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

If I'd cut anything about the finale, it would be the bug-out subplot which, if you pardon me, really doesn't go anywhere.

 

Yer correct, of course, but what I like about the episode is how Kellye puts Hawkeye in his place...I always like it when somebody puts Hawkeye in his place in the later seasons!

The FAQ book states that Alda wanted to use the "It was a baby!" storyline in season six. And, yeah, the powers that be put the kibosh on it. Not that I blame them...Henry's death aside I don't think M*A*S*H got any darker than the dead baby subplot in the finale. I'm not gonna lie- I don't like that story, but then nowadays I'm sensitive as sh-t when it comes to bad things happening to kids or babies.

I hated the denouement of that subplot as well. Charles Emerson Winchester III rejecting music? That'd be like me rejecting music because of a bad experience...might as well just top myself if it ever came to that. Hopefully Charles didn't...

And, of course, had already been done at least thrice before: "Bug Out", "C*A*V*E" and "The Party". The bug out sequence in the finale even blatantly used footage from the original "Bug Out" episode. Yes, I understand why they added the bug out plot- part of the filming area did fall prey to a wildfire- but it seems gratuitous to me.

What can I say? Minority view, I know, but I'm not a big fan of "Goodbye, Farewell And Amen". To me it basically lashes together everything I didn't like about the later seasons of the series- the over the top melodrama, the pathos, Alda's ego tripping...like I said in other discussions IMO ending the show with the "As Time Goes By" episode would have been more poignant. But that's just me...

 

I'm of the opinion that Season 11, as shortened as it seemed, was a notch above Season 10, and the farewell movie was a brilliant piece of film-making. The whole ending movie *seemed* like a movie with all of the extras, the outdoor location scenes, the lighting changes in Hawkeye's storytelling. I found all of that very impressive, but then I'm easy to please. I'd stick with M*A*S*H all those years and thought the payoff was quite well-done.

I've often wondered if anyone ever had the idea to take that final two-hour film and edit it so that it could be used in the syndication package as four or five half-hour episodes. As it is, it rarely is shown on TV. MeTV has run it a couple of times at the end of their runs of M*A*S*H, and CBS ran it a couple of times. There are enough sub-plots that I think it could be done to carve it up into sections and make half-hour edits. Just a thought.

As for the other episodes in the season, many are pretty good. I'm not crazy about "Who Knew?", though I found it well-done. I have mixed feelings about "UN The Night and The Music". The sub-plot about Charles being out-snobbed by a butler's son is the best part. The standing-on-head part was a little silly, but I really dislike the Peer Johansson story. It seems like every time he's on-screen, his line is always, "I vass voonded..."

"The Moon Is Not Blue" is a fun episode, almost like some of the older ones, and though "Hey Look Me Over" isn't a favorite, it at least takes Hawkeye down a peg and gives Kellye Nakahara an episode in which to shine.

 

I find it interesting that the series never made use of flashbacks to points in time before the series began...would love to have seen Hawkeye learn he's been drafted, Klinger putting on a dress for the first time, Radar's first days at the 4077th, etc...

 

Once or twice a year the History Channel up here in the Great White North -usually around Memorial Day or Remembrance Day, I think- they do a day long M*A*S*H marathon, showing all the key episodes and ending with the finale. That's how my wife ended up seeing it, 'cos when we binged the series a few years back I made a point of skipping some of the episodes I'm not a big fan of like "Dreams", "Bless You Hawkeye"...and the finale. Don't think my wife was crazy about the finale either...

I'm with you on "U.N. The Night And The Music". Love the Charles/"bloody butler" storyline, can do without the impotent Swede. Though I do believe that not only did Loretta Swit end up marrying the actor, his name is, as I recall, Dennis Houlihan!

Like I said, I always like seeing Hawk get knocked down a peg or two- anything that emphasizes the flaws in his character, 'cos I like flawed characters. And it took 'em long enough to write a "Kellye-centric" episode, she'd only been part of the series since season 2 after all!

Closest thing to a flashback I can think of in the entire series is in "Where There's A Will There's A Way" when Potter and Hawkeye are taking a break from OR and Potter states he'd been at the 4077 for eight days, and certainly the way Potter and Hawkeye are talking it's like Potter is trying to get to know Hawkeye a little better. Mind you, I s'pose most of that episode could be considered flashbacks, at least the stories Hawkeye is telling to justify what he's bequeathing the individual M*A*S*Hers in his will.

Now that I think about it, "The Novocaine Mutiny" is told in a series of flashbacks as well, both imagined (Frank) and real (everybody else)

 

The silly thing about “Hey Look Me Over” is that they will not be a couple after it is done. He was not attracted to her before, and he won’t be now. So really, nothing changes.

The same plot was used for a Saved by the Bell episode. Zack did not ended up dating the girl either.

 

This subplot makes perfect sense. It is conditioning, like if you get sick after eating food and you can’t stand that food anymore (taste aversion). Those deaths were paired with classical music. It even happened to a friend of mine. He listened to some new music, and got the flu. Now he can’t stand to listen to it.

Lucky for Charles, Elvis is about to arrive. He can listen to Hank and Lefty while he waits.

