Did You Ever Find Ens. Parker to be Annoying?

Well that's an opinion.

I never found Tim Conway's character anymore tiresome or predictable than the other characters you mentioned though.

When I watch McHale's Navy I usually laugh out loud and it's usually when Mr. Conway, Joe Flynn or Bob Hastings is in the scene.

Great cast and a fun show to watch, imo.

Maybe it's churlish to complain about the silliness of one character/actor on an admittedly if endearingly silly show, but I think you struck a nerve. I've had the same problems with Tim Conway as Ensign Parker. Somehow his imbecilic ineptitude is often less funny than it aspires to be -- I think partly because even though this is farce, too often Parker's bumbling seriously imperils the rest of the crew (the crew of the show & the crew of PT-73). I wince rather than laugh when Parker gets hold of a gun and fires wildly around him, posing a mortal risk to his fellow sailors. I appreciate the Comedy of Pain, as when, say, Laurel breaks a lamp over Hardy's head. But Conway's Parker lacks the essential innocence to bring it off. The fact that he walks slope-shouldered like an overgrown ape contributes to the impression that he is less a good--hearted boob than a seriously dangerous mental defective. I find Capt. Binghamton's (Joe Flynn) exasperation and rage over Parker's bumbling much funnier than the bumbling itself, and Flynn is far more comedically adept in his role than is Conway in his. Although Binghamton is depicted as pompous and even cowardly at times, he still seems more sympathetic than the irresponsible idiot played by Conway -- and I don't think for a minute that this is what the creative team behind the show intended. I think we're supposed to root for Parker; I rooted for Binghamton at least in his conflicts with the ensign. I also rooted for the Japanese to take Parker out with a well-aimed torpedo. Conway's best work would come in later vehicles whereas for Joe Flynn, this was a shining defining role. Compared to Conway, he isn't cowardly; he's Noël Cowardly. Ha ha.

I'm currently watching McHale's Navy with my dad. I still find it funny after all these years. Although I've always wondered why McHale never got Parker out of the way when he was being extremely clumsy around Leadbottom, I never found him to be annoying. I've always wondered how Binghamton gained his command with no combat record and his apparent ineptness as a commander. McHale's Navy, Barney Miller and MASH are 3 shows that continue to be enjoyable.

Tim Conway is one of those comic actors who when he's good, he's very good. In small doses. In constant variations on the same situation, in the same character, he can come off as annoying. Or like he's trying too hard. I think Don Knotts handled similar characters and situations with a far lighter touch.
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Wherever you go, there you are.

As funny as Mr. Parker was, there were indeed times, more than a couple, when they had him bumble around too much, for too long, being clumsy in whatever he was trying to do.

I cannot remember specific episodes, but in viewing the entire series a bit over a year ago, there were several episodes where both my wife and I thought he had crossed the line and was "too dumb" to make that bit funny. Getting his finger stuck in the trigger of whatever type of gun he got near was also too much.

I chalk it up to weak writing, where they let him go on too long with the bumbling. In shorter doses, he was very funny.

What the writers needed to remember is that sometimes, less is more.

Yes, Parker was a royal pain-in-the-@$$, but so were Binghamton and that toady of his!