User blog comment:ThatGuy456/A Guy's Thoughts: Season 6 - Richard's Rise/@comment-31194372-20190809025210/@comment-30307603-20190809041337

Ah, thanks! It's always nice to get comments from you, and happy to hear you thought the post was "stellar!"

To the show's credit, there have always been attempts at making Richard seem as nuanced and likable as the rest of the family to a degree of success. Detailing Jojo's restrictive parenting style and his issues with parental abandonment helped to make a more sympathetic figure, and the occasional "The Job" or "The Return" made him likable enough. The ideas were always there, but the writers seemed insistent on milking all of Richard's incompetent dad traits for every comedic cent they were worth, and as a result, his more likable traits were diminished, leaving the character in a somewhat frustrating niche. Season 6 was good in that it finally realized what makes Richard great and really honed in on his sincerity to the point it was the core of his character.

Great insight in regards to his more minor roles. Richard, by the nature of who he is, tends to be hammy, which works wonders for smaller more comedic-oriented roles. "The Rival" is another Season 6 episode that finds some fun with him in a less prominent role, being the hyped and clumsy budding parent to Anais.

It's pretty impressive how Season 6 was able to turn Richard around, given how the brothers somewhat and Nicole especially weren't nearly as lucky.

Get off my blog, whippersnapper.