Redartz: Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of "TV Guided". For this installment, we will remember one of the most outstanding series ever to appear on broadcast television. M*A*S*H was a rare blend of comedy and drama that really worked, and worked well. The show was popular enough to run for 11 seasons, from 1972 to 1983. Yet it also raked in loads of awards and critical praise from Golden Globes to Emmys to the Peabody Award. And the final episode of the series, broadcast in 1983, remains one of the most-watched television programs of all time.
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| Mclean Stevenson (Col. Henry Blake) |
Set against the backdrop of the Korean War, the show was derived from the theatrical film of the same name, and reflected the anti-war sentiments of the Vietnam era. Yet it was far more than that; the show conveyed many messages and themes over it's lifetime. It played with the medium itself, with such experiments as a black-and-white episode, press interview episode, and many more. The show could be achingly poignant. One such episode was that in which Col. Henry Blake (Mclean Stevenson) was given a festive send off home. The absolute silence in the operating room, after it wasannounced that Blake's plane had been shot down with no survivors, spoke his loss eloquently.
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| Wayne Rogers (Trapper John) and Alan Alda (Hawkeye Pierce) |
M*A*S*H was also, of course, a great source of humor (although I always felt the laugh track was unnecessary and somewhat intrusive). There was Corporal Max Klinger (Jamie Farr) and his eternal schemes to be sent home, Hawkeye (Alan Alda) with his wisecracks (he seemed to channel a bit of Groucho Marx), Major "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) and her shaky relationship with Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville). And that's only the tip of the iceberg; M*A*S*H found innumerable ways to find laughs amid the horrors of war.
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| Harry Morgan (Col. Potter) and Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly) |
Yet he show's greatest strength, in my opinion, was the cast. M*A*S*H was positively blessed with an abundance of talent, from it's first season to the last. Characters came and went; Hawkeye's nemesis Burns was replaced by the patrician Charles Emerson Wincester (David Ogden Stiers). After Col. Blake's death, command went to Col. Sherman Potter (wonderfully played by Harry Morgan).
However, one thing that never changed was the sheer magnitude of talent offered by one of television's greatest ensemble casts.
Some vintage television programs tend to suffer a bit after the years pass: some seem dated, some appear rather low budget and even cheesy. Some seem oddly naive. M*A*S*H is not one of those. The show still hits you with highs and lows, even thirty (!?!) years after going off the air. I watched a couple episodes just prior to writing this, and the show was as powerful as ever. I don't know if I'd call it the best show in television's long history, but it would surely be a candidate. I will say that M*A*S*H was a part of many 'must see' evenings of television. And that final episode: I still recall watching it among 20 or so fellow students in the lounge at our college photo lab. Now that was event tv.
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| Early seasons: Larry Linville, Loretta Swit, Alan Alda, Mclean Stevenson, Wayne Rogers, William Christopher, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr |
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| Later seasons: Jamie Farr, Loretta Swit, David Ogden Stiers, Harry Morgan, Mike Farrell, Alan Alda, William Christopher |
16 comments:
You know you are a bronze-ager when, 30 years later, you and your peers can discuss the same TV shows, recalling the channel and time the show ran. Harkening back to an earlier BitBA Blog a few weeks ago, is it fair to say the MASH never "jumped the shark?" I think so.
Though, I thought Col. Blake's death seemed too obvious it would happen b/c there was the constant undertone of "war is not good" in a series that was generally a comedy.
And, have a great weekend everyone!
I only watched M.A.S.H now and again (enough to know the characters) but my father was a huge fan and watched every episode. I've mentioned before that when the BBC bought the show they removed the laughter track. I remember the very last episode was featured on the TV news (the BBC news, possibly not their commercial rival ITN) and that's when I heard about the massive audience in the U.S. for the final episode (about 80 million, wasn't it ?)
By the way, in May 1980 the song "Theme From M.A.S.H (Suicide is Painless)" reached #1 in the UK and stayed at #1 for 3 weeks.
Redartz, great column today. I found Henry's departure very memorable, but the most chilling scene was (surprisingly) Father Mulcahy's farewell statement, 'God Bless You, Henry Blake'... His line was always the most poignant of the entire episode.
Like most, I generally preferred the first 6 seasons, after which it became just retreds of earlier themes, weird dream episodes, Klinger seeing dead soldiers walking and talking, overall the more serious tone alternated from surreal to outright preachy.
I am annoyed that the writers allowed Larry Linville's character to spiral down so much by Season 5. They could have rectified/strengthened his character much like they did with Ted Baxter on 'Mary Tyler Moore' in later years, but they decided to remove any remnants of logic and respect by his last season, that it was at times painful to watch. A great comedic actor essentially being written into a hole, regretfully.
Don't get me wrong, the Winchester character had some marvelous serious and comedic moments, but I really enjoyed Linville better. I will say favorite Winchester episode was when he convinced a pianist who had lost use of his right hand that he could still play music, with the plea of 'I can play the notes, David, but I cannot **make** the music...' Purely inspired and impeccably played out.
One annoyance is I've watched the episodes soooo often that I know when certain scenes are inexplicably cut out for broadcast. I know it's done for adding commercials, but sheeeesh...., sometimes they just hack 'em up without any thought.
I highly recommend collecting the uncut episodes on season DVDs for best entertainment value. For most viewers, you'll probably see scenes that were only shown on the original CBS network presentation, and never-ever again shown in syndication.
Great write-up Red and a great show. I agree with just about all the sentiments expressed here. And although I don't think it ever had a "jump the shark" moment, I do think it lingered a few years too long.
