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

True in both cases- the Swampmen in the book and movie generally speaking weren't very nice guys It is easy to see why Richard Hornberger was so dismayed by Alda's portrayal of Hawkeye on the TV series.

 

Oh, just received the whole series from Amazon, the picture quality is stunning, this thread got me to purchase and after decades of watching cut up reruns, seeing every scene is jaw dropping.

Perfect example on the quality, opening shots of the guys hitting golf balls in the pilot, Trapper's second drive, you can see it fly off in the distance, a nicely hit ball, and you can track the ball as it flies off, then hits the minefield and the explosion. I rewatched it three times it looked so cool.

I'm not quite used to the no laugh track option, it seems dry without it, but I'll get there, just watched through the boxing match episode, classic. They are still feeling their characters you can tell, but wow, so glad I'm watching it this way now. Thanks SHF MASH thread!

 

Yer welcome! and we're not going anywhere anytime soon, so feel free to post yer thought on the series as you watch it as often as you like

 

A snow day on Wednesday allowed me to finally finish the whole shebang.

I think for most of the episodes in seasons 9-11, I only saw them once or twice, back when they were originally broadcast. I'll concur with many of the comments made here earlier - Charles is the most interesting, funniest, and best-written character across those seasons. In those seasons the various writers seemed to lean on "When in doubt, place the Swamp surgeons in conflict with each other", which makes for very uneven viewing -Hawkeye and his "best friend" are at war with each other more times than not, and Charles and Hawkeye share a new-found closeness when Hawkeye's father has surgery, but that's forgotten by the next episode.

 

"M*A*S*H" movie related question: Does anybody know if there's a CD compilation of movie themes that includes the theme song, with the lyrics?

 

-Charlie Young Music For Silent Films
–Cliff Edwards Singin' In The Rain
–Al Jolson You Are Too Beautiful
–Mae West A Guy What Takes His Time
–Bing Crosby Temptation
–Jimmy Durante Inka Dinka Doo
–The Boswell Sisters Rock And Roll
–Dick Powell (2) Lullaby Of Broadway
–Fred Astaire The Way You Look Tonight
–Frank Sinatra A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening
–Doris Day Secret Love
–Judy Garland The Man That Got Away
–The Warner Bros. Orchestra & Chorus Giant
–Mitch Miller And His Orchestra And Chorus March From The River Kwai & Colonel Bogey
–Vic Damone An Affair To Remember
–Johnny Mathis A Certain Smile
–Marilyn Monroe My Heart Belongs To Daddy
–Johnny Green Overture - West Side Story
–Stanley Holloway & Ensemble With A Little Bit Of Luck
–Lulu To Sir With Love
–Simon & Garfunkel Mrs. Robinson
–The Byrds Ballad Of Easy Rider
–Neil Diamond Be
–Barbra Streisand The Way We Were
–The MASH Suicide Is Painless
–Bob Dylan Knockin' On Heaven's Door
–Barbra Streisand Evergreen
–Willie Nelson On The Road Again
–John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band Tender Years
–Kenny Loggins Footlose
–Berlin Take My Breath Away
–Harry Connick Jr.* It Had To Be You
–John Barry The John Dunbar Theme
–Pearl Jam State Of Love And Trust
–Céline Dion And Clive Griffin When I Fall In Love
–Bruce Springsteen Streets Of Philadelphia
–Alan Silvestri I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump
–Michael Jackson Childhood
–Refugee Camp Allstars* Feat. Lauryn Hill The Sweetest Thing
–Will Smith Men In Black
–Diana King I Say A Little Prayer
–James Horner Southampton
–Céline Dion My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From Titanic)
–Aerosmith I Don't Want To Miss A Thing

 

Surely someone as inept as Henry would not be in command either. That was one problem I always had. At least you could believe that Potter was a Colonel. I know Henry was a civilian and Potter "regular army", but still.

