MASH - General Discussion

[AntiBeeSpray]

Yea it could be, and when it was extremely Hawkeye focused, I got annoyed.

[WendyCR72]

I don't deny the newer characters were well developed and suitably different than those they replaced. And all had talent. But I liked the original crew just because the show was comedy in the midst of tragedy (war) instead of the dramedy it later became - and which I associate with the later cast (I know, it was the writing; but the later cast was stuck in said dramedy.). Give me Trapper John McIntyre over BJ Honeycutt, Frank Burns over Charles Emerson Winchester, and Henry Blake over Sherman Potter any day.

[torqy]

On 4/1/2014 at 1:35 PM, rubaco said:

Trapper: "Klinger's not a pervert!"
Margaret: "How do you know?"
Trapper: "Because I'm one and he's never at the meetings."

 

I actually used that at the office several times, substituting the appropriate coworker for "Klinger".

[torqy]

I was 21 when this show began, so have seen most episodes many times over. It's still great. A coworker and I found that we were both fans and used to discuss extensively how we liked the early seasons more. Been eons since I have seen the movie, but I think the early seasons were more like the movie.

My office friend and I had two favorite episodes: "Tuttle" which has been discussed above, and "For Want of a Boot" in which an elaborate series of traded favors unravels, my favorite scene being Radar wheeling Frank's birthday cake out of the room while shouting "a deal's a deal!!"

[WendyCR72]

18 hours ago, torqy said:

I was 21 when this show began

The show debuted (September 17, 1972 per Google) literally the day before I was born!

[Browncoat]

I was eight, and had to beg my parents for a later bedtime so I could watch it. The only episodes I didn't see first run were the ones in the final season -- I didn't have a TV in my dorm room. But there were gatherings all over campus for the finale. I think everyone found a TV that night.

[twinkietwin94]

This was my father's favorite show as I was growing up. I was old enough to watch the last season or two and get addicted even from that young age. Since then I've watched it on tv every chance I get and hubby has bought all of the season DVDs for me so I an now watch them whenever I want. I'm also a mid-later season fan, I enjoy the first two seasons, three is the start of the run I really enjoy. I think my favorite thing about the DVDs is I can watch without the laugh track. I'm an English teacher and after writing to Fox Studios for permission I've used several episodes in my classroom for various things though most when we talk about propaganda or persuasive language Yankee Doodle Doctor is so awesome for that. I really need to do a rewatch of the whole series, I'm overdue

[rubaco]

2 hours ago, twinkietwin94 said:

I'm an English teacher and after writing to Fox Studios for permission I've used several episodes in my classroom for various things though most when we talk about propaganda or persuasive language Yankee Doodle Doctor is so awesome for that.

I love this, what a great idea. You should show the students "The Most Unforgettable Characters" episode, to demonstrate how not to write (Radar's essays for his correspondence course).

And I'm right there with ya on the laugh track. In the early seasons, the laugh track is too damn loud and intrusive. It was worth the cost of the "Medicine and Martinis" collection just for that option of turning off the laughter.

[twinkietwin94]

OOO I hadn't thought of Most Unforgettable Characters but I might just have to do that this year when my challenge English students are prepping for NaNoWriMo, or at least parts of it, Thank you!

[Ailianna]

You've probably already used Point of View also, but it's a really nice study in how different characters look from different points of view.  And the character's inability to speak gets the regular characters to talk more than they might otherwise. 

My favorite though is A War for All Seasons, and the way all the threads are woven in from the beginning. It's a very concise demonstration of how to integrate various plots together.

[sigmaforce86]

Local station just showed one of my favorite Charles episodes - Sons and Bowlers - and it's not even about Charles, it's Hawkeye trying to reach his Dad who's having surgery.  I love how Charles the caring human comes through in this one - starting when he's about to leave the room and hears Hawkeye on the phone trying to reach the hospital, he comes right back in and looks truly concerned, he stays with Hawk the whole time except for OR and even there he supports him and try's to calm him down.  But he never tells anyone else, not even to get a pat on the back for himself for being helpful.  Then later he tells Hawkeye a story about dinner at his house and Hawk says that Charles never told that about himself before - Charles replies "I never told you anything about myself before" - David hit all the right notes with that, the look on his face and coming across as more honest and human and less haughty.  Frank could make me pity him at times but Charles makes me actually like him at times, the "underneath" of each of their characters was different.   There are a few other great moments when Charles let his soft side show through but this is one of my favorites.

