# Dr. Smith or Q **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592 "2019-12-09T14:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/1 "2019-12-09T14:24:13Z")
Who is more camp, Dr. Smith from Lost in Space or Q from Star Trek TNG? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/2 "2019-12-09T14:32:01Z")
If by “campy” you mean “irritating,” then Dr Smith by a mile. The Robinsons should have pushed him out an airlock by the end of the second episode. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/3 "2019-12-09T14:34:15Z")
Dr. Smith. Not in any way whatsoever even remotely close. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/4 "2019-12-09T15:10:55Z")
Never fear, Smith is here. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/5 "2019-12-09T15:13:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Dr. Smith. Not in any way whatsoever even remotely close. This. And to **terentii** ’s point, I doubt it would have taken two full episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/6 "2019-12-09T15:27:03Z")
Dr Smith. He’s aggressively campy. He owns it and good for him. On the subject of Q? He’s doing it with malice aforethought. It irritates Picard and therefore has utility for Q. When he doesn’t need it he can turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/7 "2019-12-09T15:55:09Z")
Oh the pain, the pain! Smith of course. Now if you’d compared Smith to Adam West’s Batman… And the Robinson’s didn’t space Smith because they are fundamentally good people. Murdering someone, ever someone as deserving as Smith, is as wrong in 1997 as it is now. Even stranding him to near certain death on some vegetable caveman hippie robot android planet is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/8 "2019-12-09T16:10:41Z")
Q was not only a more well-rounded character, but he was used far more effectively in stories. Smith was simply a “I would have gotten away with it, except for those meddling kids” cardboard villain. > [@Just Asking Questions](#): > > And the Robinson’s didn’t space Smith because they are fundamentally good people. Murdering someone, ever someone as deserving as Smith, is as wrong in 1997 as it is now. Even stranding him to near certain death on some vegetable caveman hippie robot android planet is wrong. Many of us hoped that’s why Major West was in the cast. To take care of the dirty work.😉 ---
**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:** [December 9, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/9 "2019-12-09T16:34:24Z")
The correct answer is Uncle Arthur. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/10 "2019-12-09T17:01:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Dr. Smith. Not in any way whatsoever even remotely close. This x 1000. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/11 "2019-12-09T17:24:29Z")
Dr Smith is made out of camp. He’s not just a row of tents, he’s a goddamned Boy Scout Jamboree. Q…occasionally gets a bit showy, but never comes anywhere near Smith’s level. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/12 "2019-12-10T04:08:09Z")
Q is being deliberately aggravating, showing off, or just screwing with the mortals; that’s not being “campy”, that’s being obnoxious. Dr Smith is being serious, but he’s a campy character in a campy show so for him being serious\* is\* being campy. As said, Adam West Batman is a better comparison. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/13 "2019-12-10T04:34:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Q is being deliberately aggravating, showing off, or just screwing with the mortals; that’s not being “campy”, that’s being obnoxious. Whereas [Trelane](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Trelane) (from the TOS episode “The Squire of Gothos”), who may well have been a Q (several non-film Trek sources, including Trek novels, have indicated that he was), was definitely more campy than the John DeLancie Q. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/14 "2019-12-10T13:45:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The correct answer is Uncle Arthur. Well, duh. He was played by Paul Lynde, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/15 "2019-12-10T14:34:53Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Dr Smith is made out of camp. He’s not just a row of tents, he’s a goddamned Boy Scout Jamboree. > > Q…occasionally gets a bit showy, but never comes anywhere near Smith’s level. :: golf clap :: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-smith-or-q/844592/16 "2019-12-10T20:51:19Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Q is being deliberately aggravating, showing off, or just screwing with the mortals Good comes out of Q’s screwing around.