# I Can't Believe You Like That Replacement Character Better **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190 "2009-01-14T02:54:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/21 "2009-01-14T14:01:08Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > Opinions are sharply divided over who’s better, Sharona or Natalie. I vote for Natalie. I was coming in to say this. Monk and Natalie are the better team. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/22 "2009-01-14T14:03:59Z")
I’ve never thought of myself as a contrarian but I preferred all of the original characters from MASH, particularly Colonel Blake. I did not like the whiny little snit that they turned Radar into. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/23 "2009-01-14T14:38:42Z")
Wait, Bluto and Brutus were supposed to be two different characters in the Popeye cartoons? I thought there just had been some funking around with the name… ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/24 "2009-01-14T14:40:10Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > 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.) I like Pearl Forrester over Clayton, but TV’s Frank beats Observer and BOBO ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/25 "2009-01-14T14:43:50Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > I like Pearl Forrester over Clayton, but TV’s Frank beats Observer and BOBO Ah ha! Google reveals you are talking about MST3K. That is Mystery Science Theater 3000. **elfkin477** , are you talking about the show The OC? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/26 "2009-01-14T14:46:54Z")
> [@KRM](#): > > I’ve never thought of myself as a contrarian but I preferred all of the original characters from MASH, particularly Colonel Blake. I did not like the whiny little snit that they turned Radar into. If you are a contrarian, then so am I. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/27 "2009-01-14T14:57:43Z")
> [@bufftabby](#): > > Shut your mouth! Come on! Marissa was unwatchable after the first half-season! Autumn Reeser was a better actress, funnier, and hotter all rolled into one package. (Ugh. Want to hear something embarrassing? I had an O.C. dream last night. Nothing weird, Seth and Summer and I were just talking about stuff in the kitchen while Ryan fixed himself a bagel.) –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/28 "2009-01-14T15:10:11Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > I like Pearl Forrester over Clayton, but TV’s Frank beats Observer and BOBO But, TV’s Frank was **far** superior to his predecessor, the whiny and unpleasant [Dr. Erhardt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Laurence_Erhardt)! > [@What Exit?](#): > > Ah ha! Google reveals you are talking about MST3K. That is Mystery Science Theater 3000. Gg-Google search!?!! Hang your head in shame!! > [@Greg Charles](#): > > Another divisive one: Mike for Joel. This being the Straight Dope, I’m sure there’s no need to elaborate. That’s one of the few changes that I’m evenly split on. Neither was really better (Joel gets an edge for being the original), just different. Joel was a father figure for the bots, while Mike was more of the older brother. Both worked perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/29 "2009-01-14T15:33:37Z")
On the British show _Coupling_, Oliver was supposed to fill the void left by Jeffrey; but it’s really hard to make up for the loss of a manic Welshman. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/30 "2009-01-14T16:11:03Z")
> [@Garula](#): > > 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. I actually buy the idea that Whedon always intended to kill off Doyle. The timing may have been influenced by Glenn Quinn’s drug problem, but Whedon’s a sadistic bastard of a writer and loves killing off characters. > [@](#): > > Though the show itself may have gone downhill, I like Natalie more than Sharona on _Monk_. :: shrugging :: Natalie’s prettier. Sharona’s sexier. Sharona understands Monk better; Natalie pushes him to improve more, in part because she doesn’t see him as a patient. Natalie seems nice but is actually a bitch; Sharona doesn’t pretend to be nice. I’ll call it a tie. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/31 "2009-01-14T16:11:49Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Wait, Bluto and Brutus were supposed to be two different characters in the Popeye cartoons? I thought there just had been some funking around with the name… No Bluto was handsome, (OK he needed to be shaved and cleaned up) and muscular and had a brain. He was always outwitting Popeye. But Brutus was a fat stupid slob. While Bluto was cool, Brutus was a 300 pound bag of stupid ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/32 "2009-01-14T16:15:18Z")
I like Klinger less and less bascially because the character slowly stopped being Klinger. By the time Klinger replaced Radar he was not cross dressing or scheming to get out of the army. This trait of Klinger is what made him funny. Woody too was a weak substitute because basically the entire bar was Anti-Diane, except Coach. He was her only “real” supporter. Coach had a back relationship with Sam and though he was a bit “slow” he knew what each of the character in the bar really was, not just pretending to be. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/33 "2009-01-14T16:17:00Z")
