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Post by Mayo on Mar 18, 2023 3:46:32 GMT
I preferred Trapper over Hunicutt. Henry over Potter (Horse pucky!) I did like the addition of Winchester who unlike Frank was smart and a good surgeon. I liked Frank but it would have been difficult to maintain his character without some kind of evolution. Hot Lips was a good nurse and her character evolved after Frank left. At least the tv Frank Burns had a less tragic departure than the movie version.
And of course, David Ogden Stiers was a fantastic actor.Exactly, Winchester was an equal and in some ways a better, being more cultured than Hawkeye and Hunnicut. I haven't seen this in a while,but there's the episode where he treats a patient who was a classical pianist and lost a hand in combat. Winchester finds classical piano pieces for one handed musicians as part of his recovery and therapy. Ogden Stiers did a lovely job with the episode. |
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Post by Lucky Dan on Mar 18, 2023 4:33:31 GMT
Exactly, Winchester was an equal and in some ways a better .. |
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Post by sepiatone on Mar 18, 2023 16:02:50 GMT
It’s been a while since I saw the actual episodes, so I may be wrong, but I think the food Hawkeye ordered from Chicago was barbecued ribs.
. Ah, THANK you. I did mention my Swiss cheese memory, didn't I? and man! I HATE it when I act my age!  Sepiatone |
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Post by topbilled on Mar 18, 2023 16:56:27 GMT
Exactly, Winchester was an equal and in some ways a better ..
Jim Nabors made a career specializing in this on The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle USMC.
Perhaps the most extreme examples were Larry and his brothers on Newhart. And though we never met her on screen, the mother must have been pretty dumb if she named two of her sons Daryl! |
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Post by topbilled on Mar 18, 2023 16:58:23 GMT
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Post by Guest on Mar 19, 2023 14:39:01 GMT
Captain Jones' nickname was Spearchucker, I thought that was funny, do you?
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Post by topbilled on Mar 19, 2023 15:02:33 GMT
013 Edwina
The one where Hawkeye dates a klutz
Arlene Golonka plays the title character of this episode, a nurse who is about to be discharged from the army and at age 28 hasn’t found a man. It is said she hasn’t even been kissed by one. This is a bit unbelievable, as she’s a pretty enough gal. I should mention that Miss Golonka was almost 37 when this episode was first broadcast, and she definitely looks older than 28.
While Golonka gets to display her unique brand of physical comedy, since nurse Edwina is presented as a klutz, some of this didn’t work for me. Mostly because I think a woman who’s been a successful nurse for several years would at least have some dexterity and be coordinated enough to assist doctors and hold surgical instruments. She wouldn’t be so klutzy.
Now if they had said she was a jinx and bad luck followed her everywhere she went, that would have been just as funny but much more believable.
Another thing that didn’t work for me is that nurse Margie seems to be the one spearheading the effort to find a man for Edwina and organizing the other nurses to protest until one of the men in the camp agrees to date Edwina. Isn’t Margaret supposed to be in charge of the nurses? Also, Margaret and Frank don’t seem to be at odds the way the other men and women in the camp are. It’s almost as if they aren’t part of the plot, yet they are still present in group scenes.
When the men draw straws, Hawkeye is the one who loses and must date Edwina. This leads to a calamitous evening for him, though most of the laughs are predictable— her dropping things and knocking things over, his getting injured, etc. In one moment, she bangs her head hard against his, and he is in agony, yet she seems to be pain free? A lot of it was far-fetched.
The better part of this scenario involved Radar and Trapper helping Hawkeye get duded up for the date, while Margie and the other nurses conspired to make Edwina look glamorous. It was a ritual for them. But instead of the evening turning into something really nice, Hal Dresner’s writing ensured that it remained silly.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 19, 2023 22:50:39 GMT
As we head towards 014, a really memorable episode for me, I have a bit of catching up to do. I wasn't sure I could tolerate the tired & overly used womanizing and drinking plot crutches but I think there is also great value to be revisited.
001 Pilot [September 17, 1972]
M*A*S*H, you had me at 夕暮れに仰ぎ見. Music is our very first entrée into a strange amalgam world of Vietnam and Korea, a groundbreaking attempt to humorize, contemporize and end a war. A Japanese rendition of Blue Heaven greets us...
looking up at dusk
shining blue sky
to follow at sunset
small diameter of my house
Small but fun home
Where the shadow of love shines
The house I love is my blue sky
For the first 59 seconds it is all fun and games literally - golf, football, bubbly, illicit reconnoitering as we are introduced to our main characters. At exactly the 60 second mark we are dropped head first into the frenetic and violent calamity that is an active MASH unit. This in a nutshell will be the series.
