Raja March 7, 2019 Share March 7, 2019 8 minutes ago, chitowngirl said: But that doesn’t explain how Klinger scored a tent to himself when the Officer nurses were 4 to a tent with bunk beds... Real life he would have been in prison or at least a bad conduct discharge was is the equivalent of a felony conviction. In 1952 nor the 70's were anyone of the LGTBQ acceptable to be in barracks with the rest of the men. The Colonels had their hands forced when they didn't press charges while the other men in that era would not accept him in their tent. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5106993
Fosca March 7, 2019 Share March 7, 2019 Except Klinger made it VERY clear that he wasn't LGBTQ; he was just wearing women's clothing to get out of the Army. And do we know that other men wouldn't accept him in their tent? Sometimes it's better to not try to explain something you see in a TV show in terms of real life: Klinger had his own tent because the writers wrote it that way and the directors staged it that way. I doubt they worried at all that it wasn't how things would work in real life--hell, probably half of what happened in that show wouldn't/couldn't happen in real life, but it was entertaining and funny so it made it in. 9 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5109177
ForReal March 7, 2019 Share March 7, 2019 3 hours ago, Fosca said: Sometimes it's better to not try to explain something you see in a TV show in terms of real life. Exactly. Plus, I always thought Klinger was personifying the idea of Catch-22, that if you said you were crazy and wanted to go home from the war, then clearly you weren't crazy because anyone in his right mind would want to go home, and so you had to stay. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5109730
Raja March 7, 2019 Share March 7, 2019 3 hours ago, Fosca said: Except Klinger made it VERY clear that he wasn't LGBTQ; he was just wearing women's clothing to get out of the Army. And do we know that other men wouldn't accept him in their tent? Sometimes it's better to not try to explain something you see in a TV show in terms of real life: Klinger had his own tent because the writers wrote it that way and the directors staged it that way. I doubt they worried at all that it wasn't how things would work in real life--hell, probably half of what happened in that show wouldn't/couldn't happen in real life, but it was entertaining and funny so it made it in. And thus a court martial at the very least was the outcome. Trying to place 21st century norms on 1972 can get you nowhere Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5109783
ForReal March 20, 2019 Share March 20, 2019 I recently saw Henry Blake's last episode, and it gets me every time. I watch them all celebrating and being happy for him, and I wait for that moment when Radar enters the operating room and then there is silence. Uh! 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5143501
WendyCR72 March 29, 2019 Share March 29, 2019 On 3/20/2019 at 4:24 PM, ForReal said: I recently saw Henry Blake's last episode, and it gets me every time. I watch them all celebrating and being happy for him, and I wait for that moment when Radar enters the operating room and then there is silence. Uh! My father, a huge MASH fan, hates this episode. Even with all of the explanations about how even good people die in war, etc., he found it cheap and hated that Henry just wasn't allowed to happily go home in the end. I also don't like it, if just for the fact that there was then no way for Mac Stevenson to make a cameo/somehow return if he wanted to. I respect Harry Morgan as an actor and even liked his looney General Steele and Sherman T. Potter wasn't at all a bad character. But I loved the hapless Henry Blake, and his death was just too sad. Can still see Radar saluting him as Henry went over to tell him to behave or he would come back and kick his butt. 😞 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5167917
Danny Franks March 29, 2019 Share March 29, 2019 2 hours ago, WendyCR72 said: My father, a huge MASH fan, hates this episode. Even with all of the explanations about how even good people die in war, etc., he found it cheap and hated that Henry just wasn't allowed to happily go home in the end. I also don't like it, if just for the fact that there was then no way for Mac Stevenson to make a cameo/somehow return if he wanted to. I respect Harry Morgan as an actor and even liked his looney General Steele and Sherman T. Potter wasn't at all a bad character. But I loved the hapless Henry Blake, and his death was just too sad. Can still see Radar saluting him as Henry went over to tell him to behave or he would come back and kick his butt. 😞 To be honest, any cameo or return for Henry would have been unrealistic anyway. Henry hated being in Korea, he'd never go back unless he was at gunpoint. When I first watched MASH as a kid, it was episodes from the two seasons with Potter, BJ and Frank, so I always consider them the seminal cast, along with Hawkeye, Radar and Hot Lips. I never warmed to Trapper or Henry in the same way. And I always found Henry to be a very sad man. There was something so defeated about him, all the time, and I can't envisage that he'd have had a happy life, back in Bloomington. To be honest, I struggle to think of how any of the would have adapted back to their normal lives. I guess BJ was the most well adjusted and stable character, and he probably would have slotted right back into his happy family. I couldn't see Hawkeye treating regular patients again, for coughs and colds. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5167973
