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

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by ohnothimagen, Dec 1, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I always look liked Dreams. Particularly Hawkeye and Margaret’s dreams.
     
  2. Jay_Z

    Jay_Z Forum Resident

    From something Jamie Farr wrote about his early years on the show, I am guessing they just stopped calling Haymer. Farr, of course, had to work up to regular status. In the early years there were a number of other characters featured on an occasional basis. Farr was getting a lot of callbacks, knew he was getting more than some of the other featured performers, but it was a while before he was a regular. It's still a business. Haymer was always on an episode by episode basis.

    Rizzo's origins are a bit murky. In his first episode he's introduced as Rizzo right away by Potter. Then in the next episode he's unnamed and unrecognized, presumptively a member of the camp, but it's odd that he isn't named. Then it's back to Rizzo in his third appearance. So I'm guessing Haymer's absence was probably something that evolved over Season 8.

    As far as the company clerk role, Igor probably would have been funnier, but I wouldn't get my hopes up at that point in the show's history. Tried to watch a couple of the episodes for Rizzo appearances, and man are they slow moving. The wit is gone.

    Along with Johnny Haymer, Mariette Hartley, Teri Garr, and James Gregory also appeared on the original series of Star Trek and M*A*S*H. There were other connections if you include the movie or the other Star Trek series. Nor do I care about the cartoon version of Star Trek, or the cartoon version of M*A*S*H with the talking dog (just kidding.)

    Johnny Haymer was excellent at doing voices. He rarely sounded the same from role to role. Probably his most prominent other role was as a butler in the awful syndicated sitcom Madame's Place. Featuring the Wayland Flowers puppet. Haymer played a butler. Haymer was only five years younger than Harry Morgan, and passed away nearly 30 years ago in 1989.
     
  3. Jay_Z

    Jay_Z Forum Resident

    Agreed that they needed to mix the dreams up more. Earlier in the series they probably would have. At this point in the series, no. The episode was Emmy bait. Klinger on the operating table was ridiculous. They weren't on the front lines!

    The people at the MASH needed to be inured to what was going on, otherwise they wouldn't make it. Frank's attitude made more sense.
     
  4. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!" Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    I tend to agree. I won't knock them for trying to do something different, but IMO "Dreams" is just silly. As an idea, Alda's heart was in the right place, but it wasn't executed very well. I said earlier Alan Alda was responsible for writing some of the better episodes of the final years, but "Dreams" wasn't one of 'em.
    Yeah, that does seem kinda cold- looks like Johnny Haymer sorta got screwed over, didn't he?

    If memory serves Rizzo's first appearance is in "The Yalu Brick Road". Thinking about it, yeah, Rizzo could easily be Zale in that one. "Father, I have a confession to make. I murdered somebody...tomorrow!":laugh:
    I would agree with that.
    What I think is funny is outside of maybe one appearance the early seasons ("The Long John Flap" from season 1) you never saw the actual cook at all until about season 9...and it was a different cook as well!
    I wouldn't say that Company Clerk Klinger is less interesting than Section 8 Klinger as much as, again, they're sorta like two different characters altogether in some ways. Admittedly Klinger's Section 8 scams got kind of old after a while (as creative and funny as some of them were), almost a "Section 8 Scam Of The Week" kinda scenario. I think it was a case of the writers having to change Klinger's character to make him give up on the Section 8 because they were running out of ideas for fresh scams!:laugh:
    "Sweeps Week" was what came to mind with Very Special Episodes like "Dreams" (though I don't doubt Emmy bait was a factor as well...what the hell, it worked, as I recall). Did they even do "Sweeps Week" in those days?
     
  5. Jay_Z

    Jay_Z Forum Resident

    I think they were starting to. It's why Radar's departure was held over from the end of Season 7. More ratings, more hype.

    In fact Dreams was 12th in production order, but 22nd aired in the 8th season. Held back into February sweeps.
     
    ohnothimagen and RayS like this.
  6. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI

    And yet, with all the hype, it was still a disappointment, lol... I know Radar was a popular character, but for myself, I almost wish he would have just received his papers to go home between the seasons and not even bother with the "send-off" episode(s).
     
    ohnothimagen and wayne66 like this.
  7. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Radar at the very end was just a nuisance, IMO. Yeah, I remember it as "go already". It made the BJ/Klinger tirade against him cathartic for ME as well. :)
     
  8. dirwuf

    dirwuf Misplaced Chicagoan

    Location:
    Fairfield, CT
    The Klinger from before Radar left was a different character...perhaps not the smartest guy in the world, but street smart and savvy. When he became company clerk, they oft-times made him just plain dopey. And why would a tough guy from the streets of Toledo be afraid of an old Korean woman with a broom?
     
    ohnothimagen likes this.
  9. All he needed was a little French routine and watch the magic unfold.
     
