MASH: Frank or Charles. Who do you like better? (cartoon, happened, characters)

[Spikett]

Originally Posted by Trance750

He wasn't supposed to be admirable. He was condescending, arrogant, and extremely self-righteous. His main plot of the show, was to try and foil whatever Hawkeye and Trapper were plotting.

I found him very comical

I get that, but when you think about it he was the only main character who didn't seem to have one redeemable quality. Even Margaret, when she and Frank were together, and who could be a real pain, shows some humanity, warmth, and compassion. MASH was a comedy but one with a positive message. Characters grew - except Frank. A character who is only annoying and who is played fo comic releif only gets old after a while a show that was as deep and meaningful as MASH (IMO). That doesn't mean I can't watch the old eps with Frank and laugh - but I'm sad his character never progressed like everyone else.

[RadioSilence]

I think it was well known Larry Linville didn't like the Frank Burns character and the apparent lack of direction for the character as the series progressed.

For me:
Frank < Charles
Trapper > BJ
Col. Blake > Col. Potter

[PippySkiddles]

I read Wikipedia about Larry Linville. Didn't realize he has been dead 13 years. Wow.
Also, and I don't know why I thought he was gay; he in fact was not and had been married 5x.
It stated that a cancerous tumor was found under his sternum in 1998; at which time a portion of his lung was removed.He never fully recovered and he died 2 years later of pneumonia.

Didn't mean to go off topic.
I can understand him not liking nor appreciating the way his character was presented.
He opted to not renew his contract once the show took a more dramatic turn.

Though not the actor's fault I still prefer the Charles character. And for all the reasons other posters have stated. Interesting that IRL he is a gay man. He's very good actor, IMHO.

[silibran]

I thought Charles' character was more human, though flawed. He did have bits of decency, and he was a good surgeon.

Of course he still was the butt of jokes played on him by Hawkeye and B.J.

I thought the show was much improved with the addition of B.J., Potter and Winchester. So I prefer Charles.

[JonasW]

I liked them both but the Charles character was allowed to grow and become more interesting. The Frank character never did that and was rather one dimensional. That gets old. The best 'outside' his character episode was the one where he gets even with Hawkeye and the others with a series of practical jokes. That showed another side of Frank. It was well done. They end up repeated the premise with BJ which was kinda lame but was a good way of accomplishing the same thing.

[gentlearts]

Frank and Charles were both good characters. Mainly because they each were so out there that they were great subjects for the ridicule of Hawkeye and Trapper.

[cy_flembeck]

Frank in a landslide. I am really shocked that anyone thinks Potter, BJ and Charles were funnier than Blake, Trapper and Frank.

I personally don't think the show had a funny moment after those three left. The show got way too political, self righteous and preachy, led by BJ.

It went from a light, goofy, well written and acted Comedy to a wannabe Drama with some attempted comedic undertones.

[slamont61]

Frank Burns for sure. The character was great, it really takes something special to make a complete buffoon come to life before the cameras.

MASH was about the only series ever to effectively replace talent with new yet effective characters.

This was a life time ago, the Television media is so very different now. MASH came in a time when reality TV didn't exist. The days when water-cooler conversations still existed, who does that now? We had to "talk" about episodes to real people while these days we post to faces we don't know, our fingers do the talking.

[Joe the Photog]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Frank was funnier if you wanted someone to mock. But his character was kind of flat and his bits were a little too slapstick. He was so consistently obnoxious as well as stupid to the point of being a moron that it got old. Charles was a much more complex character. Had his obnoxious moments, but had his good moments, too. His flaws seemed more interesting because you could see how some had developed.

I probably could never have put it so well myself. However, overall, I liked the show better during the Henry Blake/Trapper John/Frank Burns years. I thought the show was funnier then, but it did develop more of a heart in the Potter/BJ/Charles years, too. The best of both worlds, I guess.

[Minethatbird]

Charles, hands down. Frank was an incompetent buffoon, and there was little left to do with the character.

Charles had good and bad points.

Klinger: A massive cold front is moving in! We'll freeze! We can't possibly survive the night!

Charles: How wonderful it is to travel with you, Corporal!