LogFAQs > #959386181

All funny characters in sitcoms tend to be jerks or straight-men for jerks (like Hank Hill). JD is just more noticeable because hes not that funny compared to the jerks around him (Cox, Kelso, Janitor, Turk, etc) and is also less of a cartoon character compared to the first 3 (who are easily the funniest characters on the show).

Non-sequitur: I think that I like Parks and Rec so much because most of the truly deplorable characters are framed as villains. The one exception to this is Tom, but hes framed as a kind of Dale Gribble type character, where hes often out-of-line but he always gets put in his place for it, and he clearly cares about the people around him.