# Comparing MASH seasons and characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088 "2015-12-10T17:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/41 "2015-12-14T05:20:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Did a little internet googling on this. > > The Wikipedia articles for both Linville and the show don’t mention anything about that. It says that Linville had a five-year contract and declined to continue the role when they offered to renew it for two more years. > > Harry Morgan (Potter) apparently said something to the effect that everyone loved Linville, but absolutely despised Burns. I’m sure playing an irredeemable character took its toll after a while, but by all accounts he was one of the few actors who didn’t cause problems on the set. > > Apparently Gary Burghoff (Radar) was extraordinarily difficult and disliked. Well Gary Burghoff they say was tired of the Radar character and who wouldnt? The young virgin with his teddy bear. Plus he was the sole holdover from the MASH movie and he thought his character should have had more prominence. What I dont get about Harry Morgan is his first appearance was this racist general just visiting and then they decide to make him the new colonel? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/42 "2015-12-14T05:27:04Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > What I dont get about Harry Morgan is his first appearance was this racist general just visiting and then they decide to make him the new colonel? Yeah, it was kind of unfortunate that he had already made such a memorable appearance as a different character. It was bad enough that we had to stop thinking of him as the guy from _Dragnet_! ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/43 "2015-12-14T17:38:07Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > Sidney Freeman **Freedman** ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/44 "2015-12-14T17:47:52Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > MASH started being interesting to watch when the producers dropped the slapstick quality and let the characters develop into actual people. Yeah, Klinger was comic relief, but he too had his own arc. even if it wasn’t as developed as the others’. Klinger really came into his own as The Scrounger, even outdoing Radar. Pity his best lines from that episode have been excised to fit in more commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/45 "2015-12-15T14:51:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Did a little internet googling on this. > > The Wikipedia articles for both Linville and the show don’t mention anything about that. It says that Linville had a five-year contract and declined to continue the role when they offered to renew it for two more years. Sometimes Linville didn’t show up for the read-throughs because he got tired of being put down all the time. The writers hardly ever gave Frank a chance to redeem himself, so he didn’t care for being constantly reviled. Charles at least got to put in his share of good deeds, so maybe the writers learned something from that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/46 "2015-12-15T15:43:01Z")
The best character by far was Captain Tuttle. Spearchucker Jones was second. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/47 "2015-12-15T20:27:00Z")
What did happen to Spearchucker Jones? Is he trapped in the same attic as Chuck Cunningham? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/48 "2015-12-15T21:02:17Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > What did happen to Spearchucker Jones? Is he trapped in the same attic as Chuck Cunningham? They ended up as roommates, I believe. They adopted the Brady’s dog, Tiger. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/49 "2015-12-15T21:39:25Z")
That’s probably one crowded apartment. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/50 "2016-01-02T17:08:35Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > You want a real shock, watch the movie _Better Off Dead_. Stiers plays the father in that and it’s bizarre. > > Dr. Sydney Freedman not Freeman. Another shock is Stiers appeared as Scott Woodville, the head operative of the Townsend Detective Agency, in the pilot film for “Charlie’s Angels” in March, 1976. Bosley (David Doyle) was his bumbling assistant. Apparently audiences didn’t react like his character so when it went to a series, they got rid of Woodville, made Bosley more competent and promoted him. I’d say it worked out well for Stiers. Comedies usually do better in syndication than dramas (if we can call a show featuring women without bras as a drama). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/51 "2016-01-02T17:53:06Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > What did happen to Spearchucker Jones? Is he trapped in the same attic as Chuck Cunningham? > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > They ended up as roommates, I believe. They adopted the Brady’s dog, Tiger. > [@Kimballkid](#): > > That’s probably one crowded apartment. I think Mandy Hampton’s in there too. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/52 "2016-01-02T17:58:34Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Another shock is Stiers appeared as Scott Woodville, the head operative of the Townsend Detective Agency, in the pilot film for “Charlie’s Angels” in March, 1976. Bosley (David Doyle) was his bumbling assistant. Apparently audiences didn’t react like his character so when it went to a series, they got rid of Woodville, made Bosley more competent and promoted him. I’d say it worked out well for Stiers. Comedies usually do better in syndication than dramas (if we can call a show featuring women without bras as a drama). The weird thing is I can remember watching the pilot and I remember the character of Woodville but I hadn’t realized it was Stiers playing him. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/53 "2016-01-02T18:25:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think Mandy Hampton’s in there too. Along with Donna Pinciotti’s younger sister. ---
**Author:** ![lo12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7feea3/32.png) [@lo12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lo12)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/54 "2016-03-05T03:55:11Z")
I’m surprised at the number of people who vote for later seasons. For me, the initial cast was pure comic gold. The Blake-Hawkeye-Trapper-Burns dynamic was hysterical, and the rest of the cast, in my memory at least, never hit a false note. Some episodes were better than others, but I loved the show most when it was FUN. During the early years, I really don’t think anybody who watched it was under the impression that the moral of the show was about anything but the senseless destruction of Vietnam. We got it. And it was powerful. But it was able to carry that moral without beating us over the head with it like it did in the joyless, ultra-self-serious later seasons. Some of those episodes were just _exhausting._ And soon after Hunnicutt showed up, the lines he got were so unbelievably lame that it felt like they had a special intern writer or something that was just in charge of his dialogue. His lines started tanking almost every good line Alda would get off. It was a terrible thing to witness!:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/55 "2016-03-05T04:51:53Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > You want a real shock, watch the movie _Better Off Dead_. Stiers plays the father in that and it’s bizarre. > [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Another shock is Stiers appeared as Scott Woodville, the head operative of the Townsend Detective Agency, in the pilot film for “Charlie’s Angels” in March, 1976. Bosley (David Doyle) was his bumbling assistant. Apparently audiences didn’t react like his character so when it went to a series, they got rid of Woodville, made Bosley more competent and promoted him. I’d say it worked out well for Stiers. Comedies usually do better in syndication than dramas (if we can call a show featuring women without bras as a drama). No, No, No, **NO**! Everyone knows the weirdest, oddest most bizarre performance/appearance by David Ogden Stiers was as **J’onn J’onzz / Martian Manhunter** in the 1997 film _ **Justice League of America** _. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118365/?ref\_=nm\_flmg\_act\_73](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118365/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_73) If you ever want to see the Martian Manhunter with a large gut… ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/56 "2016-03-05T05:51:09Z")
Finest alltime TV character - Colonel Flagg Well, next to Jerry Hubbard. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088/57 "2016-03-05T14:38:04Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > You don’t think Winchester was simply a caricature of a upper class Bostonian Yaleman. Please! Haavahd! Yale is that down-market school near New York. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comparing-mash-seasons-and-characters/740088.md?page=2)