Dumbass Has a Point

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Jay: Maybe we can just ask him to shut down the church. If it's closed that day, uh, those guys can't get blessed or whatever, right?
Metatron: Good Lord, the little stoner's got a point!

A character who's normally Book Dumb and/or The Ditz comes up with a valuable insight. The character most often heard belittling their intelligence sighs heavily and concedes, "I Can't Believe I'm Saying This, but I agree with him." (Often adding, "And that scares me to death.")

Also heard when two people of more or less equal intelligence, who normally disagree about everything on ideological grounds, find that there's one opinion they share. In other cases, the character with a valuable insight may be of a little less moral standing - in which case, this trope then becomes somewhat of an inversion of Your Approval Fills Me with Shame.

Truth in Television, and can be seen between Vitriolic Best Buds and Internet-nemeses on Message Boards.

Compare Actually Pretty Funny, Too Dumb to Fool, The Cuckoolander Was Right, Wisdom from the Gutter, Mistaken for Profound and I Have Nothing to Say to That. When the character is the subject of this reaction because they're mean, unlikable or evil it's Jerkass Has a Point. When the author has a stupid character make a point, but the reader and not the character sees it, it's Straw Man Has a Point. Related to Wisdom from the Gutter.

Examples of Dumbass Has a Point include:

Anime and Manga

  • In the last issue of the Hentai manga Boys Empire, as Makoto tries to grapple with the prospect of being a father at his age, his best friend - who up to now has mostly shown himself to be lecherous and silly - sums up the situation and why Makoto shouldn't worry about it into one insightful speech. Makoto is rather stunned. Then it's promptly subverted as Makoto informs his friend that they're both in that situation... and his friend forgets his own advice and panics.
  • Shiro Kabuto from Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger was The Hero Kouji's Annoying Younger Sibling. Although sometimes he seemed Too Dumb to Live cause some stunts he pulled, he had good points from time to time.
  • In Ranma ½, Genma is not known for his brilliance when it comes to schemes, plots or ploys. In fact, it's usually quite the opposite. Keep in mind that this is the man who hauled himself and his son to a cursed training ground simply on the basis that he figured "cursed = dangerous = great place to train!" and who was stupid enough to buy into and teach his son the Nekoken. And yet, despite all this, Ranma is still perfectly willing to ask Genma for advice, because every so often, Genma says something that is either genuinely profound, or it's so stupid/off-kilter it actually becomes useful. This is played up a bit more in the anime - for example, it's Genma's comment about "looking with your gut" that lets Ranma see through Cologne's Splitting Cat Hairs technique, and it's also in the anime that Genma explicitly tells Ranma that he lost while fighting in female form because he doesn't play to that form's strengths.
    • It's actually a fairly common thread among several of the characters. No matter how how stupid a character might otherwise be, they are still skilled martial artists. While Genma gets this role most often, Happosai will very rarely stop being a Dirty Old Man to actually be useful. Not for nothing is he the most powerful character on the show (Apart from the fact that he can be effectively vanquished by a bra).
  • Pokémon deals with this in the form of Team Rocket in "A Lean Mean Team Rocket Machine". Jessie decides that Team Rocket should get back in shape. Her teammates, James and Meowth, remarked in unison, "Weird when she makes sense."
    • As a side note, though, Jessie isn't stupid, and James is usually the team member who comes off as slightly less intelligent than his friends.
  • Eyeshield 21, since most of the team are idiots (especially Taki).
    • From rival team, Ootawara of Ojou White Knights is made for this trope.
  • In the second Tenchi Muyo! movie, Mihoshi suggests that Mayuka is from the future. The rest of the cast begins to dismiss this idea until Washu confirms that she's correct.
  • Sgt Frog - Natsumi agrees with Sarge on his directive that they should give the house a nice deep clean for New Year's. "And when I say I hate to say it, I mean it actually causes me intense physical pain."
  • One Piece:
    • During the Alabasta arc, Luffy points out to Vivi that simply beating up Crocodile would be the best thing to do, instead of trying to stop the rebels from fighting (which would cost many more lives). Often times, Luffy knows that beating up the biggest bad guy solves the problem faster. He also mentions that people will die no matter what Vivi does, a surprisingly realistic observation for him that the other crew members don't contest.
    • While Zoro's not stupid per se, he does often come off as not much smarter than Luffy because he makes reckless decisions on a whim. However, he was the one crewmate who opposed Usopp's rejoining into the crew, on the grounds that he disrespected Luffy. Though he constantly belittles Luffy, he notes that if a crew can't respect its captain (or if the captain doesn't deserve their respect), they're not fit to be a crew. Even Sanji, who normally mocks or disagrees with what Zoro says, agreed with him.
    • Sanji has a reaction to this effect when Zoro comes up with a two-layered identifying system to help them tell whether someone is Mr. 2 in disguise.
  • In the fourth episode of Tiger and Bunny, Barnaby expresses shock upon the discovery that he and Kotetsu actually agree on something ("We didn't become heroes because we want praise and appreciation.")

