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

I enjoyed when Hawkeye was ranting (creatively) while dictating to Klinger.

 

Up to Season 9

"Cementing Relationships" could be my least favorite episode so far in 8 seasons and change.

I remembered the cement floor plot, but I had no memory of the idiotic plot with Margaret and the Italian soldier (did all the soldiers in Korea have the name of their country on their uniform ... in English?)

 

IMO an episode like "Cementing Relationships" is highly representative of the later episodes in the series, especially where the whole "A" story/"B" story method is concerned: decent, serious "A" story, silly "B" story played for cheap laughs to offset the more serious "A" story. Well, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. "Cementing Relationships" is an example of where it didn't.

 

I have to admit that I remember seeing this first time around back in, uh, whenever, and hating it.

 

What a shock that an actor named Joel Brooks played a less than convincing Italian.

Is it possible that this awful episode inspired a recurring skit on "SNL"?

 

If Joel Brooks was in what could conceivable be among the worst of M*A*S*H, it is interesting that he also was in what might be among the worst of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE episodes, "Move Along Home".

 

I did like the concrete floor plot. Not that it is life changing TV, but it is pleasant enough. That subplot is terrible.

 

Oh yeah, the Joel Brooks subplot in "Cementing Relationships" is one of the worst M*A*S*H "B-stories", right up there alongside Klinger's hula hoop enterprise in "Who Knew?" IMO.

 

M*A*S*H In Real Time - The Original Airings of M*A*S*H, 1972-83.

Season 11.

M*A*S*H would go into its 11th and final season without some of its Monday night companions. Lou Grant, House Calls, and WKRP were all gone. The Two Of Us and Mr. Merlin didn't make it either, and none of the six episode try-outs from Spring 1982 were coming back. CBS would be ordering four new sitcoms and at least one drama.

One of the sitcoms would be that August 1982 burnoff wonder, Filthy Rich. That went off to Wednesdays with Alice, poached from Sundays. New sitcom #2, airing on Sundays right after Archie Bunker's Place, was another All In The Family spinoff... Gloria. Sally Struthers is back! This show was apparently hated by much of its potential fanbase for writing Rob Reiner's Mike Stivic out as having left Gloria. Gloria worked for a veterinarian played by Burgess Meredith. The single mom bit had already been done years earlier by One Day At A Time and Alice. This show actually drew decent rating due to its Sunday night company, but was still cancelled after just a single season. Can't blame Norman Lear for this one, as apparently he had nothing to do with it. The failure of this show was the beginning of the end of sitcoms on CBS Sunday night.

Back to Monday night. M*A*S*H would be airing just 15 new episodes and the farewell movie this season, so CBS would have to spread things out a bit. M*A*S*H and the back two hours of the new line-up didn't start airing until late October; CBS showed movies instead. The 8:00 hour premiered on schedule in late September.

At 8:00 was new sitcom #3, Square Pegs. A group of high school nerds that starred Sarah Jessica Parker. This was a well thought of show created by former SNL writer Anne Beatts. It tried to be very contemporary to the trends of the early 1980s. A couple of thoughts about this show. It's interesting that most of the successful youth centered shows with period detail are set in the past. Happy Days, Wonder Years, That '70s Show, The Goldbergs. The show also did not have any prominent adult characters, which may not work for TV. I know the John Hughes films were the same way, but something different may have been needed here. This show would make it through the season but then be gone.

At 8:30 was the returning Private Benjamin. This was retooled, as much of the supporting cast was dropped. Wendy Jo Sperber, late of Bosom Buddies, was added. Eileen Brennan won an Emmy for this show and was the best thing about it.

When M*A*S*H returned in late October, it brought two new shows (at least to Monday night) with it. At 9:30 was new sitcom #4... Newhart. Hi Bob! The actor was a retread, but the concept was new. This show would go through some adjustments, switching from one camera to multi camera and dropping a couple of early characters. But it was a hit from the start. Newhart was probably more significant as an airing element for CBS than The Bob Newhart Show, since CBS had such trouble coming up with good new comedies at the time. Such was not the case during the heights of MTM and Learcoms.

Following Newhart was a new show to Mondays... Cagney And Lacey. This show has a direct M*A*S*H connection, as Loretta Swit played Cagney in the pilot TV movie, which aired in October of 1981. Reportedly Swit wanted to leave M*A*S*H for this show, but wasn't let out of her contract. I wonder if she hoped to time that departure at the end of Season 9 or Season 10. Or how much of a commitment to the new show she would have hoped for.

