M*A*S*H

[Styles Bitchley]

I never got it when I saw it in its first run, but I was a kid back then. Re-watching as a grown up though, I really enjoy it.

[Stelth]

I never got it when I saw it in its first run, but I was a kid back then. Re-watching as a grown up though, I really enjoy it.

For me it's not a question of "getting it" , I just hate it and feel it is worthy of hate.

[ConchRepublican]

I never got it when I saw it in its first run, but I was a kid back then. Re-watching as a grown up though, I really enjoy it.

For me it's not a question of "getting it" , I just hate it and feel it is worthy of hate.

I hear ya Stelth. I liked it a lot more when I was younger. Now I find Hawkeye's arrogance and condescension annoying, as well as the show's preachiness. I haven't seen an episode in a while, but there still were some classic ones, including the all night poker game with Col. Flagg.

Overall I still have some good memories of the first season with Trapper, that was always my favorite season. After that there were some bright spots, but it become more and more like an paid endorsement to me.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Fond farewell to the GREAT Harry Morgan. Morgan was one of those actors who when you saw him on the screen, just gave you a warm feeling. Sadly today we don't have much of that in actors.
He was truly a national treasure. RIP.

Hello N1095A or may I call you N1?,
Check Morgan out when he was a character actor in the 1940's and 1950's when he was aces in flicks like Yellow Sky, and billed as Henry Morgan. I have no idea why he changed it unless the great comic wit Henry Morgan of game shows fame paid him to.
The first MASH book by Richard Hooker was good but the sequels stink, he was just milking them for the bucks. Actually the characters seemed to me more right wing individualists than left wing as in the series, but when it comes down to it they were opposite sides of the same coin as both were making fun of the many insanities and staggering waste in the army.
According to a ex MASH doc who was an advisor to the show and whose book I read about it, most episodes were actually based on true stories real MASH doctors and nurses shared with the producers. Recall the one where everyone dyed their hair red? that happened though it sounds like a dumb Hollywood comedic device.
And the docs did warm their hands from the wound when they opened up patients. They'd put in 35 hours doing operations non stop, their boots would then have to be cut off their swollen bloody feet.
They were civilian doctors drafted over night, given 2 days of "training" so they knew to salute a superior, and were 2,000 yards behind the frontlines of Korea a week later.
Basically they were highly skilled civilians hijacked to Korea overnight who then heroically worked their butts off saving lives. The army understood this and did give them tremendous leeway, when it came to the pranks and inventive antics or gestures of rebellion. RA types may not like that aspect of the series but it was mostly accurate.

[Little Garwood]

I liked it a lot more when I was younger. Now I find Hawkeye's arrogance and condescension annoying, as well as the show's preachiness.

Conch, your view is in contrast to my own, as imo the world has few Hawkeye Pierces and far too many Frank Burnses in it.

As for the series itself, I've come to the following conclusions and probably comes across as "preachy."

So many read "preachiness" into what M*A*S*H was doing but what good would it be if they already told us what the audience already knew---that totalitarianism is bad. For some bizarre reason Americans cannot handle being criticized or parodied and that's what M*A*S*H was doing. The show would be a redundant, hopeless Cold War relic if its emphasis was on how evil the Communists were (and always have been). To be upset about the absence of anti-Communist rhetoric means that one is missing the point of what the program was about. We learn more about ourselves through self criticism, not by constantly saying how bad the enemy is.

Even if what M*A*S*H was saying rankled one's political sensibilities, hopefully one can see that there is truth in what they were lampooning: the hypocrisy of institutions, politicians, and the lesser-qualities of the United States itself. It doesn't make M*A*S*H anti-American or pro-Communist but hopefully gets the viewer to think, whether said viewer agrees with what is being criticized or not.

As for the program's change in tone and humor. I take the view that M*A*S*H is not about merely telling jokes, but about commenting on life and its tragedies, which is when comedy works best--in proportion to drama. I also see someone like, say, Woody Allen's humor this way which is why I understand his need to cover dramatic themes. Humor shouldn't really exist on its own, or even comedy; the same goes for drama. It's not about one liners per se, but rather the context of the one liners and how they serve as a response to something that needs lampooning. You know, all that "state of the human condition" stuff that M*A*S*H has which so many apparently "hate" but nevertheless torture themselves watching which in turn tortures those of us who enjoy the entire series with their inability to handle seasons four and on.

To quote Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, author, and World War II veteran Bill Mauldin:

"War humor is very bitter, very sardonic. It's not ha-ha humor. I asked Tad Foster, a cartoonist I admired a lot from the Vietnam war, if people came up to him and said, 'I loved your stuff from the war--it kept me laughing all the time. Foster said, 'Yup. sons of bitches.' I feel the same way. When someone says Willie and Joe [Mauldin's characters] made them laugh, I tell them, 'You're not supposed to laugh.' Maybe you grin or nod, but it's not ha-ha humor."

I believe that this brand of humor also applies to M*A*S*H and the show was all the better for adopting this attitude.

I don't expect any responses to any of this. lol

[308GUY]

I don't expect any responses to any of this. lol

"Always expect the unexpected." ONE of the things I actually remember from when my dad was teaching me to drive.

Anyway, you nailed it LG! Of course the writers milked their ability to write to the specific audience they knew they already had, but looking at the "big picture", it was very much as you describe, in my opinion.

There were many episodes that just were NOT about entertaining, or comedy, but exposing us, the public, to some of the very tip of the iceburg where war and man's inhumanity to man are concerned. How insane it is, and yet so commonplace that there seems to ALWAYS be somewhere in the world at any given time where it is going on.
Speaking to the most base form of prejudice there is...."If you are different than me...then there's something wrong with you." Don't see where we'll ever really get away from it, but gives us something to work towards, problem is, we won't all see the need for it at the same time, so on the cycle goes.

