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

Even with its flaws, MASH is 99% better than any show on TV these days...

 

I imagine the reason they did this was because a real M*A*S*H unit had far more surgeons than what was depicted on the TV show. In Hornberger's book, there were two or three surgeons assigned to each of the day's three shifts, plus other medical personnel in the camp like an anesthesiologist and a dentist. They clearly didn't want to have a cast large enough to accurately depict how things were, likely due both to the expense and the difficulty of writing for a gigantic cast. So they went with the fiction that there were only a few surgeons who were on-call 24/7. Within this fiction, it makes sense to have the CO also be a surgeon, because otherwise he'd be sitting around while three guys have to do all the surgery for all three shifts, which would seem ridiculous.

 

I'm glad I have the first 5 seasons in the original dvd packaging that is nice and sturdy.
I also have the final episode as a two DVD set, I bought that one mostly for the extras and supplements though.
If I ever find the remaining series in the original packaging on the cheap at a used media or thrift store, I will pick them up at the price is right, and if the discs are not totally destroyed.

Avoid the Martinis and Medicine complete series set like the plague, the discs come in cardbord sleeves and are easily scratched, I'm glad I never bought that one.

I also have the movie on Blu-ray.

 

I believe there were attempts at giving clues to the audience that there *were* other surgeons around, at least early on. In the OR, a few times, we saw mask-covered faces of other surgeons that we never got to know. There was Captain Spaulding who was a surgeon. We saw the dentist in one episode. But all of that faded away in the later years as episodes were written around the fact that Hawkeye was the only surgeon available when everyone was sick, or there were only two when Potter was away and BJ went up to an aid station without permission. So having few surgeons became a plot point.

 

How many different dentists were featured? Wasn't there one in the first season who was in love with Japan and wanted a pass to visit? And I thought there were one or two others later, but my memory is hazy.

 

Yeah, you are correct that on the early episodes they did suggest there were other surgeons there. And of course Spearchucker Jones appeared on a few episodes, as well as anesthesiologist Ugly John. But that fell by the wayside pretty quickly, and as you noted it soon reached a point where it was explicitly stated that the four main character surgeons were the only ones there.

 

"Merchant Of Korea" was the first, eh? (One of my favourite episodes!) So I guess that would mean that at least some of the season 6 episodes prior to that were retooled for Charles' character. Makes sense. Of course, there's a couple where he's barely in them at all, including yer favourite "Fallen Idol" (I think Winchester just has the one scene in the OR when Hawkeye runs out). Charles doesn't appear in "Last Laugh" at all.

Indeed, "Commander Pierce" (another of my favourites) was just on History the other night. "Wonderful. Potter's not here, BJ's not here, Charles has never been here and I'm the one left holding the bag!"

 

There was also Dr. Kaplan, he was in two episodes in season one, Frank C. Dobbs and Showtime (the season finale).

Painless Pole is mentioned in the pilot episode but was never seen.

 

Isn't there books/novels that follow the characters after the war?

 

Well yeah, but they are sequels to the original M*A*S*H novel (by Richard Hornberger and WC Heinz) and therefore don't have much of anything to do with the TV series' characters. Hornberger and Heinz wrote two sequels (M*A*S*H Goes To Maine and M*A*S*H Mania) and then they hired another guy (William Butterworth) to crank out a pile of additional "M*A*S*H Goes To...." novels.

M*A*S*H Goes To Maine (the first sequel) is a weird read. It appears to be a combination of Hornberger's real post-war medical experiences back home (he was the basis for Hawkeye) coupled with a bunch of silly made-up stuff involving the entire Swamp gang (Trapper, Duke, and Spearchucker) moving to Crabapple Cove and setting up a clinic together. I have not read any of the other books.

 

Just announced today that the entire series is coming to Hulu....let's hope we'll finally get the show in HD.

Hulu Adds HIMYM, NYPD Blue, White Collar, M*A*S*H, Dollhouse and Others

 

Ooo Nice bunch of shows there.

 

The bummer is Hulu no longer can stream through my tried and true LG BD player.

