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"Korea, 1950… a hundred years ago.” An interminable war with undefined goals that’s dragged on for three Presidents... the latest of whom is a backstabbing megalomaniac swindler at best. A dense and unshiftable status quo crushing movements for change and progress that seemed unstoppable just a few years earlier. Then, just as now, we needed a way to laugh at the buffoons in power who could get us all killed at a moment’s notice. We needed characters who would speak out for peace and simple human dignity. We needed M*A*S*H forty-five years ago, and we need it today. M*A*S*H can be difficult to categorize. Is it a situation dramedy satire? Heartbreaking, yet uplifting gallows humor? A screwball medical medical workplace comedy dealing with the horror and futility of man’s greatest folly? M*A*S*H is all of these, and more. Once called “a series set in the fifties, presenting the ethics of sixties for audiences of the seventies and eighties,” the franchise had already been through a few incarnations before it hit television screens on September 17, 1972. MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors came out in 1968, credited to “Richard Hooker” - actually a collaboration between former US Army surgeon H. Richard Hornberger and renowned sportswriter/war correspondent/novelist W.C. Heinz. Hornberger drew from his own experiences during the Korean War in a M.A.S.H (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) unit, as well those of others. M.A.S.H units were located near the front lines to treat the wounded as quickly as possible following combat. During campaigns, the doctors (often young, with little surgical training) might see hundreds of casualties a day. The rest of the time, they did what they could to stave off the boredom of waiting for the next push. Tonally, the novel is quite different from subsequent incarnations, best summarized as “spoiled frat boys continue their pranks even after being drafted.” The characters are unaffected by the tragedies going on around them, and see the war as an opportunity to goof off and sleep around. There is no commentary on the morality of war, and Hornberger himself was a Vietnam War supporter. Robert Altman’s 1970 film adaptation, though, is very much a product of the Vietnam generation and the New Hollywood movement. Keeping the character names and basic events of the novel (which Altman referred to as “terrible and racist”), the film adds context and depth through excellent performances and Altman’s trademark overlapping dialogue and “wandering camera” technique. The film may have been set in Korea, but it was obviously about Vietnam. The differences are particularly highlighted in the “suicide” scene where a “last supper” is held for camp dentist Capt. Walter Waldowski (“The Painless Pole”), who has asked the doctors to euthanize him following a bout of erectile dysfunction. In the novel, this as just another moment of wacky hijinx, but the movie presents it as something simultaneously touching, absurd and surreal. The scene also gives the film its theme song, “Suicide is Painless,” which would carry over to the series as an instrumental. M.A.S.H touched a nerve - the film was nominated for five Oscars (winning “Best Adaptation”), as well as receiving the Palm d’Or at Cannes and a Golden Globe (“Best Motion Picture, musical or comedy”), and its episodic nature made it the natural fit for a TV adaptation. M*A*S*H (the asterisks first appeared in movie promo posters, and were officially incorporated into the name of the TV series) would last eleven seasons, famously far longer than the actual Korean War, and go from near-cancellation low ratings at the beginning to a series finale that set records for the most watched television program in history. While any series lasting that long is going to have changes, M*A*S*H underwent a major shift at the beginning of Season 4. Not only were there several cast changes, but the dialogue and overall tone are markedly different. The first three seasons (often called the “Original Cast Era”) generally followed a sitcom structure, with occasional serious moments. The show focused primarily on the mischief of the two leads, and the bucking of authority in general. Starting with season 4, episodes have a much wider range of style and format, greatly developing the characters and wrestling with larger themes. Appropriately, this period begins with “Welcome to Korea”, a double-length episode that almost serves as a second pilot. Other changes would come, but “Welcome to Korea” very much divides the series into “before” and “after” periods. Characters:  Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce (Alan Alda, seasons 1-11): Chief Surgeon of the 4077th, incredibly talented, incredibly smart-assed, Hawkeye is the breakout character