Crs97 March 29, 2019 Share March 29, 2019 Even as a kid, I hated seeing Henry with all his girlfriends and knowing his wife was pregnant back home. I was so sad that he never saw his son, but his death was such an iconic moment for the show. I cry when I see it, but I think it was a smart decision. 5 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5168113
fishcakes March 29, 2019 Share March 29, 2019 Radar announcing Henry's death makes me cry every time too, and I've seen it literally dozens of times. The other episode that does that to me is the one with the bombardier who thinks he's Jesus. Both when he tells Sidney, "they're my children. Why would I hurt my children?" and when he blesses Radar who, awestruck, says, "I'm Walter." Just really great acting on everyone's part. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5168579
chitowngirl March 29, 2019 Share March 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, fishcakes said: Radar who, awestruck, says, "I'm Walter." Just really great acting on everyone's part. Was that the first time they gave Radar a first name? 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5168586
fishcakes March 29, 2019 Share March 29, 2019 4 minutes ago, chitowngirl said: Was that the first time they gave Radar a first name? I had to check because I was thinking we'd known it all along, but the MASH wiki says this episode is indeed the first time it's mentioned. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5168613
WendyCR72 April 17, 2019 Share April 17, 2019 Don't know if anyone else has seen these before, but someone posted bloopers of many old series, and at 2.57 or so, a MASH Blooper Reel, titled MISH MASH, begins. What was really sort of surreal was Wayne Rogers messing up a line with an off screen Harry Morgan! (From "The General Flipped At Dawn" episode.) And a lot more. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5217887
rubaco April 17, 2019 Share April 17, 2019 Thanks for that, @WendyCR72. I thought I'd seen every M*A*S*H blooper ever, but there were a few in there that were new to me. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5217996
WendyCR72 April 17, 2019 Share April 17, 2019 1 hour ago, rubaco said: Thanks for that, @WendyCR72. I thought I'd seen every M*A*S*H blooper ever, but there were a few in there that were new to me. You're quite welcome, @rubaco! Hope you enjoyed it. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5218141
Driad May 13, 2019 Share May 13, 2019 Colonel Potter -- condolences on the passing of Doris Day. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5290645
joanne3482 June 21, 2019 Share June 21, 2019 On 2/9/2019 at 7:13 PM, WendyCR72 said: Weird to see a different actor [George Morgan] as Fr. Mulcahey and to see Trapper and Hawkeye not just with a houseboy in Ho-John (who served them their first martinis in the series) but with an additional bunk mate besides Frank with "Spearchucker" Jones. (That nickname sure would not fly today.) I first saw this show in reruns when I was a kid so I've never seen it in its entire order. Until I saw this post I thought Spearchucker was the Australian guy with the bushy mustache. I had no idea it was the other guy since I don't recall them ever turning to one of those two men and calling them by an actual name. I guess I figured Australian, outback, boomerangs and so it made sense to me he'd be called that. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5390137
Browncoat June 21, 2019 Share June 21, 2019 I'm pretty sure, though I can't find it online (maybe someone with better searching skillz can), that they referred to Spearchucker by that name in the pilot episode. IIRC, and I haven't seen that one in a while, they're raising money to send Ho-Jon to college in Maine, and Trapper (maybe?) suggests selling Spearchucker while Spearchucker is sleeping. So very much wrong with that scene. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5390175