[sigmaforce86]

When Flagg thought there were spies and Charles led him on but Flagg couldn't figure out the clues without being led by the hand:

Flagg finds a piece of paper and stares for awhile

Charles:  Is that a map?

Flagg:  A map!

Charles:  A map of our camp

Flagg:  This camp

Charles:  A mark around my tent

Flagg: Pierce's tent.  And there's a circle with something written.

Charles: (starts talking slower).  A.  Clock.

Flagg:  It's a clock!

Charles:  10.  O.  Clock

Flagg:  10 o'clock!  

[Ailianna]

I really like this one too.  "Where I have a father, you have a dad."  The ones where Charles lets his guard down and connects with someone are some of my favorites too.  I saw this one last night on ME, and it was followed by "Foreign Affairs" where he falls in love with the French Red Cross worker, and breaks it off when he realized she lived with a man not her husband.  He starts to say his family is too conservative, but when she presses him, admits that he can't deal with it either.  The look on his face is heartbreaking.  He really does love her, but he also realizes that his other social prejudices will eventually destroy the relationship.  Very fine acting by David Ogden Stiers. 

[Rinaldo]

I'm glad someone mentioned "Point of View." I normally prefer the more overtly comedic episodes, but POV is just a gem, and definitely the first one I would mention if asked to name a favorite episode. Ingeniously worked out, we get a different look at everyone from usual, and then indescribably moving at the end as we say goodbye, just in the matter-of-factness of looking out the van window at everyone who now just wanders off their own various directions.

[Primetimer]

Whose moonshine shines brightest when M*A*S*H, The Beverly Hillbillies, and The Andy Griffith Show fire up their stills?

View the full article

[jtallman]

Sorry, Allison, but your study is statistically invalid unless you include an examination of the Baldwin sisters' "recipe" on The Waltons.

[movingtargetgal]

The Baldwin sisters will always have a special place in my heart. When I was growing up I so wanted them to be my great aunts.

[wrigley31]

And Mags Bennett's Apple Pie, which has the additional benefit of being potentially lethal.

[Sarcastico]

I just noticed new (well, new to me) continuity errors this week.  We all know that Mrs. Henry Blake was originally Mildred, and then she mysteriously turned into Lorraine.  But I never noticed that Dr. Sidney Freedman was originally called Milton Freedman.  And Col. Flagg was first named Halloran.  It must be his first episode -- he's still in Army intel, but seems an okay guy; he even joins the gang's poker game.  Allan Arbus and Pat Morita are guest stars too -- it's the trifecta of recurring characters. And John Ritter plays a soldier who tries to take Frank hostage.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Sarcastico

[Moose135]

6 minutes ago, Sarcastico said:

I just noticed new (well, new to me) continuity errors this week.  We all know that Mrs. Henry Blake was originally Mildred, and then she mysteriously turned into Lorraine.

I don't remember Henry's wife ever being called Mildred, but Col. Potter's wife's name was Mildred.

[Kromm]

2 hours ago, Moose135 said:

I don't remember Henry's wife ever being called Mildred, but Col. Potter's wife's name was Mildred.

Apparently her name WAS Mildred in earlier episodes and was later changed to Lorraine (which is the name we heard him use most often). 

I suppose they were into recycling using the name again for Potter's wife.

[Ailianna]

Also in the early episodes, Hawkeye is from Vermont, instead of Maine.  And Trapper's wife is Lorraine in one episode.

[Sarcastico]

I wonder why Alda never attempted anything close to a Maine/New England accent.  He sounds as if he was raised in a Catskills hotel nightclub.  Or the Carnegie Deli. Then again, David Ogden Stiers' accent is all wrong, too.

[Inquisitionist]

Apparently, Crabapple Cove is a fictional town with a fictional accent.  ;-)

[rubaco]

Should an 80-year-old surgeon still be performing operations?