of the series, and the only character to appear in all 251 episodes. Hailing from a small town in  Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit, seasons 1-11): The only other character present from the first episode to the last (as portrayed by the same actor), Chief Nurse Margaret Houlihan shows the most character growth of anyone in the series. An Army brat who has spent her entire life around the military, Margaret’s need for order and discipline makes her an obvious foil for the authority-bucking draftee surgeons… and vulnerable to one Frank Burns, who has manipulated his way into a relationship with her over the first four seasons. Starting off as a one-note caricature, over time Margaret is revealed as deeply caring for those around her and totally dedicated to medicine. She’ll never approve of the shenanigans going on around her… but smile about them when she thinks no one is looking. (The nickname “Hot Lips” is a holdover from the movie, and was phased out as her character developed over the first few seasons.) Captain “Trapper” John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers, seasons 1-3): The other half of Hawkeye’s double-act for the first three seasons, Trapper is the more direct of the two, more impulsive and cynical, going for the quick, cutting remark as opposed to Hawkeye’s constant patter. Trapper’s role is diminished as the show began to focus more on Hawkeye, and Rogers grew frustrated with his character’s reduction to “sidekick” status, electing to leave during the break between seasons. Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville, seasons 1-5): Second-in-command of the 4077th and avowed nemesis of the other Swamp residents, Frank is stingy, weasley, self-serving, and cowardly… and those are his best qualities. Obsessed with authority (but terrified of responsibility), a stickler for discipline (of everyone else), and quick to send others into danger (while going to great lengths to avoid any risk to himself.) Frank maintains a relationship with Margaret through an implied promise that he would eventually leave his wife for her, but would never consider actually doing it for a second. (After all, the house and stocks are in her name.) Frank is left out of the character development of the series’ second era, becoming, if anything, more unhinged and buffoonish. Feeling he’d done all he could with the limited character, Linville left at the end of season 5.  Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson, seasons 1-3): In contrast to the book and movie versions, Henry is another draftee doctor, a little older and, as CO, given the unenviable task of overseeing the 4077th. Despite his position, Henry has more in common with the other surgeons than with military leadership and will be the first to admit that he’s in over his head, preferring fishing and booze to hassles of leadership. Fortunately, he has Radar to keep the camp running, and the two develop a close relationship. Despite his “goofy dad” demeanor, Henry will sometimes serve as a level voice of experience to the younger, impetuous surgical staff. Wanting to pursue more leading roles, Stevenson left at the end of season 3 with the farewell episode “Abyssinia, Henry,” very much a finale to the series’ first era. Corporal Walter “Radar” O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff, seasons 1-8): Company clerk and the youthful innocent amidst the debauchery, Radar (so named for his prognostic abilities or excellent hearing, take your pick) handles most of the 4077th’s day-to-day operations, official and... otherwise. He sees Colonel Blake (and to a lesser degree, Colonel Potter) as a father figure, his own having died when Radar was a baby, and is himself a “little brother” to the rest of the camp. With his teddy bear, comic books, and love of animals, Radar is often a go-between for the jaded surgeons and youthful wounded soldiers. Wanting to spend more time with his family (and increasingly unbelievable as an 18-year-old), Burghoff left in season 8 with the two-part “Goodbye, Radar.” Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy (William Christopher, seasons 1-11): Company Chaplain and, like Radar, a counterpoint to the wilder leads, Father Mulcahy helps keep the camp running on the emotional and social side of things. Very open-minded, he tries to help everyone regardless of religion (or lack thereof), without proselytizing, earning his the respect of anti-authoritarians like Hawkeye (“that crazy agnostic!”) Loving its simplicity and honesty, he is also an avid boxer, using it to teach more than one character to stand up for themselves.  Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger (Jamie Farr, seasons 1-11): Orderly/corpsman and Company Clerk after Radar leaves, Klinger wants nothing more than to get out of the Army, usually by way of a Section 8 psychological discharge. To achieve this, he tries a number of wild schemes but is known primarily for dressing in drag (although this is phased out by the time he takes over from Radar). Blue-collar through and through, Klinger takes pride into the work he’s put into his wardrobe and occasionally sought out for his “street smart” skills. Originally intended as a one-off character, Klinger quickly became a fan favorite and was added to the main cast. Captain B.J. “BJ” Hunnicut (Mike Farrell, seasons 4-11): Replacement for Trapper John, BJ is a dedicated family man who always tries to do the right thing, occasionally even getting in moral arguments with Hawkeye. A lover of practical jokes, BJ often helps to undercut the more serious tone of later episodes, and is something of a craftsman, rebuilding a motorcycle at the end of the series, as well as inventing the defibrillator (but not taking credit for it.) Colonel Sherman T. Potter (Harry Morgan, seasons 4-11): Replacement for Henry Blake, Colonel Potter is the only career officer in the 4077th other than Margaret Houlihan. Older, folksy, and direct, he served in the Cavalry during WW I before becoming a doctor and has loved horses ever since. Potter believes in rules and order, but not necessarily regulation, making him a good fit for the camp, and is able to “talk Army” well enough to get other characters out of scrapes. Harry Morgan first appeared as another character in “The General Flipped At Dawn,” proving himself easily capable of holding his own with the regular cast, and so was a natural fit when McLean Stevenson left.  Major Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers, seasons 6-11): Replacement for Frank Burns, Winchester is very, very upper-crust and sees the living conditions in the camp as a personal hell. Nonetheless, his belief in values, tradition, and ethics is unwavering, and his surgical skills even earn him the grudging respect of Hawkeye and BJ. His love of culture and music make him a far more accessible character than Burns, and lead to a few very emotional moments. Nonetheless, he rarely lets his guard down in front of others and would rather be seen as cold than vulnerable.Recurring Guests:  Major Sidney Friedman (Allan Arbus, seasons 2-11): Army psychiatrist who often offers the 4077th an outside view. Sidney helps the regulars when they feel they’ve gone over the edge, and readily admits they help him the same way. He appears in twelve episodes and plays a major role in the series finale “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.” Lt. Colonel Flagg (Edward Winter, seasons 2-7): Where to Start: If you’d like to be introduced to the series as it’s best known, start with “Welcome to Korea,” in which everything is reintroduced by way of BJ Hunnicutt. If you’d like to watch the original cast before the changeover (the earlier episodes are better appreciated before seeing the later ones), I would recommend the first “Dear Dad,” which manages to juggle storylines for the entire cast as well as showcasing wide variety of tones the series was capable of, even in the early episodes. There’s even a cast and character list at the end. The Laugh Track: Despite being ahead of its time in many ways, one thing that can keep M*A*S*H from connecting with modern viewers its use of a laugh track. The series creators were adamantly opposed to this, but the network demanded its use. Ironically, M*A*S*H went on long enough for it to become the last US television series to use “canned laughter,” rather than a studio audience. In addition to simply being bizarre (as creator Larry Gelbart put it, “Who are these laughing people? Where did they come from?'") the jokes that key the laugh track aren’t necessarily what a modern audience would find funny. All the DVD releases feature an audio track without the laugh track, which is highly recommended. Recommended Episodes: “Welcome to Korea”, “Dear Dad”, “Sometimes You Hear the Bullet”, “Adam’s Rib” (more to be added.) After The War fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Sep 17, 2017 |
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Sep 17, 2017 21:09
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Sep 17, 2017 21:11
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Sep 17, 2017 21:12
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Thanks for this. I love this show and I would stay up late every night to watch this when I was a teenager.
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Sep 17, 2017 21:37
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I like how the creators and writers made sure that they always replaced a main character with their polar opposites. Non-military Henry with Potter. Womanizing married Trapper with BJ. Fanatical Frank with Winchester (although he was self-righteous in his own way).