mmecorday June 21, 2019 Share June 21, 2019 Quote I first saw this show in reruns when I was a kid so I've never seen it in its entire order. Until I saw this post I thought Spearchucker was the Australian guy with the bushy mustache. I had no idea it was the other guy since I don't recall them ever turning to one of those two men and calling them by an actual name. I guess I figured Australian, outback, boomerangs and so it made sense to me he'd be called that. The Australian doctor was Ugly John. I guess he got 86'ed because there were already too many Johns on the show. I cannot for the life of me understand why the episode about the traveling USO entertainers had to be stretched out into two episodes. The story wasn't very compelling and the bit about Potter being tempted by the fruit of another (in this case real life Bob Fosse spouse Gwen Verdon) was a rehash of the plot of the season seven episode "Lil." Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5390329
WendyCR72 June 22, 2019 Share June 22, 2019 10 hours ago, mmecorday said: The Australian doctor was Ugly John. I guess he got 86'ed because there were already too many Johns on the show. I cannot for the life of me understand why the episode about the traveling USO entertainers had to be stretched out into two episodes. The story wasn't very compelling and the bit about Potter being tempted by the fruit of another (in this case real life Bob Fosse spouse Gwen Verdon) was a rehash of the plot of the season seven episode "Lil." Yeah, but this show repeated a lot in later years. In the early years, I recall Hawkeye got long-johns from his father that ended up being passed around camp. In the later years, Charles or BJ had...boots [could be wrong]?...or something passed around camp. (Cannot remember, but I know it was someone in the Swamp that had something and it once more made the rounds.) And on and on. Not putting the show down. But there are only so may stories you can do for an 11-season show before plots get recycled. Heck, both Trapper and BJ decked Hawkeye when Trapper was trying to go AWOL and BJ was having his meltdown over his kid calling Radar Daddy. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5391382
chessiegal June 22, 2019 Share June 22, 2019 Even Shakespeare only had so many stories. We joke on Frasier about which Shakespeare play they are riffing. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5391403
Browncoat June 22, 2019 Share June 22, 2019 There were a lot of episodes with practical jokes, and one of my favorites is on now. Dear Sigmund, where Sidney's visiting and writing to Freud about our merry band of surgeons. I can think of two where the doctors did an unnecessary appendectomy. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5392578
Fosca June 23, 2019 Share June 23, 2019 And the first appendectomy early on in the run was treated as a joke, with the second treated as an moral crisis (BJ arguing that an unnecessary appendectomy was mutilation while Hawkeye saw it as a way to keep the officer's soldiers alive a while longer). Nicely illustrates the evolution of the show itself. And if you want to see real unfettered political non-correctness, read the original book (and its first sequel, MASH Goes to Maine); Richard Hooker the author was not liberal in the slightest and not at all fond of the direction the show took in its later years. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5393408
Sir RaiderDuck OMS August 4, 2019 Share August 4, 2019 On 6/2/2017 at 8:28 AM, callie lee 29 said: I have to agree. Altman does come across as more jealous than actually offended by the series. I think Altman, who was notoriously stubborn, watched one or two of the lesser Season 1 episodes and made up his mind that the series was no good. On 6/29/2017 at 10:22 AM, AConspiracy said: A Doctor joining the Army will almost always be at rank Captain minimum. But if he has an established career / practice as a Doctor it could be rank Major. It seemed like Frank discussed having a practice at home so he could have started as Major, and Charles apparently had a distinguished career before he was drafted as Major. I remember one episode where Frank specifically mocks Hawkeye for "still working in a hospital" when he was drafted (to which Hawkeye sarcastically replies how ridiculous it is for a doctor to work in a hospital), implying Frank did have his own practice. On 2/14/2018 at 12:38 AM, Sarah 103 said: What I liked about Potter was that due to his decades in the military, there was little he hadn't seen before. Whatever happened, there was a been there, done that, know how to deal with this type attitude. The difference in tone was set twice early on: once during Potter's first meeting with Klinger where he sternly but matter-of-factly runs down all the Section 8 dodges he's seen over the years before ordering Klinger back into a regular uniform, and a second time during the Arnold "Jesus Christ" Chandler episode. Flagg tries intimidating Potter while denigrating the recently-deceased Blake; Potter firmly lets Flagg know he is NOT having it, and doesn't appreciate Blake being insulted either. Flagg was always respectful of Potter afterwards. On 6/23/2019 at 6:51 AM, Fosca said: And the first appendectomy early on in the run was treated as a joke, with the second treated as an moral crisis (BJ arguing that an unnecessary appendectomy was mutilation while Hawkeye saw it as a way to keep the officer's soldiers alive a while longer). Nicely illustrates the evolution of the show itself. The second appendectomy scene originated out of an argument between Alda and Farrell: it was originally written as a repeat of the original incident, but Farrell was offended at the idea of voluntarily removing a healthy organ. The disagreement was written into the script. 1 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5500360
