dr. loveless wild wild west

Jerks, dweebs, nerds, misfits and villains

COVID-19 and climate change give further evidence that scientists have a credibility problem. We can thank pop culture for much of that.

Why do so many people distrust scientists? Just take a look at the characters that represent scientists in TV and movies.


Here they are, in three categories.

The Professors

wizard of oz professor marvel

Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan) tells Dorothy that Auntie Em is ill.

During my four years at Boston University, I had what is probably the usual mix of good professors, lousy professors, and weird professors. But I can't think of any that were made-for-Hollywood.

Here are some that I must have missed.

The Professor (v1): There's nothing sadder than a humorless guy on a hit comedy show, except maybe for a humorless, nameless guy. The Gilligan's Island Professor is the standard bearer for scientific nerdiness. (Note: His name, used only once or twice in four years' worth of episodes, was Roy Hinkley.)

The Professor (v2): Before Felix the Cat became an iconic wall clock, he first appeared in silent cartoons as early as 1919. But in the late 1950's he starred in 260 animated shorts, often opposed by The Professor, a mustachioed villain obsessed with filching Felix's Magic Bag of Tricks.

Professor Frink: John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr. is a regular on The Simpsons. He is the inventor of the hamburger earmuffs.

Professor Irwin Corey: His popular 1950's nightclub act featured the "World's Foremost Authority" in a rumpled cap-and-gown, spouting high-minded gibberish not intended to be understood by anyone. The anti-Communist McCarthy blacklist silenced him until a late 1960's comeback made him a TV fixture. He performed until shortly before his death at age 102 in 2017.

Professor(s) Klump: Jerry Lewis played the 1963 version. Julius Kelp was a bucktoothed, nearsighted Nutty Professor named Julius Kelp whose magic potion turned him into suave lothario Buddy Love. Eddie Murphy revived the character in 1996 with his obese Nutty Professor Sherman Klump. Both are in turn loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 book, The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Professor Marvel: Of course, the broken-down traveling con man from The Wizard of Oz was not really a professor at all. His alter ego, the Wizard, comes through at the end, though.

The Doctors

Lost in space

Dr. Zachary Smith, Lost in Space.

"Doctors" make up a second subset of oddball scientists. Dr. Strangelove, the hydrogen bomb loving ex-Nazi; Doc Brown, the time-traveling loon from the Back to the Future movies; and Austin Powers' inept foe Dr. Evil are no-brainers.

Mary Shelley gave literary birth to Herr Doctor Viktor Frankenstein in 1818, lest we think that this evil scientist thing is relatively new. In 1931, Colin Clive portrayed the quintessential evil scientist on the screen. Gene Wilder played his grandson for laughs in 1974's Young Frankenstein.

An obscure, personal fave: Singer/songwriter Tom Waits as the oh-so-unusual Doc Heller in 2004's Mystery Men.

Dr. Loveless of Wild Wild West fame: Kenneth Branagh was purely evil in the 1999 movie, I'm partial to Michael Dunn, who played Loveless as an evil dwarf with a great sense of humor on the 1960's TV show.

Dr. Zachary Smith, the sniveling, treacherous stowaway from Lost in Space. In an overacting effort worthy of William Shatner, Jonathan Harris sneers and whines his way into our hearts.

Two more Doctors who aren't goofballs, but deserve mention are:

Dr. Research: Maybe they could have put a little research into finding a better name, but in the late 1950s, Bell Labs produced a remarkable series of science films. CBS aired them. In one, Dr. Research (played by a real-life UCLA English Literature professor, Frank Baxter) gives a spot-on projection of what fossil fuel burning would do to the earth.

Dr. Dolittle was played by Rex Harrison in the original 1967 film—both talking and singing to the animals. Eddie Murphy starred in the 1999 remake, which exceeded the original in veterinary toilet humor.

The Others

Star Trek Spock

Kirk and Spock.

Spock: The ears are adorable, he's a sci-fi hero, and, to borrow a bit of timeworn racist condescension, he's a credit to the Vulcan race. You know, the Vulcan race whose sex drive allows them one compulsory fling every seven years. Some nerds might envy Spock for such frequency. But they'd embrace him as a nerd, if the embracing rules permit.