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Sep 17, 2017 21:58
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After The War posted:Starting with season 4, episodes have a much wider range of style and format, greatly developing the characters and wrestling with larger themes. Appropriately, this period begins with “Welcome to Korea”, a double-length episode that almost serves as a second pilot. You know, I never thought of that, but now that you've pointed it out it almost seems deliberate. Excellent suggestion for first-timers starting with "Dear Dad" if they want to check out OG MASH (the series is COMPLETELY episodic for sure, and you'll almost never be confused by watching out of order), but also you're absolutely right that being familiar with the early Hunnicut era goes a long way toward making the Trapper eps more accessible. That's how I saw it because I was too young to be interested until after Hunnicut and Potter (and maybe Winchester) were established. Didn't get to see Trapper until it started to go into heavy syndication. Nice of you to include Sydney and Flagg in the writeup. Every one of those eps are amongst my very favorites. Hipster_Doofus fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Sep 17, 2017 |
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Sep 17, 2017 22:00
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It's weird seeing the guy who played Rizzo still on TV. Everybody else has retired but him, essentially (Alan Alda does occasional guest spots IIRC)
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Sep 17, 2017 22:01
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Party Plane Jones posted:It's weird seeing the guy who played Rizzo still on TV. Everybody else has retired but him, essentially (Alan Alda does occasional guest spots IIRC) Well I'll be damned. Can barely recognize him (though I assume his voice would give it away). I think I'll have to start watching Major Crimes. Love me some mary McDonnell.
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Sep 17, 2017 22:08
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Thanks for this thread. Just chiming in to say I loved this show and watched the reruns growing up. I think I've seen this show all the way through more than any other series and I still love it. I always felt badly for Larry Linville because the ramping up of Frank Burns' craziness was apparent and really dumb. Charles Emerson Winchester III owned bones but I wish Frank had gotten a chance to grow into a more well-rounded version of himself. TV version Frank feels like an alien compared to the movie version.
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Sep 17, 2017 22:16
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I think maybe the thread title deserves an explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Ubs8i8fJU&t=22s
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Sep 17, 2017 22:18
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Party Plane Jones posted:It's weird seeing the guy who played Rizzo still on TV. Everybody else has retired but him, essentially (Alan Alda does occasional guest spots IIRC) Does he drive a veeeee-hickle? Hipster_Doofus posted:You know, I never thought of that, but now that you've pointed it out it almost seems deliberate. I wasn't born until long after this show ended, so I only ever saw it in syndication either in the afternoon or at midnight. I think they mostly syndicated the later, season 4 and on, episodes. I knew BJ, and Winchester, and potter. I never saw much of Col Blake or Trapper aside from a few episodes. I don't think they played much of the first season at all, because I didn't even know Spearchucker existed until I watched all the episodes in order (without the laugh track).
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Sep 17, 2017 22:20
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Hipster_Doofus posted:You know, I never thought of that, but now that you've pointed it out it almost seems deliberate. There is of course, the major event at the end of season 3 that I haven't spoiled, because if someone has gone this far without knowing, I'm not going to the one to ruin it. Or not, what do people think? It's from 40 years ago, but... wow. I've been showing the series to a friend who came in knowing nothing about it, and has subsequently fallen in love with it. I'm terrified he's going to find out before he gets there. My friend is basically the reincarnation of Radar, and I want the scene where he breaks the news of Henry's death to be as devastating as when it first aired.
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Sep 17, 2017 22:35
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Awww yeah ground floor of the M*A*S*H thread. I'm surprised we didn't have one already. I recently started a rewatch without the laugh track. The show is a completely different animal even in the early "sitcom" seasons this way, often going from "sitcom set in a war" to "how the hell did this get aired in the 70s".
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Sep 17, 2017 22:59
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After The War posted:Or not, what do people think? It's from 40 years ago, but... wow. Oh my god no absolutely do not spoil it. Also, there is some interesting trivia about the episode and the final scene in particular, but I'll let the thread get rolling for a while before I bring it up (totally spoiler-tagged, of course). Kazinsal posted:Awww yeah ground floor of the M*A*S*H thread. I'm surprised we didn't have one already. Oh yeah the difference is truly stunning. I had a hard time with it at first; it was just so weird for it to suddenly be dark as gently caress. It turns from a semi-sitcom/zany antics kinda thing into a very serious drama that has very funny characters in it. I actually think the network may have made the right choice, though. I'm not sure something like that would have gone down well with the audience of the time. Hipster_Doofus fucked around with this message at 23:08 on Sep 17, 2017 |
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Sep 17, 2017 23:00
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Hipster_Doofus posted:Oh yeah the difference is truly stunning. I had a hard time with it at first; it was just so weird for it to suddenly be dark as gently caress. It turns from a semi-sitcom/zany antics kinda thing into a very serious drama that has very funny characters in it. I actually think the network may have made the right choice, though. I'm not sure something like that would have gone down well with the audience of the time. It's always easy to underestimate people from an earlier time, I think the viewers that stuck with the series past season 4 certainly wouldn't have needed the cues. Plus, it was also the great era of TV movies and miniseries, so heavier issues were approached more than you'd think - just not necessarily mixed in with the comedy. And, after all, people of the era made the show. It's not all dark, either - I'll need to see if I can find the thing someone wrote about early Klinger scenes coming off completely different without the laugh track, where you get characters totally unfazed by gender noncomfority and no indication that the viewer should be mocking it either. Who's going to watch the pilot tonight for the 45th Anniversary? I have too much to do, so I listened to it while cropping and resizing photos for the OP. It's interesting how much closer to movie it tries to be, with hints of the series it would become.
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Sep 17, 2017 23:20
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Did MASH ever get a higher resolution release? I assume, being from the 70s, it would have been recorded on film, so hopefully it could be released in HD.
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Sep 17, 2017 23:37
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Nothing yet. They'd have to rescan all the film, and it was done on 16mm. The DVD collection is from a better print transfer than the original run and post-finale syndication that they did in the 90s but that's the best we've got. 
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Sep 17, 2017 23:42
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After The War posted:It's always easy to underestimate people from an earlier time, I think the viewers that stuck with the series past season 4 certainly wouldn't have needed the cues. Plus, it was also the great era of TV movies and miniseries, so heavier issues were approached more than you'd think - just not necessarily mixed in with the comedy. And, after all, people of the era made the show. Interesting, I'll have to pay attention to that (the Klinger scenes). I decided to watch "Dear Dad" (I'm halfway through it right now), and I just got to the part where Klinger doesn't want to take off his "good luck bandana" and indeed, the tone is completely different. He's less "goofy guy" and more "all hosed up like everyone else in this hellhole." Where did this "thing someone wrote" come from? I will watch the pilot next. Not sure I've seen that one without the laugh track, and it does have some truly hilarious scenes (the stovepipe incident with Henry comes immediately to mind).
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Sep 17, 2017 23:50
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Cojawfee posted:Thanks for this. I love this show and I would stay up late every night to watch this when I was a teenager. Same. I started a whole series rewatch a couple years ago but never did finish it. Show is so drat good
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Sep 17, 2017 23:51
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Kazinsal posted:Nothing yet. They'd have to rescan all the film, and it was done on 16mm. The DVD collection is from a better print transfer than the original run and post-finale syndication that they did in the 90s but that's the best we've got. I recorded the show off local TV in the 80s and the picture was severely washed-out (and heavily edited). The DVDs were fantastic by comparison.
