An interesting fact about the M*A*S*H finale

I don't... like really don't... ever. Frank Burns was always a caricature of a character. There was no depth or development with him and I was genuinely glad he left, the show was all the better for it... his replacement, Charles Emerson Winchester (the Third!) had both depth and development over the course of the remainder of the series... and is my fave character of the entire show; he was smarter and a better surgeon than anyone else there and could be pompous as all hell, but he also had surprising humility and compassion when the situation called for it, and he successfully got one over Hawkeye several times over... Burns was just an insufferable buffoon who was as much a danger to those around him as himself... and they let him go home in one piece over Henry Blake, for chrissakes!!!

God, I love that show though ... lost count how many times I've watched it from beginning to end and it never gets old. I don't understand those who watched all seasons but have yet to see Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen... why start a book, love it, and not ever finish reading it?

 

That's not good to hear.

 

This is exactly my problem with Burns.

 

It would have been very easy for them to make Charles Frank Burns revisited, but I like the fact that they made him a more than capable foil for Hawkeye, and a much more multifaceted character.

 

M*A*S*H was originally a satirical comedy with serious overtones, and Burns was deliberately conceived as a caricature for the purposes of that satire. And he wasn't the only one... Hot Lips was also a caricature, as was Klinger and many of the generals and incidental characters that appears in the early years. As the show progressed, it became more of a drama and then eventually a melodrama, and it's true Burns would not have worked within that concept. They had to rewrite Hot Lips into essentially a completely different character in order to make her fit the changed show, and it's an interesting thought experiment to ponder how they might have done the same with Burns if Linville had not left the show. At any rate, the Burns character was very effective for humorous and satirical purposes, and I much prefer the seasons he was on the show over the ones after he left, in no small part because the comedy was sharper.

 

Difference being, Hot Lips was still portrayed as a competent nurse. Klinger was still competent at his job, even though he kept trying to leave. Burns wasn't and he was a danger to himself and others. His character took it too far, satire or not.

 

I've only seen a few later episodes and I feel like they were completely setious, so I've always assumed the show really was just a straight up drama later on, but is that accurate? Were there ever comedic episodes still?

 

Exaggeration is necessary for satire. Anyway, Burns was incompetent in the original novel, and that was based on Hornberger's true-life experiences, so Burns' incompetence may not even be satirical exaggeration. At any rate, it worked well for me... the character had some hilarious moments on the series.

 

They still tried to do comedy, but the later-season writers lacked the skill to do it effectively. The comedic plotlines were often dominated by slapstick humor and cornball storylines (the nadir being an episode wherein Hawkeye is put in charge of the payroll and it gets eaten by a goat). The sharp, clever dialogue of the old days is largely replaced by nonstop punning.

 

Agree about the writers giving Charles some depth and a smart sense of humor (as opposed to Frank's childishness). Winchester's pomposity gets punctured often and to great comedic effect--the french horn ep and another favorite where his sister is marrying an Italian (the horror!).

 

Plus at that time they were doing a lot of A-B plotting. The A plot would be something serious, and the B comedy plot would be cornball, punny slapstick that had nothing to do with the A plot. Whereas at the show's early years peak everything was blended together seamlessly.

 

Yeah, there are the book and movie, which were based on real life, so I take those as being closer to what real life was like than the show ever was. Even though the movie Hawkeye/Trapper come across as jerks more often than not. They were surgeons, which can make someone arrogant I guess, key employees so to speak, they knew they could do just about anything and the Army was going to say little because of their role, and they took advantage.

The show toned that aspect down a lot while still being about as PG-13 raunchy as it was possible to get at the time. I empathized with Frank Burns. We all want to be successful and liked and we're all at the risk of failure. Frank deep down wanted to be successful and liked but had fatal flaws that were going to prevent that from ever happening. Frank was a very, very human character, far more real at his core than the latter years characters with all of their lofty speeches.

Frank and Hotlips were necessary because the show was doing a lot of classic conflict comedy in the early years. The same way All In The Family did with Archie vs. Meathead. Then you had Blake and Radar, who were usually on the side of Hawkeye and Trapper, but had their own interests as well. Plus Frank and Hotlips had their regular Army connections, which made them formidable foes considering Blake's incompetence as a CO, and Frank had Hotlips, which meant that he had something the others wanted.

All of that eventually changed, and Linville understandably left the show as a result. AT THE TIME, replacing Burns with Winchester was an improvement, because the show had changed to much. Winchester may have been the best character of the later years, but the show had slipped overall.

 

Yes indeed. The A-B formula became really noticeable in those final years. It often felt like they'd taken two completely separate scripts and shoehorned them together. The transitions from wacky practical jokes and puns to melodrama could be really jarring.