I like Three Stooges shorts with Shemp _just as much_ as the ones with Curly, even though it seems most Stooge fans disagree with me. Fuck Joe DeRita and Joe Besser, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/34 "2009-01-14T16:21:23Z")
Did Steve Landesburg replace Gregory Sierra on “Barney Miller”? There were a lot of cast changes on that show over the years, and I don’t remember exactly who came and went when, but I much prefer Landesburg’s character. Oh yeah, and Reverend Jim on “Taxi” was a thousand times better than the no-name young kid he replaced. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/35 "2009-01-14T16:21:44Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I actually buy the idea that Whedon always intended to kill off Doyle. The timing may have been influenced by Glenn Quinn’s drug problem, but Whedon’s a sadistic bastard of a writer and loves killing off characters. I’m pretty sure this is true. In the commentary on the pilot to _Buffy_, Whedon moans about how they didn’t have enough money to make an extra credit sequence that included Jesse. Naturally (this being Whedon) he wanted to do that so that it would be shocking when he got killed in the first episode. But then he cheers himself up by saying that he got to do that with _Angel_. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/36 "2009-01-14T16:31:02Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > 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. I’ll agree with all of those. Even when I was a kid I thought Col Blake was a one-dimensional buffoon, whereas Potter had a lot more depth, was far more believable, and had a back story I always wanted to hear, “Tell me about the war, Grandpa!” Frank Burns was silly and was good for the cheap laugh, but I really grew to appreciate the complexity that was Winchester. Again, a caricature was replaced by someone who at first _seemed_ like a caricature (just a different kind), but then he seemed to have a lot more humanity just below the surface. You could empathize with them as real individuals. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/37 "2009-01-14T16:34:28Z")
Seven of Nine was a better character than Kes on Star Trek:Voyager. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/38 "2009-01-14T16:47:18Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I actually buy the idea that Whedon always intended to kill off Doyle. The timing may have been influenced by Glenn Quinn’s drug problem, but Whedon’s a sadistic bastard of a writer and loves killing off characters. I bought it too. I thought Whedon explained that Doyle was just a device to give the supernatural to Cordelia (via Doyle’s kiss). I have to say I hate, hate, HATE the actress they got to replace Corpse Chat Lady (Khandi Alexander) on _CSI: Miami_. I kind of liked the damn creepy way she would get all “poor baby” with the cadavres. This is the new chick: [Megalyn Echikunwoke](http://us.imdb.com/media/rm894274048/nm0248461). See the outfit she’s wearing? The white pants, stylin’ hair, lots of make-up? She has white stillettos too. That is what her character wore to a crime scene. (Hit the “prev” button and you’ll see her in that get-up next to a blood-smeared couch). I mean _come on!_ She looks like a kid at the club! Khandi was in skin tight outfits all the time, but most of them wouldn’t look out of place in a business casual office. Thridly, I may be a heathen, but I liked Cheryl Ladd replacing Farah Fawcett on _Charlie’s Angels_. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/39 "2009-01-14T16:51:53Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I like Klinger less and less bascially because the character slowly stopped being Klinger. By the time Klinger replaced Radar he was not cross dressing or scheming to get out of the army. This trait of Klinger is what made him funny. It’s funny…I have the exact opposite opinion. Klinger became less of a one-trick pony post crossdressing. I couldn’t stand the whole section 8 business. It was distracting. After they gave that up, I found I liked Klinger better than Radar, who I found to be a whiny infant for most of the show. Also…while I liked Col. Blake…I’m glad they brought in Potter. Bringing in an actual authority figure made Hawkeye’s antics more risky, since we know Blake was barely in control of the unit during his tenure. With Potter, there was actual risk of punishment. Given that I also prefer BJ over Trapper…put me firmly in the replacement fan category. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/40 "2009-01-14T16:55:01Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > I like Pearl Forrester over Clayton, but TV’s Frank beats Observer and BOBO What? No way. NO ONE was better than BOBO. God I miss Bobo ;\_; Why don’t they show that damn show anymore?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190.md?page=3)