Comic Books

Mario: You know what bothers me about Wooster's betrayal?
Toad: The sheer, heinous, enormity of it?
Mario: No. It means the King was right about something!

  • That case is subverted, though, because it turns out Wooster wasn't betraying them at all.

Sonic: [regarding Mobie the cave-bear] We should've left the big dope frozen!
Antione: For once, Sonic is right! He is ze librarian!
Sally: I think you mean barbarian, Antione!

  • In Ultimate X-Men, during the "Return to Weapon-X" arc, Sabertooth is fighting Wolverine, when it occurs to Sabertooth that nobody has ever thought of drowning Wolvie, and that a healing factor would be pretty useless against such a predicament.

Fan Works

Crump: Your majesty, if you would just consider…
Shadow Queen: For the third time, Crump, this idea of yours is like the rest of your ideas – stupid! Besides, it's a matter of pride. As royalty, associating with common thugs is beneath me.
Crump: She's a professional.
Shadow Queen: Fine, she's a professional thug.
Crump: Well, let me put it this way, if she messes up, we don't have to pay her, and it won't cost us anything at all.
(Beat)
Shadow Queen: When you make sense, I get nervous.

Film

  • In Disney's 101 Dalmatians, Horace isn't the sharpest tool in the shed but by assuming dogs think the way humans do (which in this movie, they do), he is constantly suggesting what the dogs are up to in order to evade them. He's almost always right but Jasper won't have any of it.
  • The 1939 Fleischer Studios animated adaptation of Gulliver's Travels, the king of Blefuscu sends three assassins - Sneak, Snoop and Snitch - to get rid of Gulliver, "or else". Naturally, Sneak and Snoop realize they're really in over their heads here (dealing with giants isn't exactly in their job description), until their ditzy partner Snitch (after making several dumb suggestions) points out "Gulliver's Thunder Machine" (what the Lilliputians call his musket) in the museum.
  • Animal House:

Bluto: What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...
Otter: Dead! Bluto's right.
[Other characters look at each other in amazement]
Otter: Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards.

  • In Dogma, the characters are considering how to keep two fallen angels from entering a church and undoing reality. When Jay says that they should "just ask [Cardinal Glick] to close the church," Metatron exclaims, stunned, "My God! The little stoner's got a point!"
    • Subverted in that it doesn't work at all, although Jay later provides another character with a Eureka Moment, saving the day.
      • Well, if they hadn't gone to see the Cardinal, they wouldn't have picked up the blessed golf club they use to kill Azrael, who planned to keep them prisoner until the world ended. So, In Mysterious Ways and all that...
  • In Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, this overlaps with a Eureka Moment: Shadow calls Chance a genius for giving him an idea. Chance's rebuttal is: "No, I'm not! What's a genius?"
  • In the Coen Brothers' remake of The Lady Killers, Tom Hanks' character thinks aloud as he tries to come up with an elaborate scheme to deal with Stephen Root's character, a potential obstacle to their heist. The dumb jock character tries to interject with an idea, only to be silenced several times by Hanks. When he is finally allowed to speak, he asks "couldn't we just bribe the guy?" It works.
  • Withnail and I: "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day."[context?]
  • In the 2009 Star Trek, when young Kirk (who up to this point has been depicted as an ignorant jackass) presents an idea to Captain Pike, Spock supports him: "The cadet's logic is sound".
  • Aliens. Hudson and Vasquez have insulted each other previously, and Hudson has acted stupidly/foolishly throughout the movie. Once the aliens infiltrate the complex:

'Hudson: There's something. It's inside the complex. [snip] They're inside the perimeter. They're in here. [snip]
Vasquez: Hudson may be right.

