Around the Time he gets Ferguson the cat.

The end of season 2 maybe? Like Cece and Shivrang’s wedding. But also when he becomes a cop he seems to also get funnier?

I ALWAYS thought this... It always seemed like they brought in Winston to be the athletic "coach" like character. And at first they tried to play it that way.

I think as the show evolved they let Winston evolve into the character that Lamorne could naturally play better

I may be interpreting it incorrectly, but from listening to the podcast it sounds like you are right. I think they auditioned Lamorne for the part of Coach initially, but ended up going a different way (Damon) because Lamorne accepted an offer on another show. Then Damon had to leave to do another show, so they were looking to add in a character and Lamorne was able to come back so they created Winston. Zooey mentioned that after the pilot she and others petitioned hard to bring Lamorne on…it’s all kind of convoluted but it really worked out perfectly! Winston is such a great character and Lamorne is perfect

Good question. You should submit the it to the podcast.

Yes, this is pretty much the situation. Damon Wayans Jr. got an offer to be in another sitcom, so they brought on Lamorne Morris and workshopped his character til we got good ol' Pranks Sinatra.

Listen to the podcast! They talk a lot about Winston and how his character came to be after Coach left

My understanding is: They originally wrote the character for Damon Waynes junior (coach), but DWj ended up acting on another show and couldn’t do both. So after the pilot, Lamorne morris (Winston) replaced DWj but played what should’ve been coach’s character traits and personality. After season 1, DWj’s other show got canceled, they added him back to the script and transitioned Winston from the “coach” character personality to the goofball that he became.

I watched a video that said that the writers followed a similar model that Friends did with the characters. So there’s the “will they won’t they” of Nick and Jess (Ross and Rachel) and then the Type A neat freak of Schmidt (Monica) the player of Coach (Joey) and then the quirky silly one for comedic relief of Winston (Phoebe). The video was saying if you look closely most sitcoms follow a similar model. While the characters between the shows are VERY different, each one serves a purpose for the writers and it makes writing storylines easier. So Winston became silly and goofy so that each episode had a goofy moment. You can always rely on him for a laugh

Idk I see it as him leaning more into his weirdness as he's looking for his identity after losing his basketball career, since he never really chose pro basketball for himself but totally relied on it for an identity (like with shelby) I think it works ultimately :)

I saw someone say once that he's slowly succumbing to rabies from Bucky the Badger

Check out the rewatch Podcast "welcome to our show" where he talks about this quite a bit!

You’re so right he is the EPITOME of pookie, feel like he’d like that term of endearment too tbh

This is your girl Winnie the bish!

Be the Winnie the Bish you want to see in the world.

Look at him being so naughty, So NAUGHTY.

Be your own Winston. Sometimes I like to be Courtroom Brown.

Lamorne is such a great actor. But I think what makes the guys so funny is the sheer randomness of some of the acts.

Like Nick’s friendship with Tran, every mispronunciation from Schmidt and then the most goofy shit from Winston. When he says “silly billy” and gets coach to react to it.

He’s amazing.

Winny Bish became the best character by far in like season 3 or 4.

Joanie. I don't wanna lie to you, so I'm not. There's shells all in these eggs.

i quote this to my mother in the exact tone at least once a week. i obviously don’t actually mean her harm, she knows that because we watched the episode together. we laugh about it lol

My favorite was the shower scene "I'd like to help, but I don't wanna get wet, it's too late for you, but there's still time for me"

They address this on the podcast. Lamorne basically says the writers didn't really know what to do with Winston for the first season and a half

This is how I reconcile it in my mind... I'm a Winston. I am randomly super talented at some things that make no sense and comically bad at everything else.

Cartwheel across a log going over a river= no problem. Walk on sidewalk on a sunny day= inevitable trip and fall

I really think the writers weren’t sure what to do with Winston because his character had to be different than coaches character. He wasn’t very funny in the beginning either, and was way more serious. Eventually they found their footing with the character, and switched gears.

Nah. He can’t even do puzzles.

The plot holes in this show are all over the place.

This actually applies to other characters as well. Nick was quite smart and intelligent before like how he fancy fixed everything at the loft which needed brains but later on we see he's become dumber and dumber. The same goes with Schmidt. Schmidt was a bit more douche-y and a lovable idiot, but season 4 onwards he became quite smart and less douche-y. I love the show nonetheless!

His relationship with Ferguson is the best!

“Winston & Ferguson ‘bout to eat some pasta!”

As a white person "Be gone honky!!" kills me every time also when Jess asks if he wants to move to Portland with her and he says "noooo Portland is hella white" 🤣 Winston is my favorite

He can’t handle those drinks

I loved that he had more lines and development in later seasons. I'm also Black, and I'm impressed that I was able to laugh at the plot where Schmidt was feeling guilty and Winston pretended to be yearning for crack. 🤣

My husband doesn’t like him because as the seasons go on he becomes more ridiculous. But that’s why I love him!

I don’t, I think he gets better every season. Season 5 Winston Bishop may be my favorite of all time.

My opinion though and I have no problem with your opinion.

This might actually be one of the only “Does anyone else...” questions where the OP is in fact the only one.

Winnie the Bish is perfection!

How dare you sir Winston is my favorite! I don’t know what is is just every time I watch I love him more and more. So like, the exact opposite of your problem. Lol