# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/41 "2009-01-14T16:57:04Z")
The MASH divide depends on whether one liked sour MASH or syrupy MASH. Or, if you prefer, comedy MASH vs. drama MASH. They’re essentially two different shows. I preferred Rebecca over Diane, and I like Natalie better than Sharona. I liked Diana Muldaur as the ship’s doctor on ST:TNG much better than Gates McFadden. I prefer Richard Belzer and Ice-T on L&O:SVU over the original sidekick detectives. On L&O:CI, I am ambivalent about old vs. new captain, but I miss the old ADA (Carver). Robert Patrick was OK on the X-Files, but the show was creatively dead by the time he arrived. ---
**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, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/42 "2009-01-14T17:14:17Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I liked Diana Muldaur as the ship’s doctor on ST:TNG much better than Gates McFadden. I agree. I really disliked both Crushers and Troi. They ruined the show for me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/43 "2009-01-14T17:16:22Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > 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. While I agree it was hard, I also think it was necessary in order to resolve the series. Jeff just wasn’t going to work out in the end the same was Oliver did (a fact that had already been established before he left). Besides, he did return in the final season, didn’t he? 😉 I do think that Peter Graves was a pretty poor replacement for Stephen Hill in **Mission Impossible**. Hill’s Dan Briggs was a mastermind; Grave’s Jim Phelps was a generic action hero. (And adding Leonard Nimoy to the mix a few years later didn’t help,either). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/44 "2009-01-14T17:18:36Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > 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. Effectively, yes. They overlapped, so it wasn’t like “Here’s Det. Dietrich to replace Chano.” But Sierra left after the second season, after which Dietrich became a featured character. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/45 "2009-01-14T17:19:54Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > … > 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… I swear I thought you said “perv” button. I thought IMDb added some new feature. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/46 "2009-01-14T17:26:18Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Robert Patrick was OK on the X-Files, but the show was creatively dead by the time he arrived. I still get tickled at all the _Terminator 2_ references they worked into the show when he got there, though. > [@garygnu](#): > > I swear I thought you said “perv” button. I thought IMDb added some new feature. A different site I visit actually does have that button. It’s for browsing through user profile photos: next and perv. No joke. ---
**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, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/47 "2009-01-14T17:27:43Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Effectively, yes. They overlapped, so it wasn’t like “Here’s Det. Dietrich to replace Chano.” But Sierra left after the second season, after which Dietrich became a featured character. Actually when Chano left he wasn’t replaced but Ron Glass as Harris got a more regular role. Dietrich was effectively Fish’s replacement but again they overlapped for a period. Barney Miller was good at phasing characters in and out of the show and having good recurring characters. I liked Dietrich quite a bit but he wasn’t really a replacement character and he surely wasn’t Chano’s. That would be like saying Reverend Jim replaced that boring first season character on Taxi, John Burns or that Simka replaced Bobby Wheeler. ---
**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/48 "2009-01-14T17:27:52Z")
> [@Uvula\_Donor](#): > > 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. Shemp was the funniest of all the Stooges !! ---
**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, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/49 "2009-01-14T17:35:47Z")
> [@RunSilent](#): > > Shemp was the funniest of all the Stooges !! That is just pure blasphemy. You’ve just been banned from the internet. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/50 "2009-01-14T17:41:15Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Actually when Chano left he wasn’t replaced but Ron Glass as Harris got a more regular role. Dietrich was effectively Fish’s replacement but again they overlapped for a period. Barney Miller was good at phasing characters in and out of the show and having good recurring characters. I liked Dietrich quite a bit but he wasn’t really a replacement character and he surely wasn’t Chano’s. That would be like saying Reverend Jim replaced that boring first season character on Taxi, John Burns or that Simka replaced Bobby Wheeler. To clarify, I only meant to agree with the original comment by way of saying “kind of, but not really.” Dietrich was not an original cast member (Landesberg did appear once in a pre-Dietrich episode as a different character). Sierra left soon after Dietrich joined the precinct. In that very vague sense, one could get the impression that Dietrich replaced Chano. I don’t disagree with your assertion at all that Sierra’s leaving the show gave Glass a bigger role to play: he suddenly became the precinct’s only (70s-era) “hot button” ethnic character. I don’t see how anyone could get the impression that Dietrich replaced Fish, seeing has how Vigoda didn’t leave the show until 1981. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/51 "2009-01-14T17:53:20Z")