What did happen is that Cagney And Lacey aired in one of those six season replacements that were all the rage at the time. In April and May of 1982, Thursday nights, in place of Nurse. Meg Foster played Cagney this time. Some thought the two woman cops were too butch. CBS was not planning to bring back the show, then had a change of heart. Also a change of Cagney, as Foster was fired for Sharon Gless. Gless had just finished up a 10 year contract for Universal Studios, when studio-specific contracts were going the way of the dinosaur. Looking at her resume, it looks like she was loaned out for a few TV movies, but indeed all of her regular stints on shows (Marcus Welby, Switch, body-switching comedy Turnabout, and House Calls) were Universal shows. Cagney And Lacey was not Universal, but Gless was available now. This was Gless' third stint as a regular on a CBS show that aired with M*A*S*H in its Monday night lineup. That must be some sort of record, and I shall need to remember to send her a trophy.

Cagney And Lacey was not a hit, and was cancelled after this season. Viewer outcry caused CBS to bring it back, again, as a mid-season replacement in spring of 1984. It stuck after that.

As for M*A*S*H, after a couple of years the dead week re-run was back. Hey, Look Me Over ran December 27th. To spread things out until the intended February 28th finale, re-runs were also aired January 17th (Foreign Affairs) and 31st (The Joker Is Wild.) Lead-in Private Benjamin would not make it that long, having been cancelled in mid January. Through February, Filthy Rich would take its place.

But none of these other shows would air on the final night of new M*A*S*H, February 28th, 1983. M*A*S*H aired at 8:30. Guess what aired at 8:00. Newhart? A Peanuts Special? The pilot of The King And I? No, it was a new episode of... Alice. Alice Sees The Light. Alice may or may not have seen a UFO. Despite its many years on CBS, Alice had fairly little association with M*A*S*H. This episode, why? At least it was new!

Wonder what aired on the other networks? ABC went with the usual That's Incredible, followed by the movie American Gigolo. NBC passed on Little House: A New Beginning (still well-rated even if Landon-less) and aired The Night The Bridge Fell Down. This was an Irwin Allen disaster flick starring Jamas MacArthur from Hawaii 5-0. Remember all of those disaster movies from the 1970s? Well, this was from the 1970s all right. Too bad it was 1983 when it aired! Sat on the shelf for four years, it did. Drew a 8.1 rating and 10 share compared to 60.3 and 77 for M*A*S*H.

That was it for new episodes of M*A*S*H. Of course, there was a long, long, season of re-runs, and a limited amout of M*A*S*H to re-run. M*A*S*H would go away for a while. So would Newhart, to Monday night. So would a cancelled Filthy Rich.

If you're wondering what aired at 9:00 the week after Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, it was... Alice! Alice and One Day At A Time, which still had new episodes left, were brought in to fill in. At 8:30 was another new six episode show, a Darrin McGavin sitcom called Small And Frye. McGavin played a detective called Small. Frye was a partner who due to an experiment gone awry by a scientist played by Bill Daily, would shrink to six inches at inappropriate times. Concepts like this belonged in the 1960s or cartoons voiced by Don Adams. Copies of this show belong in landfills. Six episodes and gone.

CBS had another new show ready after that one. A Foot In The Door. Harold Gould from Rhoda played Jonah Foot (please), an elderly swinger whose antics frustrated his children, including Diana Canova (Soap.) Six and only six episodes.

M*A*S*H was back in re-run form on April 18th, by which time Archie Bunker's Place had taken up residence in the 8:00 slot. Another show that would bite the dust after this year. Eventually Square Pegs and Private Benjamin returned, and Archie Bunker moved to 9:30 in place of One Day At A Time.

By July it was time for another break for the M*A*S*H re-runs. Re-runs of a show called Tucker's Witch now aired in the 9:00 block. Catherine Hicks and Tim Matheson played a husband and wife detective team. Catherine was psychic. She should have known her show would be cancelled.

Also airing on Monday nights was a "show" TV Tango likes to call "Busted Pilot." CBS was short of re-run material, so eight failed pilots were aired over July and August. Busted Pilot lasted longer than Small And Frye, and was doubtless more entertaining.

M*A*S*H was back for one final round of re-runs on August 29th. Newhart was also brought back in the 9:30 slot at this time. The final three half hour episodes - Friends And Enemies, Give And Take, and As Time Goes By, which had not aired as re-runs yet, aired three straight weeks, with Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen repeating September 19th. This time, M*A*S*H aired at 8:00, with a Newhart re-run at 10:30. For those keeping score, all Season 11 episodes were re-run, with Hey, Look Me Over, Foreign Affairs, The Joker Is Wild, and Who Knew? airing twice.

The next week the 1983-84 TV season began. Wonder what CBS came up with to replace M*A*S*H?

 

And on that note...

The eleventh and final season of M*A*S*H aired Mondays at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS, as part of the 1982–83 United States network television schedule.

