Dilbert/YMMV

The comic:
"Dogbert: "A disturbing number of [the readers]'' have requested the return of Loud Howard. Loud Howard is neither funny nor insightful. He is simply loud. It's a wonder why anyone would want more of this guy.
 * Archive Panic - The whole archive is online - 21 years of daily strips - That's more than 7300 comic strips.
 * You can find them at 49 strips per page here.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Loud Howard.

Loud Howard: "THEY LOVE ME!""


 * It should be noted that after his first (and for the longest time, only) appearance in the strip Loud Howard was made a supporting character in the cartoon (shouting the obvious works a lot better as a gag in animation) in order to expand the cast. Had Adams not done this it is doubtful the masses would've demanded his return to the strip.
 * Catbert, notable for being the only character the fans named (see Sure Why Not below).
 * Funny Aneurysm Moment: The strip began on April 16, 1989. Needless to say, its 18th birthday wasn't a good one, and every other birthday since hasn't been all that great. Fortunately, unlike Garfield, this strip doesn't do formal birthday celebration episodes. And life sucks in this strip's universe, anyway.
 * Genius Bonus: The fable that the Pointy-Haired Boss relates in this strip is traditionally used to explain the Scrum software development methodology. If you're not familiar with Scrum, the strip is still very funny, but if you are, it's clear that the PHB thinks himself clever for using an analogy that he read somewhere else and probably doesn't understand.
 * Hollywood Homely: Alice; a lot of potshots have been taken at her looks.
 * Magnificent Bastard: Dogbert. All the time.
 * Wally has his moments, as well.
 * Memetic Mutation: According to Adams, the term "Bungee Boss" has entered the business lexicon for the situation WhenTheNewBossWantsToChangeEverythingButOopsTooLateHe'sReassignedGoodbye.
 * Happens rather often. Just read any list of New Century Business Jargon; a lot of it will have come out of Dilbert.
 * The term "Pointy-Haired Boss," aside from being a Trope Namer, is almost ubiquitous (as is the derivative "pointy-haired" as a synonym for "stupid").
 * Recycled Script: The September 18, 2008 strip is similar to May 25, 2007, except the PHB provides the strip's exposition instead of Ted's thoughts, the explosion was an indiscretion shot, the PHB doesn't look disheveled in the last panel, and Carol is facing him. This wasn't lost on the mashers.
 * Unfortunate Implications - A strip that "aired" a few days after Mother Theresa died that made a joke about dead nuns cushioning falls was poorly received for obvious reasons, even though, like all syndicated strips, it was written months in advance.
 * One Sunday strip featured a security guard who secretly raided the employees' hidden snack stashes during the night. Whoever did the colors made him black, which lead to people accusing Adams of this (in the anniversary book, he explains the whole thing while wryly observing that they chose a poor time to diversify the cast).

The TV series:
"Dilbert: I'm sorry Alice, but he's the embodiment of all that's horrid and loathsome in this world.
 * Crosses the Line Twice: Alice marries a death-row inmate and immediately stuffs the gag into his mouth herself before he's executed. It's much more horrifying than it sounds.
 * Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Parodied in a (nun) art expert who insists everything is about barely suppressed sexual urges. It's obvious that she's projecting so hard that they could use her for powerpoint presentations.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: Comp-U-Comp's boast -- "Have you ever wondered what happens when humans die? I know the answer! All I'm saying is... big surprise!" -- as he's challenging a human in the central command room of his totally automated production plant.
 * Magnificent Bastard: Dogbert, whose "religious belief" is "that everyone exists for the sole purpose of entertaining me." On one episode, he sets up a carnival booth where you "knock a street urchin off a beam with a baseball and win a toy." In another, he convinces Congress to abandon all holidays in favor of National Dogbert Day (The traditional Dogbert Day feast: the bald eagle. He wanted something special) for the sole purpose of being annoying. (The same reason he invented Secretary's Day.)
 * The aptly named Bob Bastard, the caped and hooded company tester on a quest to crush the hopes and dreams of engineers.

Alice: Just because it's written on a bathroom wall doesn't mean it's true.

Dilbert: He wrote it!"