Crs97 August 4, 2019 Share August 4, 2019 2 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said: The difference in tone was set twice early on: once during Potter's first meeting with Klinger where he sternly but matter-of-factly runs down all the Section 8 dodges he's seen over the years before ordering Klinger back into a regular uniform, And didn’t he then allow Klinger to wear a scarf after discussion with Hawkeye? He was never completely bound by the rules. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5500564
WendyCR72 August 5, 2019 Share August 5, 2019 5 hours ago, Crs97 said: And didn’t he then allow Klinger to wear a scarf after discussion with Hawkeye? He was never completely bound by the rules. The episode just aired the other day. He was back in dresses, the first he wore in Potter's presence had a sailor motif "from the Shirley Temple collection!", as Potter complimented said outfit, and Frank looked on, bemused, realizing Potter would not be as gung ho as Frank hoped. Hawkeye and BJ invited Potter back to the Swamp for a drink from the Still, and when they were later singing together, Hawkeye said he wanted to talk about Klinger. After that scene came Klinger in the sailor dress and hat. 🙂 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5501777
Browncoat August 5, 2019 Share August 5, 2019 5 hours ago, WendyCR72 said: The episode just aired the other day. He was back in dresses, the first he wore in Potter's presence had a sailor motif "from the Shirley Temple collection!", as Potter complimented said outfit, and Frank looked on, bemused, realizing Potter would not be as gung ho as Frank hoped. Hawkeye and BJ invited Potter back to the Swamp for a drink from the Still, and when they were later singing together, Hawkeye said he wanted to talk about Klinger. After that scene came Klinger in the sailor dress and hat. 🙂 That scene where they’re all singing is one of my favorites from the whole series. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5501935
rubaco August 5, 2019 Share August 5, 2019 2 hours ago, Browncoat said: That scene where they’re all singing is one of my favorites from the whole series. Oh, agreed. It's so atmospheric and beautiful, especially when the shot moves to show the exterior of the Swamp while the singing continues inside. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5502025
Sir RaiderDuck OMS August 5, 2019 Share August 5, 2019 On 6/21/2019 at 7:26 PM, WendyCR72 said: Not putting the show down. But there are only so may stories you can do for an 11-season show before plots get recycled. Heck, both Trapper and BJ decked Hawkeye when Trapper was trying to go AWOL and BJ was having his meltdown over his kid calling Radar Daddy. There were also two separate episodes where an old friend of Potter's had become an incompetent commander who needlessly got soldiers killed and wounded, but wanted to stay in the field long enough to get one more promotion and retire a higher rank. Both times, Potter said No (by informing I-Corps the friend was no longer physically and mentally fit to command), ending the friendship. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5503113
Crs97 August 30, 2019 Share August 30, 2019 I rewatched the episode when BJ gets the bronze star for bravery, but he had to leave a man behind by cutting his rope. He goes after Hawkeye, saying the two of them as doctors feel so superior to the soldiers and self-righteous for fixing them. He declares good luck to Hawkeye because BJ is a soldier now. Since when has Hawkeye held himself as better than a soldier just because he’s a doctor? I thought it was pretty typical and annoying of BJ to hold himself as morally superior to Hawkeye. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5565552
WendyCR72 August 30, 2019 Share August 30, 2019 5 hours ago, Crs97 said: Since when has Hawkeye held himself as better than a soldier just because he’s a doctor? I thought it was pretty typical and annoying of BJ to hold himself as morally superior to Hawkeye. BJ always struck me as sanctimonious, so... 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5566143
