Four-Man Band

A Four-Man Band, despite assumptions, is not simply a smaller version of the Five-Man Band archetype. While the Five-Man Band have skills just crying out for an action or an adventure story, the Four-Man Band is a primarily comedic group, designed for a sitcom or domcom. The four distinct personalities are specifically designed to play off each other, and Hilarity Ensues.

Please note that in a Four-Man Band there is no Hero. The focus is evenly spread between them. If there is a Main Character (rare) they can easily be any one of the Band, or it can just be switched between episodes to give focus to different characters.

Compare and contrast Four-Temperament Ensemble and of course, Five-Man Band. The band most commonly includes:

• Only Sane Man - Or maybe just the guy who comes the closest to being sane most often. Every zany gang must have a straight man, and the other three leads have to share one. While his (or her, although the role is usually male) friends act out, the Normal Guy's role is to Lampshade and be embarassed by their behaviour. He will be more successful with the opposite sex than his friends, notably The Pervert.
• The Smart Guy - More intelligent than his friends. His Five-Man Band equivalent can do research for the group or explain some of the tougher concepts to the rest of the band or the audience, but this variant is primarily geared towards Lampshading the relative stupidity for the others and being humiliated for his arrogance. Alternatively he may be a Mad Scientist type, with insane inventions.
• The Pervert - This guy has a perverted mind. He usually takes one of two common forms - the Loveable Sex Maniac whose high sex drive is his most memorable trait, or the Comedic Sociopath, who has bursts of hilarious violence. In lighter examples, certain concepts may be Played for Laughs, whereas in darker examples the character may draw on Black Comedy Rape.
• The Butt Monkey - A character who serves as a target for the others' jokes. There are a few tropes that could make the Band's Butt Monkey; The Ditz, the Extreme Doormat or others. This member has remarkably less charisma than his friends or is a better target for jokes. The others will pick on him frequently and make him the target of practical jokes. Sometimes, however, this character may get one over on his bandmates, and this will thoroughly humiliate the others.

Examples of Four-Man Band include:

Anime/Manga

Lucky Star
Only Sane Man	Kagami Hiiragi
The Smart Guy	Miyuki Takahara
The Pervert	Konata Izumi
The Butt Monkey	Tsukasa Hiiragi

Film

American Pie
Only Sane Man	Kevin/Oz
The Smart Guy	Oz/Kevin
The Pervert	Finch
The Butt Monkey	Jim

Ghostbusters
Only Sane Man	Winston Zeddmore
The Smart Guy	Dr. Egon Spengler
The Pervert	Dr. Peter Venkman
The Butt Monkey	Dr. Raymond Stantz

The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night and Help!
Only Sane Man	Paul McCartney
The Smart Guy	George Harrison
The Pervert	John Lennon
The Butt Monkey	Ringo Starr

The Goonies
Only Sane Man	Mikey Walsh
The Smart Guy	Data
The Pervert	Mouth
The Butt Monkey	Chunk

Stand by Me
Only Sane Man	Gordie LaChance
The Smart Guy	Chris Chambers
The Pervert	Teddy Duchamp
The Butt Monkey	Vern Tessio

The Hangover
Only Sane Man	Doug Billings
The Smart Guy	Dr. Stu Price
The Pervert	Phil Wenneck
The Butt Monkey	Alan Garner

Live Action TV

The Big Bang Theory
Only Sane Man	Leonard Hofstadter
The Smart Guy	Sheldon Cooper, and how.
The Pervert	Howard Wolowitz
The Butt Monkey	Raj Koothrappali. He's shy to the point he can't even speak to women unless drunk, and is generally awkward.

The Inbetweeners
Only Sane Man	Simon Cooper. Not, however, the Main Character.
The Smart Guy	Will Mackenzie, who speaks French and is something of a high flyer
The Pervert	Jay Cartwright, who has been singularly attributed with bringing the word clunge back into the popular lexicon
The Butt Monkey	Neil Sutherland. While he is more successful with the opposite sex than the others, he takes The Ditz to extreme levels and is the target of the others' jokes

Only Fools and Horses
Only Sane Man	Denzil
The Smart Guy	Boycie, a Chessmaster and manipulative car salesman who always seems to get the better of Del
The Pervert	Del. His brother Rodney qualifies as well, with his, ahem, interest in uniforms
The Butt Monkey	Trigger. With his sub-par intelligence he is often a pawn in Del's schemes. The other members of the band ridcule him frequently

Red Dwarf

Only Sane Man	David Lister
The Smart Guy	Kryten.
The Pervert	The Cat. Loveable Sex Maniac
The Butt Monkey	Arnold Rimmer

Los Simuladores / The Pretenders
Only Sane Man	Medina
The Smart Guy	Santos
The Pervert	Ravenna
The Butt Monkey	Lamponne

The Nanny
Only Sane Man	Fran Fine
The Smart Guy	Maxwell Sheffield
The Pervert	Niles
The Butt Monkey	C.C. Babcock

Seinfeld
Only Sane Man	Jerry Seinfeld
The Smart Guy	Cosmo Kramer
The Pervert	Elaine Benes
The Butt Monkey	George Costanza

Western Animation

Family Guy
Only Sane Man	Peter Griffin
The Smart Guy	Joe
The Pervert	Quagmire, who brings this character to its most outrageous (and darkest) levels
The Butt Monkey	Cleveland Brown. He personifies Extreme Doormat in his pre-spinoff appearances

The Cleveland Show
Only Sane Man	Ex Butt Monkey Cleveland Brown
The Smart Guy	Tim the Bear
The Pervert	Holt Richter
The Butt Monkey	Lester

South Park
Only Sane Man	Stan
The Smart Guy	Kyle
The Pervert	Cartman/Kenny (Comedic Sociopath and Loveable Sex Maniac)
The Butt Monkey	Butters

The Penguins of Madagascar
Only Sane Man	Skipper
The Smart Guy	Kowalski
The Pervert	Rico, Comedic Sociopath
The Butt Monkey	Private

Station Zero
Only Sane Man	Chino
The Smart Guy	Scooter
The Pervert	DJ Tech
The Butt Monkey	Karaz

King of the Hill
Only Sane Man	Hank Hill
The Smart Guy	Dale Gribble
The Pervert	Boomhauer
The Butt Monkey	Bill Dauterive