> [@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… Staff Report: [Is Popeye’s nemesis named Bluto or Brutus?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1548/is-popeyes-nemesis-named-bluto-or-brutus) [QUOTE=RunSilent] Shemp was the funniest of all the Stooges !! [/QUOTE] Oh, wise guy, eh? ---
**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, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/52 "2009-01-14T17:55:11Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > That is just pure blasphemy. You’ve just been banned from the internet. No, it really isn’t blasphemy. Shemp Howard was a talented character actor in several non-Stooges comedies. He had a great sense of timing, and was probably the most _naturally funny_ of the Howard brothers. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/53 "2009-01-14T19:06:29Z")
I was going to clarify the Bluto/Brutus confusion, but I see **Thudlow** beat me to it. As for Klinger, yes he replaced Radar as Col. Potter’s clerk, but he wasn’t really a replacement character, such as Charles, B. J., and Potter were. He had been in the show since episode 4 in season 1 and appeared as a prominent member of the cast all along. So I’d argue he doesn’t fit the exact definition of a replacement character. ---
**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, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/54 "2009-01-14T19:24:23Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > To clarify, I only meant to agree with the original comment by way of saying “kind of, but not really.” Dietrich was not an original cast member (Landesberg did appear once in a pre-Dietrich episode as a different character). Sierra left soon after Dietrich joined the precinct. In that very vague sense, one could get the impression that Dietrich replaced Chano. > > I don’t disagree with your assertion at all that Sierra’s leaving the show gave Glass a bigger role to play: he suddenly became the precinct’s only (70s-era) “hot button” ethnic character. I don’t see how anyone could get the impression that Dietrich replaced Fish, seeing has how Vigoda didn’t leave the show until 1981. 🙂 Actually Abe Vigoda left in 1977 to his spin-off “Fish”. The 1981 appearance was a guest appearance long after he left. Dietrich was a minor character in 1976 and got more time during 1977 as he was groomed to replace Fish. He was partnered to Fish for training and I think the only character on the show to appear on “Fish” after the first episode. Dietrich even visited Fish’s apartment in one episode of Barney Miller as Fish was ready to retire early. I recall the daughter in that episode was different from the one in the series “Fish”. Sorry to go into such details, but “Barney Miller” is one of my all time favorite shows and I recently watched the first 81 episodes on Tubetime on ‘On Demand’. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/55 "2009-01-14T19:30:59Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Actually Abe Vigoda left in 1977 to his spin-off “Fish”. The 1981 appearance was a guest appearance long after he left. We need more specific smileys, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/56 "2009-01-14T19:32:22Z")
I always liked Christopher Ecclestone better than David Tenant. In fact, this Matt Stone kid looks so much more interesting than Tenant. [runs away from torch-bearing mob lynch mob.] ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/57 "2009-01-14T19:32:25Z")
More Star Trek/TNG: Worf effectively replaced Tasha Yar. Maybe they would have fleshed out Yar’s character, too, but as things turned out, Worf wasn’t “worse”. (7 o’ 9/Kess/Deanna Troi, I’d let anyone of those purr in my ear. I’m a simple man, easy to please.) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/58 "2009-01-14T19:38:17Z")
I never really got how Tara King was supposed to be an acceptable substitute for Mrs. Peel. ---
**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, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/59 "2009-01-14T19:39:23Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > We need more specific smileys, obviously. So that’s is what that whistling noise past my ears was. :smack: Well at least the question is thoroughly answered now for others. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190/60 "2009-01-14T20:23:01Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I still get tickled at all the _Terminator 2_ references they worked into the show when he got there, though. Oh, I’ve forgotten this. Tell me more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-you-like-that-replacement-character-better/481190.md?page=4)