WendyCR72 August 30, 2019 Share August 30, 2019 Season 5's "The Nurses" is on, and the whole diatribe with Margaret lambasting the nurses for the rotten way they treated her rang so false to me. This seems to be the gradual change from Hot Lips to Margaret, but she was always so shrill, etc., and so for her to lament their lack of friendship just makes me think, "Well, you earned it." Makes me sound bitchy, but there it is. 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5566500
Ailianna August 31, 2019 Share August 31, 2019 9 hours ago, Crs97 said: I rewatched the episode when BJ gets the bronze star for bravery, but he had to leave a man behind by cutting his rope. He goes after Hawkeye, saying the two of them as doctors feel so superior to the soldiers and self-righteous for fixing them. He declares good luck to Hawkeye because BJ is a soldier now. Since when has Hawkeye held himself as better than a soldier just because he’s a doctor? I thought it was pretty typical and annoying of BJ to hold himself as morally superior to Hawkeye. I don't think he meant they were superior to any particular soldier, just to the idea of people (particularly generals, brass, the gung ho military types) who kill. They were only there to save lives, so there is a sse of superiority to those who are just there to kill. Over the course of the series, there were a lot of examples of things like the colonel who had the worst casualty rate of all the units. But now that he feels drawn into the combat itself, he can no longer look at himself as innocent, in the way he could before, since he has now killed. I don't think it's meant to be that he was better than any of their patients, for example, but that since he saved people he was better than those who killed. Not an uncommon feeling, even among the people who are sitting at home watching--I'm not a killer, at least... Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5566640
Crs97 August 31, 2019 Share August 31, 2019 Someone transcribed his speech: “We sit around here in our Hawaiian shirts and red suspenders thumbing our noses at the Army, drinking home-brewed gin and flouting authority at every turn, and feeling oh-so-superior to those military fools who kill each other, and oh-so-self-righteous when we clean up after them. Well, good luck to you, pal. I hope you can keep it up. The minute I cut that rope, that made me a soldier.” I thought the bolded part was an unprovoked attack on Hawkeye, and I admired Hawkeye’s maturity in not being offended, but recognizing BJ needed to vent. I also hate that he just hands the bronze star off to another patient. It’s not transferable. That kid could get in a lot of trouble if the wrong person saw him wearing it. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5566698
voiceover August 31, 2019 Share August 31, 2019 On 8/5/2019 at 3:07 AM, Browncoat said: That scene where they’re all singing is one of my favorites from the whole series. Co-sign. It's a song from WWl: "There's a Long, Long Trail". Of course Potter would know it, and unsurprising that Hawkeye & BJ could sing along to (what was by then) an American classic. The ep where Hawkeye has gone without sleep for so long that he loses it (not the nightmare ep) features a similarly sweet scene in the office. It's the middle of the night and Radar is trying to put a through a call per an exhausted Capt Pierce's request. Hawkeye starts singing WWll ditties ("A lot of great songs came out of that war..."), and breaks down during "I'll be home for Christmas" (a very very tough song to get through when you're on the other side of the world that time of year). Then because he's Hawkeye, he segues into: "When de Fuhrer says/We is de Master Race/We "Heil!" [blows raspberry]...right in de Fuhrer's face...." 4 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5567139
Sharpie66 September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 (edited) The Labor Day marathon included “Movie Tonight,” one of my favorite eps of the whole series. I dvr’d It when I saw it on the schedule and am watching it now. I always love the Father Mulcahy sound-alike contest (“Jocularities, jocularities!!”), and the ambulance pulling up after they all re-enacted the Shootout at the OK Corral, with the driver shouting, “Hey! We got wounded out here!” then going into the mess and seeing them all “dead” from the shooting and saying, “We got wounded in here, too...” Edited September 3, 2019 by Sharpie66 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573217
mmecorday September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 Quote Season 5's "The Nurses" is on, and the whole diatribe with Margaret lambasting the nurses for the rotten way they treated her rang so false to me. This seems to be the gradual change from Hot Lips to Margaret, but she was always so shrill, etc., and so for her to lament their lack of friendship just makes me think, "Well, you earned it." Makes me sound bitchy, but there it is. I am not crazy about post-Donald Penobscott Margaret. And I wish the writers had made Frank Burns more of a friend to Hawkeye and B.J. after Margaret got engaged. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573357
