Talk:Pointy-haired Boss

Proposal to reinstate section:

-Section title: Other fictional characters with some PHB traits

• John Armstrong (The Armstrongs)
• Henry Blake (M*A*S*H)
• David Brent (The Office, BBC original)
• Julius C. Dithers (Blondie (comic strip))
• Jack Donaghy (30 Rock)
• Gordon Jump as Arthur 'Big Guy' Carlson (WKRP in Cincinnati)
• Bill Lumbergh (Office Space)
• Mr. Poe (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
• Alan Roy (Made in Canada)
• Michael Scott (The Office, NBC adaptation)
• Frank Waturi (Joe Versus the Volcano)

-History of article and questionable removal

After researching the history of this article and all relevant inclusions, the section approximately looked as above until it was removed on 2007-04-07 T06:01:58 by TKD for the reason "rm comparison list involving other unrelated characters; such analytical comparisons are original research unless sourced" While we may understand his sentiments, I respectfully contend it was overly strict adherence to a guideline. I further believe this resulted in a seemingly snap decision which was out of sync with the nature of this and other useful articles. In any case, such a section deletion should have gone through discussion and allowed other editors to weigh in.

-Proposed reinstatement

For that matter, I propose reinstating it. It was a long-running and helpful section in this article. By the same token, I think the floor should stay open for a little discussion, first. I personally do not believe the very minor "analytical comparisons" were over-reaching for the scope of wiki editors. Additionally, any sources to support the list (in whole or in part) would be appreciated. grubbmeister 21:07, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

-Discussion

Add any additional comments, then sign with "~~~~".

• A few points here: No original research isn't merely a guideline; it's a policy. Part of it states that original research includes the introduction of "an argument, without citing a reputable source for that argument, that purports to refute or support another idea, theory, argument, or position." Giving a list of PHBs, without citing a source that calls them such, advances an unsupported argument/position. Character trait analysis and comparisons are not exactly incontrovertible material. The fact that another article does something isn't necessarily reason to follow suit in other articles. Indeed, in addition to the policy against original researrch, there is a guideline that exhorts editors to avoid trivia, which these lists of comparisons tend to bem, especially without reliable sources and eithout further context. As far as prcedure, this article wasn't very heavily edited, so I was being WP:BOLD and tried to improve it. It really wasn't a source of ongoing controversy at the time, and there's no reason to discuss every single edit to articles that don't otherwise receive a lot of attention from editors. — TKD::Talk 07:11, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

-Voting

Indicate whether you support or oppose reinstating the section. Indicate *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your vote with "~~~~".

Example:

• Support - the section was relevant and helpful grubbmeister 21:07, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Votes:

• Oppose - Though I'm not sure why we even need this formalized template and such for a discussion that, for now, involves only the two of us. — TKD::Talk 07:11, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
• Oppose - While it may be worthwhile having a section that draws some comparisons with the Bill Lumbergh and Michael Scott characters (who are examples of the same office management phenomenon), the rest should go. But regardless of whether the section gets added, the list is useless and should be cut. - Kingnosis 16:58, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
• Oppose - This is original research, it's trivia, and it's stupid. For example, Henry Blake had no relation to the PHB whatsoever -- he was a nice, fair-minded guy, beloved by his subordinates, who didn't make the them work any harder than they had to, and was competent in the same field as them (surgery; as if the PHB was a capable engineer). He was virtually the opposite of the PHB. Damn. Leave other characters out of this. Don't try to compare the rest of the universe to Dilbert. Believe it or not, the rest of the universe doesn't fit. --63.25.252.165 (talk) 04:52, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
• Support/Oppose -
• Support/Oppose -
• Support/Oppose -

Disputed claim

"In the Dilbert TV series, in which he was voiced by comedian Larry Miller, the character was notably smarter..."

