http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gifWho is your least fave character and why? http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif

Originally posted by Brett Ferino:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gifWho is your least fave character and why? http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif

I don't really have a least favorite character. Frank Burns was a pain in the a**, but he was also hysterical. Same goes for Charles. There was something endearing about each and every one of them, if you looked hard enough to find it.



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(After Mary's famous job interview)
Lou Grant:You know what? You've got spunk!
Mary Richards:Well, yes.
Lou Grant:I HATE SPUNK!!!
The Mary Tyler Moore Show

My Least Favorite M*A*S*H Character Is Frank Burns I Didn't Like Him He Was Not Nice And Always Whine A Lot.

:lol
:eek
:rollin
:rolleyes
:smokin
:hat
:evil



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From A Big Alan Alda M*A*S*H Fan Kirsten

My Least Favorite M*A*S*H Character Is Frank Burns He Was Not Nice And Always Whine A Lot.

:lol
:eek
:rollin
:rolleyes
:smokin
:hat
:evil



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From A Big Alan Alda M*A*S*H Fan Kirsten

My least favorite character in M*a*S*H and I think the only character without a single redeeming quality is Saergant Zelmo Zale. All he ever did was get drunk and get into fights.:mad:

I was never a Sgt. Rizzo fan. He was too sleazy looking for me.

Charles never worked for me his character wasn't good at all.
How could anyone not like Frank his character is one of the best tv characters ever. Frank Burns eats worms. The lipless wonder

I agree every regular castmember was well defined. Among the occassional characters I would agree that Zale was my least favorite. For the record, I think Larry Linville did a superb job with Major Burns. He was the only character on MASH not allowed to grow. Margaret (formerly Hot Lips) was allowed to show her vulnerable side and be more than a one deminisional character. I think they needed Frank to continue to be the comic foil, and it is a shame they didn't let him have some growth becuz I think they would have not lost him after the fifth season if they had. I always hoped there would be one episode where Frank would actually rise above his pitiness and do something selfless and show some redeeming human quality, but they never let him.

I always thought it would have been great if Frank stayed on the show. It is one of my favorite "what if" TV scenarios.
Do you think Frank would have softened up a bit, perhaps even become friends with his tentmates?

They allowed Charles to loosen up the last few seasons, to the point where he was occasionaly in on Hawkeye and BJ's antics.
But, they were two different characters, Charles could show compassion and tenderness. Frank never could, or would, for that matter.

Larry Linville wrote a great piece about Frank Burns in "The Complete Book Of M*A*S*H." From his point of view, Frank Burns would probably never have changed, which is one of the reasons he left the show. I guess he grew weary of playing such an insuffearble fool.

Col. Potter:
He CAN NOT act. His acting was not natural and he never fit in, IMO. I think the show went down in ratings when Blake was replaced with this guy. .. what was his name anyhow? Did anyone else ever 'listen' to him deliver his lines? It was contrived and horrible. I'm surprised that this guy slipped by. I also saw him in another show much earlier than MASH, and noticed the same.

The actor who played Colonel Sherman T. Potter om M*A*S*H is Harry Morgan. You may have seen him years ago on Dragnet. Unlike you I think Mr. Morgan is a great character actor.:wave:

I'm not a big fan of Rizzo but I absolutely CANNOT STAND Captain Flagg or Stone whoever he was, those episodes are my least favorites

ugly john. I can't stand him. i'm glad he left.

Disagree with assessment by 60's sitcomfan re: Harry (Col. Potter) Morgan. A wonderful character actor and did a fine job on MASH--even winning an emmy. Blake and Potter were two entirely different characters which made the switch work. If they bought in another lovable buffoon like Henry--it wouldn't have gone over. Also, Henry left at end of third season, leaving eight seasons with Col. Potter--the ratings didn't go down--the show was as successful or more for the rest of its run.

TLJ wondered how the show would have looked had Burns stayed. I agree the Burns character probably wouldn't have been softened to any great length. Perhaps he would have shown some occassional humanity. But I think he would have continued to be Hawkeye and BJ's foil in a way Charles never could be. Charles may have been stuffy and snobbish but he was also intelligent and refined, two things Frank was not. He was more of a competitor to the guys than Frank could ever be.
I think the show perhaps would have been funnier in the later seasons had Burns stayed on.

Originally posted by CHUCK T
Disagree with assessment by 60's sitcomfan re: Harry (Col. Potter) Henry left at end of third season, leaving eight seasons with Col. Potter--the ratings didn't go down--the show was as successful or more for the rest of its run.

I couldn't agree more. While I love Henry Blake, I think Harry Morgan created a great character in Col. Potter.
He brought great depth to the "regular army doctor" he played, and also served as a father figure to the other characters.
He was a world weary career soldier who had a great deal of savvy for the Army he searved, and a great deal of compassion for the people he worked with.