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Sep 17, 2017 23:58
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MASH was a beautiful series and has an eternal place in my heart being a series me and my mum watched together when she was ill. The show did so many clever things even if it gets called out for being overly sentimental toward the later half of it's run and to this day I want a door in my house to be made to look like the door to the Swamp. More and more it feels ahead of its time, setting a standard for balancing humour and drama but also expressing an unrelenting disdain formula. The experimental episodes are all well worth a watch (the one about dreams, the documentary, the 'real time' and numerous more simple format shifts like the various letters home). Some are maybe a bit on the nose (I'm looking at you, dream episode) but I think that back then this was actually very brave story telling that is harder to appreciate now that so many series do these 'off-format' episodes. Ones to watch are (and sorry I don't have the episode names) Dr. Sydney writing a letter to Sigmund Freud with it's wonderful "Don't you think it's a bit crazy to write to a dead man?" "Who better than he would understand?", the hilarious Rashomon inspired Court Martial hearing and the black and white shot Documentary. They may not be 10/10 episodes but they each do great jobs looking at the psychology of the 4077. Any time the series takes you to Rosie's Bar (home away from home) or keeps you pretty solidly locked to just the OR tends to be good, if dramatically different, times. For early MASH I can't not love '5 o'clock Charlie' and 'Captain Tuttle' as my episodes of choice (though Adams Ribs is a close third) and for later "serious" MASH, Hawkeye's monologue or Father Mulcahy saving a wounded soldiers life might be my top picks.
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Sep 18, 2017 00:26
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I think there's a third era of the show the OP is neglecting. Seasons 4-7 are some of the best "hybrid" drama/ comedy TV of all time. Radar leaving in Season 8 is definitely where the show shifts heavily to drama IMO, and the show does slowly begin losing its luster afterwards. The finale, obviously, sticks the landing perfectly though.
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Sep 18, 2017 00:31
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One of my favorite episodes is where that guy doesn't realize that he's dead.
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Sep 18, 2017 00:36
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Hipster_Doofus posted:I will watch the pilot next. Not sure I've seen that one without the laugh track, and it does have some truly hilarious scenes (the stovepipe incident with Henry comes immediately to mind). Chieves posted:I think there's a third era of the show the OP is neglecting. Seasons 4-7 are some of the best "hybrid" drama/ comedy TV of all time. Radar leaving in Season 8 is definitely where the show shifts heavily to drama IMO, and the show does slowly begin losing its luster afterwards. The finale, obviously, sticks the landing perfectly though. Cojawfee posted:One of my favorite episodes is where that guy doesn't realize that he's dead. Is that the one where Klinger has a bad fever and can see him? Hipster_Doofus fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Sep 18, 2017 |
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Sep 18, 2017 00:46
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Popo posted:For early MASH I can't not love '5 o'clock Charlie' I loved the bits where they kept substituting Frank's gun for various objects. The letters episodes were great. It was like watching a mini-sketch show.
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Sep 18, 2017 00:51
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Hipster_Doofus posted:Is that the one where Klinger has a bad fever and can see him? Yeah, he's talking to the guy and the staff thinks he's talking to himself.
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Sep 18, 2017 00:52
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I spent a year watching all 11 seasons. Not every episode is great, but I was amazed by it being the rare show that got consistently better as it went along. The show seemed to be at its best once Potter, BJ, and Charles were in place. One thing I love about the show is that it's plenty funny, but what's really amazing is how passionate it got about serious issues. It might be preachy, but there's something special about something coming from the heart in a sitcom.Kazinsal posted:Nothing yet. They'd have to rescan all the film, and it was done on 16mm. The DVD collection is from a better print transfer than the original run and post-finale syndication that they did in the 90s but that's the best we've got. My viewing was all on Netflix. From what I remember, season one looked like it was in the roughest shape, but it also was trying to mimic the soft, filtered look of the 1970 film. The rest of the show looked good, though it was amusing to see the intro get progressively worse in quality. Also, two episodes seemed to be from analog masters, but I think it was only the clip show ones. Apparently, Alan Alda visited Fox's archive at some point (probably the 80s) and was shocked to find out the decaying condition of the show's negatives. He went to Fox about it and they started doing preservation to make sure the show was maintained. I'd definitely buy a Blu-ray set, though.
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Sep 18, 2017 00:59
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Egbert Souse posted:My viewing was all on Netflix. From what I remember, season one looked like it was in the roughest shape, but it also was trying to mimic the soft, filtered look of the 1970 film. The rest of the show looked good, though it was amusing to see the intro get progressively worse in quality. Also, two episodes seemed to be from analog masters, but I think it was only the clip show ones. Apparently, Alan Alda visited Fox's archive at some point (probably the 80s) and was shocked to find out the decaying condition of the show's negatives. He went to Fox about it and they started doing preservation to make sure the show was maintained. I believe the interview episode was pulled from a syndicated master since the original was trashed.
