I Can't Believe You Like That Replacement Character Better

Cafe Society
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I was talking to someone, obviously a person with a brain illness, because he said he liked BRUTUS better than Bluto in the Popeye cartoons.

Now I may look stupid, but I’ve been around a long time and I thought I had heard everything, but I tell you, they just keep coming up with them.

So the question is what REPLACEMENT character do you like better, but YOU THINK most people would disagree with.

Now it doesn’t have to be an exact replacment, for instance you could be like Terri was for Chrissie on Three’s Company. Or Don Knotts served as one replacement character for two, in this case the Ropers.

Now I don’t mean a direct replacement like Dick Sargent for Dick York, I’m talking about a TV or Movie Sequal or Book Series that replaces a character for another that serves the basic function.

Like I wouldn’t consider Georgette a replacement for Rhoda, since the Mary/Rhoda relationship had a huge background element of dating as well as being a friend. But Georgette was pretty much in one way or another attached to Ted the whole time.

(Of course you may think otherwise)

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A very divisive example is Frank Burns and Charles Winchester in MAS*H.

I personally think Winchester was a hundred thousand times better and I honestly thought everyone else thought the same, and was shocked to discover there were people who actually disagreed - a lot of them, in fact. I’d say, unscientifically, it’s 50/50.

Another divisive example would be the replacement of Diane (Shelley Long) with Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) on “Cheers.”

3

And BJ for Trapper John in the same show. And Col Potter for Col Blake, too.

I liked the replacements better, which may be no more than finally being old enough to get the jokes when those guys were introduced.

It took me a long time to like Winchester, Frank was a laugh.

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I thought Winchester, BJ and Col. Potter were all big improvements but I know some disagree.

For Cheers as annoying as Diane was, Rebecca was not an improvement and Woody was far worse than Coach, but then that wasn’t by choice.

The replacements on Night Court were all improvements except the Lady Bailiff. I liked Roz but Selma was golden. Markie Post was a big improvement over Ellen Foley and Paula Kelly. Charles Robinson as Mac Robinson was better than Karen Austin as Court Clerk Lana Wagner

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Wesley Windham Price ended up being a much more interesting character on Angel than Doyle was. Admittedly, the fact that they had a lot more time to develop him may have helped, but I got the impression the writers had a better handle on where to go with Wesley from the start than with Doyle.

Though the show itself may have gone downhill, I like Natalie more than Sharona on Monk.

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Every replacement on MASH, save, possibly, for Klinger for Radar, was a huge improvement.

Even Late Klinger vs Late Radar is a big improvement, to be honest.

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Rebecca: way funnier, waaay sexier, and several orders of magnitude less irritating than Diane. So neener neener.

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Wasn’t the replacement of Selma done more out of necessity because the actress died? I can’t remember for sure since I was a kid when it was on TV. But I do agree that, upon watching reruns, I found all the replacements to be quite good. And I actually liked Roz better myself.

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I know and understand the reasons why they did it, but I still don’t like it.
I enjoyed Oz the Werewolf much better than Tara the Witch. Tara was a lovely, wonderful, loving person, with the charisma of a dishtowel.

Oz, on the other hand, originated the hummus offensive. To my mind, the comparison isn’t even close.

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Taylor was a much better match for Ryan than Marissa was.

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It was strange. Radar started out as a super efficient boy Friday, and slowly morphed into this incredibly annoying immature, cringing man-child. It was kind of disgusting.

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I came in because of MASH. Second half of the series, hands down.

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Yeah, but Dick York was still better than Dick Sargent. :wink:

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Opinions are sharply divided over who’s better, Sharona or Natalie. I vote for Natalie.

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Shut your mouth!

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AngelSoft:

Yes, Selma Diamond died. Then she was replaced by Florence Halop (whose character, like Selma’s, shared her own first name) who died after just one season. I guess after losing two old ladies they decided they’d better find someone young. And Roz was definitely not bad.

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I agree, the MAS*H replacements added a whole new level to the show.

And both Sharona and Natalie can be annoying, but I prefer Natalie. And we need to see more of the new shrink.

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Another divisive one: Mike for Joel. This being the Straight Dope, I’m sure there’s no need to elaborate.

(I liked both, but come on, Joel was the creator. My love for him can never die.)

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In that case, I’m going to start having intimate congress with dishtowels.:stuck_out_tongue:

I do wish Oz could have come back, but I loved Tara.

On a similar note, Anya was a pale shadow of Cordelia…though nearly as easy on the eyes…

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Yes, sadly like Coach on Cheers Selma died in real life and had to be replaced. Roz was good and better than Flo but Selma was just perfect playing off of Bull.

You both really should mention the show. For a moment I thought you meant Northern Exposure. I’m still not sure what show you mean with the creator part.