Стюарт Смалли: Ал Франкеннің әзілкеш кейіпкері

Fictional character created by Al Franken

Stuart Smalley is a fictional character created and performed by comedian and satirist Al Franken. The character originated on the television show Saturday Night Live, in a mock self help show called "Daily Affirmations With Stuart Smalley." It first aired on the show's February 9, 1991 episode hosted by Kevin Bacon. Stuart is Franken's middle name. Franken has stated that his "going to Al Anon meetings inspired [the character] Stuart [Smalley]". (He attended the meetings in support of his wife, who was battling alcoholism at the time.)

Stuart participates in many (sometimes fictional) programs, not limited to Overeaters Anonymous, Children of Alcoholic Parents Anonymous, and Children of Rageaholic Parents Anonymous. He is an effeminate man with a perfectly coiffed bleached blond hairdo, who regularly wears a yellow button down shirt with a powder blue cardigan. It is frequently hinted that Stuart might be gay, but his sexual orientation is never clearly stated. All his romantic partners have names which could be male or female, like Dale, Chris, or Merle. His father gripes, "You'd drink too if you had Liberace for a son." Within the context of the show, Stuart is quick to point out that he is not a licensed therapist but relies instead upon the credibility of his own experiences as a non professional. His guests are very often celebrities; however, Smalley is seemingly unaware of his guests' fame as he never uses their full names so as to "protect (their) anonymity." Other guests who appeared are his family members, such as Macaulay Culkin playing his nephew or Roseanne Barr playing his sister, who suffers from battered wife syndrome. A Canadian relative, Leon Smalley, played by Kiefer Sutherland has a show called "Today's Meditation", which is a big hit in Canada.

The character effectively disappeared after the box office failure of the film and Franken's exit from Saturday Night Live, save one appearance where Smalley, bitter over the failure of the movie, refused to finish his affirmation, excoriated his viewers for not watching, and openly wept. At one point in that skit, Smalley (in reference to the film, its glowing reviews, and the film that beat it at the box office) commented: "But you didn't want 'funny' and 'poignant'. You wanted 'Dumb and Dumber and Dumber and Dumber'!" In 2004, Franken reprised the Smalley character when Al Gore hosted, mentioning that his father was still an alcoholic. The character also showed up from time to time on The Al Franken Show. Later, after Franken made a bid for a United States Senate seat that ended in success but also in controversy – he would not be officially declared the winner, and therefore under Minnesota law could not be seated, until a full eight months after the election itself – he would be dubbed "Senator Stuart Smalley" by critics and fans alike.