[parrotlover]

Not sure if this is the right thread but here goes!  I was in high school when it premiered and I remember watching the pilot and loving it - had never seen anything like that on television before. Had a MAJOR crush on Alan Alda. So much so, that my mother wrote a letter to Larry Gelbart - God bless her, she would do anything for her kids, and boy could she write a letter! I don't know exactly what she told Mr. Gelbart, but it must have been pretty good. We had family in California we were planning to visit that summer and she asked him could we visit the set and meet the cast while we were there. And he wrote back and told her yes, and gave her the phone number to his personal assistant and told her to call when we got there. This is something that would never happen today. On our way to California (we drove), we heard on the news on the car radio that Wayne Rogers had quit. This was late June, 1975.

So of course Rogers quitting on short notice meant the start of filming for the 4th season was  going to be delayed...and we were only going to be there for 2 weeks. So the set visit didn't happen. I guess we could have gone on a tour of the empty set, but that wasn't offered - they were pretty busy I'm sure dealing with hiring Wayne's replacement, re-writing scripts, etc.  I remember my mom calling Mr. Gelbart's secretary and her saying they didn't know when filming would begin. They knew about McLean of course in plenty of time, but Wayne leaving was unexpected. I was so upset and immature and tore up the letter from Larry Gelbart in a tear filled raged - wish I had that letter now! Being a fickle teenager, a few months later I had moved on from my Alan Alda crush and was on to someone else. I didn't watch Mash much again until the last season. So there are still many episodes I haven't seen. But I have started watching again on MeTV and the local channel . Brings back a lot of memories for me.

As an early Mash fan, here's my two cents: I still prefer seasons 1-3, but will watch later seasons, unless it's episodes after Radar left. He was probably my second favorite character and I feel like he left a big void. Klinger just didn't do it for me as his replacement. Alda did become unsufferable for me in the later seasons. As much as I loved Henry Blake, I like Col. Potter too. B.J. was kind of bland for me. Even though I was angry at Wayne Rogers back then, I prefer Trapper over B.J. And I understand why he quit, just wish he had waited until after Season 4. :)

Oh and not sure how many remember this, but when the series became such a big hit - 1973/1974 - Fox re-released the movie to theatres. It was PG instead of R, they cut a few things out.  It is still one of my all-time favorite movies, and have probably seen it 50 or 60 times. Love Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye and his chemistry with Elliott Gould.  In my current re-watch, it's also funny how many plot lines from the movie they used in the early episodes. Never realized that before. Also if you get the DVD of the movie and listen to the commentary, Robert Altman absolutely hated the series.

Edited September 20, 2016 by parrotlover

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Henry: "I wish I knew what was going on."

Radar: "I'll you later, Sir."

Henry: *in a despairing voice* "You always say that, Radar, but you never do."

[friendperidot]

This week has been Jamie Farr's favorite episodes on ME. I've enjoyed them. My favorite episode was on last night, I think the title is Movie Night. The whole camp is grumpy and Col. Potter's favorite movie has come in, My Darlin' Clementine. The film keeps breaking, so the gang entertains themselves. Usually I hate when sitcoms do the "let's put on a show" episode, but this one is so well written and so naturally acted. I love the end when the ambulance pulls into the compound and the driver yells "we've got wounded out here!" Then he opens the door to the mess tent and says, "we've got wounded in here." I use those lines all the time and for no apparent reason.

[parrotlover]

When I saw the promos for Jamie Farr's favorite episodes, I was very interested because they said he would share his Mash memories. All in all, I was very disappointed. I understand his favorite episodes would probably be ones that involved his character, but it seemed the only reason they were his favorite episode was because of the outfit Klinger wore in the episode. And his memories were all about himself it seemed. I didn't watch the whole week, but after the second or third night of his favorite episode relating to Klinger's outfit, I was done. I hope they can get some of the other cast members to do this, and hopefully do a better job. I would love for them to get Gary Burghoff or Loretta Swit.

[Browncoat]

Alan Alda would be good, too, except he'd probably pick that horrible dream episode.