 

They are showing the "Goodbye, Farewell And Amen" finale on the History Channel today.

Yes. When I was watching the series for this discussion in the later seasons most of the laugh out loud moments I had were thanks to Winchester's dialogue. I can't imagine Frank Burns in the later series at all, Charles fit like a glove.

BJ in particular at times comes across a a pretty unlikable character. Maybe it was the moustache...in his earlier seasons he wasn't such a jerk all the time. But as far as conflict between the characters as a plot device in the later seasons went the writers did tend to overuse it IMO- if it wasn't Hawkeye and/or BJ yelling or fighting about something, it was Margaret (or somebody) yelling at Klinger, or Potter yelling at Winchester, and so on...I think I said it before that you could make a helluva drinking game taking a sip every time a character on M*A*S*H yells at another character ( @czeskleba would probably call it "The 'Fallen Idol' Effect")

In the movie and the book, Blake comes across as more 'military'. On the TV show it seems like Henry has as much use for and general overall respect for the military as Hawkeye and Trapper do. But, yeah -and you almost hate to say it because Henry was such a nice guy- some of Frank and Margaret's grievances about Blake's fitness for command probably were valid at times.

 

Just to clarify, relative to some earlier discussions. Ken Levine says this is in his blog today...

By Ken Levine: Friday Questions

"The producers knew ahead of time that McLean was leaving the end of season three. So they had time to plan his exit.

Wayne decided not to come back after the season wrapped. So Gelbart & Reynolds just had to explain away his disappearance. Whether he was asked to come back and do a farewell show or not, that I don’t know. That all happened a year before David and I came aboard.

But when Larry Linville left after season five we invited him back for the season six opener to explain away Frank Burn’s departure, but he chose not to return. "

 

The MASH book was anti-authority rather than anti-war, and the series reflected that to large degree in its early years. Every single authority figure shown during seasons 1-3 was either idiotic, evil, or inept (if not all three). It was satire, so they exaggerated those qualities, but the fact is that sometimes in real life extremely idiotic or inept people do end up in charge of things, be it in the army, in businesses, or even in government. I don't find it that unrealistic for someone like Henry to be in command. Potter marked a radical sea change in the show's focus, since he was the first authority figure who was intelligent, competent, and well-intentioned. After his appearance, the emphasis switched from being anti-authority to anti-war.

 

Aha! So I was right... they did not know Linville was leaving until after season five, and did want him to do a farewell episode.

Levine's comment about BJ's character in the same posting are also interesting, in light of the discussion above:
"Still, we felt somewhat handcuffed by B.J.’s lack of flaws. Mike Farrell is such a wonderful actor and if I'm being honest, there were times he was not well served."
Perhaps this is part of why BJ was turned into much more of a jerk in the later seasons, after Levine had left. It's true that all the characters become angrier as the show goes on, but BJ also develops something of a mean streak, as has been noted.

 

https://www.amazon.com/S-H-1970-Fil...F8&qid=1521225767&sr=8-1&keywords=m*a*s*h++cd

 

Multiple-time actor on M*A*S*H, Soon Tek-oh has apparently passed away.

RIP Soon Tek Oh: Remembering an Asian American Pioneer

 

Yeah, he was on the show quite a bit, first appearance in season 3 ("Love And Marriage"), final appearance in season 11 ("Foreign Affairs"). "The Korean Surgeon" (season 5) was probably Soon Tek Oh's highlight appearance on the series.

 

The Korean Surgeon's a really nice episode. Also features the comic book artist Larry Hama

 

Just been watching Season Six and enjoying it far more than I remember. Love Frank's line from The Interview, something like, "Marriage is the headstone of American society."

 

Oops. Meant Season 4!!!!

 

Doesn't he also say something like, "My wife and my children, they're my strength!"- which of course didn't stop ol' Ferret Face from cheating on the missus with his secretaries, Hot Lips, etc. Two faced hypocrite...still gotta love him, though