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Sep 18, 2017 01:29
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If you want to watch it online, it was pulled from Netflix. Hulu is getting any day now.
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Sep 18, 2017 01:38
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A bunch of 70s TV was filmed on defective stock that started decaying really early which is why there’s a lot of syndicated shows from around then that look like total rear end.
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Sep 18, 2017 02:13
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Chieves posted:I think there's a third era of the show the OP is neglecting. Seasons 4-7 are some of the best "hybrid" drama/ comedy TV of all time. Radar leaving in Season 8 is definitely where the show shifts heavily to drama IMO, and the show does slowly begin losing its luster afterwards. The finale, obviously, sticks the landing perfectly though. I actually had started a section for this but pulled it out as I approached the "deadline" of getting the thread up today While there's a definite shift, it feels more like a natural progression than the deliberate "reboot" of season 4. Plus, I don't think anyone would recommend new viewers start with that final era. I'll get something in there later, the whole thing is still a work in progress.
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Sep 18, 2017 04:02
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After The War posted:I actually had started a section for this but pulled it out as I approached the "deadline" of getting the thread up today While there's a definite shift, it feels more like a natural progression than the deliberate "reboot" of season 4. Plus, I don't think anyone would recommend new viewers start with that final era. Well you've done a fine job so far. I kinda wondered why you reserved the next two posts, but now I know at least one reason for it. While I'm definitely a MASH buff/aficionado, I wouldn't quite call myself an expert (case in point: my Pilot/I Hate a Mystery mix-up), but like many who I'm sure will venture in here, I am a son of a MASH-loving parent, which is only one of the (but probably the greatest) reasons it's so near and dear to my heart. Perhaps I could help you out a bit, so please feel free to PM me if you'd like some input, or brainstorming assistance or whatever. I'm tickled pink that we have this thread now, and as someone else said early on, I'm pretty surprised that we didn't already have one.
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Sep 18, 2017 04:53
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Love this show, and I'm glad it finally got its own thread! I have to disagree, though, with fans who don't like the later seasons. I understand where they're coming from, since M*A*S*H sometimes went out of its way to be melodramatic. But I don't think the show lot its quality as much as it evolved with most of the rest of the cast. Yankee Doodle Doctor is like a microcosm for M*A*S*H itself: start out with the jokes and farce, and end with serious stuff that you really want people to remember. That said, my favorite episode is an unusual one: Dreams. M*A*S*H is one of the only TV shows I know - aside from maybe Frasier and Star Trek: The Next Generation - that depicted realistic dreams instead of just playing them for laughs. It's a brilliant and, in my opinion, underrated episode. Edit: The encapsulated character bios in the OP are excellent. F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Sep 18, 2017 |
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Sep 18, 2017 04:56
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Hipster_Doofus posted:Well you've done a fine job so far. I kinda wondered why you reserved the next two posts, but now I know at least one reason for it. While I'm definitely a MASH buff/aficionado, I wouldn't quite call myself an expert (case in point: my Pilot/I Hate a Mystery mix-up), but like many who I'm sure will venture in here, I am a son of a MASH-loving parent, which is only one of the (but probably the greatest) reasons it's so near and dear to my heart. Perhaps I could help you out a bit, so please feel free to PM me if you'd like some input, or brainstorming assistance or whatever. I'm tickled pink that we have this thread now, and as someone else said early on, I'm pretty surprised that we didn't already have one. Wasn't totally sure what I would do with the reserved spaces, but I figured it would be better to have them ready in advance (and putting the first/last casts in there was pretty fun). One thing I was thinking was a repository for different posters' favorite or recommended episodes, since I'm trying to keep the OP objective. It's something I thought of when trying to keep track of the various recommendations for audios in the Doctor Who thread. F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:Edit: The encapsulated character bios in the OP are excellent. I feel bad because they get shorter after the first few as I started to run out of time. I'll go back and expand the latter-day characters when I get a chance, especially Colonel Potter, who deserves a lot more. After The War fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Sep 18, 2017 |
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Sep 18, 2017 05:30
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Randomly started watching this back in like the mid 90s when it came on every night after 2 episodes of the Simpsons. Always liked the replacement cast far more than the originals. If I had to pick I'd say Charles Winchester was my favorite character for some reason. I think maybe because of the one Christmas episode. Poor Linville though, they just absolutely refused to let Burns change in any way and he's the one person who left I felt had a legitimate gripe against the show. Well besides Radar I guess. I dont think Burghoff had any gripes with the show, just wanted to go.
