M*A*S*H Memories

Ah, Bach!

 

But what does that mean? Ah, Bach?

 

Another favorite of mine, from season 3 (?)--Blake hears another litany of woe from Klinger and he responds, page by page--

"Father dying last year"
Mother dying last year"
"Mother AND father dying"
"Mother, father and older sister dying"
"Mother dying and older sister pregnant"
"Older sister dying and mother pregnant"
"Younger sister pregnant and older sister dying"
"Here's an oldie but a goodie-half of the family dying, the other half pregnant"

Blake stares ahead-"Klinger, aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Klinger--"Yes sir, I don't deserve to be in the army."

 

That’s from the song “Chickery Chick” by Sammy Kaye.

There are a ton of references to 40s/50s pop culture in the show that I didn’t understand for a long time.

 

Classic advice from Hawkeye to Radar.

Say you're in a room of high-brows who are having a deep discussion about classical music. You know nothing about classical music. One of them mentions a particular piece by Bach. All you have to do is say : " Ah, Bach!"

 

I think that nurse that Radar was chasing in that episode would have been a good match for Charles, if would have been there at the same time.

 

Once you've said that, you've said it all.

 

My favorite part from this scene is when the nurse Radar is trying to impress says she never travels anywhere without Johann Sebastian, and Hawkeye has to give Radar a signal that it's time to say, "Ah, Bach."

 

I saw the episode this morning where a "son of a bloody butler" outclasses Charles with his knowledge of the finer things. I wonder if this nurse would have done the same

 

That's highly signficant!

 

My favorite episode is "Movie Tonight". That's the one where the gang is cranky and Potter arranges to show MY DARLING CLEMENTINE. The beat-up print keeps breaking and the projector breaks too. While Klinger fixes it each time, the gang goes through various songs and entertainment to pass the time. The Father Mulcahy sound-alike contest is a hoot.

Watching that over the years got me interested in actually watching MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, a pretty good movie.

 

See post #62 on page 3!

 

"It could be a trap, Trap"

"Can I be frank, Frank?"

"This R-E-D speaks better English than Y-O-U do!"

- - - - - - - - - -

"Frank - you can fool some of the papal some of the time"

"They'll give you the electric pew!"

 

"Jocularity "

 

That exchange was between Henry and Klinger from the season 2 episode "Mail Call".

 

Keep the quotes coming.
I find I channel Charles sometimes. I'll say "GENTLEMEN" when leaving a group of guys. Or " 'Cue!" instead of thank you. I also use the "Not even at gunpoint!" phase in many situations. I know the Charles era is not liked all that much, but I actually prefer it.

 

I do too. What's scary to me is that my knee surgeon from the late 19780's not only looked like him but had a similar demeanor!

 

The issues with the “Charles era” has very little to do with Charles - most of the complaints are with other characters and storylines. Charles was one of my favorite characters and rarely annoyed me.

 

One good thing about Charles is his character really didn't change all that much thru the years he was on the show... He didn't become even more of a "stuffed shirt" as time went on, nor did they "devolve" him into a character who became buddy-buddy with his Swamp-mates and let them call him "Charlie" or anything like that... He was pretty consistent throughout his run on the show...

That said, I do NOT like the episode where he insists on playing his french-horn and out of protest Hawkeye and BJ decide not to bathe... Dumb and made even dumber when the camp decides to clean the guys... That episode just annoys me...

 

I delight in any episode that contains Richard Lee Sung. This guy:

"This is me!"

 

Yes but...although Charles was usually at odds with Hawkeye and BJ, there were times where he showed his "good side" with them. For example, when he supported the others when getting rid of the racist officer, or when he and BJ worked together to get rid of the obnoxious cowboy surgeon...or especially when he supported Hawkeye when his dad was going in for an operation, and in the same episode gave the Marine bowler some methylene blue.

One thing I wish he would have done though, is opened up to BJ in the episode where he had the near-death experience. Instead he opened up to the patient, and when BJ asked him if he was ok he said he was fine, then BJ read him the riot act and told him to leave the patient alone. Would have been nice to have a moment with BJ like he did with Hawkeye in the bowling episode.

 

Quote you couldn't get away with today...

Trapper: "I've never been to a rape before"
Hawkeye: "Maybe for your next birthday"

 

The one I say sometimes is "Thank you, no."

 

"Hitler's pencil box..."

 

"Angry" Radar (the episodes before Burghoff was going to leave the show) were very bad. The total personality change in him seemed inauthentic. I think that was a bad writing choice.