Who's the best/your favorite Trek Doctor?

[avp60685]

McCoy because of his interactions with Kirk!

[The Urban Spaceman]

Bashir, definitely. But then again, DS9 was my favourite show, so I'm a little biased. I really liked how Bashir changed, and how he interacted with the rest of the DS9 crew. His bromance with O'Brien was one of the high points of the show for me, I really like how they played off on each other. I also really enjoyed his blossoming friendship with Garak, and how he was stubbornly determined not to give up on the Cardassian more than once.

Second place is definitely the EMH. Robert Picardo is brilliant, one of my favourite actors of all time. The EMH also went through a great development process, but I love his early snarky comments before he developed a proper bedside manner. His interactions with the EMH Mk 2 (on Prometheus) were one of his high points IMO, and showed how far he's come.

I liked Bones (who doesn't?) and I liked Pulaski, too. Sure, in the beginning she treated Data like a machine, but she really seemed to warm to him and develop genuine respect for him. I was sad to see her go.

Watched a bit of ENT and enjoyed what I saw of Phlox, but didn't see much after the greased-up quarantine sesh... that was just silly.

Crusher is my last favourite doctor. She never knows ANYTHING. Something happens, Picard walks into sickbay and ask's what's happening, and her answer almost every time is "I don't know". And she says it whilst looking all sultry and mysterious. By that point, every other doctor on this list would have figured out what was going on and be working towards a cure. I just can't bring myself to like her as a doctor (though I did like some of her interactions with the crew).

[snakenamedjoe]

In order of my favorites

1 - EMH
2 - Phlox
3 - Bones
4 - Crusher
5 - Bashir
6 - Pulaski

In order of who I thought was actually the best doctor (who I'd want to be operating on me)

1 - EMH
2 - Pulaski
3 - Crusher
4 - Phlox
5 - Bashir
6 - Bones (He's dead Jim!)

[blueray]

Now that I've seen enterprise, I have to say I love Phlox too. He has a great sense of humor and I like how he has his own way of curing people. And as people have said, I loved his animal collection and his interaction with porthos

[Atlantisrulez]

The Doctor. He's cool.

[mr_kennedy]

Here's my favorites

Bashir
Phlox
EMH
Bones (Karl Urban)
Crusher
Bones (Deforest Kelley)
Pulaski

Pulaski was the worst, and quite racist for that time period, i think she (the actor) was trying to hard to be like Bones (deforest kelly)

[Morgania]

After watching DS9, I rather like Bashir.

[RadarRider]

A few thoughts:
The actors who portrayed these characters are wonderful interpreters of the writer's inspiration and the demands of each individual series. I tried to weigh each character with how much actual 'doctoring' they were required to perform and the milieu in which the character operated, so here goes:

1. Joe, the EMH/ECH (VOY)
Able to perform practically any medical function but limited to the most basic interaction with the crew this doctor narrowly is my favorite. The evolution of the character over the series is well planned and never seems forced or 'phony' in how he interacts with the crew in emergency and later in non-emergency situations

2. Phlox (ENT)
Almost the opposite end of the technology spectrum from Joe, Phlox may have had to do the most doctoring of them all. I appreciate his utilization of more 'biological' means of healing than just whipping out a piece of technology and presto! a cure is at hand that kind of plagues SF in general and the middle ST series specifically.

3. McCoy
Possibly did the least doctoring of them all but I do not get that impression that was the character's real reason for inclusion in a major role - the dynamic between he, Kirk and Spock drive both TOS and the reboot on many levels.

4. Bashir (DS9)
I think the lack of direction from character creation to around the second third of the series run hurts the ranking of this doctor. As others have noted he comes on strong as the series winds down but with a few exceptions he is just 'there' due to so much happening in the series at any given time.

5. Pulaski (TNG)
A much richer character than most here are giving her credit for this doctor actually did some doctoring in possible the most antiseptically clean series of the franchise. Yes she was abrasive with/towards Data (by writer's intent) but her interactions with Worf and Picard balance that out.