We can pretend our modern lens with 20/20 hindsight may be overly harsh examining a 50 year old program but by 1972 it wasn't questionable as to whether selling blacks or women was wrong. It is awkward. Is it also funny? Are the writers trying to make a point I am missing? We also speak of lynching a white man, a very specific choice of language.
There is a lot of great nuanced and smart humour but there is also a huge obvious miss: why weren't female raffle ticket purchasers offered any prize in the draw? By 72 bras are burning. Putting Hawkeye or even Frank up as their prize could have been played for big laughs.
Bruno Kirby was in a few scenes and he had a closing credit. I wonder if there was more intended for him?
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Post by topbilled on Mar 20, 2023 15:28:36 GMT
As we head towards 014, a really memorable episode for me, I have a bit of catching up to do. I wasn't sure I could tolerate the tired & overly used womanizing and drinking plot crutches but I think there is also great value to be revisited.
The show is basically revamped at the start of season 4, and Colonel Potter, Harry Morgan's character, was shown as a faithful man who loved his wife and would never cheat on her...unlike the way Henry cheats on his wife. Same for B.J., whose wife Peg was often mentioned in loving terms. B.J. might get tempted, but he was never going to be a serial adulterer the way Trapper was. Some of the show's immorality during the early seasons gets diluted after Henry and Trapper leave and are replaced by Potter and B.J. Also, Margaret is married off and her relationship with Frank is curtailed. When Frank leaves the show, he is replaced by Winchester who is not married and not an adulterer. |
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Post by topbilled on Mar 20, 2023 15:29:00 GMT
014 Love Story
The one where Radar gets jilted
Radar is acting out of character in this episode, at least for him. He’s become withdrawn, won’t talk to anyone and is reluctant to open up to the others about what’s bothering him. It turns out his troubles involve a girl back home in Iowa who did not send him a ‘Dear John’ letter but rather a ‘Dear John’ record. On the vinyl recording, Linda Sue tells ol’ Radar that she’s going to marry someone else named Elroy and hopes that they’ll all still be friends. These names sound like they are out of Petticoat Junction. I’ve never met anyone named Linda Sue or Elroy from Iowa.
To get him out of his funk, Hawkeye and Trapper devise what you might call ‘Operation Radar.’ This is where they will set him up on a date with some pretty young girl in camp to help him move on. Only thing is a lot of the nurses in camp are not interested in Radar. In some ways, this plot is the male version of ‘Edwina,’ the previous episode’s offering. But instead of a klutzy nurse, the loser at love is a man child from the midwest.
Fortunately for everyone, a visiting female lieutenant (Kelly Jean Peters) sparks Radar’s fancy, and she becomes taken with him. Part of the humor springs from the fact that she’s into literature and classical music, and Radar is not exactly well-versed on these cultural subjects. The lady lieutenant seems like a precursor to Winchester, David Ogden Stiers’ character who won’t be introduced yet for a few more seasons.
The main conflict is presented in the form of Margaret and Frank who object to Radar, who is enlisted personnel, dating an officer. Margaret tries to bully Henry into putting the kibosh on the budding relationship. However, Hawkeye and Trapper are quick to point out that Margaret’s own relationship with Frank is against army regulations. So they pull a stunt to get Margaret and Frank to back down.
Some gay humor occurs in Laurence Marks’ script. First, during the showing of a movie, Frank accidentally grabs Hawkeye’s hand, thinking it’s Margaret’s. And later, Hawkeye and Trapper snuggle up in Margaret’s bed, waiting for Margaret to return to her tent.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 21, 2023 16:21:09 GMT
015 Tuttle
The one where Captain Tuttle appears as himself
This is an episode that I was looking forward to seeing again. It’s one of the best from the first season, and it is quite memorable. What distinguishes this story from the other ones is its writing, it’s satiric performances and its clever spoofing of hero worship. And to some extent, its irreverent tone about organized religion.
Hawkeye and Trapper invent a man named Tuttle to explain where supplies are coming from that are being donated to a local orphanage run by Catholic nuns. We are never told why Hawkeye himself does not take credit for arranging the items for the orphanage with help from Trapper and Radar. Guess it’s because he’s uncharacteristically humble this time. The nun says she will pray for Tuttle, who of course isn’t real. Right?
News about the fictional captain’s generosity reverberates throughout the camp, and naturally, everyone has their own views about the man. This is where the episode gets a bit zany, because Henry acts like he’s been with Tuttle on several occasions. Henry has an overactive imagination which isn’t discouraged by Radar, as this helps support the idea Tuttle exists. Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Trapper create a dummy personnel file on Tuttle when Margaret and Frank get suspicious since they’ve never met Tuttle. Eventually their imaginations take hold, after they read the phony file and like Henry, now believe in the existence of Tuttle.
