Dealbreaker TV Characters

[D'Snowth]

The only early character I didn't care for was Kaplan the dentist . . . he was just obnoxious and not very funny at all.

There were times when modern trappings made their way in. During the mustache years, BJ’s hair got long enough to cover his ears.

HOGAN'S HEROES had a similar problem in its last couple of seasons: both Newkirk and Carter ended up with some really long 60s-era sideburns - Newkirk in particular almost practically had mutton chops.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Not that he was a dealbreaker character either, but Sidney Freeman handled a lot of cases Mulcahy might have.

Colonel Flagg could’ve become annoying if they made him a regular.
Frank was the only one who liked him, only because Frank was scared to death of him.

And a funny thing about Radar. Early on he could drink with the best of them- and smoke Henry’s cigars.
He even came close to picking up a date.
In his last episode, he almost gagged on Potter’s whiskey.
But he seemed okay in the episode Hawkeye swapped his beer for Radar’s grape Nehi.

 

[D'Snowth]

Colonel Flagg could’ve become annoying if they made him a regular.

That's why they eventually stopped using him: as the series grew to become darker and more dramatic, and the writers made him such a broader and more "out there" character, they felt he would be too out of place if they continued to use him, even on a semi-regular basis.

Though, curiously, he popped up in a 2-parter on the spin-off AFTERMASH.

 

[Princeton]

The only early character I didn't care for was Kaplan the dentist . . . he was just obnoxious and not very funny at all.

Plus it was obvious that he was supposed to be the token Woody Allen character cuz God forbid we have one piece of 1970's media that doesn't incorporate Woody in some way. There was another early MASH character like that too: I can't remember his name but he was in the "5 O'Clock Charlie" episode and I swear he's only in it cuz he looks like Cat Stevens. Because he was popular in the 70's too, right?
And I prefer BJ clean shaven too, thanks for asking.

 

[D'Snowth]

Ah yes, that anachronistically out-of-place 70s-esque guitar playing dentist who played that anachronistically little 70s-esque guitar riff for Hawkeye and Trapper?

Getting back to the original topic at hand, the more I think about it, there actually dealbreaking characters from THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW for me: first of all, the Fun Girls. Not only were they such one-note characters, but each episode they were in were basically the same, just with one different plot element (come to think of it, that was basically the formula for a majority of their recurring characters). And, of course, each of the new characters introduced during the color seasons: Howard, Emmit, and of course, Warren.

 

[scooterfan360]

Cassie lynn from family matters, eventhough she only appered in three episodes, she struck a nerve with me, especially in the episode making the team, which was her first apperance. If they had this character appeared more in the school scenes, I would have stopped watching, She was so stuck up and mean.

 

[Princeton]

Ah yes, that anachronistically out-of-place 70s-esque guitar playing dentist who played that anachronistically little 70s-esque guitar riff for Hawkeye and Trapper?

Getting back to the original topic at hand, the more I think about it, there actually dealbreaking characters from THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW for me: first of all, the Fun Girls. Not only were they such one-note characters, but each episode they were in were basically the same, just with one different plot element (come to think of it, that was basically the formula for a majority of their recurring characters). And, of course, each of the new characters introduced during the color seasons: Howard, Emmit, and of course, Warren.

And then of course there’s Captain Spaulding who’s the worst offender of these early MASH characters: a clearly up-and-coming young singer looking for some exposure, which is fine but MASH was the wrong show to put him on. You don’t buy him as a surgeon whatsoever and when he performs a song there’s nothing organic about it and feels totally shoehorned.
Now I love the Fun Girls. I just find their dialogue really cleverly written, I love how they bicker and also how irresistible Skippy finds Barney. Plus I think those episodes showcase Jean Carson much better who was previously seen in the “Convicts at Large” episode where she’s very much overshadowed by Maude and Floyd.

 

[fuzzygobo]

Snowthy (Master of All Things MASH), how did you feel about Donald Penobscot?

 

[D'Snowth]

And then of course there’s Captain Spaulding who’s the worst offender of these early MASH characters: a clearly up-and-coming young singer looking for some exposure, which is fine but MASH was the wrong show to put him on.

You can actually thank co-creator Larry Gelbart for that: he created the character of Captain Spaulding as an experimental character - in this case, a camp minstrel. I didn't mind the music he provided in "Rainbow Bridge," but other than that, I'll agree he was a pretty useless character in other episodes.

Snowthy (Master of All Things MASH), how did you feel about Donald Penobscot?

Ugh.

Well, I can understand Gene Reynolds's desire to develop Margaret's character by having her get engaged and married to a steady man in her life, and show that she had outgrown Frank (something Loretta Swit was all in favor for) . . . but I swear, that season where their engagement was an arc, she was so annoying as frog, acting like a love-sick high schooler over him, bringing him up in conversation just for the saking of blathering on about him.

And then, just a couple of seasons later, they get divorced (which Reynolds was not happy about, but he had already left the show by that point) since it turned out he was not only unfaithful, but was every bit a sneaky weasel as Frank. Personally, I can understand how and why Margaret was as upset as she was over this, but honestly, I also saw it as her receiving a taste of her own medicine: she was a homewrecker by fooling around with so many married men - not just Frank, but all of those generals, and other higher-ranking officers . . . in her case, the shoe was on the other foot, and this time it was her husband fooling around with other women behind her back. You can pick whichever analogy you want: "Karma is a female dog," or, "What goes around comes around."

But . . . as for Penobscot himself? Meh. Aside from Margaret's growth and development, he really didn't add much . . . and considering we only actually saw him twice - both times played by a different actor - it wasn't really enough to become totally invested in him as a character. Not to mention all of the previous descriptions of him before we saw him (stocky, unibrow, no neck) made him sound like one ugly dude, even though Margaret said he was very sexy.

 

[Princeton]

Snowthy (Master of All Things MASH), how did you feel about Donald Penobscot?

Again, thanks for asking in a totally non-polarizing way. I’ll secede to Snowthy’s mastery but in keeping with the military theme, if Snowthy’s a general, I’m at least a Lt. Colonel.

Anyway, I'm mixed on Donald. Even though Season 5 is my favorite of the non-Trapper/Henry seasons, along with that comes Margaret's mistreatment of Frank reaching its zenith and I feel it bogs down an otherwise exemplary season of the show. Plus, to go from my own experiences, ex-lovers can ABSOLUTELY still remain friends when one of them becomes engaged to someone else (although when the actual date is set is another story but I digress) and if Margaret had been willing to do just that simple thing, she could still remain faithful to Donald and at the same time not be so cruel to Frank. And I’m glad that this was retconned somewhat in episodes like “Fade Out Fade In-Part 2” (“In some ways Donald is no Frank Burns”) and when she breaks down her ideal man by percentages in “Stars and Stripes”.

It’s funny that we’re talking about this now because literally just yesterday they reran “Peace On Us” which is where Margaret makes her mind up to divorce Donald and to my way of thinking this is the episode where Frank should have brought back because his only impetus for leaving was Margaret getting married. So you take away Donald, it stands to reason you bring Frank back in. And yes, when Frank left Korea he did very well for himself back home but you can’t tell me he’d give it all up to be with Margaret again.