Sharpie66 September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 For me, a tween-aged girl who faithfully watched MASH in its initial broadcast in the ‘70s, The Nurses was a real stand-out, making Margaret a real character for the first time and not an officious joke. Seeing that crack in her facade was really important in giving her a decent character arc. I was already used to interesting women on other shows (mostly also on CBS), but having Margaret transform from Hot-Lips was really important to me. I was and remain upset that they never made any of the other nurses interesting characters in their own right, although they made a feeble one-time belated attempt with Kellye. 7 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573375
WendyCR72 September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 11 minutes ago, mmecorday said: I am not crazy about post-Donald Penobscott Margaret. And I wish the writers had made Frank Burns more of a friend to Hawkeye and B.J. after Margaret got engaged. As much as "Hot Lips" could be a downright shrew and OTT in her military love, at least she had a personality. I agree that "Margaret" went way too far in the other direction. I know this was discussed prior with varying opinions, but the later seasons where everyone was basically hunky dory with each other just seemed, to me to be clear, to suck out the humor and energy from the show. But then I'm one of those that loved the first three seasons with Blake, Trapper, and Burns more than the later years, so take this post for what it's worth! 4 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573377
The Crazed Spruce September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 I actually thought the post-Pinobscott Margaret was more well-rounded than the early version, myself. She started out with exactly three character beats, and stuck to those beats for years. It wasn't 'til after her messy divorce that her character developed a bit more nuance. Not really sure if it was that, her one-night-stand with Hawkeye, that blowout with the nurses, or if it's just as simple as the show starting to write her as a protagonist instead of an antagonist, but there was definitely a huge change around the show's midpoint. 5 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573459
WendyCR72 September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 2 hours ago, mmecorday said: I am not crazy about post-Donald Penobscott Margaret. And I wish the writers had made Frank Burns more of a friend to Hawkeye and B.J. after Margaret got engaged. I have heard that TPTB wanted Larry Linville to stay, but he felt he had done all he could with Frank. (Considering how shallow the character was, I don't blame him.) Maybe if the writers "re-developed" Frank as they did for Margaret, he would have reconsidered. I'll be the first to admit Winchester was the better-developed character and David Ogden Stiers a great actor, but I think Frank Burns was miles funnier. Ditto Trapper versus BJ and Blake versus Potter (although Morgan's General Steele was a scream!). But then, once Alan Alda got more power, the more some facets of the show increasingly irked me. I said upthread that I found BJ sanctimonious. Well, later-seasons Hawkeye was the perfect bunk mate for him, because - at times - he became just as annoying. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573475
rubaco September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 7 hours ago, Sharpie66 said: I was already used to interesting women on other shows (mostly also on CBS), but having Margaret transform from Hot-Lips was really important to me. I was also a tween during the show's original run, and I second this. In fact, in the episode "Inga," Margaret's rant to Hawkeye outside the mess tent was downright huge to me. Such an inspiring thing to hear at that age, at least back then. For anyone who might not know the scene: "You think a woman is dead until she lives for you. Well, let me tell you something, Benjamin Franklin, we actually survive without you. We live, we breathe, we dream, we do our work, we earn our pay, sometimes we even have our little failures, and then we pull ourselves together all without benefit of your fabulous electric lips! And let me tell you something else, buster. I can walk into that kitchen anytime I want, and replace those fabulous lips of yours with a soggy piece of liver!" 9 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573610