Cast
Actor Role
Alan Alda Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Mike Farrell Capt. B.J. Hunnicut
Harry Morgan Col. Sherman T. Potter
Loretta Swit Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan
David Ogden Stiers Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III
Jamie Farr Sgt. Maxwell Q. Klinger
William Christopher Captain Father Francis Mulcahy

Episodes
241 1 "Hey, Look Me Over" Susan Oliver Alan Alda and Karen Hall October 25, 1982 1-G21
A notorious colonel's visit makes Margaret evaluate herself, while Kellye is fed up with being taken for granted as "one of the guys" by Hawkeye. The colonel is played by Peggy Feury in a guest appearance.
242 2 "Trick or Treatment" Charles S. Dubin Dennis Koenig November 1, 1982 9-B01
The 4077th's Halloween party is side-tracked by wounded and a brawl that starts at Rosie's. A soldier declared dead by battalion aid, isn't actually dead; and a wounded soldier (Richard Lineback) is suffering from malnutrition. Featuring George Wendt as a Marine with a pool ball stuck in his mouth. Andrew Dice Clay, billed as Andrew Clay, plays another Marine.
243 3 "Foreign Affairs" Charles S. Dubin David Pollock & Elias Davis November 8, 1982 1-G22
An Army PR officer (Jeffrey Tambor) looks for a scoop worthy of propaganda when an enemy pilot lands near the 4077th – a reference to Operation Moolah – while Charles falls for a French Red Cross volunteer.
244 4 "The Joker is Wild" Burt Metcalfe John Rappaport and Dennis Koenig November 15, 1982 1-G24
B.J. is tired of hearing how great a prankster Trapper was, so he swears to pull the ultimate prank on the whole camp.
245 5 "Who Knew?" Harry Morgan Elias Davis & David Pollock November 22, 1982 1-G18
Hawkeye volunteers to deliver the eulogy for a nurse no one actually knew, while Klinger seeks an investor for his latest invention – the hula hoop.
246 6 "Bombshells" Charles S. Dubin Dan Wilcox & Thad Mumford November 28, 1982 9-B02
Hawkeye starts a rumor that Marilyn Monroe is coming to the 4077th, while a sniper interrupts B.J.'s fishing trip and involves him in a helicopter rescue.
247 7 "Settling Debts" Michael Switzer Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox December 6, 1982 1-G23
Potter gets paranoid when his wife sends Hawkeye a letter, while B.J. treats a lieutenant paralyzed by a sniper.
248 8 "The Moon is Not Blue" Charles S. Dubin Larry Balmagia December 13, 1982 1-G20
Hawkeye and B.J. try to get a racy movie (The Moon Is Blue) to spice things up at the 4077th, while a wounded general declares last call for the officers' club.
249 9 "Run for the Money" Nell Cox Story by : Mike Farrell and Elias Davis & David Pollock
Teleplay by : Elias Davis & David Pollock December 20, 1982 9-B03
Klinger depends on divine intervention when Father Mulcahy is chosen to race a veteran track star from another unit. Winchester stands up for a stuttering soldier, threatening to report his bullying CO for inhumanity.
250 10 "U.N., the Night and the Music" Harry Morgan Elias Davis & David Pollock January 3, 1983 9-B06
A UN delegation has a deep impact on the 4077th, while B.J. feels guilty about a patient's condition.
251 11 "Strange Bedfellows" Mike Farrell Karen Hall January 10, 1983 9-B07
Potter learns depressing news from his visiting son-in-law that reminds him of his own past, while Charles denies his excessive snoring.
252 12 "Say No More" Charles S. Dubin John Rappaport January 24, 1983 9-B08
Margaret contracts laryngitis, while a no-nonsense major general sets up camp at the 4077th, where his son is being treated.
253 13 "Friends and Enemies" Jamie Farr Karen Hall February 7, 1983 9-B05
An old Army buddy of Potter's has caused unnecessary casualties by overstepping his boundaries. When Winchester receives a new shipment of classical records and Margaret receives a new turntable with no records, B.J. sets up a scheme to rid Winchester of his music and amuse himself at the same time.
254 14 "Give and Take" Charles S. Dubin Dennis Koenig February 14, 1983 9-B09
A wounded GI and the North Korean he shot end up bunked next to each other in post-op, while the position of charity-collection officer is passed around.
255 15 "As Time Goes By" Burt Metcalfe Dan Wilcox & Thad Mumford February 21, 1983 9-B10
Margaret collects significant items for a time capsule, while B.J. and Rizzo play practical jokes on each other.
256 16 "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" Alan Alda Alan Alda, Burt Metcalfe, John Rappaport, Dan Wilcox, Thad Mumford, Elias Davis, David Pollock and Karen Hall February 28, 1983 9-B04
The Korean War comes to an end as the staff of the 4077th tends to one final deluge of casualties and sorts out their personal problems before going their separate ways.