    RayS likes this.
  10. vinnie

    vinnie Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    And the place looks wonderful from here...and you folks look wonderful from here....
     
    RayS and Pete Puma like this.
  11. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Even at the time (as a 12-year-old) I found the premise of the episode hard to believe, that Radar would be ambivalent about leaving and actually consider staying in Korea because he was "needed" at the 4077th. A person might be ambivalent about leaving a TV show, but to be ambivalent about leaving a war zone really strains plausibility, particularly when his mother was back at home grieving and in need of help. Henry left without a moment of recrimination. Trapper left so fast he didn't say goodbye. Neither of them much worried about the people being left behind. I suspect that's how it would be in reality, so I found Radar's doubts very hard to swallow.
     
  12. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    I disliked the fact that in Radar's last episodes, he was frequently seen without his cap, which covered his balding head.
     
    Grand_Ennui and ohnothimagen like this.
  13. GrahamBW

    GrahamBW Senior Member

    Location:
    Illinois, USA
    ...and Hawkeye missed him by ten minutes. TEN LOUSY MINUTES!
     
  14. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Exactly. Ken Levine specifically says the "Goodbye Radar" episode was held over for November sweeps.

    From Ken Levine's above-linked blog post:
    "When it finally came time to film “Goodbye Radar” Gary decided he didn’t want to wear his hat. This became a big issue and remains a sore spot with me to this day. Our contention was that without the hat he no longer looked like a kid, he looked like a balding man rocketing into middle age. Also, for reasons I still can’t fathom, he chose to play the character somewhat angry throughout."
     
    Grand_Ennui, RayS and Pete Puma like this.
  15. A conscious effort to make him look older I suspect.
     
  16. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    As noted by Levine, it was Burghoff who initiated this change, over the objection of (apparently) everybody else. I suspect it reflected the fact that he was simply tired of playing Radar and didn't want to be there, and in some ways didn't give a sh#t anymore.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2018
    Grand_Ennui and ohnothimagen like this.
  17. Yeah, I can see that now.
     
  18. wayne66

    wayne66 Forum Resident

    Agreed. It was so obvious that Gary Burghoff did not want to be there anymore. Start the new season saying that Radar went home because his Uncle Ed died. Trapper and Frank did not appear in their farewell episodes and those episodes were just fine. I have thought that it would be cool to edit him out of those early season 8 episodes. Just start the season with his departure episodes. Those early episodes were just him talking on the phone with Klinger and Potter. It would not hurt the plot of those episodes.
     
    Grand_Ennui and ohnothimagen like this.
  19. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    My favorite ancillary "Korean" has to be Richard Lee-Sung. His scenes are always laugh-out-loud funny.


    Richard Lee-Sung - IMDb
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2018
  20. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element

    "Colonel go for laugh ... no get." :)
     
  21. vinnie

    vinnie Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Hawkeye: can you identify yourself?
    Kim Luc: This is me!
     
    thgord, ohnothimagen, wayne66 and 3 others like this.
  22. gates69

    gates69 Music Junkie

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    “Better go easy on that stuff Father. It’ll melt your beads” :laugh:
     
  23. gates69

    gates69 Music Junkie

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Agree 100% with this
     
    robargebl and Grand_Ennui like this.
  24. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    Frank Burns: That looks like a 2 by 4!
    Cho Man Chin: Thank you! Used to be round.
     
  25. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!" Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    That's what I thought.
    Yeah...no reflection on Ken Levine and David Issacs' writing or anything, but some aspects of the "Goodbye Radar" ep seemed very contrived. Falling for the nurse at the airport half an hour after meeting her. Freaking out on Klinger- of course Klinger is gonna make the office a mess, what did Radar expect, it's Klinger!:laugh: Acting as though he was indispensable to the 4077 once Potter gave him his discharge. Wounded coming in just in time to ruin his going away party (ah, the horrors of war...) And, of course, as I mentioned earlier, Radar fighting with Hawkeye as though it were a sequel to "Fallen Idol" (which, I suspect, is what Levine and Issacs had in mind with that scene).

    The more I think about it, actually, I probably like everything about the episode except for Radar, save for his brainwave of holding an outdoor OR session. IMO it should have simply been a half hour episode about the 4077 being without electricity and needing to get a new generator. No Radar needed, especially not the bitter, cranky a-shole who looks like Radar's older brother that Gary Burghoff portrayed in the episode.
    Painfully obvious, and it just about ruins the entire episode IMO.
    And then topping it off by actually promoting Klinger to Sergeant in season 10. I find it hard to believe that a guy like Max Klinger, who probably sent pictures of himself in drag to every General in Southeast Asia, would have gotten promoted like that. And that's not even taking into account his myriad criminal behaviour- either by conning or outright stealing just about everything the 4077 ever needed during his tenure as Company Cluck...
    He couldnt'a droven any faster...
     
    Grand_Ennui likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine