# Who are your favorite cast members from M\*A\*S\*H? (Multiple choice) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202 "2011-08-10T15:24:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/1 "2011-08-10T15:24:03Z")
Choose as many as you like. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/2 "2011-08-10T15:32:45Z")
I only picked four, but really I could pick them all. I loved every character on that show, including the ones I loved to hate. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/3 "2011-08-10T15:36:07Z")
I like the show, but basically every character was either a foil or accomplice for Hawkeye, the show didn’t do a very good job developing the rest of the cast. Except Intercom guy. He was the second best character. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/4 "2011-08-10T16:00:36Z")
Actually, Margaret was far more developed as a character in the TV show then in the film. OTOH, the TV show left out Duke Forrest, who had the best line of the movie: “Now, fair’s fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and hit Hawkeye can I go home too?” ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/5 "2011-08-10T16:13:34Z")
The poll is missing the best character, Captain Tuttle ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/6 "2011-08-10T16:52:49Z")
Sherman Potter is one of my favorite television characters. He was just so…real. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/7 "2011-08-10T17:37:15Z")
All of them, but Radar holds a special place in my heart. RADAR (barges in): Yes, sir? BLAKE: RADAR!.. Ugh, stop doing that! ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/8 "2011-08-10T17:45:27Z")
Of my two favorites, one has 15 votes (Potter), the other just 2 (Burns). What in the name of _ **Beelzebub** _ is going on here ?!? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/9 "2011-08-10T18:04:18Z")
Huh. Well it turns out that while I liked at least six characters on Cheers, I didn’t like any characters on MASH. Hunnicutt was blandly inoffensive, the rest annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/10 "2011-08-10T18:05:07Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I only picked four, but really I could pick them all. I loved every character on that show, including the ones I loved to hate. Me too. Actually I thought Klinger would be doing a lot better in this poll than he is! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/11 "2011-08-10T18:08:26Z")
M_A_S\*H is the best show ever. I voted for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/12 "2011-08-10T18:13:16Z")
I liked some of Hunnicut’s puns, but my overall impression of the show has diminished greatly over the years. Part of this is because in early seasons I find Burns to be sympathetic (because Pierce and McIntyre were such jerks to him) but not likable, and in later seasons Pierce becomes overbearing and insufferable. Thus, I abstain. ---
**Author:** ![Troutsqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Troutsqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troutsqueezer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/13 "2011-08-10T18:22:33Z")
Donald Sutherland. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/14 "2011-08-10T19:23:24Z")
I picked (in no particular order): B.J. Col. Potter “Chahles” Emerson Winchester. _(The Third!)_ I think “Trapper John” was way too one-note/one-dimensional (and I’m not blaming Wayne Rodgers). B.J. was an affable, generally moral, ordinary guy, and a steady sounding board (without being the perpetual straight-man) for Hawkeye. Henry Blake was more a befuddled, harrased clerk trying to deal with TPS report cover sheets than a U.S. Army Lt. Col., and was a door-mat for the lead characters. Colonel Sherman Potter was a Commanding Officer of a military hospital in the middle of a shooting war. Harry Morgan brought a mature gravitas to the role as the war-weary war horse who was still plugging away. Like B.J., he was the grounding rod, the reality check, to Hawkeye’s manic moralizing. And he could, and _would_, put his Army Boot _down_ on Hawkeye when needed. Charles was the replacement “villain” taking over from Frank Burns. He was quite often a spoiled, pompous ass, whining because he didn’t have silk slippers and PJs, and 5-star cuisine at every meal. Yet he was also amazingly human when compared to Frank Burns. Charles was a competent doctor, and also (if grudgingly) acknowledged the other doctor’s medical competency as well. He was also amazingly kind to certain patients (the one where he helped the wounded soldier/piano player really won me over), as well as generally being nicer to other people (than Burns), if in a distant, often “Lordly” (and sometimes, condescending) manner. And in the end, he didn’t fold like Burns did, but gave back as good as he got against B.J. and Hawkeye. Liked “Okay:” Margaret: after Burns left, she became a human being, if a hard-nosed one. She just really needed to get laid more often. Like Winchester, she wasn’t a door-mat for Hawkeye and B.J. Radar: perpetual man-child, but hating on him is way too much like kicking a puppy. Father Mulcahy: too often a one-note character, but he had his moments. Disliked the tremulous, high-pitched voice. Liked Rene Auberjonois in the movie better, even though he did less. Meh: Klinger, Rizzo, Hawkeye. Alda’s quasi-Groucho Marx impersonation portrayal of Hawkeye, coupled with the in-your-face preachifying on why war is bad, really got old. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/15 "2011-08-10T19:28:51Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Margaret: after Burns left, she became a human being, if a hard-nosed one. She just really needed to get laid more often. Like Winchester, she wasn’t a door-mat for Hawkeye and B.J. During the seasons when Burns was still there but Trapper was gone, Burns and Margaret had a real chemistry. Those were my favorite seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/16 "2011-08-10T20:00:30Z")
A few comments: **Sidney Freedman:** Doing quite well. I came to really dislike him and his pop psycho-crappo approach to fixing crazy. The time he pretended to shoot hoops with a cracking-up Hawkeye was painful to watch. Also, he seemed to be smirking at everyone all the time. **Col Flagg:** Not doing well, and I am surprised. I thought he was a big hit. I’m guessing that he’s a bit too over-the-top to get much love? **Sherman Potter:** Every word out of his mouth was golden. Any scene with him in it is worth watching. **Frank Burns:** Love him. “I don’t chew my cabbage twice!” mmm ---
**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:** [August 10, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/17 "2011-08-10T20:28:41Z")
I like the clerks, both of them. Doesn’t matter which version of Radar - the streetwise, lecher, or the naive farmboy. Like 'em both. Also like Klinger more after he developed into more than a joke (but even the later days of his being mostly a running gag were good). ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/18 "2011-08-10T20:29:13Z")
Friend Ex Tank said: > [@](#): > > Alda’s quasi-Groucho Marx impersonation portrayal of Hawkeye, coupled with the in-your-face preachifying on why war is bad, really got old. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/19 "2011-08-10T20:37:24Z")
I’d like to nominate the Aussie gas-passer, [Ugly John](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0009480/quotes) for an honorable mention. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202/20 "2011-08-10T20:41:22Z")
Blake and Flagg were my two favorites. I tossed a vote for Hawkeye because a lot of my favorite bits involved him. I never got all the “preachy” hate targeting his character, although I do admit I enjoyed the goofier Hawkeye of earlier seasons slightly more. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-cast-members-from-m-a-s-h-multiple-choice/592202.md?page=2)