Stanley Zbornak: Hey, It's Him... Stan!

[Stinger97]

Love him or hate him, he was always a consistent schlub. 

[sgittinger]

I always had a soft place in my heart for Stan. Poor, doofus, Stan.

[Kiddvideo]

His own mother didn't like the poor yutz. :-(

I felt badly for the guy even though he didn't know how she really felt.

[BizBuzz]

Who could forget the toupees? 

[Maherjunkie]

Or the pukka shells.  He was a hard guy not to like.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I actually liked Stan, hapless schmuck that he was. Imagine a slightly overweight Ralph Furley with no hair, and that's Stan. As annoying as any fly that just can't be shooed away, and yet weirdly endearing at the same time.

[WhitneyWhit]

I loved Stan, I was happy anytime the door open and we heard "Hi, it's me Stan".

 

I actually thought Herb and Bea had a fantastic and believable chemistry. I totally bought them as a couple that loved each other very much, but could never make a marriage work.

[Maherjunkie]

Didn't at the end you expected them to get back together?

[Miss Chevious]

No because Dorothy could've gotten back with Stan already if she'd really wanted to. She almost did in a two-part episode, but didn't go through with it after all.

[Maherjunkie]

Leslie Nielsen didn't fit as well, I think.

[Miss Chevious]

Sorry but I disagree. I think Dorothy and Lucas had great chemistry together. They looked so cute when they were kissing and when Dorothy said "Ready Freddy". It was so good they named it! Of all Dorothy's love interests, Lucas was the best.

[fitzcarraldo]

My favorite Stan moment is when he says "Do I smell waffles? Could I smell waffles?"

[Gothish520]

Funny how people see things so differently - I didn't like Stan at all. He got in some funny lines, sure, but as a husband, father, and friend, he was the worst. Completely selfish, and not the least bit attractive. I could not believe that Dorothy almost married him again, and wanted to get back with him twice. Thank goodness she didn't.

[TheGreenKnight]

I thought Stan was an entertaining character insofar as how the other characters reacted to him. The character himself was never likable, except for briefly when he was trying to win Dorothy back and show he'd changed. I never rooted for them to get back together, but there were a few fun moments/jokes that came out of that storyline.

[One Tough Cookie]

Couldn't stand Stan or Angelo.  Stan was a loser and Angelo a creep.

[schnauzergirl]

I loved Stan's mother and wish we'd seen her in a few more episodes.  Can you imagine her in a room with Sophia?

[mythoughtis]

On 6/16/2014 at 9:37 AM, Maherjunkie said:

Didn't at the end you expected them to get back together?

It would have been an expected choice since they kept throwing up that concept... but I never saw the appeal.  They didn’t seem to have one thing in common besides their offspring.  I couldn’t see how they had lasted 38 years.  That long of a marriage could only have been because they would have gotten married at a time when divorce wasn’t as common- and because they were most likely Catholic.   Dorothy was played as a professional well educated uptight woman and Stan had so very little class. 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

On 2/13/2018 at 12:14 AM, Gothish520 said:

Funny how people see things so differently - I didn't like Stan at all. He got in some funny lines, sure, but as a husband, father, and friend, he was the worst. Completely selfish, and not the least bit attractive. I could not believe that Dorothy almost married him again, and wanted to get back with him twice. Thank goodness she didn't.

I'm with you. And the idea that so many women threw themselves at him is completely unbelievable.

[Josette]

Aw.  I liked Stan.  Not in his early appearances, but later as the series went on.  I thought he was a good match with Dorothy.  I didn't want them to end up together, but I couldn't hate him.  There were a lot of funny moments with him on the show.  I know the writers enjoyed writing for the character.

A bit of trivia: Herb Edelman (Stan) and Ken Howard (Blanche's Jerry) were both ex-husbands of actress Louise Sorel.

[WendyCR72]

On 4/30/2019 at 11:18 AM, Josette said:

Aw.  I liked Stan.  Not in his early appearances, but later as the series went on.  I thought he was a good match with Dorothy.  I didn't want them to end up together, but I couldn't hate him.  There were a lot of funny moments with him on the show.  I know the writers enjoyed writing for the character.

A bit of trivia: Herb Edelman (Stan) and Ken Howard (Blanche's Jerry) were both ex-husbands of actress Louise Sorel.

I knew Louise Sorel was married to Herb Edelman, but I didn't know she was also married to Ken Howard. Huh!

[MoistestCake]

On 4/16/2019 at 3:26 AM, BlancheDevoreaux said:

I'm with you. And the idea that so many women threw themselves at him is completely unbelievable.

It's like Dorothy says, they first get his credit card details. 

[Bastet]

11 hours ago, MoistestCake said:

It's like Dorothy says, they first get his credit card details. 

The timing of reading this is funny only to me, but I'm going to share anyway -- just last night, when someone mentioned her MasterCard (instead of just credit card), I immediately played that scene in my head, when Stan says he doesn't have to beg, women come to him, and Dorothy zings, "Right after they get the approval number on your MasterCard." 

Of more general interest to the thread, I think Herb Edelman did a terrific job with the character.  There has to be some small but palpable degree of heart in a character like Stan to sustain him for as many years as the show lasted, and he nailed it.  We see all the reasons Dorothy's initial reaction to "It's me, Stan" is to slam the door in his face and why the pregnancy is the only reason she married him in the first place, but we also see why she stayed married to him beyond the kids and was heartbroken by the divorce. 

He's a laundry list of negative things, but in his own Stan way he loves her, their kids, and even Sophia.  He loves no one more than he loves himself, so he's ultimately rightly rejected.  But he has his moments, and Edelman plays those moments every bit as well as the more-prevalent narcissistic buffoon notes, so the character works in a way that's impressive for a secondary character on a show that's the very definition of a situational comedy.

[catlover79]

Ironically, I watched a rerun of Maude the other night and Herb Edelman guested. Even then, he and Bea had sparks. I wonder if she recommended him for the role of Stan.

[latincoffee]

The toupees, the hate from Sophia towards him and deep down I know Dorothy still had a special place in her heart for Stan regardless of all the craziness.