6. Crusher (TNG)
Should really have been a bit/uncredited character, I think the only reason she was there was to provide an excuse for Wesley getting so much bridge/episode time. Her 'advising' duties to the crew was assumed by ship's counselor so outside of maternal guidance for Wesley her doctoring duties were simply wielding the technology at hand and finally getting some kind of development by the time TNG movies started rolling out.

[Ripley2012]

Phlox is by far the most charismatic . However there was also something strangely interesting about his marriage and overall more strangely vague sexual rituals.

[blueray]

Now that I've seen a few episodes of TNG second's season I have to say I don't like Pulaski, she treats Data like crap. And she doesn't seem to respect the other crew members either. I like Crusher much better and I'm glad that they got her back for the rest of the show.

[Morgania]

I liked Crusher since when I first saw the show as a kid. Watching one of the Pulaski episodes made me wonder where the real doctor was. Had no idea who she was at the time, and didn't like her much.

[spinny magee]

1. EMH: Strong willed black woman. Excellent character and development on him where he could have just been a useless shell for the entire series
2. Phlox: King of fresh, polygamous and proud. Most likable and probably the only non vanilla ST:ENT character
3. Bones: Either complained or made obvious observations. Likable though and gritty bloke.
4. Pulaski: Vanilla but better than Crusher and Bashir
5. Bashir: King of Vanilla characters. Was so uninteresting they had to introduce a backstory eventually that was incredibly cringeworthy. Only reason he isn't last is for the obvious sexual tension between him and Garak.
6. Crusher: Annoyed me in every scene, gave birth to that disgusting spawn Wesley too.

[kirsten187]

As much as I love McCoy, my favourite is Beverly Crusher.

[Morgania]

After watching some TOS episodes, I'd say I like McCoy more as a character than a doctor.

[Gollumpus]

1. EMH: Strong willed black woman. Excellent character and development on him where he could have just been a useless shell for the entire series
2. Phlox: King of fresh, polygamous and proud. Most likable and probably the only non vanilla ST:ENT character
3. Bones: Either complained or made obvious observations. Likable though and gritty bloke.
4. Pulaski: Vanilla but better than Crusher and Bashir
5. Bashir: King of Vanilla characters. Was so uninteresting they had to introduce a backstory eventually that was incredibly cringeworthy. Only reason he isn't last is for the obvious sexual tension between him and Garak.
6. Crusher: Annoyed me in every scene, gave birth to that disgusting spawn Wesley too.

I'm going with:

1.) McCoy. Filled his role of being the "heart" to counter balance the "intellect and logic" of Spock. He didn't get many moments when he did more than just shoot someone in the arm with a hypo, but when needed he performed well.

2.) I'm agreeing with you on Phlox. I liked the off the wall character and the interesting approach to medicine the writers gave him. Having him keep a menagerie of various slugs, bats, insects and the like for treating various ailments makes a lot of sense to me. On the one hand, this is a time period before a synthetic variant could be replicated, and it also gives a feeling of a "natural" approach to medicine rather than what we mostly see from the later doctors.

3.) EMH. He was kind of Data-lite to my mind. A good actor, and I agree that they filled the character up with a lot of possibilities. He was sometimes a bit too much for me and I could have done with a bit less of his eccentricities.
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4.) Pulaski. Not a lot of time to fully evaluate her. I may have started to like her a bit more as the second season of ST:NG went along but not by much.

She was supposed to be gruff but she came across as annoying. Her initial reaction to Data was kind of stupid, and insulting. I believe the writers could have handled that scenario better. I did prefer her relationship to Picard to that which we saw between him and Crusher.

The best thing about Pulaski is that she replaced Crusher. The worst thing to say about her is that her leaving brought Crusher back in.

5.) Bashir. He is supposed to take the Wesley role of seeing the universe around him with awe-struck eyes. They also grafted Kirk's loins onto the character. I didn't care for the blend.

6.) Crusher. Supposed to be a strong character, but had significant instances of suffering from bad writing. She could be a moral weather vane.

Case in point, Crusher on the arranged marriage of Troi: "Oh it's so romantic and exciting!". Crusher on the arranged marriage in "The Perfect Mate": "This is prostitution!" Now true, the circumstances are somewhat different, but the general idea holds.

regards,
G.