"The mother/wife/girlfriend in comedies is often the sensible person on the show. The goof (i.e. the guy) usually gets the catch phrase".
...actually the "sensible person" is also the black, asian, muslim or handicapped. Yes, the"goof" is the guy, but always a WHITE guy. And he's usually at least 50 lbs overweight/balding etc.
Example: Bob Newhart tells wife [Suzanne Pleshette] the former girlfriend was a failure, that she became a school---- [at this point, he remembers that she too is a schoolteacher and stops mid sentence.]
She replies, deadpan, "A school, Bob? She became a school?"
"Well, she only thought she was a school..."