That said, the show played in syndicated reruns on a local station after the late news for what seemed like forever - certainly through the 80s and 90s - and I watched quite often, knowing exactly what line was coming next...and rarely getting tired of it.
Could have done without "After M*A*S*H" though.
Tom
I was a huge fan, I've seen every episode multiple times. There was a time in the early 80s that I'd watch a syndicated rerun on channel 12 at 7:00, then switch to channel 5 ("superstation" wttg out of DC, if that rings a bell for anyone) and watch another rerun at 7:30. Then on Monday nights (until 1983, of course) I'd watch the CBS broadcast of the new episode. Which means that on lots of Mondays I saw 3 episodes. I'd say my favorite characters were Hawkeye, Blake and Klinger. Potter made me laugh too, especially when he'd tell Winchester to f-off.
The later seasons aren't as good, but I don't think it was just due to cast changes. I think that as M*A*S*H ran further into the 70s and 80s, the characters felt more and more like "1970s people" (and I don't mean that as a pejorative) than 1950s military personnel.
I didn't hate BJ, but he always felt more like a 1970s man than a 50s guy. It bothers me more today as an adult (with a history degree) than it did then.
"Could have done without "After M*A*S*H" though."
After M*A*S*H was a big disappointment to me. I was 11 when M*A*S*H ended and not ready to say goodbye to my tv friends. So I figured After M*A*S*H serve as a nice way to keep some of these beloved characters in my life. I really wanted to like it, but it was just a flat show that generally bored me.
One of my all-time favorite parodies was a fake commercial on Not Necessarily The News for a series called "Before M*A*S*H." We saw Korean peasants running from bombs saying "I hope Hawekye gets here soon...or even Major Winchester!"
Ha ha JA! Before M*A*S*H sounds better than After.
Tom
M*A*S*H was one of my all time favorites. The first ep I ever saw was the one where they had to ration supplies and had to share tent to save heat. I remember being stunned when Henry Blake didn't make it home, getting a little misty when Radar went home, and finally when they all went home. They were like members of my family by the time it ended.
My favorite seasons were the first three. I enjoyed the next couple, but I felt the series suffered when Larry Gelbart left. I also hated what they did with Frank the last couple of years, but I appreciated that his replacement was a totally different character, giving Hawkeye a tougher competitor in matters of surgery and wit.
I also felt Trapper John was underutilized, too. They took a lot of his skills and quantities and gave them to Hawkeyes. Wayne Rogers and Alan Alda worked very well together though. I hated to see Trapper leave, but BJ was a solid replacement.
Sometimes in the later seasons, the episodes got a bit preachy and they went overboard at times, but I also appreciated that they took chances with the soldier's POV and the one with the clock at the bottom of the screen, and the one with the houseboy who was a NK spy.
I remember watching the finale with a bunch of college buddies too.
I loved MASH, though I haven't seen it in years. I always liked BJ better than Trapper, maybe because he was around longer. I also liked Potter more than Blake, in general.
I liked how the characters evolved, especially Klinger (who was much more interesting after he stopped the "I'm wearing a dress give me a Section 8" shtick) and Margaret, who started out as the asshole sexpot (like in the movie) but turned a more well-rounded character later on; I think dumping Frank (and later, her cheating husband) helped a lot.
I always felt Trapper could have had more lines and episodes dedicated to him.
Interestingly enough.., Wayne Rogers never had a contract with the series, so it essentially allowed him to leave at any time. Just read this last year.
After suffering a few years from lack of popularity after leaving the series, McLean Stevenson famously said, 'I found out the hard way that the public liked Henry Blake far more than they liked McLean Stevenson...'
Alda reportedly couldn't stand Jackie Cooper's writing and direction on the set. They didn't hit it off at all. You can read about it if you google some MASH blogs..
As some of you know, they also tried the spin-off 'R*A*D*A*R', where Burghoff shot a televised pilot as a small town cop (as Radar).., didn't illicit sufficient interest, but you did see him finally have a love scene with his girlfriend interestingly enough.
As for AfterMASH, it's tough when you have all the 'nice characters' from a previous show.., where, true to character, they'd stand around and be...., nice.
The problem was they didn't have anything like a true catalyst/protagonist/antagonist to react around: No Alda, no Korean War, nada.
So essentially you're left with having 'em all standing around being..., nice.
interesting post …
I watched MASH at the time, and kind of remember the “Death of Henry Blake” episode and the finale for sure since it was such a national phenomenon at the time
…But…
I think I was too young and unsophisticated to appreciate MASH for what it was. Loved Loretta Swit and Klinger a lot though. “War” themed films and tv never resonated with me at the time and I don’t seek out too many even now.
Fine comments, everyone; thank you for sharing your thoughts on the 4077th.
Colin J.- another reason to admire the BBC. Anyone know if the DVD collections have laugh tracks?
J.A.- three episodes in a day- now you sound like a true fan! And you make an interesting point about the 70'S feel of some characters. I can understand that, although it didn't really bother me. Especially when compared to "Happy Days", which frequently bore no resemblance to the 50's.
Mike W.- It did seem Klinger's character showed greater range and depth in the years after he 'modified his wardrobe'. That said, he did have some fun scenes, and a remarkable cost me trunk...
And for all who commented on "After M*A*S*H", I concur. Watched it for awhile for the characters, but it just didn't have the same magic.
Costume trunk. Miserable auto type...
On further thoughts.., it kinda did jump the shark with BJ's mustache.... I actually don't watch those episodes as much as the early ones.
And Jamie Farr got waaaay too much airtime in the later episodes as well. His character was great in the fewer times used in the early episodes, but Klinger started to really grate on me by the last few years.
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