M*A*S*H- a season by season discussion!

The Ironies of MASH

 

Thanks for posting this link, but...
That's about as poorly written a story as I ever wasted 2 minutes reading. Who knows what is true and what is just speculation as he provides zero citations or any other sources for his story.

 

I have to admit, it's not a series I've seen recently. I do remember liking this series much more than the one that followed, however.

 

Yeah, as prognastycator noted, that article is filled with unsourced claims, and reads like a piece in the National Enquirer. If we don't know the source making the allegations, we have no way of evaluating the accuracy of what's being said or whether the source has an axe to grind, or if the source was even someone in a position to have the insider knowledge they claim to have. Unsourced material should always be regarded with high skepticism.

Below is a video of Larry Gelbart talking about the episode mentioned in paragraph two of the article you linked. While he confirms that Alda objected to the idea of a doctor asking for the sniper to be killed, his overall characterization of the incident is quite the opposite of the article. He describes Alda as eager to work out a solution to the problem, and notes that this was the only time during the series' run that he ever had a significant disagreement with Alda.


We also have the testimony of MASH writer Ken Levine, who on many occasions (here and here for example) has talked about how Alda was exceptionally easy to work with went out of his way to be helpful to the cast and writers.

So unless there's an on-the-record source for the claims about Alda refusing to record a video greeting for the Navy, I think we should be skeptical it happened.

 

Well, he DID need the Navy's help with the word "vantz"!

 

My source at the time was the lowly Washington Post. I was stationed in Alexandria VA, just across the bridge from D.C. (Curiously, one of our standing orders was to read the Post first thing every morning.) I remember from the article that one cast member was happy to do the promo. I thought it was Larry Linville; but wasn't sure enough to include it in my post. The article I linked-- which I had never seen before-- would seem to support my recollection, at least tangentially. I'm a little surprised at the rush to defend Alda. He wouldn't have been the first Hollywood fathead. I didn't mind anyone being against the war; but there was no need to be an ***hole about it. For what it's worth I voted for McGovern while still in the army.

 

Alan is a vet, like you and me, and deserves some respect for his service, yes? And declining to give the sailors a Christmas message is hardly Hanoi Jane territory (not that you implied it was). I was only a boy at the time so it's hard to say what I would have done in his place. Different times, tough choices to make.

 

Oh, so you were the one...

 

I wonder if Alda carried a gun.

 

Probably a gub.

 

I did some research for some negative reviews of the episode. I think it was too much of a departure of format for some. But mostly, people thought it was too dark and depressing.

I did not mind the episode when I viewed it in original broadcast. It was something new, and I typically give a lot of points for that. But one telling thing came to mind. Season 8 was of course the season of Radar's departure, and I thought about Radar being in this episode and kind of cringing at the thought. That's... not a good sign. It was just too much of the War Is Hell theme in one episode. I get it, it's important, but the show is supposed to be entertaining and edifying, sometimes you have to make your point and move on instead of beating the viewer over the head.

 

For me it's not so much that I'm in a rush to defend Alda as it is that I'm naturally skeptical when I hear negative rumors about somebody, particularly when they contradict other stuff I've heard about that person. My first inclination is to ask "what's the source?" and I wish more people would do that, because I think folks today are too quick to believe negative stuff about people without any proof, particularly if it suits their agenda (I'm not saying you're doing that, I'm just talking in general).

You're going off 40+ year-old recollections of what you read, so you might be misremembering. Or it's possible the item you read in the Post was erroneous, or relying on a bad source (since I'm assuming you don't remember if any source was cited). It's also possible the article was true and accurate. Even then though, I'd be curious what Alda's rationale for his behavior was. People who know and worked with him and have talked on record seem to all say good things about him, and since he was in the service himself I'm kinda skeptical he would be one of those guys who blames the troops.

 

It's season 8! No one has mentioned the great Zale-Rizzo transition?

I got nothin' against Rizzo, except that he detailed changes in the show. He was clearly developed as comedy relief, since none of the other characters were funny anymore. As was typical of earlier characters, Zale was more rounded, more integrated into the overall world of M*A*S*H.