Well although all of you have interesting and good points, it's still MY opinion that Col. Potter cannot act. Maybe he just talks that way.. I never heard him speak outside of the MASH role.:) :) :)

It was Colonel Flagg. I think he was hilarious. Klinger got kinda different toward the end, his character was great in the earlier episodes.

I think that my least favorite character is Nurse Kelly(I think that was her name). It was when she was whining about not getting more than one piece of fudge that did it for me. She always seemed to think that she deserved more from people.
Keep in mind that this is about her character on the show. I'm sure the actress who played her isn't such a pain.

I guess I'd have to say McIntyre.

My least favorite is Father Mulcahy. He's just plain weird!

Frank Burns is my least favorite charater on M*A*S*H.


Take Care and God Bless
Aaron

col. flagg and bj hunnicut are my least favorite.

Potter did flub a lot of lines that still made the final print. BJ was a cry-baby.

Originally posted by 60sSitcomFan
Col. Potter:
He CAN NOT act. His acting was not natural and he never fit in, IMO. I think the show went down in ratings when Blake was replaced with this guy. .. what was his name anyhow? Did anyone else ever 'listen' to him deliver his lines? It was contrived and horrible. I'm surprised that this guy slipped by. I also saw him in another show much earlier than MASH, and noticed the same.

http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspud/sel_by_actor_index_2.php?actor_first=Harry&actor_last=Morgan

Harry Morgan has been around for many, many years playing roles in over 100 films. Apparently, many people do not agree with you. I think he did fine job playing the role of Col. Potter.

Frank! He was way too mean to Radar!

Frank most definitely! Margaret too until she got away from Frank and got some depth. Frank dragged down Margaret. They were both a couple of whiny brownnosers in the time they were together.

Frank

OK, with my second post to this site I am going to incur the wrath of everyone. My least Favorite character by far, hands down is Hawkeye. Not so much in the earlier years but it seems that from season 5 or 6 on he just got to be too much of a self involved hypocrit. If Frank Burns ever would have considered taking out a healthy appendix Hawkeye would probably have killed him. I never liked how he could put down Frank any time he wanted and no one said anything but as soon as something bad happened to poor Hawkeye everyone seemed to coddle him. I just got through watching seasons 6-9 in the last 2 months and it got so I cringed everytime I saw an episode the centered on hawkeye. The one in season 9 where he starts sneezing. Man he can't even act a good sneeze. The way he acts as if he is Gods gift to women, and his jealousy and competitiveness are just way to over the top for me. I think the worst was the episode where Jill St. John played the war correspondent. He acted like a 14 year old just entering puberty. I was like get over yourself already. His jokes on the PA at the end of the episode where he stopped joking for 24 hours were some of the dumbest words ever written on television. I know he didn't write them but it pretty summed up my entire feeling for him. He thought he was much more important than he was.

I'll admit that I watch TV for entertainment. I'm not a professional critic and I don't always catch the subtle nuances that are weaved into scripts. Some people will say that is why it was such a great character, because of the complexity, one minute he's this crazed sex starved maniac and the next he is this crying sensitive caring person. I can see that and if it was just that I could go along with it. He just seems to think that the world owes him something and he just can't see that everyone in the camp and the whole war for that matter is is the same boat.

So there, I said it. I know its not the popular choice but I can't think of any character on the entire series that I thought was in the show way to much.

If you make me choose another one I would say BJ just because, as some of you have said, his "woe is me attitude some times"

I couldn't agree more. While I love Henry Blake, I think Harry Morgan created a great character in Col. Potter.
He brought great depth to the "regular army doctor" he played, and also served as a father figure to the other characters.
He was a world weary career soldier who had a great deal of savvy for the Army he searved, and a great deal of compassion for the people he worked with.

Well put. While I liked both Blake and Potter, Potter was to me a very realistic, credible character.

As for whom I disliked the most (as characters) on M*A*S*H, three come to mind: Frank and Col. Flagg (I despise them both), and I didn't care too much for Rizzo (the motor pool sergeant). He could've been cool like the others, but his craftiness was always self-serving, and he was extremely lazy.

Hawkeye is one of the few TV characters who really "jumped the shark" for me. I liked him in the earlier seasons, but then he just became really annoying to me.

My least favorite of the regular characters is BJ. They never should have let Trapper leave! :mad:

My least favorite of the regular characters is BJ. They never should have let Trapper leave! :mad:

Couldn't agree more!!

My least favorites:

1. BJ
2. Colonel Flagg
3. Margaret

B.J. & Col. Flagg

How could anyone NOT love Col Flagg? He was hilarious!! :eek:

Anyway, for me it's CHARLES , all the way!!! I couldnt stand his upper-class snobbery and selfishness, he was a poor replacement for my fave character, Frank Burns!