 

Agreed. The original M*A*S*H novel was all about anti-authoritarianism and resistance to conformity, moreso than being about war (Hornberger made a point of emphasizing in later interviews that it was not an anti-war novel). Authority figures were either dishonest, hapless, or idiotic, and the heroic figures were those who disregarded rules/authority and treated them with contempt, following their own paths. The TV series originally reflected a lot of that sensibility, and Burns and Houlihan were a huge part of that as the primary authorities that were there to be rebelled against. As time went on the series gradually shifted to its latter-day anti-war rather than anti-authority sensibility. A huge shift was when Potter was brought in... as an authority figure who was neither dishonest, hapless, nor idiotic, he fundamentally changed the focus of the show and in some ways undercut the point of the Burns character. Then by separating Burns from Houlihan, they undercut his character even further, essentially writing themselves into a corner. If Linville had stayed, I really do wonder how they would have altered his character to fit with the more serious, melodramatic tone of the later years. It seems likely he would have needed a wholesale change in personality, much as Houlihan received.

 

Plus "Charles Emerson Winchester the Third eats worms" wouldn't be nearly as funny.

 

True, but he did have a $35,000 car and two houses

 

I think Larry Linville would have been the first to agree that Frank Burns was a limited character that had reached something of a dead end. Trying to bring depth and complexity to Radar was enough of a trial, which had mixed results (IMO).

 

I wonder if Wayne Rogers looked at Mash success in replacing key actors such as himself, McClean Stevenson, Larry Linville and Gary Burghoff and thought that House Calls could easily replace Lynn Redgrave and keep on truckin. If he did, that was a big mistake. The show, as you said did not have enough episodes to go into syndication. I do not think I have ever saw the show in syndication. I think they only did 57-58 episodes. That is simply not enough episodes to syndicate. What a shame.

 

Interesting true story; when Larry Linville met with real-life Korean War vets, he asked them who their favorite M*A*S*H character was... and almost all said Frank Burns. When Linville, initially surprised, asked why, the consensus reply was that they all had such a real character in their respective units... wow!!! So maybe Frank was less of a caricature than I give him credit for...

 

The reason the overall look and feel morphed over the show's time is because they did get criticized for making too light of the war.

Every workplace and every group, has an insufferable caricature that reinforces negative stereotypes, and doesn't let anyone in on their true selves. Frank Burns was a legitimate character. And, I enjoyed his character much more than the boorish Charles Winchester III.

 

I think Frank reached his limit sometime in series five.

 

It is pretty obvious from some of the early Season 6 episodes (the first season with Winchester) that some of those scripts were clearly written with Frank in mind and then altered for the Winchester character ("Change Day" and "The Light That Failed" are probably the most likely examples). Fortunately by the end of the season they had Charles' character down and could write with him in mind- just today on the History Channel they showed "Dr Winchester And Mr Hyde" (where he starts popping amphetamines) and "Major Topper" (Charles, BJ and Hawkeye try to outdo one anothers' tall tales) and those episodes are pure Winchester through and through. I am very glad that the writers also decided not to have Charles and Hot Lips get together- something that the writers were clearly considering given the two Majors' flirtatious behaviour in some of the early season six eps.

Or increasingly mean-spirited practical jokes- most obviously on display in "An Eye For A Tooth" (season 7) and "The Joker Is Wild" (season 11)

Between Hot Lips constantly rubbing her engagement and fiancee in Frank's face and the constant bullying (deserved or not) he endured from Hawk, BJ, Hot Lips and even Potter to a certain degree Frank's breakdown which sent him home almost seemed inevitable. I watch some of the season 5 episodes and actually feel sorry for Frank...

 

Yes. The better later episodes are actually the more serious ones. Charles' growth away from a mere Burns substitute was one of the better moves. The tendency to make awful puns (and so so LOUDLY) becomes a character trait for all of the minor characters (i.e. Klinger, Mulcahy and Potter - and the awful Zale) and occasionally for some of the majors (Margaret and Charles, more notably).

Is it true that adding Sid Friedman as a more regular character somewhere along the line was a serious consideration?

 

Regarding Larry Linville/Burns, you're right that he said Burns was a limited character... He said he felt he did all that was possible with Frank, and was ready to move on.

As far as Radar: Turning him into what he was in the end was a big mistake... I prefer the way he was in the early seasons, where he was sneaking cigars and brandy, spying on the others, reading their mail, etc.

 

I can tell you in my case, I missed the finale during its original airing due to having an argument with my older brother, so I was ticked off and spent that night up in my room.