# What role is Larry Hagman best known for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 7, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749 "2025-04-07T17:15:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [April 8, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/101 "2025-04-08T19:51:29Z")
Jeannie II was as naughty as Samantha’s cousin Serena on _ **Bewitched** _. All you have to do to create an evil twin is put a dark wig on a blonde actress and hey, presto! ---
**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:** [April 8, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/102 "2025-04-08T19:55:01Z")
Part of the fun of shows like _ **McHale’s Navy** _ and _ **F-Troop** _ was how over-the-top they were. Yes, the writing and acting were atrocious, but that was part of the joke. For years, they were two of the high points in my viewing schedule. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2025, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/103 "2025-04-08T19:58:11Z")
**Nitpick:** The correct term is “Mothers-in-Law.” Like “Courts Martial” and “Attorneys General.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/104 "2025-04-08T20:27:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Jeannie II was as naughty as Samantha’s cousin Serena on _ **Bewitched** _. All you have to do to create an evil twin is put a dark wig on a blonde actress and hey, presto! Kinda like how all it takes to convert a spinster librarian into a sexpot is have her remove her glasses and shake her hair down. Hollywood has some amazing magic tricks. If only they worked in the real world. Sigh. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2025, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/105 "2025-04-08T20:31:35Z")
One more comment, just for the record: I never cared for most of the sitcoms of the '70s. They were all too contrived and preachy. The only one of Norman Lear’s sitcoms I’d watch today is _ **Fernwood 2-Night** _, which was a brilliant satire and really took the piss out of late-night talk shows. I can no longer watch most sitcoms from the '60s either. They’re far too sappy and the characters are mostly too stupid to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/106 "2025-04-08T21:07:25Z")
Fire up an episode of _Laugh-In_ some time. I was a tween / teen then ('68 - '73) but I can remember my parents and I and my younger sibs all guffawing mightily for 30 minutes. Or was it 60? Hmmm … Wiki sez 60. So lame. Although like many serials of the era, part of the fun is knowing what’s coming and anticipating the pratfall or whatever. Which anticipation is lost when you watch just one episode cold. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2025, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/107 "2025-04-08T21:44:26Z")
The few times I watched _ **Laugh-In** _, the only thing I found funny was Ruth Buzzi’s Gladys Ormphby beating the crap out of Arte Johnson’s dirty old man Tyrone. **T:** Would you call me … attractive? **G:** _Whomp, whomp!_ **T:** Would you call me … alluring? **G:** _Whomp, whomp, whomp!_ **T:** Would you call me … sexy? **G:** _Whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp!_ **T:** Would you call me … an ambulance? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/108 "2025-04-08T21:53:09Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > what were the “good” sitcoms of the 60s other than The Dick Van Dyke Show? I’m remembering the Andy Griffith Show and then the likes The Doris Day Show, That Girl, The Mother-In-Laws (one of the worst), The Patty Duke Show or Gidget?, My Three Sons? The Green Acres, Petticoat Junction & Beverly Hillbillies? Family Affair, My Three Sons, Beaver or Hazel? Here’s Lucy? _Riddle me this, Batman…_ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/109 "2025-04-08T21:54:41Z")
ETA: @terentii 2 posts up. I laughed at that. My Dad _loved_ the Tyrone character. Now I are one. For me then, Lily Tomlin’s Ernestine the Phone Company operator was always good for a chuckle or three. Likewise Arte Johnson on his trike with the raincoat. The crash at the end was totally predictable and somehow still a novel surprise every time. I also enjoyed the Dick & Dan closing dialog and the Fickle Finger of Fate. They were pillorying the f-ed up politics of their time. If only we could develop such a thing today… ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/110 "2025-04-08T22:00:00Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > my teenage self sure had crushes on Pamela (Victoria Principal) I will go to my grave a happy man because etched in my mind is the image of Victoria Principal walking out of an elevator in Alan Funt’s movie **What Do You Say To A Naked Lady**. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/111 "2025-04-08T22:15:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m assuming _I Dream of Jeannie_ is still being shown in syndication and on streaming and there are young people watching the show for the first time. So over the long haul, Hagman is better known for playing Tony Nelson. Here’s a simple test for that assertion. Take as large a sample as you want of people who were born after both IDOJ and Dallas went off the air. Ask them if they ever heard of IDOJ. If they say they have, ask them who was in the cast. Frankly I’d be surprised if they could answer either Barbara Eden or Larry Hagman. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/112 "2025-04-08T22:27:14Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > You forgot to mention the execrable F-Troop! Bad writing, bad acting. I thought it was pretty great when I was a kid. In my defense: Melody Patterson. I didn’t find out until decades later that she was actually a lot closer to me in age than I thought (the age I was when I was watching it). She lied about her age, she was 15 when she got the role. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/113 "2025-04-08T22:47:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The only one of Norman Lear’s sitcoms I’d watch today is _ **Fernwood 2-Night** _ Which begs the question: Who’s the snazziest dresser? Barth Gimble or Larry Sanders? (Sorry! Wrong thread.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/114 "2025-04-08T23:11:44Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Ask them if they ever heard of IDOJ. If they say they have, ask them who was in the cast. Frankly I’d be surprised if they could answer either Barbara Eden or Larry Hagman. That’s not quite fair unless you also ask them the names of actors playing comparably prominent _Dallas_ characters. The difference is what matters, not the absolute level of knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/115 "2025-04-08T23:53:47Z")
Yes, but if they can’t say Hagman was in IDOJ, then they can’t know him for that role. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/116 "2025-04-09T00:11:17Z")
The _Flying_ Fickle Finger of Fate. You bet your sweet bippy. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/117 "2025-04-09T00:18:09Z")
Say goodnight Dan. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/118 "2025-04-09T00:48:17Z")
Sock it to me! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/119 "2025-04-09T01:04:40Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I think they go back to Friends or How I Met Your Mother. My kids (who are all grown) don’t watch any 70s or 80s shows and none of their friends talk about them. One of my kids loves the Dick van Dyke show, but she’s an anomaly. The same goes for me. I don’t think I’ve watched a complete episode of Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeanie, The Munsters, The Addams Family, and many other sitcoms that were on perpetual rerun when I was growing up since either the late late 80s or the very early 90s. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749/120 "2025-04-09T02:36:49Z")
**[VOICE OF JERRY HUBBARD]:** Barth, of course. It’s perfectly clear to me! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-role-is-larry-hagman-best-known-for/1016749.md?page=7)