After M*A*S*H

Mash was great in the early years. Henry Blake, Trapper, Colonel Flagg...It got too whiney and preachy after that line-up. BJ Honeycutt made me wanna puke.

 

There seems to be an even split of people who either like the early years a lot or like the later years a lot. I tend to like the middle seasons...right around the time of Henry Blake's final season, until the point where BJ's hair got trapped in the 70's. It was just the right mix of comedy with a dramatic tinge.

Don't get me wrong, I love the show as a whole--no matter what era, but the early episodes come across as typical sitcom slapstick/fluff, while the later eps., as many have already stated, come across as preachy "War is Hell" episodes of "The Alan Alda Show".

However, IMHO the final episode/movie was a GREAT piece of film.

I BARELY remember AfterM*A*S*H, since I was only 9 at the time, but I do remember it on the TV a few times.

 

It was 15th in the ratings in '83-84. That ain't bad. Then they scheduled it opposite The A Team.

 

I saw the final episode again recently and yeah, it was much better than I remembered.

I watched virtually the whole run of eps a few months ago over several weekends and I would say that I thought the best shows were the ones leading up to Frank leaving. Particularly the ones after Margaret and Frank break up. I think it's about 40 episodes from the time they break up until Frank cracks up.

Of course, the episode where Henry goes back home is also a classic ...

 

Once again...I am in the minority. I much prefer the BJ lineup to the Trapper John lineup. As for the series finale...while not bad, I found myself fairly disappointed with it. Guess it just goes to show...diversity really the spice of life.

Peace

Sadie

 

That final eipsode was grand, but I always felt like it was five episodes strung together.

 

Over the weekend, I showed "Goodbye, Farewell And Amen" to my best friend. I figured it was a great way to break in my seaon 11 DVD set. I have to say it works much better as a movie without commercial breaks. Hallmark shows it uncut, so it clocks in at 3:00 (it was 2:30 upon its original airing) - kind of a tedious watch. Without commercials, it's almost exactly two hours. A lot easier to watch.

 

Hear hear. When they moved away from the spirit of the film, they left me behind. BTW, I saw a rerun of an early one the other day that had Ed Winter in it, but he wasn't playing Flagg. He was playing a Flaggish type, though.

 

Looks like a parody that somebody created as a lark for YouTube...hard to believe it's real!

 

I thought you were joking!!! That's scary.....
That also would've been AFTER After-M*A*S*H.You figure they would've learned something.......

 

The only good thing about the series was it had Wendy Schaal(It's A Living,Fantasy Island,The Burbs,Where The Boys Are),albeit in a small role.

 

Yeah, but was it worse than Trapper John, M. D.?

 

Kind of a toned-down Flagg. It's the one where no matter what happens, the poker game goes round the clock. Funnily enough, in a later episode, Flagg shows up at the 4077th while Sidney is visiting and he says to him "I remember you from the poker game."

In his first episode, he was Captain Halloran, but in every other episode, he's Colonel Flagg. I always excuse the first episode by saying Flagg was working under an alias.

 

I'm also too young to remember that one.

 

While Trapper John MD was no prize...it was better than AfterM*A*S*H.

Though I was never a fan of Pernell Roberts.

Sadie

 

The first time Potter encountered Flagg he was using another name (Flagg, I mean).

 

And, of course, to make matters even more twisted on who's who, remember that Harry Morgan played a mind-twisted wacky general a season or two BEFORE he came aboard as Col. Potter!

 

Was thinking it was towards the end of 3, but I guess it was the first episode that season:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/mash/guide/
49. The General Flipped at Dawn (B-308)
September 10, 1974
Written by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum
Directed by Larry Gelbart
Guest Stars: Harry Morgan (!!!), Jamie Farr, Bill Christopher, Lynnette
Mettey, Theodore Wilson, Brad Trumbull, Dennis Erdman

In a stunning performance that won him a role as Col. Potter, Harry Morgan
guests as loony General Bartford Hamilton Steele. Even Klinger thinks Gen.
Steele is nuts when he mistakes Klinger for his wife, Marjorie. Morgan won an
Emmy for his performance in this episode.

And Edward Winter was first on in the middle of season 2:

37. Deal Me Out (K-413)
December 8, 1973
Written by Larry Gelbart and Laurence Marks
Directed by Gene Reynolds
Guest Stars: Pat Morita, Allan Arbus, Edward Winter, John Ritter

The weekly poker game is interrupted when Radar hits the infamous Whiplash
Wang with a jeep. Pat Morita guests as one of the poker players. A wounded
soldier (John Ritter) getting counseling from Sidney Freedman (Alan Arbus)
wants to kill Frank. Edward Winter appears as Captain Hallorin.

 

Season three is my favorite of all eleven. It includes some of my favorite episodes, including "The General Flipped At Dawn" (I love the part toward the end of the episode when he asks the helicoptor pilot to sing, then bursts into "It's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi Mud"). Other favorites include "Rainbow Bridge" and "Abyssinia, Henry."

 

Very un PC, but funny!

Now that I think about it, the first time Flagg is "officially" introduced, he has a variety of false identities. And then then there's the gag of him telling Frank and Margaret, "I'm not CID, I'm CIA. I tell people I'm with the CID so they think I'm with the CIC". And Frank says something about that all making perfect sense.

 

I completely disagree. It's not un-PC to have crazy, wacko characters make racist comments. In fact, I think that's extremely PC. Making sensible characters say such things would be a completely different story.

 

What I mean is that it is un PC to make a joke out of it. I didn't say that it was wrong - being PC isn't everything

 

My personal favorite is "A Smattering of Intelligence", from Season 2. In that one, the camp is visited not only by Flagg but also by one Captain Pratt from a rival agency; Hawk and Trapper manage to convince one that Frank Burns is a communist, the other, that he's a fascist.

 

I recall that they doctor his file, and then Flagg and Pratt seperately sneak into Blake's office late at night to snoop into Frank's file. Radar has to do a quick switcheroo between each snooper's visit.

Funny thing is that Pratt is supposed to be an old friend of Trapper's.

 

Captain Pratt is from G2. It is one of my favorite episodes. Every time he introduces himself, he pulls out this fanfold ID wallet and then puts it away as the person leans in to look at it. It is a great sight gag.

Over the years, I also just assumed Captain Hallorin was Col. Flagg incognito. The Flagg character was so good, I guess I never stopped to think his character had a different name.