 

I remember when those William Butterworth MASH novels came out, as several different ones seemed to hit the paperback racks at the same time. Some of my high school buddies read them and I gave one a try too, but they truly had jack to do with the show, the movie or the original novel. A definite cash grab.

 

I met him on the same tour in Virginia. In what might have been an awkward moment, someone with apparent mental challenges began to have a meltdown when he came up to get his book signed. Alan spoke some calming words, and the situation diffused rather quickly. Hadn't thought of that probably until now, but it struck me as well how down to earth he is.

 

Awesome. Too bad I don't have a Hulu subscription so I can watch NYPD Blue.

 

It would also be nice if they offered the option of watching w/o the laugh track. Netflix didn't.

 

Watched the film in Hi-Def this afternoon.
The Blu-ray has a really nice transfer imo.
All the extras (minus a restoration demo) are ported over to the BD.

Was there any explibation why the Character of Duke never made the TV Series?

A word to Hollywood, DO NOT REMAKE!

 

No on-screen explanation. Radar mentions a Captain Forrest once, presumably Duke, who had presumably departed by the time he was mentioned.

I remember reading the producers thought there was some prospect that Tom Skeritt would do the TV show. In that case they probably would have dropped the Trapper John character.

I don't think they would have had three leads. Even in the movie Duke more or less disappears once Trapper shows up. It was a duo act.

Frank Burns was really a combination of two characters from the novel. Dobson was a religious freak, like Duvall played in the movie. Frank Burns was a whiny guy from Indiana, which is more the way Linville played it. But it was a combined character.

The one character from the movie no one ever mentions is Sgt. Vollmer. Remember those scenes where Blake would come back to camp and Radar would tell him what Pierce and co. had been up to? In the movie, Vollmer did that. Radar did it in the show. Another case of combining characters to cut down the cast. Vollmer scored the winning touchdown in the movie football game, too.

 

Yeah, I remember reading an interview with Skeritt years ago where he talked about being offered the series, and turning it down. I wonder how far along the casting/development of the series was at that point? I think you're right that they likely would have deleted Trapper if Skeritt had accepted the offer. I wonder how that might have changed things... for example, if Duke was in the show, would they have left Hawkeye as a married man, like he was in the book/movie?

Yep, it was either Lardner or Altman's idea to combine the ultra-religious Major Hobson with the surgically-inept Captain Burns in the film, creating a character that was a hypocrite by blending Hobson's moralizing with Burns' affair with Hot Lips. As you note, the TV series pretty much discarded the Hobson aspects of the character and presented a Frank Burns that was much closer to the book version. The main thing they retained from the composite film version was having Burns outrank Hawkeye and Trapper (since as noted, he was a Captain in the book). I think that was a good idea, and that the Frank character worked much better as a superior rather than a peer.

 

Over the past few months I have been scooping up used copies of the DVD sets on the cheap (little as $4.99 at Amoeba) and ripping both audio tracks for local streaming. It's a great comfort when I'm in the mood for some laughs and all I have to do is touch my AppleTV remote

 

I suspect some of Duke's more colourful epithets might not have gone down too well on TV. I don't remember the book too well, but Hawkeye and Duke are the first two there, aren't they? Trapper arrives a little later.

 

This is a portion of the Everett Greenbaum interview for the Archive of American Television. He talks about his time writing for the show and the changes in tone after he left. At about the 10 minute mark he talks about what he thinks went wrong with the show and how disappointed he was in the finale.

 

Just to chime in...

M*A*S*H is one of my all time favorite TV shows. For me, it's very difficult to criticize any aspect of it, although I do have certain biases.

My favorite period of the show probably spans from Season 4 thru Season 8. Although I do like and appreciate Seasons 1-3, the early episodes, to me, seem to have a certain early 70's sitcom vibe that comes across as a bit generic. It wasn't until during the third season where the show genuine found its calling. After that it was brilliant.

The last few seasons lacked a certain edge, but I still find them enjoyable. In fact, a few of my favorite episodes come from that period. But I do agree that the finale seemed a little out of step with the general vibe of the series, maybe a little too serious. It's good, but oh the potential...

 

My problem with the show after season 7 isn't the ratio of humor to drama, which I didn't mind..what got to me was that the humor wasn't particularly funny.