  • Also, in the extended cut, Hudson is the one who first theorizes the possible existence of a xenomorph "queen".
  • In Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, only Caroline, who has spent the evening entirely sloshed, figures out that the clue to the location of the "Where's Fluffy" performance given out on the radio is an address.
  • Hud has his moment in Cloverfield. He suggests getting into a near-collapsed building by going up the adjacent building that it's leaning against, and walking across the roof.

Literature

  • In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, when the group are trying to understand how they ended up at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Arthur suddenly has a flash of insight about time travel, saying that they've travelled in time but not in space. Zaphod mocks him but the waiter interrupts: "Your monkey has got it right, sir."
    • Also when Zaphod, Trillian and Ford panic as they fall towards Magrethea with two nuclear missiles coming for them and no propulsion, Arthur's suggestion to use the Infinite Improbability Drive is dismissed as a risk because "without proper programming, anything could happen!" Arthur points out that they're definitely going to die otherwise. He turns it on, turning the missiles into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias. Zaphod praises him for his thinking, but takes it back after he says "It was nothing really."
    • Appears again in the radio series when the group steal a ship from the Restaurant At the End of the Universe car park. Arthur deduces that the ship must have been programmed to return to the time it left, and he's right.
  • The second version (two characters who constantly disagree with each other, but are otherwise intelligent) happens in the denouement of 1632. The most outspoken conservative and most outspoken liberal on the town's leadership committee reflect on the alliance being forged by the town's president and King Gustavus Adolphus and find themselves in rare agreement that neither of them likes the deal being made, but if it must happen, they're glad to know who is doing it.
  • Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Chapter after chapter, Idiot Hero Book Dumb Ned Land opines Captain Nemo is a despot and the Power Trio must attempt the Great Escape as soon as possible. The Professor Aronnax and Battle Butler Conseil are impressed with Nemo and their incredible voyage, and is not until they see Nemo crossing the Moral Event Horizon.when they realize Ned was the Only Sane Man.
  • Despite the fact that The Ditz-y Maiden Aunt Leonella in The Monk is generally ridiculous, she immediately dislikes Ambrosio and points out that his sermon was severe, stern, and frankly terrifying, all of which hint his true nature before he becomes the viewpoint character.

Live-Action TV

  • On the Australian music quiz show Spicks and Specks the host Adam Hills once said to Alan Brough (one of the team captains) "I never thought I'd say this Alan, but listen to Hamish. He's right!" For those not in the know, Hamish Blake is almost literally a Real Life Joke Character on the show.
    • He's had a good run recently[when?]... although in one episode he had answers written on his tie.
  • In Red Dwarf, everybody but Rimmer goes with Lister's idea to play pool with planets. Neither agree with him, but Kryten's programming forces him to side with the living human over the Virtual Ghost, and the Cat refuses to support Rimmer because of his miserable fashion sense. (It does work.)
    • In another episode, the gang decides to follow the Cat's advised course of action in dealing with a ship of hostile Simulants, prompting the Cat to reply "You're going to go with one of my plans? Are you nuts?! What happens if we all get killed? I'll never hear the last of it!" (It does work. Again.)
      • Also, when Lister, after a history reboot, suggest they pick up a time machine they found before the reboot and use it again to go back in time to buy curries, Rimmer insist they must leave the time machine alone. Cat responds: "You know I'd rather wear sideways-pressed flairs and a clip-on polyester tie than agree with Goalpost-Head... but this time he's right."
  • In an episode of Veronica's Closet, Veronica is discussing her company's overproduction of swimsuits, which has resulted in heaps of useless leftover stock now that it's winter. Her oafish, hated ex-husband, who happens to be passing through the room, jokes that they should ship the lot to Australia -- "It's summer there." Veronica's assistant timidly suggests:

Olive: Bryce's idea-
Veronica: Is stupid?
Olive: Actually, it could work.
Veronica: But it won't, because it's stupid?