What’s fun about this classic episode of M*A*S*H is that Tuttle is sort of like a wartime messiah and he has specific meaning to everyone…from the nuns, to Henry, to Frank & Margaret, to the men who’ve invented him and are keeping his spirit alive. After General Clayton (Herb Voland) speaks to the nuns and learns about Tuttle’s humanitarian efforts when his supposed back pay is donated to the orphanage, Clayton comes to the 4077th to award a citation to Tuttle and take a photo with him.
This is where Hawkeye must ‘kill off’ Tuttle, creating a story that Tuttle has died on the way to help wounded soldiers in the field. Everyone absorbs Tuttle’s dramatic ‘death’ in their own unique ways, and this reflects the Christ-like sacrifice that real men in battle may make with their own lives.
All in all it’s a brilliant and highly idiosyncratic offering from the long-running series. And in case things become too somber at the end, there’s a funny entry in the closing credits which says Captain Tuttle was played by himself.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 23, 2023 0:38:33 GMT
014 Love Story
The one where Radar gets jilted
Radar is acting out of character in this episode, at least for him.
In some ways, this plot is the male version of ‘Edwina,’ the previous episode’s offering.
Fortunately for everyone, a visiting female lieutenant (Kelly Jean Peters) sparks Radar’s fancy, and she becomes taken with him. Part of the humor springs from the fact that she’s into literature and classical music, and Radar is not exactly well-versed on these cultural subjects.
Some gay humor occurs in Laurence Marks’ script. I really love this episode parts of this episode. The gay humour is going to be a challenge along with the constant drinking and dalliances. Redemption is closing in on me. I have seen the light, or at least quite a big redemptive beam of it hit me in the car yesterday. Strange how life works. I'll post more about my epiphany in a bit. 014 Love Story is a positively charming and memorable episode. I love the fact that Lt. Louise Anderson carries around so many classic books and albums. It is somewhat ridiculous but touching. MASH units were often moved (or had to bug out) monthly so I would imagine the less gear you had to drag about the better. No doubt there were true tales of such luggage situations. When my sister moved to Australia her suitcases only contained books. I love the great fraud and deception perpetrated to try to make a human connection for Radar. It is a parable on how to get through life, how to deal with situations in which you aren't overly well versed but still want to be a part of the conversation. Fading Fast spoke earlier of using a secret "code phrase" in relation to Went the Day Well. I have a few cinematic code phrases I use in VERY high rotation: We mustn't tarry or the mob will be upon us, I don't believe in a school bus on Sunday....and AAAaaah Bach. It is such short sweet perfection and guarantees fits of laughter for those of us using this code book: I have no idea what you are talking about but don't care to expose my idiocy at this particular moment.Radar really isn't himself in season 1 - I saw him drinking alcohol and smoking a cigar at Henry's desk in a previous episode. No Grape Nehi in sight.
Edwina repeat: it is interesting to me the writing is already repeating just a few months into the series - drugging or knocking out Frank is another repeated plot device. Very odd to me but maybe part of the plan/pattern of writing 50 years ago. |
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Post by topbilled on Mar 23, 2023 1:32:05 GMT
014 Love Story
The one where Radar gets jilted
Radar is acting out of character in this episode, at least for him.
In some ways, this plot is the male version of ‘Edwina,’ the previous episode’s offering.
Fortunately for everyone, a visiting female lieutenant (Kelly Jean Peters) sparks Radar’s fancy, and she becomes taken with him. Part of the humor springs from the fact that she’s into literature and classical music, and Radar is not exactly well-versed on these cultural subjects.
Some gay humor occurs in Laurence Marks’ script. I really love this episode parts of this episode. The gay humour is going to be a challenge along with the constant drinking and dalliances. Redemption is closing in on me. I have seen the light, or at least quite a big redemptive beam of it hit me in the car yesterday. Strange how life works. I'll post more about my epiphany in a bit. 014 Love Story is a positively charming and memorable episode. I love the fact that Lt. Louise Anderson carries around so many classic books and albums. It is somewhat ridiculous but touching. MASH units were often moved (or had to bug out) monthly so I would imagine the less gear you had to drag about the better. No doubt there were true tales of such luggage situations. When my sister moved to Australia her suitcases only contained books. I love the great fraud and deception perpetrated to try to make a human connection for Radar. It is a parable on how to get through life, how to deal with situations in which you aren't overly well versed but still want to be a part of the conversation. Fading Fast spoke earlier of using a secret "code phrase" in relation to Went the Day Well. I have a few cinematic code phrases I use in VERY high rotation: We mustn't tarry or the mob will be upon us, I don't believe in a school bus on Sunday....and AAAaaah Bach. It is such short sweet perfection and guarantees fits of laughter for those of us using this code book: I have no idea what you are talking about but don't care to expose my idiocy at this particular moment.Radar really isn't himself in season 1 - I saw him drinking alcohol and smoking a cigar at Henry's desk in a previous episode. No Grape Nehi in sight.
