Al was the real star
I would rank Al as one of the greatest characters in the history of television
shareExactly! Nothing like the art of subtlety.
Famous examples include Boba Fett from "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" and Captain Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean".
All of these characters are great as being part of the backdrop and not at the front where their traits that make them popular are not as fleshed-out.
You're talking about the guy on the other side of the fence, the one we only saw his face or eyes from time to time, right? If not, that's egg on my face.
Edit: I was wrong, haha!
Funny thing about Al is that if he was billed in the same spot as Tim, the way we view him would change our perspective even though he retains everything that makes him likeable to us.
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Yes. I liken your statement to Fonzie from Happy days. When Fonzie was a supporting character, he was cool, interesting, mysterious. Then after the second or third season of that show, he pretty much took over. The aura around that character was gone.
shareTo be fair for Fonzie from Happy Days, a lot of it may have had more to do with writing burnout by the end of the series.
An episode I really enjoyed Al from Home Improvement in was the one where he starts up that infomercial gig selling high-quality Monopoly style board games with all the bells and whistles, complete with electrical wiring.
I'll never forget the smile on his face as he told the audience on TV, "If you don't like it, I will double your money back, guaranteed!" Later, when is venture fails due to being a prone fire hazard, he tells Tim, "Oh no, there goes my life savings".
Only for Tim to remind him of the stipulation above and Al, with a dismayed look on his face remarks in panic, "There goes double my life savings!"
You just couldn't help but feel bad for Al. His cheery enthusiasm ended with his dream going up in literal smoke.
~~/o/