  • In the (BBC's) Robin Hood episode "Who Shot the Sheriff", Roy admits to agreeing with "cheese boy", i.e. Much.
  • In the Deadwood episode "Amateur Hour," the cunning Al Swearengen puzzles over a pictorial message from Wu until resident slack-jaw Johnny Burns steps in and decodes it. Al responds by punching Johnny in the face.
  • When Oliver claims to have an idea in Hannah Montana, even when he promises that it's a good one, everyone with half a braincell runs for the hills. Once he asked quite reasonably why he and Lilly were hiding behind a cardboard cutout when it was only Jackson and Miley that couldn't afford to be spotted by their dad, prompting Lilly to remark "Oh, Oliver, you sweet naive boy.... with a very good point" before taking off.
    • Another episode had a ditzy television host sum up the Aesop in a thoughtful and beautiful way...causing Hannah, her father, his co-host, and the entire audience to look at him shocked.
  • The comparable-intelligence, ideologically-opposed version happens in the early The West Wing episode "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics". The President has a sit-down with a key Republican named Lobel where the two (quite cheerfully) express their general loathing for one another's politics and list their many disagreements, but they make it clear that there is one issue they agree on - campaign finance reform. The president offers to get Lobel onto the FEC if he'll support Bartlett's other candidates. Asked what Lobel gets in return, Bartlett replies "a grateful President"; Lobel promptly accepts.
  • On News Radio, Dave informs the staff that there will be massive budget cuts, and then Bill McNeal stands up and says that they should all tighten their belts and support the decision. Dave (who's more used to Bill raising a commotion) says, "Well thank you Bill, for that... uncharacteristically well-reasoned outburst." Of course, Dave was right to be instantly suspicious of a reasonable Bill McNeal... The reason the station is overbudget is because Bill has just received a massive pay increase.
  • On Charles in Charge, Buddy Lembeck does this to himself.

Buddy: [describes a bizarre event that unfolded exactly as he had predicted] Isn't that weird?
Charles: What do you mean? You were right.
Buddy: I know, that's what's weird.

  • Major John Casey, any time Chuck Bartowski says something sensible-in the first two seasons, at least.
  • Any time Spencer comes up with an idea on iCarly, Carly generally reacts in this way.
  • Jack Carter in Eureka, being the normal guy in a town of geniuses, is frequently on the receiving end of this.
  • One episode of Big Wolf on Campus has Tommy and Merton trying to figure out what an evil cyborg school counsellor (It Makes Sense in Context) is going to do next. Merton makes a sarcastic remark on how they don't know what his plans are, only for Tommy to suggest looking in the file marked "day planner".
    • "Sarcasm withdrawn..."
  • On Father Ted, when Ted is Mistaken for Racist, Father Dougal surprises everyone, including himself, by coming up with the solution to the problem. (Hold a festival of diversity). This is particularly distressing for Dougal, who insists that there must be some Fatal Flaw neither of them have realised yet.
  • In M*A*S*H, when a general's prized gun turned up missing and Radar was about to take the fall for the theft, Hawkeye and BJ confronted Major Burns, who openly admired the gun when he saw it. Burns refused to answer their questions and accused them of convicting him without a trial, asking, "What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?" After Burns left, Hawkeye turned to BJ and asked, "Don't you hate it when he's right?" Subverted, because Burns really was the thief.
  • Happens occasionally on Friends, usually with respect to Joey. For example, when discussing Rachel's inappropriate crush on her assistant,

Joey: The big question is, does he like you? Because if he doesn't like you this is all a moo point.
Rachel: Huh. A moo point?
Joey: Yeah. Like a cow's opinion. It doesn't matter. It's moo.
Rachel: Have I been living with him too long or did that just make sense?