My least favorite characters are:

1. Hot Lips-She was way toooooo over the top. I cringe everytime I see her come onto the screen. Her voice just gets on my last nerve.

2. Frank-He was always a pita! LOL! Kinda like the know it all big brother. Always looking to get you into trouble.

Frank Burns

Hmmm....first post and I had to think about this. I can find something I like about almost all the characters through the run of the series. But I wasn't too much a fan of early season Margaret. I liked the character more when she was allowed to grow a bit, something I saw more when she went through her engagement marriage and eventual divorce. Before that, I though she was just a whiner.

I liked Frank as a comic foil, but I wish his character had a little more depth. I appreciate Charles for that, but perhaps in was in the character of Frank to actually never grow.

And...don't hurt me...I wasn't much of a Trapper fan until I recently got a hold of seasons 2 and 3 again (I'm building my DVD collection!). While I see most people picking BJ, I liked the contrast of a guy that was (for the most part) faithful to his wife during the show to someone like the bachelor Hawkeye and the straying Frank.

And to the person that said Hawkeye...I can understand that. I actually really like the character, but mainly because he isn't perfect at all (I think the best written characters are the ones that are flawed, hence why I appreciate and watch House). But there are times I certainly want to smack the guy and you make some excellent points.

Okay, I wrote entirely too much for a first post. I was a TV major in college, so I tend to over analyze characters, lol.

This truly is a tough call to pick the least favorite. All of the major players certainly had their own role to portray, and did that very well. There was one however, who went AWOL after season three and that was the character of Benjamin Franklin Pierce. A team player in the first 3 seasons who got caught up in himself enough to the point where it became too much Hawkeye and not enough of the rest of the team.

The Frank Burns and Radar O'Riley characters were the unsung heroes of the show.

Its Margaret for me. She has her moments where I dont mind her, but for the most part she was annoying especially in the later years. I actually would rather have had her stay the way she was in the earlier years than the later.

Hawk eye far and away, just too glib and full of himself for me.

My least favorite character was Radar. I actually liked the character the way he was written in the first few episodes. In the first dozen or so episodes, he had a ornery streak in him - sitting with feet up on the colonels desk and smoking the colonel's cigars and drinking the colonel's whisky in the episode Chief Surgeon Who? and the way he ogled the nurse on her way to the showers in the classic poker game to win the "moose's" freedom. But by about the halfway point of the first season, he suddenly became this virginal overly child-like - and the character got more and more naive and child-like as the seasons went on eventually becoming tiresome to me.

Several other characters changed over the course of the program some for the better, some for the worse, but Radar changed very early in the first season and I never cared for the character after that.

The Lipless Wonder Frank Burns - I dislike him so he gets slots 1, 2 & 3

The Lipless Wonder Frank Burns - I dislike him so he gets slots 1, 2 & 3



I agree completley my least favorite character was also Frank Burns.I liked everybody else very much.Frank was a funny little twirp though:lol:

Charles Winchester

Father Mulcahy. His storylines were always boring and predictable, limited as they necessarily were by his role in the series. That plus the fact that his character never evolved. Maddeningly, he became more important to the show as the years went on, but less and less interesting.

In contrast, Frank Burns had so much potential to be interesting but the writers never really let it happen. Frank had some of the most memorable lines, hilarious mainly because he never really knew how funny he was.

Give Hawkeye a break. If it wasn't for his character, MASH would not have lasted as long as it did, been as important as it was or be talked about the way it is today. Yes, he became larger than the show itself, as did Alan Alda, but that's a consequence of the show's longevity. It's a bit like saying Seinfeld became too annoying towards the end of the series bearing his own name. He did, and so did everyone else, but it's pointless complaining.

Definitely Hawkeye is the most annoying. How strange that this is a show I like, but can't stand the star of it. How often does that happen? Frank Burns butted into other people's business plenty of times, but it seems to me Hawkeye did it a lot more often.

I agree every regular castmember was well defined. Among the occassional characters I would agree that Zale was my least favorite. For the record, I think Larry Linville did a superb job with Major Burns. He was the only character on MASH not allowed to grow. Margaret (formerly Hot Lips) was allowed to show her vulnerable side and be more than a one deminisional character. I think they needed Frank to continue to be the comic foil, and it is a shame they didn't let him have some growth becuz I think they would have not lost him after the fifth season if they had. I always hoped there would be one episode where Frank would actually rise above his pitiness and do something selfless and show some redeeming human quality, but they never let him.

Actually, good points... it would have been interesting to see how Frank Burns could have evolved in time.

Frank Burns hits his target in both film and television, in that I don't like him, which is exactly the way this character is /supposed/ to effect the viewer, just a nasty, unlikable guy. At least to guys like me, Trapper and Hawkeye... heh. I'm sure Larry L. was just a sweetheart in real life, right?

