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Post by strykerdarksilence on Jan 3, 2010 14:46:25 GMT -5
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. David Ogden Stiers did the best emotional scenes. Mike Farrell the best outraged. Alan Alda the best dramatic.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2010 14:54:58 GMT -5
Greatest sitcom ever, imo. They pretty much exhausted every conceivable idea that one could come up with given the scenario.
Potter and Klinger were my favorites but I liked everyone. The episode where Hawkeye was trying to get ribs from the U.S. was a classic.
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Post by Tiger Millionaire on Jan 3, 2010 15:06:48 GMT -5
M*A*S*H had the rare fortune to have so good actors and characters come in a replace exiting characters. Usually a main character leaving a show cripples it, or at least causes it to jump the shark. But M*A*S*H didn't do that. I think it was because the characters that came in(Winchester for Burns, Potter for Blake, and to a lesser extent, BJ for Trapper) were different then the guys they replaced and not just carbon copies. And as much as you can credit writers, in this case, the actors themselves saved the show. Ogden Stiers gave Winchester a humanity that Frank Burns didn't have. Mike Farrell added sympathy to BJ, which Trapper generally didn't have.
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Lupin the Third
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Post by Lupin the Third on Jan 3, 2010 15:34:39 GMT -5
M*A*S*H had the rare fortune to have so good actors and characters come in a replace exiting characters. Usually a main character leaving a show cripples it, or at least causes it to jump the shark. But M*A*S*H didn't do that. I think it was because the characters that came in(Winchester for Burns, Potter for Blake, and to a lesser extent, BJ for Trapper) were different then the guys they replaced and not just carbon copies. And as much as you can credit writers, in this case, the actors themselves saved the show. Ogden Stiers gave Winchester a humanity that Frank Burns didn't have. Mike Farrell added sympathy to BJ, which Trapper generally didn't have. Agreed. Potter was the firm, but fair leader to Henry's lovable, but bumbling command. Winchester was the egotistical snob with a soft spot to Burns' "MacArthur Commando" regular army coward. BJ was the voice of reason to Trapper's "Sidekick Syndrome." Not saying the first three weren't great, but yes, BJ, Potter, and Winchester all had something different about them that made people love them as much as Trapper, Blake, and Burns, respectively. Also...... You tell them, Ferret Face. ;D
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Post by mightydavidson on Jan 3, 2010 17:22:12 GMT -5
As a fan of M*A*S*H I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention Frank Burns' crowning moment, in reaction to Margaret being insensitive regarding her relationship to Frank now that she was engaged to somebody else. Upon mentioning that he was interested in a redheaded nurse Margaret replies:
"She's a bit young for you isn't she Major Burns?"
"Oh I don't know, I think a little youth might be nice for a change."
Perhaps the only time on the show where you'll see Frank, Hawkeye and BJ laughing together.
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Post by strykerdarksilence on Jan 3, 2010 17:56:29 GMT -5
As a fan of M*A*S*H I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention Frank Burns' crowning moment, in reaction to Margaret being insensitive regarding her relationship to Frank now that she was engaged to somebody else. Upon mentioning that he was interested in a redheaded nurse Margaret replies: "She's a bit young for you isn't she Major Burns?" "Oh I don't know, I think a little youth might be nice for a change." Perhaps the only time on the show where you'll see Frank, Hawkeye and BJ laughing together. That was a great moment. That episode has real sympathy for Frank too, as he starts expecting a promotion and ends up losing his only friend.
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Milkman Norm
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Post by Milkman Norm on Jan 3, 2010 18:30:59 GMT -5
Larry Linville was fantastic as Frank Burns. He played that character who was almost completely devoid of redemptive quality in the perfect way. Burns never failed to remind you how anoying he was but he also never failed to show how incomptant he was.
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Post by strykerdarksilence on Jan 3, 2010 19:21:50 GMT -5
Larry Linville was fantastic as Frank Burns. He played that character who was almost completely devoid of redemptive quality in the perfect way. Burns never failed to remind you how anoying he was but he also never failed to show how incomptant he was. And apparently other than the fact Linville was a little highly strung at times, he was the total opposite of Burns. Everybody loved him and he was a great laugh.