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Sep 18, 2017 07:18
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After The War posted:I feel bad because they get shorter after the first few as I started to run out of time. I'll go back and expand the latter-day characters when I get a chance, especially Colonel Potter, who deserves a lot more.15 The OP's fantastic! Thanks for putting it together! I've been wondering why there hasn't been a MASH thread for a while now. re: Potter, that dude is easily one of my favorite TV characters of all time. And, in defense of the later seasons, when Harry Morgan died, some friends and I loaded up 'Pressure Points' (S10E15) to give that a sad rewatch. Absolutely one of the stand-out moments for the character, and the actor. A side-note about Margaret that came to mind as I read the OP is that, thanks to how long the series ran, you can really see the changing attitude towards women in general over the time period, especially in how much room they gave her to grow. I'm sure part of that is her just being a part of the cast for so long, but the ways they allowed her to grow certainly changed rather dramatically from what it was in the end vs. how it might've been if the series had started five years earlier. I will say, though, that some of the situations they throw her into in the first couple seasons are super cringey and incredibly uncomfortable. One of the few cases where, when the laugh track is added back in, it gets a lot darker and borders on downright mean-spirited. Not the intent, obviously, but wow. I'm glad that, ultimately, they addressed it (and gave actual, human reasons for the caricature she was in the beginning), and gave her vindication in at least one similar situation, later on down the line. EDIT: Oh. Maybe it's worth mentioning, maybe it isn't, but Hornberger was pissed as hell at the series as a whole, and he DEEPLY disliked what Alan Alda did to Hawkeye. I feel for the guy re: having sold the rights to the original book for pennies given how much it took off, but that's roughly where my sympathy ends and my sense of irony kicks in. I seem to recall him going so far as writing a novel after the show was airing, in which the 'real' Hawkeye did a bunch of fistshaking at Those drat Dirty Liberals. Old Boot fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Sep 18, 2017 |
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Sep 18, 2017 12:08
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Having watched the show on BBC2 when it was first shown in the UK, it was a huge shock when the reruns went to Sky - and they used the version with the laugh track, which I'd never seen before. It was so obtrusive and obviously tacked on that I only managed to sit through one episode. Murdoch 
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Sep 18, 2017 13:14
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MASH is in my top 10 of all time. Great show, and anytime it is on I can't stop watching (despite seeing every episode many times). Back in the early 90's I use to watch 2 episodes of MASH between 6-7pm and Star Trek Next Generation at 7pm every weekday. I also loved how Nurse Kelley was always in the background for years, but they finally gave her own episode (well sort of) in season 11. 
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Sep 18, 2017 13:44
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I used to watch this show all the time in the 90s, when it was one of those shows that seemed to be rerun endlessly. I'm really curious about the version with no laugh track, I might have to track it down and watch the whole thing through - which I've never actually done; I never actually sat down to watch it, it was just one of those shows I'd always watch if I caught it. I don't know if they even showed every episode in sequence or just put them on in whatever order they felt like.
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Sep 18, 2017 15:32
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I just happen to be in my first watchthrough of MASH. I'm currently in Season 9 and just saw that Winchester Christmas episode a poster mentioned earlier in the thread. Really great one.
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Sep 18, 2017 16:42
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