I miss MASH

[Batman]

Well, I was 8 or 9 when it went off the air.

So was I, but between the ages of 6 and 11 (before it sort of faded into the background on reruns) I saw damn near every episode. Maybe I didn't get all the subtleties of it, but we watched the hell out of that show when it was on in early 80s syndication.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I honestly don't know why I didn't watch it in syndication when I was a kid, especially coming from a military family.

 

[Batman]

OK:
Blake or Potter?
Trapper or Honeycutt?
Charles or Frank Burns Eats Worms?

I prefer Potter and Honeycutt, but Frank Burns is way better than Charles.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

It wasn't supposed to be a slapstick comedy.

OK, but there were comedies that were slapstick (Night Court, Perfect Strangers) and others that were just kind of nice (Who's the Boss, Bewitched, Growing Pains, Facts of Life, Different Strokes). To me the best were funny and got you to care about the characters - (Taxi, Cheers, Cosby, I Love Lucy), and MASH was in the middle category.

 

[Starman]

Charles had some good moments; he started out as pretty much a complete asshole a-la Frank, but later on he gained some self- awareness of his own pomposity. It's hard to imagine Frank ever realizing what a knob he really was.

Burns was better for the early-period show, which did lean more toward slapstick and sight gags. Later on it evolved to more of a drama and the Charles character was better for that.

The same thing pretty much happened with Hummicutt vs Trapper John. At times Wayne Rogers played TJ pretty much as a clown.

The ironic thing was later on the "Trapper John MD " series, Pernell Roberts looked and sounded very much like a 30-years older version of not Trapper John, but BJ Hunnicutt.

 

[Buck]

I loved 'MASH' when I was young but find it mostly unwatchable now.
I'd say it was funny into the fourth season, but by the fifth season they were writing out all of the funny elements of the characters. Winchester was never funny, so losing the Burns character hurt the show.
And fleshing out and developing the Hot Lips character hurt the show. Her character became more real, but that came at the expense of a lot of the comedy.

 

[Vombatus]

Visited the MASH filming site back in 1990 at Malibu Creek State Park. Not much to see. Two rusted out vehicle hulks and the helicopter landing pad. Nice walk though. Not sure what is still there now. The mountains from the opening scenes/music are recognizable.

 

[outofplace]

I prefer Potter and Honeycutt, but Frank Burns is way better than Charles.

I also liked the characters of Potter and Honeycutt better, though overall the show was more fun before they arrived.

Frank and Charles each had their strengths, but I think Burns was a big part of why the show was more fun in the early seasons.

 

[Starman]

I also liked the characters of Potter and Honeycutt better, though overall the show was more fun before they arrived.

Frank and Charles each had their strengths, but I think Burns was a big part of why the show was more fun in the early seasons.

Frank was a cartoony nemesis, a completely clueless prig.

The Robert Duvall movie version of Frank, which I never saw until two or three years ago, was much meaner and nastier. In real life somebody would have fragged him.

 

[mpcincal]

My favorite show ever. Like many, if I had to pick, I'd say I liked the early episodes with Blake and Trapper because those eps were a little more irreverent and were just funnier. However, I found that I'll enjoy probably about 95 to 98 percent of the episodes throughout its run.

To me, the cutoff is Frank Burns. I loved him as a foil for Hawkeye and Trapper/BJ, and I thought the show was a bit poorer for his absence. I grew to tolerate Winchester, and he did have his moments. And I understood what the producers were going for: Instead of bringing in a copy of the Burns character, who was regular Army and totally incompentent, they brought in a character in Charles, who was a brilliant surgeon (and arrogantly so) and also shared a lot of Hawkeye's and BJ's scorn for the way the Army did things.

Otherwise, I always loved the Potter and Hunnicut characters, and one of things I always liked was seeing Klinger evolve from a one-note joke to a guy who grew into the company clerk's job.

 

[mpcincal]

Oh yes, and the best DVD purchase I ever made was the "Martinis and Medicine" set: All the episodes, the movie that inspired the series and three retrospective specials that were made after the series ended. The only drawback is that I have trouble deciding what episode to watch when I dip into it.

 

[poindexter]

As could Honeycutt, IMO.

They made Honeycutt's character way too punny.

 

[poindexter]

The puns took the place of actual humor as the show wore on.

I grew up a kid of the 70's, and this show (early years) holds up decently to today. The later years sag demonstrably.

Many of the 60's and 70's sitcoms have not aged well at all, IMO. I watched a **** Van Dyke show a couple months ago. Good lord, talk about starving for laughs. And I used to like the show.

 

[KJIM]

Way too Hawkeye-heavy, especially as the show aged.

But I rewatched Season 8 last week.

 

[da man]

I was going to post this earlier, but thought I'd be a lone wolf howling in the wind. now that I see I might have support, I'll say it. The show jumped off the rails when Alan Alda took it over and made it all about him. Hawkeye was way too whiny and wimpy. He and Trapper were badasses in the book and the movie. Alda wussified the character.

The other character who got wussified was Radar. In the movie and the very early episodes, he was clearly one of the guys and was in on all the jokes, even the bawdy ones. As he aged he became a naïve little kid.

 

[BTExpress]

Show has a curious parallel to the Andy Griffith Show. Some great character actors, some superb shows, but any single show with an abundance of Hot Lips/Aunt Bee, Klinger/Goober and Mulcahy/Howard Sprague could easily veer toward the unwatchable.

 

[Boom_70]

Jesus, that's good.

As much as I love the old MASH reruns, the second Radar announces that Henry Blake has been killed, I don't need to see another episode.

Man you and me both 'dexter. One of the saddest show endings ever. Just sat there stunned.

 

[outofplace]

Man you and me both 'dexter. One of the saddest show endings ever. Just sat there stunned.

That is still one of the most powerful television scenes I've seen, but I think poin's point was that he doesn't care for the episodes after that one.

 

[mpcincal]

I was going to post this earlier, but thought I'd be a lone wolf howling in the wind. now that I see I might have support, I'll say it. The show jumped off the rails when Alan Alda took it over and made it all about him. Hawkeye was way too whiny and wimpy. He and Trapper were badasses in the book and the movie. Alda wussified the character.

The other character who got wussified was Radar. In the movie and the very early episodes, he was clearly one of the guys and was in on all the jokes, even the bawdy ones. As he aged he became a naïve little kid.

Like I said, I still enjoy the later episodes, but on Alda and the Hawkeye character, you're pretty accurate. And good call on the Radar character. In the movie and the first year of the TV show, he seemed to be putting on an innocent act and was actually pretty mischevious and fairly street smart. Then at some point, the TV producers decided they had to raise the naivete up to 11.

 

[poindexter]

That is still one of the most powerful television scenes I've seen, but I think poin's point was that he doesn't care for the episodes after that one.

Yeah, that's what I meant. The post Henry/Trapper characters (along with Radar turning into an innocent child/man, as opposed to the deviant he was in early years) were like eating Lean Cuisine instead of Ruth's Chris.