fishcakes September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 Late season Margaret did righteous anger better than anyone. My favorite was her speech to BJ when he went on an angry bender because to help pay the mortgage Peg took a job as a hostess at a restaurant where they often ate, and he lashes out at Margaret telling her she doesn't know what it's like to have a child. Margaret: How dare you stand there and act like your brand of suffering is worse than anybody else's. That's the only way you can justify treating us like dirt. Let me tell you something, sad sack, if the worst thing that's happened to you is your pretty little wife has to help pay the bills for a while, don't come to me for sympathy. Maybe you do have the most to lose but that's only because you got the most. It was especially satisfying because BJ was actually pissed off that he wasn't more wealthy. He owned a home in Mill Valley and a parcel on Stinson Beach where they were going to build a second house. For someone who was supposedly fresh out of residency, that's a lot of expensive real estate. He wasn't just upset that he was away from his family, he was also embarrassed that his wife was working in a place where his friends could see her working. 8 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5573889
Fosca September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 I pretty much stopped enjoying MASH after Radar left; the show just wasn't funny after that. I think that's when Alan Alda really started writing and directing more, and I wasn't as interested in what he (or the show) had to say as I was when the show was more of a comedy. And yes, Margaret's righteous anger was always wonderful to behold; she could take people down a notch better than anyone. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5574299
Crs97 September 3, 2019 Share September 3, 2019 As much as I loved her rants, I still chuckle during “Fallen Idol” when Potter shuts her down - “I rehearsed this as a single!” 3 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5574407
fishcakes September 4, 2019 Share September 4, 2019 I loved Potter's deadpan delivery. Last night "The Colonel's Horse" was on and BJ and Hawkeye were complaining about Frank being left in charge while Potter was away because he'd made stupid rules about things like how many times to chew your food. BJ: Can't you do something? Potter: Like sit him down and have a talk with him? Hawkeye: No, like stand him up and have him shot. Potter: Don't be absurd. There'd be an inquiry. 3 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5576401
WendyCR72 October 26, 2019 Share October 26, 2019 The show is in the final season on Sundance today, and I had forgotten about the episode, "The Joker Is Wild", as BJ sets off a bunch of practical jokes, all the while snarking about Trapper and making snide remarks. I'd expect that from a 10-year-old, not a grown-ass man. Just actually made me miss Trapper more. At least he didn't whine. But S1 comes around again next week, so it comes full circle. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5704523
Crs97 October 26, 2019 Share October 26, 2019 There were so many times BJ was unlikable. I especially dislike the one when Hawkeye tells the “bird imitation” joke and he blows him off, only to steal it as his own later. Or the one when they think 4077 will be split up and Hawkeye assumes as chief surgeon he will have to leave to set up the new camp; BJ keeps saying he is a better surgeon than Hawkeye. Or when Hawkeye writes the article to keep the soldier’s mom from being deported; BJ keeps needling him about the reporter wanting to rewrite it, even though Hawkeye was fine with the rewrite. His competitive nature was an ugly aspect to his character. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5704596
Browncoat October 26, 2019 Share October 26, 2019 2 hours ago, WendyCR72 said: The show is in the final season on Sundance today, and I had forgotten about the episode, "The Joker Is Wild", as BJ sets off a bunch of practical jokes, all the while snarking about Trapper and making snide remarks. I'd expect that from a 10-year-old, not a grown-ass man. Just actually made me miss Trapper more. At least he didn't whine. But S1 comes around again next week, so it comes full circle. And wasn't the bet that BJ could prank everyone? In the end, he only pranked Hawkeye, with help from everyone. BJ should have been standing on that table, singing. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5704697
Browncoat October 26, 2019 Share October 26, 2019 One of my favorite episodes, "The UN, The Night, and The Music" just started. I love all of the parts with Charles and the British guy. "You have been outclassed by the son of a bloody butler!" And then Hawkeye falls over, howling with laughter. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5704749
The Crazed Spruce October 27, 2019 Share October 27, 2019 You ask me, BJ's worst moment was when he went on a bitter drunken gambling bender because his wife *gasp*... took a part-time job! The horror! 7 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/3275-mash-general-discussion/page/12/#findComment-5705337
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