  • In the Babylon 5 episode "Grey 17 is missing" the Warrior Caste member Neroon delivers a rather caustic observation to how he interprets Delenn's breaking of the Grey Council and essentially taking over Minbari leadership for the Greater Good. While everything Delenn claims about the situation turns out to be true and eventually works out for the good of everyone, from Neroon's point of view it's probably the equivalent of how a modern-day American would view a Senator breaking up Congress, the Senate, the Supreme Court and the Presidency, forming a private army with her own charisma, proceeded to enlist volunteers from a country we were recently at war with (like, say, Iraq), formed a base on an outpost of said country, claimed she was on a Mission from God, and that all this was necessary to save the world from Alien Invasion.
  • During the Second Season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer the Scoobies discover a way to return Angel's soul, thus removing him as a bad guy. Xander's reaction is "I don't care, Angel needs to die," pointing out that Buffy is "ignoring Miss Calendar's murder just so you can get your boyfriend back". While the franchise later on takes the position (on Angel's own TV show, season 4, to be precise) that Angel and Angelus are entirely separate entities who just happen to take turns using the same body and that Angel is therefore not morally liable for Angelus' actions, by that point the franchise has also long established Angel's own willingness to be killed if that becomes necessary to stop Angelus from hurting anyone ever again, so its a moot point. But Xander is still entirely correct in that virtually no one the show, except maybe Cordelia, seems to even care about this dilemna. Buffy is too focused that she can get Angel back to realize he might have a point, and Willow is too focused on supporting Buffy to do so either.
    • The other hotly debated question from that episode is "Xander's Lie", when Xander deliberately fails to tell Buffy that Willow is making a second attempt at the re-ensouling spell and leaves Buffy with the impression that she has no alternative left but to fight Angelus to the death. Some (including Buffy, when she eventually found out about it in season 7) considered this a gross personal betrayal, others considered it Xander making a hard choice out of necessity because Buffy had failed to defeat Angelus on multiple occasions before due to lack of motivation and if she holds back against him yet again out of hope that his soul will soon be restored, the world might end up sucked into hell. However, the part that qualifies for this trope is the entirely valid point Xander attempted to make to Willow (that neither she nor anyone else in the show paid the slightest bit of attention to) -- which was that she was an inexperienced spellcaster trying to attempt a magical ritual she had already failed at once under better conditions, only partly understood, and while Willow was already suffering from a concussion. In other words, that in Xander's estimation she has no realistic chance of actually succeeding in casting the spell and every chance of killing herself trying to.
      • Of course, Willow did succeed in casting the spell on her second attempt, but that was only because the writer was on her side.
    • In the penultimate episode of season 4, Xander makes a suggestion half-jokingly and catches Giles' look to which Xander says "Yeah, don't tell me. I'm just full of helpful suggestions." Giles says "As a matter of fact, you are."
  • In the Firefly episode "Out Of Gas", Jayne, of all people, tells Wash and Mal to stop fighting because they're using up more air than if they were calm.
  • In Misfits, when Simon and Alisha think it's their moral duty to try and defeat a demented criminal who's been terrorizing their neighborhood, Cloudcuckoolander Nathan responds with: "Listen guys, I think I speak for all of us when I say - we are lazy and incompetent. We're practically handicapped! Leave it to the Police. They get paid to get shot." In the stunned silence that follows, Curtis admits: "I never thought I'd say this, but he's talking sense."
  • In the Community episode "The Politics Of Human Sexuality," Pierce demonstrates unexpected maturity, wisdom and humility in both discussing Jeff's and his own experiences with women at the end.
  • The Golden Girls used to play this for laughs a lot with Rose, since she was the one who seemed dumb all the time.
    • Also played straight in the episode with Dorothy's gambling problem. Dorothy gets so bad that she lies to Rose about needing money and Rose gives Dorothy her bank card. Dorothy asks Rose if she realizes that she's stealing her money, and Rose says "I know."

Newspaper Comics

Rat: What does it mean to be happy? Is it something subjective? Or is there an objective component? Is it simply the absence of pain? Or is it something more? How does a dumb guy like you answer a question like that?
Pig: I think happiness is finding a couple extra fries at the bottom of the bag.
(Beat Panel)
Rat: Pig made sense. The apocalypse is upon us.
Pig: Yay! The apocalypse! Yaaaaaay! Wait... wait... what's an apocalypse?