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Post by mightydavidson on Jan 3, 2010 19:27:30 GMT -5
Larry Linville was fantastic as Frank Burns. He played that character who was almost completely devoid of redemptive quality in the perfect way. Burns never failed to remind you how anoying he was but he also never failed to show how incomptant he was. He also didn't go overboard with Frank's bad qualities. Sure Frank Burns was a nasty person but you could belive that these people would choose to put up with him rather then try and get rid of him somehow. We've all met people like Frank Burns in real life, so it made it more realistic. At least in my opinion.
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Post by delurked on Jan 3, 2010 19:35:04 GMT -5
Great show. Charles Winchester is one of my all time favorite TV characters, and Col. Potter is right up there too.
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CMWaters
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Post by CMWaters on Jan 4, 2010 0:54:41 GMT -5
A weird little factoid: both actors that played Henry Blake (Roger Bowen in the movie, McLean Stevenson in the TV series) died back to back in days.
Roger Bowen: February 16, 1996 McLean Stevenson: February 15, 1996
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The Line
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Post by The Line on Jan 4, 2010 1:03:17 GMT -5
Larry Linville was fantastic as Frank Burns. He played that character who was almost completely devoid of redemptive quality in the perfect way. Burns never failed to remind you how anoying he was but he also never failed to show how incomptant he was. He also didn't go overboard with Frank's bad qualities. Sure Frank Burns was a nasty person but you could belive that these people would choose to put up with him rather then try and get rid of him somehow. We've all met people like Frank Burns in real life, so it made it more realistic. At least in my opinion. I feel I should bring this up, in relation to this. I really liked how they did a similar thing with Winchester, as well. Here you have an elitist prick, but with the exception of maybe only Hawkeye, he's the most skilled surgeon there(He should be working at a big Boston Hospital as a chief of medicine or something, not doing meatball surgery). Made for a cool dynamic in that they all hated him,but knew they needed him. I also liked how Charles basically filled Frank's role, but was a completely distinct character. Glad they didn't try and have Burns Lite.
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Post by thesam07 on Jan 4, 2010 1:25:36 GMT -5
"It wasn't a chicken...IT WAS A BABY!"
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Dr. T is an alien
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Post by Dr. T is an alien on Jan 4, 2010 1:40:07 GMT -5
The kicker about Burns was that Blake's opinion of him was pretty much spot on, as opposed to the opinions of Hot Lips (too generous) or the Swampmates (too critical). Blake viewed him as an arrogant, short-tempered, selfish, pain in the ass who was moderately capable as a surgeon. The show is told mainly from the viewpoint of Hawkeye and his friends. They thought lowly of him and his skills, but if he was as incompetent as they made him out to be the 4077 would not have had a 90% survival rate if 25% of its surgeons were death on wheels. Did he take shortcuts that he should not? Yes, and it came up from time to time, but it could not have been the case all of the time if most of his patients did not die. Infection due to improper technique or inadequate removal of shrapnel. Was he an ass? Yes, but he was not useless as a surgeon.
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Post by Impact Zone's #1 DUMMY...YEAH on Jan 4, 2010 1:53:53 GMT -5
"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 always thought Radar said "It spun and there were no survivors". It would make more sense.
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pegasuswarrior
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Post by pegasuswarrior on Jan 4, 2010 16:59:45 GMT -5
"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 always thought Radar said "It spun and there were no survivors". It would make more sense. Just for discussion purposes, I actually like it the way it was. "It spun in. There were no survivors." It's as if Radar was going to say something else, but doesn't have the presence of mind to continue. It perfectly captures how "out of his mind" Radar is in delivering the news. On the other side, I love that it comes across as distant and "official" at the same time, because Radar is very much a "sense of duty" kind of guy, and this is by far the most painful official message he'd had to deliver as company clerk. As a kid, I always wanted him to be more torn up about it and bawling about it, but it didn't take long for me to realize the perfection of that scene altogether once I saw the series in all its glory time and time again.