 

Spot on!

In spite of my dislike for that episode I actually watched it this morning...it's really Mike Farrell's IMO overwrought scenery chewing when BJ breaks down in Potter's office at the end that ruins it for me.

Seems to me it was another case of the show kind of repeating itself- Trapper missing his kids and getting loaded and attacking Hawkeye in "Mail Call" was handled much better (certainly with more humour).

I like "38 Across", but mainly for the subplot of Klinger trying to eat a jeep (one of my favourites of all his Section 8 scams). The whole "vantz" story seemed kind of silly to me.

He'll carry a torch, he'll carry a tune etc...

Seems to me they gave Rizzo more personality in the last three seasons than they give Zale in the eight seasons he was on the show. They only really gave some depth to Zale's character in "Of Moose And Men". Beyond that, he was just sorta...there.

I'm kinda curious as to why they ditched Zale and brought in Rizzo in the first place.

 

I remember reading an article somewhere back in 1979 or '80 that dealt mostly with Gary Burghoff's departure and the other changes that season.
It said that Rizzo was being brought in to replace Radar as company clerk, but someone decided to expand Klinger's presence and give him the job. It was felt the Character of Zale wouldn't work as company clerk, so Zale was dropped with no explanation and replaced with Rizzo.

 

I couldn't imagine Rizzo as company clerk...in charge of the motor pool, yes, company clerk, no...

This might be a controversial opinion, but given Klinger's penchant for scrounging and general con artistry, I'd almost be brazen to say that he was -or at least ended up becoming- a better company clerk than Radar was.

 

As a huge STAR TREK fan, I was embarrassed that I never recognized that the actor who played Zale (Johnny Haymer)


was also this guy from STAR TREK's "All Our Yesterdays":


It took many, many years for that to finally sink in!

 

I just thought "Dreams" was pretentious and repetitive. It might have worked for me if the war hadn't intruded into every single dream. In fact, it might have been more powerful if the war had been left out of the dreams completely, only to have everyone wake up from their sweet dreams to another announcement of incoming wounded.

Overall, though, I'm simply not a big fan of dream sequences in anything, so it was probably inevitable that this would be one of my least-favorite episodes.

 

Since we're on the topic of Johnny Haymer, a few days ago I watched the season 5 episode ("Mulcahy's War") that has the weird scene at the aid station where Haymer's voice (with a different accent) is looped in for another actor. I guessed they figured no one would notice.

 

According to this interview with GW Bailey, it was simply because Johnny Haymer was not available for a particular episode (due to being busy with some other project) so they rewrote the sergeant part, and he read for it and was cast. He says it was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but they liked his work and so he became recurring. Nice for Bailey, but it seems kind of cold to dump Haymer after all those years merely because he wasn't available one time.

Based on the Bailey interview that does not appear to be true. Rather, it was that after Rizzo's first few appearances he tried to negotiate his way into becoming a regular salaried cast member (as opposed to a paid-per-appearance recurring character) but was told that there wasn't money in the budget for that. This also answers the general question of why no character was brought in to replace Radar, which as we've noted is the first time a departing character was not replaced.

 

I'd say the more worldly season-one Radar was a better company clerk than Klinger, but not the naive man-boy of later years.

 

My favorite Johnny Haymer performance....the lame comedian looking to hire Alvy Singer as his writer in "Annie Hall"...

 

I've often wondered if Johnny Haymer had been given any notice that Zale wouldnt be back or was just dumped.
I believe that Radar's logical sucessor as company clerk should have been Igor. I have always liked Jeff Maxwell and the Igor character and wish he had been a regular.

 

I can't find any interview with Haymer where he ever commented on it, but I would guess the latter. It sounds like they always just called him whenever they needed him, so I would bet that once they decided they liked Bailey, they just stopped calling him.

The problem with making Klinger the company clerk is that it meant the end of his Section 8 schtik. And Klinger was not a very interesting character when he lost that.

 

"Lame???" No one could start a show off like this guy!