 

Good idea. I always wanted them to do a flashback episode that brought Trapper, Henry, Frank or Radar back.

 

Yeah, that was a popular trope that appeared on many 70s and 80s sitcoms, and often worked really well. The two-part "turning point" flashback episode of Taxi was one of the very best in the series' run (the moment when Jim eats his first hash brownie was one of the series' funniest moments) and I remember All in the Family doing an episode about the day Mike and Gloria met that was quite good. Considering how desperate they were for ideas by the end, I am suprised no one thought of doing it on MASH. It could have been great.

 

Yes, but Hawkeye has learned his lesson and he's been shamed, so that's the important thing.

What doesn't make sense about the episode to me is that it seems silly to criticize Hawkeye for being shallow (judging women by their appearance) when he's engaged in a fundamentally shallow endeavor (looking for casual hookups in a war zone). It's not like he's looking for a serious relationship here, and refusing to consider anyone who's not exceptionally attractive. He's looking for casual sex. What the episode seems to be telling us is that it would be better for Hawkeye to pretend to be attracted to Kelleye and pursue her as much as the nurses he is actually attracted to, in order to spare her feelings. In other words, it's okay to view women as sex objects as long as you don't judge them by their appearances. That seems like a fundamentally silly message.

 

Seinfeld did it too, with one episode tag, where it shows Jerry moving in and meeting Kramer for the first time.

 

The show got less realistic in that regard. The early years were more true to life. If you need a faithful one in the early years, well there's Mulcahy. There weren't that many in real life. Probably also unrealistic to have Winchester and Pierce both single at their age in the early 1950s. That was cutting against the grain at that time.

In real life Kelleye would have gotten action too. Part of the reason nurses volunteered, it raised their market value. Maybe if Pierce had choices (and he would have) he might not choose her, but someone would. She wouldn't even have to stoop to enlisted.

 

An old question on this thread was about the end main character credits at the end of Season One (Showtime). Each character got a screen with their actor's name on-screen.

This pretty much mirrors the way the movie M*A*S*H ended, with the camp PA announcer naming each of the actors.

Season Two's opener also employed this device for some unknown reason, and curiously, the background music used for that one is the same "sit-com-y" theme that started some late Season One episodes.

I sort of get the feeling that another season ended with aa actor-credit sequence.

 

The end of "Welcome to Korea" had each actor "announced"...

 

Season Two's opener was treated as a second pilot. Season 1 aired on Sunday night and rated poorly, but better than everything else in a poorly rated block. Season 2 aired on Saturday night with other highly rated shows, and was seen by a lot more people. This was a re-introduction of the actors and characters to a much wider audience.

 

The flashback sequence was used to fantastic effect often on the Dick Van Dyke show. I am no tv historian, but the use of the wavy, blurring lines and echoey music to signify going into and out of a flashback had to be fairly cutting edge for a sitcom. Did Lucy employ the same type of device as one of the defining weekly shows for early tv?

One other comment to throw in, I think Larry Linville and the Frank Burns character was absolutely genius. Yes, he had no lips, no chin, and ate worms, but I loved this character. The in and out of Henry to Potter, Trap and Frank to BJ and Charles, and Radar to Klinger to me seemed natural when one thinks of an army outfit changing personnel as tours start and end, coming and going. Of course all this had to work into the inevitable contract issues that occurred in real life, but it all seemed plausible, except for Hawkeye who as a draftee never seemed to get his break to go home!

 

For what it's worth, the whole 11th season is now on YouTube (at the link below), uncut and without the laugh track....enjoy it before it gets pulled.

Bryan Watson

and the finale is here...

 

Some M*A*S*H bloopers here (at 2:57)

 

That was great as I've seen little behind-the-scenes footage of the original cast from the first three seasons.

 

Oh, I know the Charles subplot in the finale makes sense, I just don't like it And I can only imagine C.E. Winchester III's reaction to Elvis...

It probably made sense to Alda at the time, in retrospect thirty six years on it's a little cringeworthy, I'll grant you (still like the episode, though). Can you imagine how the "Me too" movement would have dealt with guys like Hawkeye Pierce?

No question, love him or hate him, Frank Burns is one of the greatest characters in television history. Even now, fourty two years after the character was 'retired', you make a Frank Burns reference, people know what you mean. Especially in today's sociop-litical climate. And that's all I'm gonna say about that...

 

Yeah, and if he waits a few more years after that, there's always that group from Liverpool that get mentioned from time to time on this board.

 

I can't see Charles being much of a Freddie and the Dreamers fan...

 

Frank Burns was a lipless wonder.

 

Well duh, I was referring to Gerry and the Pacemakers.

 

The Hollywood Reporter has put up an oral history article about MASH, in which they interviewed most of the surviving cast and writers (Ogden Stiers being the most notable non-participant). No big new revelations in there, but one thing I found out (related to the discussion here) is that Loretta Swit was the one responsible for the idea of Margaret getting married. She says she felt it did not make sense for an "intelligent, capable" nurse like Margaret to be with Frank, and also that Frank's reactions would provide great comedic opportunities. The fact that Swit regarded Margaret as intelligent and capable suggests it's pretty likely she was the driver behind all the alterations to that character over the years.