Josef Mengele: You've got to have a lot of evil on your scientist résumé to get hired by Hitler. Mengele was insane and sadistic. Until recently, I blamed him for the breeding of Labrador retrievers and standard poodles. But Gregory Peck's bone-chilling portrayal of him in The Boys from Brazil (1978) shows us perhaps the most horrible scientist ever. I bet they don't show this at the Future Scientists Club meetings.

The Big Bang Theory: The long-running CBS show just ended its 12-year run and has entered the lucrative syndication market. It features four young, accomplished scientists with the social skills of a nerd, a dork, a geek, and a dweeb, respectively.

Magnus Pyke: Who, you ask? Magnus was a British TV personality who often played scientists. He was a natural choice for the lab-coated dork who shouts "science!" in Thomas Dolby's biggest hit.

Dexter's Lab: A precocious boy scientist who fights another uber-scientist, Mandark. It was a seven-year hit on Cartoon Network.

The exception that proves the rule

Indiana Jones is badass, but not bad. How can a swashbuckling archaeologist who battles Nazis and other assorted badguys be a bad guy himself?

However, any truly good scientist would tell you that the exception-proves-the-rule stuff is a steaming pile of hooey.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist. Contact Peter at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo: Jim Shane (in background) and Michael Dunn as Dr. Loveless from the television program The Wild Wild West. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

a row of flags in front of a building.
Credit: Mmoka/Unsplash

World climate talks resume without U.S. as global negotiators assess new path forward

The United States skipped a major round of United Nations climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany this week, leaving other nations and U.S. civil society groups to navigate the talks without the world's largest fossil fuel producer at the table.

Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Smoke billows from an industrial chimney at sunset near several homes.

Judge rules EPA overstepped in cutting pollution grants

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from canceling $600 million in environmental justice grants aimed at helping underserved communities reduce pollution.

Rachel Frazin reports forThe Hill.

In short:

  • The grants stem from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $3 billion for environmental justice programs.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden had planned to distribute the $600 million through regional groups, which would fund local efforts, before the Trump EPA terminated the grants earlier this year.
  • Judge Adam Abelson ruled the EPA's cancellation exceeded its authority “precisely because they are ‘environmental justice’ programs."

Key quote:
The move included a “lack of any reasoned decision-making, or reasoned explanation.”

— Judge Adam Abelson, U.S. District Court

Why this matters:
Underserved communities often face the greatest environmental health risks and climate impacts. These grants were designed to help local groups respond to long-standing environmental harms and health risks, and canceling them would have cut off vital support just as cleanup efforts were beginning to gain traction. The Trump administration has also attempted to cancel a similar $20 billion program that would fund climate-friendly projects.

coffee mug near open folder with tax withholding paper.

Senate Republicans move to cut clean energy tax credits despite bipartisan benefits

Congressional Republicans are advancing a tax plan that would slash incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles, drawing criticism from advocates and some GOP members whose districts benefit from green investments.

Alexa St. John reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
A stream running through green forested hills.

Brazil moves to auction vast oil blocks despite climate and Indigenous concerns

Brazil is set to auction off oil and gas exploration rights in a massive offshore and Amazon region sale, prompting backlash from Indigenous groups and environmental advocates just months before it hosts the Cop30 climate summit.

Constance Malleret reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
An image showing a downpour with a caution sign.

New research links stalled jet stream to rising summer weather extremes

The number of extreme summer weather events driven by trapped atmospheric waves has tripled since 1950 due to climate change, new research shows.

Seth Borenstein reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
Farm machinery helping harvest turnips.

How agribusiness lobbying boosts corporate control over food and climate policy

Industrial agriculture companies spent hundreds of millions lobbying Congress ahead of the stalled farm bill debate, further distancing everyday Americans from decisions shaping the nation’s food systems and climate future.

Brian Calvert reports for Civil Eats.

Keep reading...Show less
Steel mill under a cloudy sky.
Credit: Michi/Pixabay

Steelmaker retreats from clean energy plans as hydrogen costs and politics shift

Cleveland-Cliffs is scaling back plans to build the nation's first green steel plant in Ohio, pivoting away from hydrogen and back to fossil fuels as federal incentives face repeal and political winds change in Washington.

Alexander C. Kaufman reports for Canary Media.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.