[friendperidot]

I really don't pay much attention between the show parts, but I enjoyed his episodes and also thought it would be nice if they had another cast member have a week. I thoroughly enjoyed the showing of the finale on Veterans Day. I enjoyed all 3 hours! Lots of interviews with different cast members. 

[parrotlover]

On 11/22/2016 at 4:55 PM, Browncoat said:

Alan Alda would be good, too, except he'd probably pick that horrible dream episode.

Yep. Ugh, I change the channel when that one comes on.  I just read that two of his favorites were Dear Sigmund, and In Love and War, he wrote both. I know I've seen Dear Sigmund but can't remember anything specific about it, but I just recently saw In Love and War. That's  the one where he falls in love with the Korean woman after he treats her sick mother, and I really didn't care for that episode. Same article he said the one he hated was the one where he and Trapper fool Frank into thinking they found gold because it was so unrealistic that they had gold paint in Korea.

[voiceover]

Thank you, William Christopher, for giving us a loving, spiritual, goofy, clumsy, devout man of God -- all those shows, all those years ("...How can anyone look on that and not feel changed?").  RIP.

[RandomWatcher]

Curse you 2016!

[Inquisitionist]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 0:09 AM, ByaNose said:

Wayne Rogers started MASH think he was co-lead. After, 3 years he knew he was just supporting Alan Alda and left. Mike Farrell came aboard knowing he was co-lead and stuck it out and stayed and seemed happy.

Did you mean "knowing he was supporting Alan Alda"?  Because that seemed obvious from the start.

It's kinda funny how Hawkeye, Frank, and Margaret saw BJ as this much younger, malleable doctor joining their jaded, experienced cadre, when IRL Farrell was the same age as Larry Linville and just a few years younger than Alda and Swit.

[VCRTracking]

My favorite Father Mulcahy episode is "Heroes" where a "Gentleman Joe" a boxer he idolized as a child visits the 4077 and has a stroke. At his bedside Mulcahy tells the dying man:

Quote

I'm sure people tell you this all the time but you've always been quite a hero to me. Actually, when I was growing up I had two heroes. No offense. You and Plato. I know that sounds strange. I loved Plato's notion of an ideal plane. I could even picture it rambling fields and trees sort of like the suburbs, but in the sky. I wished I could live there myself. I suppose that's because my real life was less than ideal. I was small and wore thick glasses probably from reading too much Plato. And I was an easy target for the neighborhood kids. I didn't even try to fight back. I didn't think fisticuffs were very, oh, Platonic. Well, when I was 12, my father dragged me to see my first fight. It was you versus Tony Giovanetti. By the ninth round, you were punching him at will. The crowd was yelling, Put him away. Put him away." My father was one of the loudest. All of a sudden, you stopped punching. You stepped back, and you told the ref to stop the fight because the man had been hurt enough. And I realized for the first time that it was possible to defend myself and still maintain my principles. If Plato had been a boxer I suspect he'd have fought like you. That was when I made up my mind to to keep one foot in the ideal plane and the other foot in the real world. I thought you might like to know that. And I just wanted to thank you.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 3/16/2016 at 11:55 PM, JayInChicago said:

Weirdly I guess Radar really was the heart of the show.

It's not so weird when you remember an interview from back at the time.  Gary Burghoff said that all the other characters had to harden up to the trauma they witnessed every day.  But Radar would represent the viewer-- the one person who was still shocked by things that happened.

On 4/6/2016 at 7:19 AM, Inquisitionist said:

 

Col. Flagg elevated every episode he appeared in.  RIP, Edward Winter.

 

My favorite Flagg scene was actually an Alan Alda line, and they both played it so well.  Hawkeye wanted to make a point of how rediculous Flagg's plan was, so Hawkeye trotted out an even more outlandish idea.

Flagg:  There's just one problem with that

Hawkeye:  Just one?

I try to use that line whenever I can.  But it's hard to match Alan Alda's delivery.

[hjmugillecuty]

Dear Sigmund is the one of two Sidney-centric episode, I think. I love it. It's the one where there's a mad practical joker, who turns out to be BJ. He fills Frank's trench with water and gets Sidney to yell "air raid" so Frank runs out and falls in. Sidney's other centric is A War of Nerves, where they build the bonfire.