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nate5054
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Post by nate5054 on Jan 5, 2010 1:09:44 GMT -5
The kicker about Burns was that Blake's opinion of him was pretty much spot on, as opposed to the opinions of Hot Lips (too generous) or the Swampmates (too critical). Blake viewed him as an arrogant, short-tempered, selfish, pain in the ass who was moderately capable as a surgeon. The show is told mainly from the viewpoint of Hawkeye and his friends. They thought lowly of him and his skills, but if he was as incompetent as they made him out to be the 4077 would not have had a 90% survival rate if 25% of its surgeons were death on wheels. Did he take shortcuts that he should not? Yes, and it came up from time to time, but it could not have been the case all of the time if most of his patients did not die. Infection due to improper technique or inadequate removal of shrapnel. Was he an ass? Yes, but he was not useless as a surgeon. I always thought as the show kept going towards the end of Burns, they made him out to be totally incompetent and more of a cartoonish character.
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Post by mightydavidson on Jan 5, 2010 2:32:33 GMT -5
The kicker about Burns was that Blake's opinion of him was pretty much spot on, as opposed to the opinions of Hot Lips (too generous) or the Swampmates (too critical). Blake viewed him as an arrogant, short-tempered, selfish, pain in the ass who was moderately capable as a surgeon. The show is told mainly from the viewpoint of Hawkeye and his friends. They thought lowly of him and his skills, but if he was as incompetent as they made him out to be the 4077 would not have had a 90% survival rate if 25% of its surgeons were death on wheels. Did he take shortcuts that he should not? Yes, and it came up from time to time, but it could not have been the case all of the time if most of his patients did not die. Infection due to improper technique or inadequate removal of shrapnel. Was he an ass? Yes, but he was not useless as a surgeon. I always thought as the show kept going towards the end of Burns, they made him out to be totally incompetent and more of a cartoonish character. I would agree with that though I think Dr T does have a point. I don't see either Henry or Potter letting Frank stay on if he was truly as bad as Hawkeye let on so he had to have some skill, even if he was only average at best. I personally think if Frank admitted that he was only average as a doctor rather then acting as if he was awesome, Hawkeye would probably have gotten on his case a good deal less.
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Post by Impact Zone's #1 DUMMY...YEAH on Jan 5, 2010 3:18:27 GMT -5
I always thought Radar said "It spun and there were no survivors". It would make more sense. Just for discussion purposes, I actually like it the way it was. "It spun in. There were no survivors." It's as if Radar was going to say something else, but doesn't have the presence of mind to continue. It perfectly captures how "out of his mind" Radar is in delivering the news. On the other side, I love that it comes across as distant and "official" at the same time, because Radar is very much a "sense of duty" kind of guy, and this is by far the most painful official message he'd had to deliver as company clerk. As a kid, I always wanted him to be more torn up about it and bawling about it, but it didn't take long for me to realize the perfection of that scene altogether once I saw the series in all its glory time and time again. I understand what you're saying, and I never thought of it that way. I love how they kept the sound of an instrument dropping and hitting the floor when Radar delivered the news, to play off the reality of the shock and sadness of the moment.
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b1gjames
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Post by b1gjames on Jan 5, 2010 8:16:27 GMT -5
some of my favorite epsiodes of M*A*S*H
1.) The one where Radar gets shot and Hawkeye operates. I especially loved the way Radar went off on him,
2.)Hawkeye is presumed dead and basically spends the whole episode trying to get in touch with his dad to let him know that he is alive.
3.) The episode where Hawkeye's father sends him a note about him needing an operation, and Hawkeye starts panicking in a way and then we get to see a softer side of Winchester as he talks to Hawkeye about his own relationship with his father.
and my favorite moments on any M*A*S*H is the final movie and Winchester's dealing with the gropu of men as they are trying to play a piece of classical music.
I also liked the Father Mulcahy having to deal with his deafness as well
edity I would like to post my favorite characters from Mthe show as well
Sidney freeman Col Flagg Klinger father Mulcahy
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