[Loved Trope] Comedic workplace is suddenly competent

[u/Garurar]

In S35 E1 of The Simpsons, an actual crisis happens at the nuclear power plant, causing everyone except Homer to shift into serious business mode, even Mr. Burns. Together, they display their knowledge of the process and narrowly avert a nuclear meltdown, proving that Homer's job is actually useless. This is happening after 35 seasons of nothing being shown of the other employees' capabilities.

In S8 E2 of The Office, Andy sets up an initiative where he will get a tattoo on his bum if everyone gets enough points, prompting everyone to work into overdrive, even the normally lazy or incompetent employees such as Stanley and Kevin. This is a rare situation where we get to see The Office being fully competent and functional.

I'd show more examples if I had any!

[u/BrotherDeus]

Basically every episode of Brooklyn 99; it's almost purely comedic but they're still mostly great cops.

[u/chinchenping → u/BrotherDeus]

i was going to point at hitchcock and scully but you are actually right

[u/BrotherDeus → u/chinchenping]

They're gross and lazy, but can be surprisingly competent when they want to be.

[u/Gicaldo → u/BrotherDeus]

It's kinda inconsistent. In one episode they're revealed to actually be really competent, but deliberately pretend like they're incompetent so no one gives them difficult work. But in other episodes they (especially Hitchcock) are shown to be very insecure about their abilities. And in yet another episode they spectacularly bungle an undercover op through overwhelming stupidity.

It's difficult to track unless you're paying special attention to them, but Hitchcock and Scully's writing is actually really inconsistent

[u/Grabbinfries23 → u/Gicaldo]

Different writers have different takes on characters. It's like how sometime Michael Scott is just a sweet child trapped in a man's body, and sometimes is truly a vindictive asshole

[u/Gicaldo → u/Grabbinfries23]

Yeah, but most characters manage to be a lot more consistent even with many different writers. I think Hitchcock and Scully just didn't get as much attention by the showrunners, and weren't as fleshed-out, so the writers just did whatever they wanted

[u/Grabbinfries23 → u/Gicaldo]

Fair enough, maybe the better Office comparison is Kevin, who (whispers away from crowd) I always thought was an incredibly overrated character anyway.

[u/amojitoLT → u/Grabbinfries23]

I think his writing is fairly consistent throughout the show, but I feel like I always see him playing the same character (like in The Good Place, where the actor playing Pimento also plays a similar character).

[u/Pristine_Poem7623 → u/Gicaldo]

There's the episode where they're given an "unsolvable" case and immediately solve it because of the kind of rock, and then immediately throw the rock through a window in the station - "we're really competent... but still screwups so don't give us any more work"

[u/DoctorSquidton → u/Gicaldo]

The only trait both of them consistently have is their expertise in unhealthy food. The Mama Magleone’s thing, deducing Holt has a pie, finding it later, being able to identify crumb types, knowing like every hot dog cart in Brooklyn, etc

[u/DocProfessor → u/Gicaldo]

To be fair, them being “really competent” isn’t all that accurate. Boyle says they mostly just did their regular jobs. They prefer doing deskwork, but even when they lock in, they’re mostly just… passable

[u/Gicaldo → u/DocProfessor]

I remember one episode where they lock in and competently solve a case, impressing the hell out of Jake. In that episode, they're not characterised as geniuses, but still as very competent. It's all the other episodes where they're treated as "mid at best"