There’s no shortage of TV characters lacking motivation, and lots of us can probably relate.
Whether you’re a pro at snoozing your alarm every morning or you can’t find the energy to clean out that attic you’ve been meaning to get to, you know motivation can be hard to come by.
The comforting news is that you’re not alone.
(NBC/Netflix Screenshot)
Some of our favorite characters struggle with getting motivated, and honestly, we’re thankful for the representation.
We’re taking a look at some of those characters who make us feel better about sleeping in for just five more minutes.
(Embassy Television/YouTube Screenshot)
Al Bundy — Married … With Children
Al from Married … With Children has a shoe store job, but he’s otherwise the epitome of lazy and unmotivated.
If he had his way, he would live on his couch, and honestly, he does on many of the show’s episodes.
It’s like pulling teeth for his wife or anyone else to get him to do anything that requires effort.
When he is doing anything, it’s usually done with the least effort possible.
(Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions/Screenshot)
Steven Hyde — That ’70s Show
Hyde was so smart, but he didn’t want to do much of anything.
He mostly just spent his time on screen on That ’70s Show, judging other people and criticizing the world as a whole.
With a little effort, he could have done a lot more with his life.
Instead, he spent his time working dead-end jobs like the Fotohut.
(Warner Bros. TV/Screenshot)
Joey Tribbiani — Friends
Nobody can question Joey’s loyalty.
He’s kind and generous, and his presence on Friends made the show what it was.
His energy level is also not in question since he always seems upbeat and willing to do things with the rest of the group.
Yet, most people want a hobby or something.
Joey?
He just usually wants a girl or a snack, making him one of our favorite characters lacking motivation.
(Netflix/Screenshot)
Todd Chavez — Bojack Horseman
Todd is a professional couch-surfer. He doesn’t fail upward so much as horizontally, moving from Bojack Horseman‘s couch to Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter’s house. He even ends up staying at Princess Caroline’s apartment.
He’s drawn as a prototypical slacker from a decade ago, complete with stubble, hoodie, knit cap, track pants, and flip-flops.
He’s amenable and nonjudgmental, and even though he’s technically unemployed, he works hard at taking care of the people around him.
He has various offbeat job stints and is also pretty creative. He can work tirelessly if he’s interested in something (like building Henry Fondle, the sex robot from household appliances, and a Speak & Spell) but is virtually catatonic otherwise.
Bojack often uses Todd as a punching bag and can be pretty mean to him, but Todd somehow remains cheerful, which gets under Bojack’s self-loathing skin and probably perpetuates that cycle of behavior.
Todd is oddly as much the moral center of the show as Diane and serves as both a comedic foil and a vulnerable dramatic character.
(NBC/Netflix Screenshot)
Mindy St. Claire — The Good Place
Mindy is a deceased corporate lawyer and addict who died in the process of founding a charity she had planned during a cocaine high.
After her death, the charity generated enough good points that her point total exceeded that required to enter The Good Place.
As a compromise, the Judge ruled that she would receive her own private Medium Place, where everything is mediocre and grounded in the 1980s.
Despite the fact that there’s nothing going on in her afterlife, Mindy is content to go with the flow and doesn’t concern herself with the idea of moving up in the world.
(NBC)
Jeff is the main character on Community, and he is always focused on the wrong thing.
He’s been known to look for the easiest way out of things, like when he got a fake college degree instead of going to school.
He also tried to cheat his way through community college.
Jeff relies on his much more motivated classmates, like Annie and Shirley, to do most of the work on group projects.
The only time Jeff puts forth any effort into anything is when he’s trying to mess with someone.
He’s a pretty terrible friend, and those close to him often pay the price for his laziness.
(Ben Cohen/NBC)
April Ludgate — Parks and Recreation
Don’t get me wrong, April is one of my favorite characters on Parks and Recreation.
Later on in the series, she shows serious passion and work ethic once she finds something that she genuinely cares about.
But when we first meet April, she’s highly unmotivated and disengaged from work.
She shows up every day but does the bare minimum to get by.
While her boss, Ron, is pleased by her inaction in the office due to his anti-government beliefs, April’s lack of interest in doing anything doesn’t impress others as much.
To be fair, most of us were probably a bit lost at 19!
(FOX/Screenshot)
Peter Griffin — Family Guy
Peter is the stereotypical useless TV husband.
On Family Guy, he expects his wife to do everything at home, including the bulk of raising their children.
The rare occasions in which he spends time with the kids usually involve him bullying them.
Peter is the kind of guy who expects everything to be done for him.
Luckily for him, his wife Lois is a superhero because she manages to pick up all his slack.
Her dad sees through Peter’s funny-guy persona, though, and never misses an opportunity to call him out as a character lacking motivation.
(NBC)
Hitchcock and Scully — Brooklyn Nine-Nine
On Brooklyn Nine-Nine, these two always come as a pair.
They’ve been partners for decades, and the only thing that motivates them is finding ways to get out of doing things.
You can usually find them getting up to ridiculous shenanigans involving food.
Both Hitchcock and Scully embody the stereotype of the lazy, donut-loving cop.
(NBC)
Kevin Malone — The Office
Kevin is kind of a lovable oaf.
He manages to hold a job in accounting at Dunder Mifflin, but no one really knows how.
He doesn’t seem like he knows what he’s doing.
Kevin is much more likely to get energized over the idea of a work potluck than his job.
Still, he’s the star of some of the funniest scenes on The Office.
(Disney/Screenshot)
Jackson Stewart — Hannah Montana
Miley Stewart lived a double life as a normal teenager by day and a global pop star by night.
Her older brother Jackson couldn’t have been more different.
He was resourceful enough that he constantly concocted ways to get out of his responsibilities.
His dad tried to motivate him in about a hundred ways, but nothing seemed to work.
His job at Rico’s Surf Shop may have kept his wallet full, but like most of our characters lacking motivation, Jackson almost never put in more effort than he had to.
Still, his goofy antics kept fans of this Disney classic entertained.
(Liane Hentscher/Amazon Prime Video)
Who Did We Miss?
What unmotivated characters make you feel seen?
Don’t be shy. We won’t judge. At least, we’ll try not to!
Hit the comments to tell us who we missed.