Video Games

  • Ace Attorney:
    • Detective Dick Gumshoe has his fair share of these. He's usually a slow witted idiot however he does have his moments, such as when he suggests that the true killer's motive in the murder of Russel Berry could be the fact that they HAD NO motive in the first place. Phoenix immediately shakes this off as Gumshoe beings stupid again, and the player probably would on a first run through as well. Turns out he IS right, because the killing was actually accidental and thus there was no motive.
    • In the second game, local Country Mouse Lotta Hart suggests that the culprit of the case you're working on is in fact the perpetually spacey Ini Miney. She's right.
  • Killzone, as seen in the quote above. When the party came across a Helghast base en route to their destination. Templar thinks that they should sneak around it while Rico suggests that they go through the base and kill everything. Hakha agrees with Rico, but only because the base's MLRS are firing at ISA troops and thus must be destroyed.
  • Happens in this dialogue in Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis:

Flay: "You rely too much on your logic. We must defeat the enemy in front of us!"
Roxis: "...Sometimes, I envy your simplicity."

  • In Mass Effect, the council (or at least the Turian member) seem to believe this whenever the find out Shepard is telling the truth. They even use the saying at one point;

Turian Counciller: I believe your people have a saying - even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Shepard: Here's another one - go to hell!

  • Another BioWare example: Sir Roderick from Jade Empire does manage to make several good points about the Empire's failings, in the midst of his racist complaining about tea and trousers, in particular regarding the fact no one in the Jade Empire thought to use dragonpowder for personal firearms.
  • One of the song titles in Guilty Gear Isuka is "Drunkard Does Make Wise Remarks".
  • A character trait of Wheatley in Portal 2. Possibly deconstructed. His ideas are smart just often enough that you'll trust him, letting him function as an Intelligence Dampener.

Web Comics

Haley (after gulping a jar of beer): Am I drunk enough yet that later, I won't remember getting out-logicked by Elan?
Durkon: Och! Na. Ye'll need at least two more pints fer tha.

    • Thog, the illiterate barbarian whose Dump Stat was intelligence, claims he's smarter than the Genius Bruiser Roy here. He says that all of his good abilities help him in his chosen career, while Roy's intelligence doesn't help him as a fighter. Roy ends up beating Thog using those cross-class ranks in Knowledge (Architect and Engineering) he wouldn't have had if he didn't have a good intelligence, but not before taking a substantial beating and having to sneak in a potion to keep going.
  • Sluggy Freelance:

"Wait, Stu is right for once?"
"The amount he talks? You gotta like those odds."

    • During the first Thanksgiving arc, when the cast is discussing what they're thankful for, Sam, who is typically mainly focused on scoring with women, surprisingly eloquently discusses how he is grateful for his freedom. For Thanksgiving of 2001, this was shown again, with a panel of Torg and Zoe expressing approval and agreement.
  • In Tales of the Questor, Squidge isn't the brightest bulb in the box, but his suggestion that Quentyn check the exact wording of a covanent clause and the laws pertaining to it is very good advice indeed.

Web Original

  • In Chapter 14 of Red vs. Blue Reconstruction, Caboose is the one that manages to come up with a plan that would get them into Command without anyone getting suspicious them. By putting the unrecognizable ones inside the opaque tank. Caboose actually gets a number of these throughout the series.

Tucker: "I'm confused. That actually sounded like a good idea."
Church: "I know."
Tucker: "But... Caboose said it."
Church: "I know."

  • Caboose once said that there was probaly wet plains in between the freezing plains and the burning plains, which he is (sort of) right because there's a swamp in between the two plains.
  • Tom from Echo Chamber tries to invoke this trope on himself in the episode Dumbass Has a Point, but, as Dana points out, the trope didn't fit.

Dana: To be a dumbass with a point, you have to have a point, dumbass.

  • The real dumbass with a point is Zack. He uses his knowledge of After Effects to help create an intro to the vlog that was way better than anything Tom could have come up with on his own.

Western Animation

Lisa: Dad, you shouldn't be jealous of Apu. Remember, it's all about the music!
Homer: I'm not jealous, I'm envious. Jealousy is when you're worried someone will take what you have, envious is when you want something someone else has! What I feel is envy!
Lisa: Hmm... (skims through a dictionary) Wow, he's right!