I took it that the "antics" of the crew was some of what they felt they had to do in order to cope with the situation. A sort of diversion to distract from the gravity of their circumstances. After all, most of them were there against their will, so to speak. Plucked from the life they had chosen and deposited in the middle of somebody else's war. For those who watched the series, (and I also agree, the movie was far superior to the tv version), you'll recall when Pierce "lost it"....he was no longer able to cope or function for that matter. He had a long enough lapse of laughter and diversionary tactics to allow reality to settle in, and he just could not handle it.

Anyway, not trying to defend the show, just saying it had it's place, and it did entertain at the same time it also made a statement, at least in my opinion.

I've watched the series over the years, and it does have it's endearing qualities, though I think it's an acquired taste. Like MPI, there were quite a few notable guest stars over the years.

You can't watch it for very long and not laugh at some of the circumstances, or Klinger...or Radar...and Harry Morgan...one of the best!

"We want something else...we want something else...we want something else!"

(Edited to add a few thoughts.)

[Styles Bitchley]

I liked it a lot more when I was younger. Now I find Hawkeye's arrogance and condescension annoying, as well as the show's preachiness.

Conch, your view is in contrast to my own, as imo the world has few Hawkeye Pierces and far too many Frank Burnses in it.

As for the series itself, I've come to the following conclusions and probably comes across as "preachy."

So many read "preachiness" into what M*A*S*H was doing but what good would it be if they already told us what the audience already knew---that totalitarianism is bad. For some bizarre reason Americans cannot handle being criticized or parodied and that's what M*A*S*H was doing. The show would be a redundant, hopeless Cold War relic if its emphasis was on how evil the Communists were (and always have been). To be upset about the absence of anti-Communist rhetoric means that one is missing the point of what the program was about. We learn more about ourselves through self criticism, not by constantly saying how bad the enemy is.

Even if what M*A*S*H was saying rankled one's political sensibilities, hopefully one can see that there is truth in what they were lampooning: the hypocrisy of institutions, politicians, and the lesser-qualities of the United States itself. It doesn't make M*A*S*H anti-American or pro-Communist but hopefully gets the viewer to think, whether said viewer agrees with what is being criticized or not.

As for the program's change in tone and humor. I take the view that M*A*S*H is not about merely telling jokes, but about commenting on life and its tragedies, which is when comedy works best--in proportion to drama. I also see someone like, say, Woody Allen's humor this way which is why I understand his need to cover dramatic themes. Humor shouldn't really exist on its own, or even comedy; the same goes for drama. It's not about one liners per se, but rather the context of the one liners and how they serve as a response to something that needs lampooning. You know, all that "state of the human condition" stuff that M*A*S*H has which so many apparently "hate" but nevertheless torture themselves watching which in turn tortures those of us who enjoy the entire series with their inability to handle seasons four and on.

To quote Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, author, and World War II veteran Bill Mauldin:

"War humor is very bitter, very sardonic. It's not ha-ha humor. I asked Tad Foster, a cartoonist I admired a lot from the Vietnam war, if people came up to him and said, 'I loved your stuff from the war--it kept me laughing all the time. Foster said, 'Yup. sons of bitches.' I feel the same way. When someone says Willie and Joe [Mauldin's characters] made them laugh, I tell them, 'You're not supposed to laugh.' Maybe you grin or nod, but it's not ha-ha humor."

I believe that this brand of humor also applies to M*A*S*H and the show was all the better for adopting this attitude.

I don't expect any responses to any of this. lol

Very insightful Garwood. Thanks for sharing.

[Steve]

I'm old enough to remember going to see the movie and just don't think the TV show was ever as good (although close at times).........

[IKnowWhatYoureThinking]

I agree Steve! The movie is far superior to the show.

[Stelth]

I wish I could go back in time to 1972 and punch Alan Alda in the throat.

[Steve]

I wish I could go back in time to 1972 and punch Alan Alda in the throat.

Too funny........I don't hate the guy but do find him annoying as it seems many do (check out his IMDB page). You want to see Alda at his most annoying watch the move The Four Seasons.............I actually liked it when I first saw it, but after watching it again years later I don't enjoy it as much and find Alda's performance grating (as he was in MASH at times). He even stuck his two daughters in the film!!!!! Oh, and there is a Selleck connection in the movie with Selleck co-stars Carol Burnett, Len Cariou and Bess Armstrong........

[Little Garwood]

I wish I could go back in time to 1972 and punch Alan Alda in the throat.

[Stelth]

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I wish I could go back in time to 1972 and punch Alan Alda in the throat.

Too funny........

With all due respect fellas, why is that funny? You want to savagely strike out at some actor you only know as a fictional character on tv? Then yucks and joy results from his pain as he gasps for breath?
For the record, guys, the scene when the KGB officer Ivan tortures Magnum and TC in the VC camp, that wasn't played for laughs.
From what I read Alda is a straight arrow familyman who for 11 years flew home to Jersey from Hollywood every friday night when the weekly MASH shooting ended, and returned to Hollywood on a early monday AM flight. Alda didnt want his children growing up in the Hollywood cess pool that produces creatures such as Paris Hilton and the Khardashian girl who became famous for starring in a home made porn movie, both of whom are celebrated.
Alda also has devoted much time to charities. He sounds to me like what a good citizen is supposed to be. Decent, civilized people are not less so because they hold different views than you do.

[KENJI]

At the moment Alan Alda has a reoccurring role (around three episodes) on the Black List.