[hjmugillecuty]

Every Christmas my family plays a card game (a variation on Tripoly) and the M*A*S*H poker game quotes come out.

"These cards will suit me just fine"

"Who deals these cards deals trash"

"Vatican PX" --said while tapping your glasses.

[Mama No Life]

So happy this show is back on A&E....one of my favorites as a teen and I will blindly watch any I see in syndication.  When I was younger and watching them first and second run, I preferred the BJ/Charles/Potter era, but now as a middle-aged person I enjoy the humor of the early seasons more.  Still admire Alda in anything he does....

[TheLastKidPicked]

23 hours ago, Mama No Life said:

So happy this show is back on A&E....one of my favorites as a teen and I will blindly watch any I see in syndication.  When I was younger and watching them first and second run, I preferred the BJ/Charles/Potter era, but now as a middle-aged person I enjoy the humor of the early seasons more.

I"m sure many of us have the same experience you did-- as we get older we appreciate different seasons more than others.

True story about younger me:

In teenage years I was the typical selfish teenager.  This show changed me for the better back then.  I especially remember an episode where there was a bathtub and the entire unit was fighting over who could use it.

It made my friends and I realize how easy we really had it.  We promised ourselved to stop taking things (including bathtubs) for granted.

Edited January 23, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[voiceover]

Just found out about the AMC return; yay!!

Thirty (or more precisely, 23ish) of the best moments in television history: "Officer of the Day":

Frank (referring to the OD paraphernalia): "There's even a sash and sword that goes with it!"

Hawkeye: "That's in case we're attacked by the Saracens."

I know women especially are mourning the death of MTM, because of what Mary Richards meant to them.

Me? I'll fall apart when Alda goes.  Early Hawkeye (1-5) was who I aspired to be when I was a kid.

Never became a Dr., but I nailed the smartassery. ?

Edited January 29, 2017 by voiceover
Punctuation

[Mama No Life]

With one of my favorite moments when Hawkeye says he will not carry a gun....carry a tune, carry me back to ol' Virginny, Harry Carry, etc. 

[voiceover]

"I'll even hari-kari if you show me how!"

*sighs*

One of two speeches I used to recite from memory...the other being from Monty Python & the Holy Grail ("Strange women lying in ponds..,")

[rubaco]

Quote

Me? I'll fall apart when Alda goes.

Not exaggerating, I expect to need several days off work when this inevitably happens. I will be inconsolable. Of course I hope that it's waaay in the future (although he just turned 81 yesterday).

[camom]

I shed a tear or two over William Christopher's death.  He was a sweet, sweet man.  

[FatherMulcahyFan]

One of my favorite actors and my favorite M*A*S*H character. I was saddened by the news that he passed away. R.I.P. William Christopher/Father Mulcahy. You will be missed.

I did get to see him in "Church Basement Ladies" when it came to town back in 2009. I didn't get to meet him, but it was still nice to see him onstage.

On 5/28/2015 at 1:05 PM, camom said:

I always enjoyed the scenes with Father Mulcahy.  I especially liked the few times when he showed anger because it made the character so well rounded.  Met William Christopher recently at a charity event.  Great guy.

He seemed like he would be.

[voiceover]

Now TVLand has picked it up!!

Watching "Carry on, Hawkeye" (1973), one of my Top 10.

Hawkeye & Margaret are left in charge when most of the camp is stricken with 'flu.  It's one of the first hints of the relationship to come.

She finds out, in the last segment, that he's ill too, but he refuses to stand down.

M: "I'm worried about you, Doctor!"

H: "You really are, aren't you?" [she gives him a look] "You know all those dirty tricks I played on you? all those nasty things I said about you?"

M: "Yes."

H: "I'd like to get well and do 'em all over again!"

[merylinkid]

Watching the Marathon on Sundance.   Since yesterday.   Hearing "Suicide is Painless" every half hour is not really a good thing.

But seeing some of the episodes I really loved as a kid is great.

[Browncoat]

As much as I get upset at the episode where Henry leaves, I adore the one where Potter arrives.  And the two-parter when BJ arrives is nicely done as well.