Trivia / Dilbert

Comic

• Ascended Fanon:
  • Catbert was initially just someone who tried to eat Ratbert. Adams then started getting fanmail for more 'Catbert'. He never actually named the cat; still, given the response and how his use of Theme Naming could lead to this, he kept the cat and gave him a perfect job. His reasoning being that if your entire fanbase spontaneously and unanimously names a character for you, you should probably keep him.
  • Many fans commented on a resemblance between the Pointy Haired Boss and Phil, Prince of Insufficient Light. Scott Adams claimed that this was just because he wasn't that good at drawing different faces but decided to introduce a plot line where it was revealed that they were brothers.
  • Fan reaction generally seems responsible for determining which one-shot characters become regulars (Catbert, Ratbert, Topper) and which don't (Camping Carl, Single Task Bob, Sourpuss).
• Executive Meddling:
  • A beneficial instance was when Adams wanted to feature Satan in the comic and the editor said no. Thus was borne Phil the Prince of Insufficient Light which Adams admits is a funnier concept.
    Adams: And to date, I have not been accused of being in league with Phil, so it all worked out.
  • Less benign example: while the Cubicle Gestapo is an inherently funny concept, the minefield of figuring out how many Nazi references a newspaper comic can get away with makes their appearances more trouble than they're worth. In several papers they were changed into the "Cubicle Police".
• Reality Subtext: The artwork and lettering becomes noticeably rougher for a period in the 1990s. This was due to Scott Adams developing dystonia that prevented him from writing and drawing with his right hand, so he was creating strips left-handed. This was eventually assuaged by Adams switching to drawing on a computer and typing out text using a font based on samples of his handwriting.
• Recycled Script: Cleanup on aisle three.
  • This wasn't lost on the mashers.
• Referenced by...: Dilbert has its own page for this trope.
• Role-Ending Misdemeanor: On February 22, 2023, Scott Adams made racist remarks on YouTube that prompted some of the individual newspapers running Dilbert to drop it. On February 27, Andrew McMeel Syndication reacted to the controversy and completely dropped Adams and Dilbert from its roster.
• Studio Hop: At first, the comic was published by United Feature Syndicate, before moving to Andrews McMeel Syndication in 2011 and Locals in 2023.
• Trolling Creator: Scott Adams has admitted that the angry or irrational comments he'll sometimes tweet are just his way of getting ideas for gags.
• What Could Have Been: Originally, Dogbert was supposed to be called "Dildog", but United Feature Syndicate pointed out that any printing error that dropped the G would wreak havoc.
• Write What You Know: Dilbert started running while Adams was still working at Pacific Bell, with Wally being mostly a non-speaking background character. Then the company began offering buyout packages to the employees, with the caveat that they were only available to the lowest 10 percent of the workforce (as a way to get rid of deadweight). One of Adams' coworkers (who Adams describes as "one of the more brilliant people I've ever known") decided, as a bad mistake meant that he could no longer advance in the company, that was a fine idea and began to "work as hard as he could to become the worst possible employee in order to get money for leaving", which included openly running a side business from his cubicle. Adams loved the concept of a cynical employee with no loyalty to his employer, and Wally was born.
• Write Who You Know: Adams has said that Wally, Alice, Carol and Asok are all based (with varying degrees of precision) on ex-coworkers from Pacific Bell.
  • Alice was based on a former coworker of Scott's. This woman, whose real name was Anita, was "the model for Alice's pink suit, fluffy hair, coffee obsession, technical proficiency, and take-no-crap attitude." Adams went on to say that "As far as I know, the real-life version of Alice has never kicked a man into his hat, or stuffed an intern into his shirt sleeve, or slapped a man so hard he traveled back in time. But if I ever hear about it happening, it won't surprise me."
  • Wally is based on an extremely intelligent man Adams worked with at Pac Bell, who discovered he'd earn more money from severance than actually working there thanks to a generous employee buy-out program—for the company's worst employees. He stated he was absolutely fascinated by "one of the more brilliant people I've met" working hard at being incompetent, rude, and generally poor at his job to qualify for the buy-out program.
  • Asok was named after another coworker who used a less-common spelling of the Indian name Ashok, something Adams didn't realize until fans started asking him about it.

TV Series

• Acting for Two: Tom Kenny, Maurice LaMarche and Tress MacNeille provide additional voices.
• Descended Creator: Many professional voice actors auditioned for Wally but none could really nail the character. Then executive producer Larry Charles realized that voice director Gordon Hunt just naturally had the nasally voice they were looking for.
• Hollywood Accounting: According to Scott Adams he (and presumably anybody else who was supposed to be paid royalties) never made a dime on the show thanks to this. Accordingly he’s fine with people finding ways to watch it for free.
• No Export for You: Bizarrely, only the first 8 episodes were released on DVD in Britain.
• One-Book Author: Wally was the only major voice role for Gordon Hunt, who was normally a voice director notable for working on the Uncharted series and several Hanna-Barbera cartoons (and for being Helen Hunt's father).
• Playing Against Type: Catbert gives Jason Alexander an opportunity to play a character who isn't neurotic, hysterical or stupid. Evil, on the other hand...
• Production Posse: Since producer Larry Charles previously worked on Seinfeld, a lot of people from that show showed up- Larry Miller (the titular character of "the Doorman") was the PHB and Jason Alexander was Catbert; Wayne Knight and Jerry Seinfeld himself showed up in guest spots (as a security guard Dilbert trades jobs with, and Comp-U-Comp respectively).
• Self-Adaptation: The series was co-developed by Adams, who also co-wrote a good chunk of the scripts.
• Uncredited Role:
  • Kathy Griffin provides the voice of Alice. She was appearing on Suddenly Susan at the time as well, and her contract for that show prohibited her from getting on-screen credit for any roles in series that aired on networks other than NBC.
  • Happened to Chris Elliott in "The Name" for unknown reasons.

---