  • From the episode "Bart's Comet":

Lisa: I can't believe that extra-thick layer of pollution that I've actually picketed against burned up the comet.
Bart: But what's really amazing, is that this is exactly what Dad said would happen.
Lisa: Yeah, Dad was right.
Homer: I know, kids. I'm scared too!

  • In the episode in which the Simpsons go to Africa when it's revealed that Doctor Bushwell is using the monkeys to run a diamond mine this exchange occurs:

Bart: I think we should look at her research before we condemn her completely.
(everyone stares at Bart, shocked)
Bart: I haven't said anything for a while.

  • Raven did this to Beast Boy in Teen Titans at least once.
  • Happens a few times in Kim Possible, usually in relation to Ron Stoppable.
  • Ed from Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy has a few of these:
    • In "O-Ed Eleven", Ed he manages to puzzle out a map belonging to Eddy's mysterious older brother. Of course, he's still Ed, so he tries to explain it thusly:

Edd: Ed, how on earth did you do that?
Ed: Because I am a brother, and Eddy's brother is a brother, and Eddy is a brother to Eddy's brother as a brother I am.

  • Here's one from "Eds-agerate", the episode with the "mucky boys":

Edd: Eddy, wouldn't it be easier to just--
Ed: Make funny noises?
Eddy: Ed! You found a brain!

  • In one episode, Eddy has writer's scammer's block. Ed suggests simply buying an idea.
  • In one episode of Winnie the Pooh, Pooh narrates the "Three Little Pigs" with Rabbit as the Big Bad Bunny, but the story keeps on getting derailed by Pooh's thoughts always straying toward honey. When a scene more resembling "Little Red Riding Hood" occurs, Tigger comments, "Hey, for a Big Bad Bunny, he's sure not being very bad." Rabbit (the Big Bad Bunny) replies, "For once, you're right, Tigger. We have lost track of the story, haven't we?"
  • In The Venture Brothers, when a spike-laden deathtrap comes closing in on them, Hank suggests they contact Dr. Orpheus. Dr. Venture vehemently objects half because Hank is a dumbass and half because he really doesn't like Dr. Orpheus. Brock outright says "I know it sounds crazy, but Hank has the only idea." Dr. Venture only relents when Brock starts lining them up for the least painful death.
  • Happens every so often in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, and almost always in reference to Michelangelo. Usually it's Raphael who gets to admit it.
  • Happens at least once in The Fairly OddParents:

Timmy: Wow, Cosmo, you were right! (expression of sudden shock) Cosmo was right?
Timmy: Cosmo, that's a great idea! Gee, I never thought I'd say those 5 words in a row before.

  • Done a few times with Pinky in Pinky and The Brain. Most of the time when Pinky says something stupid it earns him a hit on the head from Brain. But the few times he actually made a good point, Brain is getting ready to hit him out of habit when he stops and thinks and then admits he has a point.
  • Futurama:

Leela: As unclean as it makes me feel, I agree with Bender.

  • In the episode "Parasites Lost", Zoidberg of all characters gets all of these when he suggests escaping the nasal capillary into the sinus. Turns out, he was just remembering an old commercial he had seen.

Hermes: Strange. Usually you don't know anything about human anatomy.
Zoidberg: I learned it in a decongestant commercial! Soothing action, action, action, action!

K.Rool: Do you know what this means!?
Krusha: The apes will have complete control over Kongobongo, and probably turn us into matching luggage.
K.Rool: ...He does have his moments...

  • Patrick of SpongeBob SquarePants seems to have quite a few of these moments throughout the series. One such instance has him beating out Sandy in coming up with a plan. The reaction to this was fairly obvious.
  • On an episode of Beavis and Butthead, Mr. Van Driessen asks the class "Where do we get our food?" Butt-Head (who usually lives up to his name) answers "Uh...the store?" This was indeed the point he was trying to make. Even Butt-Head was shocked to find out he got an answer right.
  • On an episode of Frisky Dingo Ronnie, the dimwitted Russian rapist member of the Xtacles, interrupts Xander Crews' long lost brother Nearl's revenge speech by shooting him in the head. Cue this exchange:

Random Xtacle: What the hell, Ronnie?
Ronnie: What? Is complicated enough without all this Evil Twin bullshit having.
Xtacle: That's... actually a good point. Good for you!

