Buz or Linc? And explain why.

I prefer Buz also. He was a very passionate guy. Linc is so quiet and calm it almost makes him seem uninteresting.

Piney

Buz. Seemed more worldly wise and had a smoldering inner volcano that when erupted was great.

Well, although I feel just a wee bit sorry for Linc getting so few votes...I still have to go with Buz. 

IMO, Glenn Corbett just lacked the personality and especially the acting chops of George Maharis. Plus, George had an excellent singing voice, which added another dimension to the character of Buz.

BTW, OP--thanks for spelling Buz's name correctly. Far too many people add an extra "z" to his name...and did anybody ever hear this Buz declaim, "To Infinity...and Beyond!"?

I think not. 




Look well, Wolves!

Have to agree: Buz!

I liked the concept of Linc. The problem is that Glenn Corbett (a likeable enough actor) just didn't bring the energy needed to the role. Also, he was in a very unenviable position, having to follow George Maharis, who simply embodied that carefree (but compassionate) energy, a zest for life, a deeply personal knowledge of pain & suffering.

For me, the best Linc episodes were usually those dealing with his time in Vietnam & its aftermath. We'd have to wait years to see that addressed on network television again. And the stories about his estrangement from his father were also good -- I wish they'd gone into that more.

But Buz & Tod just had real chemistry together, one of those happy accidents when you get just the right actors working on the same project.

Maharis was a pretty bland actor, so I would have to go with Corbett - he wasn't the end of all of acting either, but he had better chops hands down. That said, neither actor had much of a career.

I prefer Buzz for his humor, energy, enthusiasm and empathy. Linc was depressive, for a number of reasons, and yet there were episodes in which he was allowed to shine, and shine he did. The fourth season was by no means all bad, and some of the entries were as good as any from the Buzz years. I think that there were probably karmic issues at play: at CBS, at Screen Gems, on the part of the show's creators, that the series had run its course. They were going through the motions, and doing well at it,--far better than the reputation that the fourth seasons has might suggest--but it's like they were treading water, biding their time till call it quits or cancellation time, whichever came first. This must have demoralized the actor who played Linc, Glenn Corbett.

Buz gets my vote.

I echo what others say here: He's passionate. He's charismatic. He's witty. He's poetic. He has a great way with words. He's idealistic yet weary. He's a searcher. He's tough as hell. But his heart is nearly always in the right place. And he's edgy. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest television characters of all time. He's certainly one of the most complex and nuanced. And George Maharis obviously threw his whole self into the role.

That doesn't mean I don't like Linc Case. I really do. He's a solid character. On any other show, he would stand out as a fully formed personality. But look at the tough act he had to follow on ROUTE 66. Anybody coming after Buz Murdock would have a difficult time. Buz set the bar incredibly high. He's the reason I keep going back to the show over and over again. I've watched every episode in the first couple of seasons more times than I care to count. But it was only about four or five years ago that I could honestly say I'd seen every episode in the whole series.

If you don't hold them to the standard of the Buz/Tod episodes, the Linc episodes are mostly very strong, and the writing is -- if anything -- maybe even a little tighter and more focused than in the first few seasons. It makes you wonder what the show would've been like had Tod remained on it. We can only wonder. But I will say this: I like the Linc/Tod episodes much better than the Tod solo episodes. Tod can't carry the show alone (even though I love him).

My 2 cents...