Worst character: B.J. Hunnicutt. Although I like the concept of someone who is a contrast to Hawkeye (and Trapper), you have to have an actor who is at least funny. In all his years on the show, I never once honestly laughed at anything B.J. ever said or did.

My least favorite character of the main 11 principal characters would be B.J., especially the mustached episodes.

But then B.J. was to be "vanilla" to Hawkeye's "chocolate" anyway. Trapper was more a frat boy type similar to Hawkeye, but B.J. was a bit more grounded, so that made him somewhat bland.

When B.J. would drift into self-pity mode, it would be rather insufferable to me.


My least favorite semi-regular has to be Sgt. Zale. He wouldn't help Hawkeye out when he needed a stinking boot. He was constantly fighting with or taunting Klinger. He traded away vital medicine for plasma. He fouled up the generator during "Goodbye, Radar". He couldn't make the vascular clamp correctly that Hawk & Beej needed. He punched the mess tent stove, broke his hand as he claimed he felt hurt and betrayed by his wife, yet he himself had a "moose" on the side, so he was very hypocritical. He was very rude and crass toward Radar when Radar was temporarily a lieutenant.

Worst character: B.J. Hunnicutt. Although I like the concept of someone who is a contrast to Hawkeye (and Trapper), you have to have an actor who is at least funny. In all his years on the show, I never once honestly laughed at anything B.J. ever said or did.

I always felt that Duke Forest should have been brought in at that point, which would have played so well with the original novel... but, yes, B.J. was always pretty bland, even when he grew the 1970s porn star mustache.

For me it's Major Charles Emerson Winchester...the third! Eyeroll. He's such a stiff arrogant insufferable bore. And he liked classical music which I can't stand either. Yuck. But I think it was partly the character and partly the actor. I've seen other things that David Odgen Stiers has been in and I hated those characters too. So there's something about him I don't like but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

Ed. P.S., and Charles was such a know-it-all too.

And even people saying well at least Charles would show he was nice deep down and do nice things for people doesn't work for me. I always thought he came off too smug and self satisfied all the time for it to be sincere. With the exception of the episode where he tries to help out and encourage the wounded soldier who lost the use of one hand and wanted to be a concert pianist. That's the only time it seemed sincere to me. It's funny how we can all watch the same characters on a show and feel so differently about them. But I've always hated Charles and probably always will.

Ed.

My least favorite character of the main 11 principal characters would be B.J., especially the mustached episodes.

But then B.J. was to be "vanilla" to Hawkeye's "chocolate" anyway. Trapper was more a frat boy type similar to Hawkeye, but B.J. was a bit more grounded, so that made him somewhat bland.

When B.J. would drift into self-pity mode, it would be rather insufferable to me.


My least favorite semi-regular has to be Sgt. Zale. He wouldn't help Hawkeye out when he needed a stinking boot. He was constantly fighting with or taunting Klinger. He traded away vital medicine for plasma. He fouled up the generator during "Goodbye, Radar". He couldn't make the vascular clamp correctly that Hawk & Beej needed. He punched the mess tent stove, broke his hand as he claimed he felt hurt and betrayed by his wife, yet he himself had a "moose" on the side, so he was very hypocritical. He was very rude and crass toward Radar when Radar was temporarily a lieutenant.I liked bj but I do agree that it got tiresome when he would whine and do the woe is me self pitty thing he acted like he was the only one in the unit who had wives and family members that he missed and that everyone else should feel sorry for him

My least favorite semi-regular has to be Sgt. Zale.

Zale was Regular Army, a Lifer, just like Potter, so they had to make him gruff and ornery, to contrast the saintly draftees. It was a very cynical move on the part of the show runners, but necessary to the general theme of the story.

Zale was Regular Army, a Lifer, just like Potter, so they had to make him gruff and ornery, to contrast the saintly draftees. It was a very cynical move on the part of the show runners, but necessary to the general theme of the story.

This is probably the best and most valid comment I have ever read about MASH. Don't forget about all those good North Korean and Chinese folks.

Officers: Frank.
Enlisted: Rizzo and Zale.

And even people saying well at least Charles would show he was nice deep down and do nice things for people doesn't work for me. I always thought he came off too smug and self satisfied all the time for it to be sincere. With the exception of the episode where he tries to help out and encourage the wounded soldier who lost the use of one hand and wanted to be a concert pianist. That's the only time it seemed sincere to me. ...Ed.

Stiers conducted symphony in Eugene, Oregon so he'd identify with that piano episode. Charles is definitely one of the most high-brow characters on a sitcom.

My vote is for Houlihan. Just never liked Loretta Swit and did not like her portrayal of the character, and wished Sally Kellerman would have accepted the role. Never found her attractive, I don't know, she was OK, but she could have left early on and I would not have missed her.