M*A*S*H Discussion Thread

[Lupin the Third]

I saw the Roseanne thread, and thought it'd be interesting to discuss about another great series: M*A*S*H.



A great series which came from a great movie which came from a series of great books (which I want to read, but can't find anywhere).

So, I decided to create a thread where we can discuss the series or the movie.

I've always wondered how long the show would've lasted if Trapper and Henry stayed instead of leaving after the 3rd season. That was a major change in the style. It went from slap-stick comedy with a reminder of the war to a comedy/drama about the war.

[Mozenrath]

"I have a message. Lieutenant Colonel... Henry Blake's plane... was shot down... over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors."

Gutsy twist? "F*** You" to McLean? You be the judge.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Jan 3, 2010 0:16:45 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

"I have a message. Lieutenant Colonel... Henry Blake's plane... was shot down... over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors."

Gutsy twist? "F*** You" to McLean? You be the judge.

Don't think it was a F U to McLean, but a way of turning the page on the character. It also was a great piece of television.

[Lupin the Third]

Jan 3, 2010 0:16:45 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

"I have a message. Lieutenant Colonel... Henry Blake's plane... was shot down... over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors."

Gutsy twist? "F*** You" to McLean? You be the judge.

I don't think it was a F*** You to McLean. If it was, they would've just forgotten his character after he died. But, they continued to make reference to him, Trapper, Radar, and Frank after they all left. Not as much Trapper as the other two, but still.

Although, I think they kinda forgot about Radar after he left. They didn't seem to talk much about him after he was gone.

[Mozenrath]

Radar leaving the show was pretty much the end for me.

I don't think it was an F.U. myself, but some see it that way. Personally, though, I think not telling McLean about it and him finding out when the actors did as he watched the scene play out was complete idiocy. I understand the actors need to have a genuine response, but what's their excuse for doing that to him?

[Tiger Millionaire]

Jan 3, 2010 0:25:41 GMT -5 Lupin the Third said:

Jan 3, 2010 0:16:45 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

"I have a message. Lieutenant Colonel... Henry Blake's plane... was shot down... over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors."

Gutsy twist? "F*** You" to McLean? You be the judge.

I don't think it was a F*** You to McLean. If it was, they would've just forgotten his character after he died. But, they continued to make reference to him, Trapper, Radar, and Frank after they all left. Not as much Trapper as the other two, but still.

Although, I think they kinda forgot about Radar after he left. They didn't seem to talk much about him after he was gone.

A few reasons Radar isn't referenced as much.

1. It was later in the series

2. Unlike Trapper or Frank, he did have a good-bye episode

3. The character that replaced him was already established on the show, so there wasn't as much of a direct comparison.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Jan 3, 2010 0:30:20 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Radar leaving the show was pretty much the end for me.

I don't think it was an F.U. myself, but some see it that way. Personally, though, I think not telling McLean about it and him finding out when the actors did as he watched the scene play out was complete idiocy. I understand the actors need to have a genuine response, but what's their excuse for doing that to him?

Maybe they didn't want him telling the cast, or word to get to the cast?

[invaderdave]

I keep looking, but I never seem to be able to find a clip from the Carol Burnett show of Col. Blake having survived the crash.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

The actors knew about the death of Colonel Blake when the scene was filmed. They just didn't know about it until they received the script.

Snopes.

[Mozenrath]

Jan 3, 2010 0:52:40 GMT -5 El Pollo Guerrera said:

The actors knew about the death of Colonel Blake when the scene was filmed. They just didn't know about it until they received the script.

Snopes.

Well, I knew that much. Sorry if I misrepresented it. I just meant to say that I know McLean skipped out on the party afterwards because of knowing when the script was given out and being upset.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Jan 3, 2010 1:05:57 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Well, I knew that much. Sorry if I misrepresented it. I just meant to say that I know McLean skipped out on the party afterwards because of knowing when the script was given out and being upset.

