The 10 Funniest 80s Female TV Sitcom Characters

Recently we just did a piece on the funniest male sitcom characters from the 80s so I decided to dig in and try to locate some of the funnier females.   While in general I don’t think that female characters generally offer up as much humor as their male counterparts, there were still some pretty damned funny ladies in that decade.

1. Carla Tortelli from Cheers

Played by Rhea Perlman, Carla was the little itty bitty tough waitress from Cheers.    She may have been small in stature but she had a big mouth and didn’t take crap from anyone.   This lead to some pretty funny moments.

2. Rebecca Howe from Cheers

Many people might have expected me to put in Diane but personally I didn’t think she was that funny.  Kirstie Alley’s character was much much better.  Her constant obsession with being rich and her working in a rinky dink bar was always classic.  Not to mention her fighting dynamic with Sam always did it for me.

3. Chrissy Snow from Three’s Company

Ah yes, one of the most classic dumb characters in television history.   Chrissy was the quintessential dumb blond.   And Suzanne Sommers played the role so well.   The writers did an excellent job with this character.  Sure she was stereotypical but she was still funny.

4. Mrs. Garrett from Facts of Life

I think it was more funny to just watch her than to actually think she was funny.  Just the way she talked made me grin.

5. Adelaide Brubaker from Different Strokes

Lots of people don’t remember Adelaide.  She was the old maid on Different Strokes and she was hilarious.   Just watching her old character contrast with a young Gary Coleman was awesome.

6. Young Rudy Huxtable From The Cosby Show

She was so cute she could have done anything.   And I’m only referring to when Rudy was really really little.  In her older years she wasn’t even remotely funny.

7. Rose Nylund from Golden Girls

Betty White still remains one of the funniest women on all of television and her days on The Golden Girls were incredible.

8. Sophia Petrillo from Golden Girls

Estelle Getty was the classic “old” woman of the old woman crew on this show.   Such a snot yet so lovable.

9. Florence Johnson from The Jeffersons

I feel like it had never been done on TV before.   A maid that not only talks back but is 100% rude to her bosses?  This was a pretty novel and awesome idea if you ask me.

10. Jo from Facts of Life

I guess being a tomboy in the 80s was kind of funny.

*Honorable mention to the rest of the Golden Girls Cast, Diane Chambers, The rest of the girls from Facts of Life, and Malory from Family Ties.

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