I'm going to get a lot of push back and grief but I'm going to say it anyway. I hated Elliot Carlin! Great actor but the character bugged the crap out of me. Watching the show in reruns I tend to groan every time he appears in his first scene. I love it when an episode is a Elliot Carlin free episode.
Nothing against the actor - just the character.
Even Elliot Carlin hated Elliot Carlin.
. Ephemeron.
On the contrary, I found his character livened things up.
It made for drama.
Much like "My brother Darryl, and my other brother Darryl..." on Newhart, Elliot Carlin served as a "heavy" or highly comic role.
Carlin's role was the comedy man compared to Newhart's straight man role.
Like Budd Abbott & Lou Costello, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, et. al.
Compare Carlin to Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Frank Burns on MASH or Herb Tarlick on WKRP In Cincinnatti.
True and for whatever reason I hate Carlin while I like Ted Baxter, Herb Tarlick, and both Darryl's. Can't explain it.
shareI like Frank Burns ("Frank Burns eats worms") on MASH.
Of course, he was a preposterous figure (as Murray Slaughter once described Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show), but he sure livened things up in that show.
Can you imagine MASH without Frank Burns?
The show would've been more like its last 3 seasons where for the most part, the writers wrote "average" or "regular" plots.
Someone ought to post a thread listing the major "heavys" or "clown" characters, like Elliot Carlin, Frank Burns, Herb Tarlick, Ted Baxter, Eddie Haskell, etc.
Never was a fan of MASH so I have no MASH reference, but I know a lot of people were.
shareMr. Carlin is one of the best characters on the show.
shareI think the whole point of Elliot Carlin was to be unlikable. (Not saying that the character wanted to be unlikable -- though I suspect he did -- more that the writers wanted him to be unlikable.) So he was a successful character.
To me, though, he was funny-unlikable, while to you he was apparently annoying-unlikable.
I always enjoyed Elliott Carlin’s scenes with Dr. Hartley. The actors had great chemistry.
Dr. Hartley seemed so earnest in his desire to treat and really help Elliott. But at the same time in the back of my mind, I always got the impression that Mr. Carlin was thinking, “Gee, doesn’t Dr. Hartley realize what a pathetic shmuck I am? Does he really think he can help me?”
Elliott Carlin was a loser with very low self esteem. He obviously had no friends to talk to, so instead he paid a psychologist to have someone to talk to and complain.
He obviously had no friends to talk to, so instead he paid a psychologist to have someone to talk to and complain.
The guy was such a contrarian. No matter what Bob said, Elliot disagreed. That’s what made it funny. I don’t think there really is a “cure” for a personality disorder like his.
Mr. Carlin was obviously successful at work. I forget what he did, but he did have a job. He could deal with people on a professional level, just not on a personal one.
One of my favorites is the pink sweater episode. He tells Dr. Hartley that he wants a date to the company Christmas party. Last year he took a pink sweater. He draped it over the chair next to him. Every time someone asked about his date, he said she was in the ladies room.
No matter what Bob said, Elliot disagreed. That’s what made it funny. I don’t think there really is a “cure” for a personality disorder like his.
Mr. Carlin was obviously successful at work. I forget what he did, but he did have a job. He could deal with people on a professional level, just not on a personal one
Maybe I just should have said that he had a lousy personality😀
There are people like Mr. Carlin who have successful professional lives, but their personal lives are a disaster.