IMHO he is every bit as stupid in the TV series, if not more so. Lee M 19:10, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

As a big fan who owns the DVD boxsets, I agree that the TV version of PHB was as stupid as the cartoon strip version. Should be removed as it's incorrect. Notorious Biggles 12:24, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Lists and Their Evils

This page is a perfect example of why we shoudn't use lists: every other person that comes along feels the need to add to it. Someone needs to reformat it (Read: delete half of it) into a coherent paragraph.the1physicist 19:40, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

I disagree. That list was very helpful. In fact, I had a boss who fit 17 of the traits perfectly. That is a perfect example of why we SHOULD use lists. (64.228.222.141 (talk) 23:11, 27 July 2008 (UTC))

I VOTE we reinstate the list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.228.222.141 (talk) 23:11, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Nah, leave it out. --63.25.252.165 (talk) 04:59, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Requested move

No longer relevant; article was moved in December 2005. æ² ✆ 2006‑12‑25t04:39z

The name should have a hyphen to be grammatically correct, but Pointy-Haired Boss has an edit history reflecting changing name of this article itself. æle ✆ 22:35, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Voting

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your vote with ~~~~

• Support per nom. Goyston 20:47, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

Add any additional comments

"Heck" link

At the time I found this, "Heck" redirected to "Hell". Since a few words down "Hell" already has it's own wikilink and a few words above "Phil" already has his own link I have changed the link portion to Heck(Dilbert) as the natural place if such an article is created. Jon 19:24, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Mauve has the most RAM

I've deleted this section. The text of the strip as recounted is completely incorrect. There is no citation proving that the joke is a reference to Douglas Adams. I very much doubt the strip has anything whatsoever to do with SGI workstations. If you want to put it back you'll have to rewrite it.

Picture?

I understand Wikipedia needs to use free images, but surely there's a picture we can use for this article. NoobixCube (talk) 09:13, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

I have since added a picture--CornfieldMannequin (talk) 18:38, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Never mind. We need a picture again.--CornfieldMannequin (talk) 19:08, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Removed the weaselly-named "Related Acronyms".

After staring blankly at the "Related Acronyms" section for a bit, I realized was was bugging me about it. It's about stuff that really isn't related to Dilbert at all, except in the "If you enjoy Dilbert, Amazon recommends the following: ________" sense. It repeatedly used weasel words to build an after-the-fact connection when no real, verifiable connection ever existed. It was entirely about another strip/cartoon/whatever, by another artist, with no connection with Scott Adams's work. It was as if you put a whole section about Radiohead, and only Radiohead, in the Pink Floyd article. Oh, and on top of all that, it was purely original research. At first, I thought about rewriting it . . . but then, I realized I couldn't figure out any good reason for it being in the article at all. As if we need help recognizing when one acronym is reminscent of another? Or that we needed to be told the PHB is a "suit"?!? Can anyone justify this section's reinstatement? I think the article's much better without it. --63.25.252.165 (talk) 05:13, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Book Covers

The following images can be used in the article, showing the Pointy-Haired Boss's portrayal on Dilbert book covers:

Here

and Here

These images show relevance in the article. With the first one, management itself is portrayed as a bald person with pointy-hair, regardless of gender. And with the second one, the symbol of pointy-hair is referred to negatively as a pile of manure. (Hence the term "Don't Step In It," as well as the shovel.) I feel that these images should be shown in the article, and that someone should add Non-Free Use Rationales to them, permitting them to be used in this article. Please comment.--CornfieldMannequin (talk) 17:42, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Jowly boss

actually last appeared Sunday 1st December, 1991. How sad am I ;) Calum (talk) 16:11, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Not entirely incompetent

There was a strip in the past year where he stated something that was actually a good idea in terms of business but was once again shot down by the pompous ass that Dilbert is - and this was all supposed to be funny because Dilbert is never wrong (even if he's an idiot in terms of business sometimes). 99.240.141.220 (talk) 16:19, 10 September 2010 (UTC)

new section on the description of people as "pointy haired bosses"

due to the popularity of the comic strip, describing people as "pointy haired bosses" as a reference to the characteristics of the original is becoming more common.

am i right in thinking their should be a section on this? Magicalbendini (talk) 15:10, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

Is he called PHB in the strip?

Is he referred to as Pointy-haired Boss in the Dilbert world, or is that just what fans have decided to call him? the article doesn't say 74.108.54.119 (talk) 13:05, 30 July 2016 (UTC)