So rate the main characters

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Moe_Hawk
Corporal
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:14 pm

So rate the main characters

Post by Moe_Hawk »

Always a controversial mission because you like or dislike particular characters for a variety of different reasons... Mine generally tends to focus on development and consistency...

For mine going from favourite to least favourite

1. Potter - easily the most well written, best developed, and consistent character. Can do funny and serious very well, works well with the others

2. Klinger - easily number two... Becomes a really solid addition into the main stories, and steps up after he takes on Radar's role... Very funny, emotional, really well developed... Not as many touching or serious moments as Potter

3. Hawkeye - easily the star off the show and deserves every accolade he gets. Funny, serious, sweet, emotionally damaged, smart etc works well with others, great episode lead, can fall back as a support character too

4. Winchester - adds a new level of depth following a shaky start in the post Frank era. It's easy to overlook just how funny Charles is and the depth he brought to the show as a foil for Hawkeye but one that can stand alongside him in his own right. Has many of the best moments of the show.

5. Burns - for pure comic genius, Frank gets in at number 5. He lacks development and depth, but he is sooooooo funny. His timing and banter is fantastic.

6. Blake - the biggest handicap against Henry is that he only had 3 seasons but he gives us so much in his limited time. He's sooo funny and touching, muddle headed with good intentions. Would have loved to see more of him.

7. Trapper - controversial i know but another who was very consistent and developed so much in so little time. Had he stayed he would have been soo much better. It takes BJ 5 seasons to get interesting, takes John 2. Great actor and again very consistent character development.

8. Hunnicut - i like BJ of the last 3 seasons... He's angrier, more righteous, has his own opinion and is worth listening too... And is a prankster too. For his first 5 seasons though, he's so dull. He's just Mr. Nice Guy all the time and very Hawkeye's patsy. It's a shame coz Farrell is a decent actor but he doesnt get his teeth into the character early enough.

9. Radar - controversial again but Radar is very erratic though likeable. He starts off as a young adult, then becomes a near pre-pubescent teen and then later in his run gets all country yokel like - oh gee willekrrs, u have to stay off ur footsy. It's no wonder the writers ran out of stuff to do with him and were using him substantially less by the end. He was developed so poorly. I actually liked the first and the finally versions of the character a lot and they presented a great arc but he was a dreary character in his last few seasons.
Great actor though and a lot of good show moments

10. Mulcahy - Under utilised and underdeveloped. Has very little presence on the show other than winning things early on and starts hitting his straps in the final few seasons but too little too late.

11. Houlihan - have never warmed to her. She is such an erratic character. I kind of liked her in the early seasons when she was up tight, righteous, and army all the way through with occasional sightings of deeper caring and compassion. Later on they try to make her out to be this super cool under pressure, balanced caring character but she is none of those things.
She completely mistreats Frank and turns on him for little reason (justified or not) frequently blurs her professional boundaries, beds soldiers, generals etc, abuses Radar and trashes his office when she cant go to see Donald, has a good nurse transferred coz she unknowingly sleeps with her husband, compromises patient safety every time there's an inspection, lies about her alcoholic friend and comprises patient safety, is fooling around with Scully in post op when that guerrilla lady attacks soldiers....
Just a shocking character for mine that i don't enjoy though she has some good moments too. I think they would have done well to keep her in the antagonist role more as that was where she shined


Thoughts?

(ducks as rubbish is flung)
kkt
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Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:01 pm

Re: So rate the main characters

Post by kkt »

This is clearly an impossible mission, but I respect you for trying!

MASH had a wealth of great characters and actors and that's what makes it such a great show. I couldn't do more than put a few in the top set and a few in the "also ran" category. Yes, Mulcahy was played well but underused; I think the writers couldn't think of very much for him to do.

I did like Major Houlihan. I think Swit did a good job portraying her characters growth, as she realized that Frank was far beneath her, then that men in general weren't going to solve her problems, and that the doctors were pretty okay people even if they were unmilitary. I'd put her into the top group.

Linville did a terrific job playing Frank as the comic relief, funny but just barely believable as a person. He also quit the show at the right time, when they were out of things for him to do. He could no longer play love scenes or estranged lover scenes with Margaret and all that would be left would be "frank does something stupid and we all laugh".

I would put Hawkeye at the top and Klinger after that. Both played greater range than Potter. But all belong in the top group.

Who should go in the "also ran"? I guess Nurse Kellye wasn't all that strong a character, and not that well acted even when she did get things to do.

The succession of guest star nurses who didn't even get names, just phonetic alphabet letters, was just an embarrassment. One-dimension objects of lust for Pierce and sometimes Trapper or Blake. I'm glad they grew out of that the last few seasons.
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