Edwina repeat: it is interesting to me the writing is already repeating just a few months into the series - drugging or knocking out Frank is another repeated plot device. Very odd to me but maybe part of the plan/pattern of writing 50 years ago. |
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Post by topbilled on Mar 23, 2023 14:44:34 GMT
016 The Ringbanger
The one where a colonel is kept from battle
Leslie Nielsen gets special guest star billing in this uneven offering. Again the writers are trying to milk laughs from mental illness and homosexuality. Nielsen plays Colonel Buzz Brighton, a man that has a bullet removed and is anxious to return to battle, except Hawkeye and Trapper conspire with Radar to prevent this from happening. They feel too many men are dying under Brighton’s command, and that it would be best for everyone involved if he was deemed mentally unfit and sent stateside for a rest.
Of course, Hawkeye and Trapper are taking it upon themselves to play god and attempt to affect the course of the war. This is where the show’s liberalism seeps into the narrative in full force. I am sure there were plenty of conservatives who felt the way Nielsen’s character does, that some casualties are necessary to win a war. If a fit colonel was sent away from battle, then it could result in the North Koreans and its communist allies achieving victories. The script doesn’t address that possibility at all.
Also, the way this script is written we have Henry acting like a buffoon, easily intoxicated by Hawkeye and tricked into signing release papers for Nielsen. It’s as if Henry has no real intelligence or ability to lead, and he might as well turn the 4077th over to Hawkeye and Trapper.
Meanwhile, Frank and Margaret realize Colonel Brighton should not still be hanging around. But their efforts are stymied, when Hawkeye and Trapper play matchmaker and convince Margaret she might have a shot with Brighton. And Frank is the victim of a smear campaign, where it is suggested that he’s gay and wants Brighton for himself, which causes Brighton to steer clear of him. Yeah, it’s that type of ‘humor’ which makes a nonsensical episode.
At times I wasn’t sure if writer Jerry Mayer was trying to mine comedy from having Nielsen’s character being gaslit by Hawkeye and Trapper…or if the comedy was supposed to come from maneuvering around the red tape required to get someone sent home. The story goes in several directions, and none of it is really too satisfying.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 23, 2023 19:42:44 GMT
 M*A*S*H Redemption Song?Many people have come up to me on street corners, airports and said I became a doctor because of your playing Hawkeye and the whole show M*A*S*H but nobody ever said I've become an actor because of you.
-- Alan Alda (CBC Ideas - War and Medicine: Hawkeye's Army)Life is strange. En route to my ice-palace at Varykino at the other day I stopped in for an Arby's bologna sandwich. (BingFan will appreciate the meats humour). As a Digital Disconnect, the analog radio scan game is in full effect. Scan for something good. Scan for something bad. Scan for something fun (much aaaah Bach is involved). I was poised to scan on to the next item when the M*A*S*H theme start playing out of my car speakers. What followed was a most intriguing, inspiring and strange mixed medical/media podcast: War and Medicine: Hawkeye's Armywww.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/mash-medicine-and-war-horton-1.6755124Beyond examining the importance of M*A*S*H, the podcast (if available outside of Canada?) is time well spent. I don't generally step into my doctor's inner realm or fully appreciate his experiences but I'm glad I did. Dr. Jillian Horton's LA Times Op-Ed is also touchingly insightful and worthy of your time. www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-08-16/covid-war-mash-doctor-alda-hawkeyeBoth items have really added to the breadth of lens I am applying to M*A*S*H reruns. At what point is there or is there not redemption for a 50 year old tv program? How many gay/sexist/alcoholic jokes can be endured if current lives are being saved? One hot, humid night in the summer of 2020, I sat at a dining room table in a rented cabin off the shores of Lake Winnipeg, and wrote a heartfelt pandemic cri de coeur about a fictional army doctor, one who taught me how we might make it through our COVID "war."
That doctor was Captain Benjamin Franklin (Hawkeye) Pierce, the main character of one of the most beloved television series of all time: M*A*S*H, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in the fall of 2022.
Many beautiful surprises ensued. After the piece was published by The Los Angeles Times, it went viral. In the ensuing weeks and months, I learned there were tens of thousands of people like me — healthcare workers who had been inspired to go into medicine because of Hawkeye's struggles in Korea, workers who, during the pandemic, found themselves on a very different kind of frontline. -- Dr. Jillian Horton
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