8
In Their Own Universe
The one who’s In Their Own
Universe is…



The weirdest, edgiest and funniest characters
of all time
Allowed to say and do almost anything and
everything
The one that amuses us simply by talking
because it very rarely makes sense at all to
rational viewers
The one with an unedited stream of
consciousness
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Primarily used as a supporting character to provide
that instant comedic relief
Start out as a minor character that just appears from time to time to
say or do something crazy, either to help introduce a new plot line or
to give the viewers a break from an existing plot line
They can become “break out” characters
Example—Seinfeld
KRAMER: They’re trying to screw with your head.
JERRY: Now why would a junior high school want to screw with my

head?
KRAMER: (Suspiciously) Why does Radio Shack ask
Characteristics of the one In Their Own Universe
for your phone number when you buy batteries? I
don’t know (EXITS).
Accepting
Illogical logic
Optimistic
Direct
In awe
Positive
SEES AND HEARS EVERYTHING DIFFERENTLY
Eccentric
Marches to the beat
Sarcastic
Example—Will & Grace
Exciting
of their own drummer Shameless
KAREN: Grace, it’s Christmas for goodness sake.
Fascinated
Non-judgmental
Skewed train of
Think about the baby Jesus, up in that tower, letting
Focused on the task Odd
thought
his hair down so that three wise men can climb up and
at hand
Often obsessed
Unflappable
spin the dreidel and see if there are six more weeks of
Has good intentions Opinionated
winter.
Some of the great In Their Own Universe
A PROFILE OF THE ONE IN THEIR OWN UNIVERSE
 Sometimes they are literally from different place so
they clash with the normal (Ex. Fez, That 70s Show)
 Eccentric
 They believe what they are saying is TRUTH, and they
are stunned that other characters don’t understand
These characters are usually the B storyline. Sometimes
they are given the main story
They have a skewed train of thought…like the following
example conversation about a friend having a new baby.
ITOU: (begins to enter their own universe and internalizes the
following thoughts) I like baby showers. I like showers. I like
babies. I think babies are cute. They remind me of monkeys.
Monkeys like bananas and swing from trees. Some trees have
pretty leaves. What’s the tree that has those crazy long leaves?
YOU: …and I thought that we could both pitch in for a stroller.
What do you think?
ITOU: What’s that tree with those long, crazy leaves?
They are different from the Dumb One because the In
Their Own Universe character is smart. They just have
a different frame of reference
Character
Aunt Clara
Buster Bluth
D.J. Conner
Dewey
Fez
Jim Ignatowski
Jimmy James
Jeannie
Maxwell Klinger
Lenny Kasnowski
Cosmo Kramer
Larry, Darryl, Darryl
Jack McFarland
Mork from Ork
Harry Solomon
Squiggy Squiggman
Patsy Stone
Jordan Thomkins
Karen Walker
Sitcom
Friends
Bewitched
Arrested Development
Roseanne
Malcolm in the Middle
That 70s Show
Taxi
News Radio
I Dream of Jeannie
MASH
Laverne & Shirley
Seinfeld
Newhart
Will & Grace
Mork & Mindy
3rd Rock from the Sun
Laverne & Shirley
Absolutely Fabulous
The Bernie Mac Show
Will & Grace
Example—Malcolm in the Middle
DEWEY: (Explaining with conviction why he got home late)
And then the monster started growling at me. So I threw
rocks at him and I killed him. And then he started flying
around on a rocket boost and I got to ride inside his head.
And now the monster’s my friend. And we went to get
Slurpees.