "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Floyd the barber on Andy Griffiths .

The actor .Howard McNear continued to play the character despite left side mobility issues after suffering a stroke.

Jethrine on Beverly Hillbillies

R151 Designing Women is a good example of minor characters moving into starring and regular roles. Anthony was originally a minor character that became listed as one of the stars, and Bernice went from a minor guest role to a series regular.

Estelle Costanza, "Seinfeld."

Taco Crizwelle from Antibody Out There?

Jackee Harry’s Sandra on 227

Mary!

r158 Again -- she was a REGULAR, not RECURRING.

Gabby Hoffman on Girls. That was some funny shit.

MJ!

“Sheila the Whore” from Will & Grace.

If I were a woman, I’d want to have Lindsey Naegle’s resting bitch voice.

Stretch Cunningham on All In The Family.

He was so funny, Carol O’Connor had him fired.

Minh on "King of the Hill."

"But I am naive and trusting person!"

[quote] He was so funny, Carol O’Connor had him fired.

That’s not the reason he was fired.