Pointy-Haired Boss: Difference between revisions

** Adams himself, when running a restaurant, realized that he was becoming a Pointy-Haired Boss himself, albeit a relatively benign one.

* In ''[[Retail]]'', just about anybody at the level of store manager or higher is portrayed as a PHB.

* Rose Trellis (at least most of the time) in ''[[On the Fastrack]]''.

 

** Hawkeye himself, while regarded as the best surgeon, did not do well when put in charge of the unit. Anytime that situation presented itself, his friends would have reactions in the realm of "oh god NOOOOO"

* Lieutenant Brass comes off very much as an incompetent and biased boss in the first episode of ''[[CSI]]'', but it may just be that his promotion put him in over his head—when he is demoted to Homicide in the second episode, he becomes every bit the equal to the crime lab folks in professional competence. His demotion to a position of competence is actually a ''violation'' of [[The Peter Principle]]; something that is even more rare in real life than it is in fictional entertainment.

** Detective Gharty is incompetent both as a beat cop ''and'' as the head of IAD, but turns out to be proficient when he finally lands as a homicide detective. When he is finally re-promoted to head the homicide division in the finale movie, he loses some of his competence again, becoming a shill for the department brass. It is noted that he's not entirely incompetent in the role, but in Giardello has some pretty big shoes to fill—and many of the other detectives note that "he ain't no Gee." Gharty is treated as a rather sympathetic case. While he is intelligent and capable, it has been shown on multiple occasions that he really isn't suited for the rough life of a Baltimore police officer and should have retired years ago (he has earned two citations for Bravery in the past). Gharty also seems painfully aware of how unsuited he is but still helps the main characters and tries to protect them from Gaffney.

** Averted cynically with Roger Gaffney. He is shown as an incompetent detective, especially when compared to the main characters and is rerouted to a dead end department, but sleazes his way to a high end position and gets the Captain's spot Gee had earned. Given the show's cynical view of the bosses, Gaffney fits in perfectly among men with even less moral standing than himself and who happily abuse power for their own ends.

** Although it's not made as clear as in the American series, in the final episode of the British series it is suggested that Brent actually ''is'' a pretty good salesman, but is definitely not management material or as talented as he thinks he is. As for the enigma, [[Word of God]] responded to criticisms that Brent would never reach a management position with a retort that a brief look around any kind of corporate-style organisation ([[Biting the Hand Humor|including]] [[The BBC]]) would reveal that major positions were being filled by people who were even ''worse'' than Brent.

* The laughably incompetent Colonel Klink of ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]''. It's been mentioned that he's from noble stock, so he most likely got the position through nepotism more than any real leadership ability. He confirms in one episode that his family pressured him into the military to get rid of him. However, he is also a career officer with decorations for bravery in [[WW 1]]; he used to be a pilot. It is almost certain he got promoted to his current position in an attempt to get rid of him, both as a bumbling fool and as a non-member of the Nazi party.

== Web Comics ==

* The Magic School's Headmaster in ''[[Furmentation]]''.

* ''[[The Noob]]'' has the head developer of ''Clichequest'' - the satirically stereotypical MMORPG that is set in and around - an idiot, [[Jerkass]] and a [[Small Name, Big Ego]] type to boot. And GMs he picks for the game tend to be, uh, [http://thenoobcomic.com/comic/308/ like-minded].

* Mike in ''[[Between Failures]]'' is self-aware and trying not to be one of these, but his management training was inadequate to prepare him for the job, and those in charge of him have fobbed him off on one of the least important branch stores rather than trying to help him.

* Mullet Boss from ''[[Basic Instructions]]'' fits this trope to a T

* Dr. Breign from ''[[The Snail Factory]]'' is the quintessential incompetent boss.

 

== Web Original ==

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Born in the Funny Papers]]

[[Category:Finagle's Law]]

[[Category:I Need an Index by Monday]]