An adjacent interesting trope is "Replacement Flat Character" where a character winds up hanging onto the already mentioned Sanity Ball for an extended period as another character assumes the Idiot Ball.
Frasier in Cheers was a pompous effete who got more likable as Cheers went on, but once he got a spin off he recieved a brother with that original characterisation who underwent a similar arc.
Mac in IASIP got more developed and well rounded in later series, so Dennis got more deranged and prone to snapping to balance out their duo.
Bashir in Deep Space Nine started off as a naive yet lecherous pseudo-comic relief. Once they started deconstructing his idealistic yet arrogant characterisation they had Nog join Starfleet with that same wide eyed optimisation... >!then traumatised him too and had Ezri come along.!<
MontgomeryKhan t1_j257h6m wrote
Reply to Is there a name for the TV trope when a character is stupid/silly but they become the straight man in episodes alongside a stupider character? by 3kool5you
An adjacent interesting trope is "Replacement Flat Character" where a character winds up hanging onto the already mentioned Sanity Ball for an extended period as another character assumes the Idiot Ball.
Frasier in Cheers was a pompous effete who got more likable as Cheers went on, but once he got a spin off he recieved a brother with that original characterisation who underwent a similar arc.
Mac in IASIP got more developed and well rounded in later series, so Dennis got more deranged and prone to snapping to balance out their duo.
Bashir in Deep Space Nine started off as a naive yet lecherous pseudo-comic relief. Once they started deconstructing his idealistic yet arrogant characterisation they had Nog join Starfleet with that same wide eyed optimisation... >!then traumatised him too and had Ezri come along.!<