  • Daria,
    • On one episode, the title character hides in a bathroom stall having believed she has sold out her principles by wearing contact lenses instead of her 'manstopper glasses'. Her best friend Jane, as well as acquaintance Jodie couldn't get her out. So imagine their shock when ditzy cheerleader Brittany manages to get through to her...

Brittany: By the way, Daria, I just want you to know I think it's really brave of you to get those contact lenses and admit that you care about the way you look, even just a little. Because knowing that a brain can be worried about her looks makes me feel, um, I don't know, not so shallow or something. Like we're not that different, just human, or whatever.
(after a moment, Daria emerges from the stall)
Daria: Well, thank you, Brittany. You're right. We are just human or whatever.

  • "The Daria Hunter" also showed Brittany to be a pretty good military tactician.
  • In Transformers Animated, Prowl assumes Sentinel is getting help from Lockdown in capturing Megatron's lieutenants, and uses the fact that they are stripped of their equipment as evidence when confronting him. Sentinel shows him the mods and points out he'd have to be really stupid not to disarm dangerous prisoners. Prowl is correct over all, but Sentinel has a point.
    • Incidentally, Starscream had escaped Sentinel's custody once before precisely because he didn't disarm him, so Prowl's assertion is based on past experience.
  • On Jimmy Two-Shoes, Beezy comes up with a plan to catch Lucius' Toothy Bird. Heloise begrudgenly admits it's a good plan.
  • In the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Total Re-Carl", Carl's body gets destroyed by Frylock's experimental high-tech toilet, and Frylock tries to make him a new body. One of the attempts is a heavily-armed cybernetic suit, and Master Shake, known for being a stupid Jerkass, points out that this might not be a good idea.

Frylock: I give you the ultimate in military hardware! Complete with laser cannon, indestructible titanium exoskeleton, and motion activated plasma pulse rifles.
Master Shake: And you're gonna plug him in?
Frylock: ...You're right. Damn, what the hell was I thinking?

Jimmy: Carl, that's brilliant!
Carl: Really? But I said it.

  • Regular Show: In the episode "Stick Hockey", Rigby points out that Benson does have a responsibility to trust his workers, instead of assuming they'll slack off. Then again, it's the one of the few instances where Mordecai and Rigby actually keep up their end of the bargain.
  • In Batman: Assault on Arkham, the Suicide Squad's job is to, well, assault Arkham. Once they do so and gain access to the security center, they realize they could shut the camera's off to hide their activities from the outside, but once Batman realizes they're down he'll be there like a moth to a flame. Then Killer Shark - the Dumb Muscle of the group - has a good idea: replace the live footage with yesterday's footage. Unfortunately for them, it only works slightly better; Batman is too familiar with the Arkham staff, and becomes suspicious after learning of a yellow alert earlier. Still, Shark's idea may have delayed him a little.
  • In an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Billy, Mandy, and Nergal Jr are training for a track meet. Junior is doing excellent (having demonic powers helps) but Billy isn't doing so great. Then Billy remembers that Junior can shapeshift, and asks if he can turn himself into anything. When Junior says yes, Billy suggests he turn into a pair of pants so that the two can win the hundred yard dash together. Prompting this response from Mandy:

Mandy: Billy, that has got to be the dumbest idea... (beat) Actually, Billy, that has got to be the smartest idea you've ever had.
Billy: I know, that's why I wanna do it.

  • In the Adventures of the Gummi Bears episode “Music Hath Charms”, all of King Gregor's subjects and almost all the Gummis are hypnotized by Duke Igthorn’s magical bagpipes. When Grammi tries to escape - only to be caught by two ogres - one of them is confused as to why she would try (as they believe all the Gummies are under the spell) and the second suggests, "Maybe she not under spell?" Toadwart (who has slightly more smarts than the bigger ogres) thinks that is preposterous, and when he examines Grammi himself, it seems he's right as she talks in the same zombified tone as the rest of them. Unfortunately for him (and by extension, for Igthorn) the second ogre was right, Grammi is not under the bagpipes' spell (she had temporarily lost her hearing when the bagpipe was being played, and did not hear the music) and as a result, she is able to humiliate Igthorn and foil his plan.