 

Knowing it was going to be the final season of the series, it seems as though the writers decided to put a little bit more effort into the stories for the most part, since IMO season 11 -as short as it is- is a marked improvement over seasons 9 and 10. Mind you, about half a dozen of the season 11 eps are season 10 holdovers. I'd swear "The Moon Is Blue" is a season 7 holdover (it probably isn't, I know, but given Larry Balmagia only wrote a handful of episodes in season 7 I had to wonder- it also has the feel of a season 7 episode to me). I've always been iffy on the big "Goodbye, Farewell And Amen" finale, but there's really only a couple of episodes here I don't like, namely "Who Knew?" and "Strange Bedfellows". "Settling Debts", "Run For The Money" and the dreaded "Hey Look Me Over" are probably my favourites.

 

I liked the finale. In fact, I thought it was considerably better than MOST of the previous three or so seasons. I also enjoyed Bombshells, Foreign Affairs, Say No More and Give and Take. Really dislike Strange Bedfellows, As Time Goes By and
Run for the Money.

 

Considering the overall quality of the show by this time, the finale is much better than expected.

 

New article...

'M*A*S*H' Finale, 35 Years Later: Untold Stories of One of TV's Most Important Shows

 

And I thought I remembered hearing that VIP-ness joke!

 

I LOVE the finale. I think it hit all of the right beats. Did it go for drama? Yes. But in this case, I think they nailed it. Virtually every character's plots are memorable.

 

I really liked the finale. It's not funny, and that's a good thing. The late-series writers were notoriously inept at comedy, so it's nice to see an episode that's not marred by any cliched, corny, unfunny-attempt-at-humor b-plots At that point, there was no reason to hope there'd be a return to the satire of the early years. Instead, it's Alda and his late-series writers doing what they do best... melodrama that in this case actually works pretty well.

One meta thing I like about the episode is that "Crazy Hawkeye" is actually kind of reminiscent of how his character used to be in the early years. Talking a mile a minute, often not making sense, doing outrageous things. It's kind of fun to see this Hawkeye interact with the hyper-serious cast of the later years, who sit stonefaced at his antics. Their reactions when he drives the tank away are telling. If Hawkeye had done that in season two no one would have batted an eye, but in this episode they are all deeply concerned.

It's interesting to read Ken Levine's comments about the episode. He thinks it's not funny enough, but like I said to me that's for the best because they didn't have writers on staff at the time who were capable of making it funnier in an effective way. One interesting fact he reveals is that Alda pitched the main plotline of the finale (the dead baby story) while he and Isaacs were showrunners (which would have been season six or seven). He says they rejected it as being too dark.

The only thing I really didn't like were the hamfisted ironic storylines for Klinger and Mulcahy. Obviously they needed to give those guys something to do, but I think they were just a little too forced.

 

Next week is the 35th anniversary of the airing of the finale. I'm old.

 

I like the Klinger one. I thought was perfect, and at least they didn't introduce Soon-Lee in this story. But Mulcahy, yeah. And if I recall, his hearing loss was immediately forgotten about in AfterMASH. (But then, so was Kilinger's staying in Korea.)

 

I loved that too, the letter-perfect ending for the character, too bad they subverted it...

 

Another thumbs up for the finale. Considering where the show was at the time, it succeeded. Was it the show at its best, no. But at this point, there had simply been too many episodes for the show not to slip. Too much character development, especially for the long termers Hawkeye and Hot Lips.

Similarly, some of the emotional notes like Charles with the musicians. That tragic note had just been hit too many times for it to have the same sort of impact after 11 years.

 

Does anyone know what actually happened to the MASHes after the war? The war itself actually ended in a cease fire/truce that lasts to this day. From what I have read, the draw down was very gradual. So I would think the Army would maintain most of the units for a while? The long termers might have gotten to go home early, but anyone coming to Korea in April 1953 wasn't going to be going home soon.

It would have been nice had the show added a new character or two towards the end of the run to portray this feature, instead of having all of these characters that seemed like they were there forever. Charles was the last new character they added, and even he was there for over half of the show's run. A fresh face or two would have been a different perspective.

 

I loved the finale. I was a junior in high school that year, and went over to my friend's house to watch it (we were both big fans of the show). We were both in tears by the end, which is pretty unusual for a couple of teenage boys I suppose. I don't think I've ever watched at all the way through since that evening.

 

Based on the interview with GW Bailey that I linked earlier in the thread, the producers didn't want to spend the money on adding new characters (probably in part because the existing cast had received raises over the course of the show and it likely had become relatively expensive to produce in that regard).

 

Ah yes, "Hey Look Me Over," the episode where Hawkeye learns that it is shallow to only pursue casual sex with attractive women, and that a true feminist should be willing to objectify any woman, regardless of her appearance or body type. Such a wonderful message.