Oops.

You didn't misrepresent. I misunderstood. My bad, not yours.

But I do love reading the excert from Gelbart's book regarding the revealing of the last page of the script... "Dead babies!"

[pegasuswarrior]

MacLean Stevenson actually wanted the role of Hawkeye Pierce and *may* have thought the role was in the bag for his own taking. The producers talked him into the Henry Blake character.

On a related note, those Trapper/Blake/Burns/Pierce/Radar/Hot Lips dynamics were AMAZING in those first three seasons. Fantastic television right there.

[The Line]

unlike a lot of people, most of my favorite episodes are from the Alda preachiness days. Not to say that the light hearted episodes weren't great because they were, but some of the Alda produced serious episodes were downirght great.

[strykerdarksilence]

Jan 3, 2010 4:16:08 GMT -5 The Line said:

unlike a lot of people, most of my favorite episodes are from the Alda preachiness days. Not to say that the light hearted episodes weren't great because they were, but some of the Alda produced serious episodes were downirght great.

Same here. Well...actually I love every episode. Even ones I can see are poorer.

[CMWaters]

Brief wrestling thing:

During the Glamarella days, I kinda saw Santino and Beth like Burns and Hot Lips.

Back to the main discussion of this:

I have liked most every episode of the show I've seen. But I'm personally happy that I have the series finale movie on DVD.

They should have just well enough alone and stuck with that ending and never tried the AfterMASH series.

[strykerdarksilence]

Jan 3, 2010 5:25:16 GMT -5 CMWaters said:

Brief wrestling thing:

During the Glamarella days, I kinda saw Santino and Beth like Burns and Hot Lips.

Back to the main discussion of this:

I have liked most every episode of the show I've seen. But I'm personally happy that I have the series finale movie on DVD.

They should have just well enough alone and stuck with that ending and never tried the AfterMASH series.

AfterMASH actually did ok in it's first series ratings wise and wasn't a bad show, but when it was moved to opposite The A-Team, it got slaughtered in the ratings and went away quickly.

More disappointing is that no channel picked up the series W*A*L*T*E*R about Radar. The hour long pilot is pretty damn good.

[captaineasychord]

Probably saw every episode 5 times before the age of 10, as my Dad watched it religiously, and I didn't realize until I was much older how I would subconsciously imitate Alan Alda / Hawkeye in some ways. (I still have his haircut). MASH, and to a lesser extent my Dad's other favorite All In the Family, unquestionably shaped my sense of humor.

[Lupin the Third]

Jan 3, 2010 5:25:16 GMT -5 CMWaters said:

Brief wrestling thing:

During the Glamarella days, I kinda saw Santino and Beth like Burns and Hot Lips.

So if Santino and Beth were Burns and Hot Lips, who was Hawkeye, Trapper, and Henry?

[nate5054]

Jan 3, 2010 4:16:08 GMT -5 The Line said:

unlike a lot of people, most of my favorite episodes are from the Alda preachiness days. Not to say that the light hearted episodes weren't great because they were, but some of the Alda produced serious episodes were downirght great.

I'm in that extremely small minority too, although there were a couple of his episodes that were just insultingly preachy.

My favorite MASH episode of all time (and I loved many of them) was where Winchester was helping the piano player to cope with his hand injury. Fantastic stuff there.

[Grendel]

Jan 3, 2010 14:11:18 GMT -5 nate5054 said:

Jan 3, 2010 4:16:08 GMT -5 The Line said:

unlike a lot of people, most of my favorite episodes are from the Alda preachiness days. Not to say that the light hearted episodes weren't great because they were, but some of the Alda produced serious episodes were downirght great.

I'm in that extremely small minority too, although there were a couple of his episodes that were just insultingly preachy.

My favorite MASH episode of all time (and I loved many of them) was where Winchester was helping the piano player to cope with his hand injury. Fantastic stuff there.

That was an awesome episode.