When they first transitioned from Henry and Trapper to BJ, Col. Potter and Charles, I thought the show lost something. After a while though, they started to grow on me.Originally Posted by Vic2012
When they first transitioned from Henry and Trapper to BJ, Col. Potter and Charles, I thought the show lost something. After a while though, they started to grow on me.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
I think the show lost something when Radar left. The story arc of him leaving was pretty dramatic. I think Klinger as Company Clerk was a good idea. Klinger wasn't supposed to be as part of the main ensemble. I kinda was happy that he found a girl at the end but he picked Keiko O'Brien....... Shoot me. Just shoot me.
Basically they took away all the conflict and turned the 4077th into one big happy family (Charles slightly to the contrary). Henry was a fall guy that Hawkeye and Trapper could pull one over on; Col. Potter was a stern but loving father figure. Once Frank was out of the picture, Margaret made friends with Hawkeye and stopped being an adversary. Klinger not only stopped bucking for a Section 8, once he moved into Radar's position he actually seemed to like being part of the team. Even Charles was a much softer adversary than Frank; he even made an effort to meet the Swamp denizens halfway once in a while (or get in the spirit of their pranks--didn't he stick a rubber snake in Hawkeye's bunk once?).
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
When they came up with Trapper John MD they created a character who was sort of a cross between Frank and Charles.
And irony of ironies, in the last episode when everyone else went home, Klinger remained in South Korea to help his new significant other find her family.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
What's the thinking here on the M*A*S*H* finale? I finally watched it as a rerun for the first time about a year ago and found it just as profound and upsetting as the critics wrote it was, when it first aired. Maybe a little too over the top Alan Alda stuff, but it was about war. Pretty jarring those nightmares were.
More likely, she's one of Keiko's ancestors.I think the show lost something when Radar left. The story arc of him leaving was pretty dramatic. I think Klinger as Company Clerk was a good idea. Klinger wasn't supposed to be as part of the main ensemble. I kinda was happy that he found a girl at the end but he picked Keiko O'Brien......Trying to remember, I saw her guesting in a small role on another show, might have been a One Day At A Time.
But wasn't Klinger on AfterMASH, also?And irony of ironies, in the last episode when everyone else went home, Klinger remained in South Korea to help his new significant other find her family.
As for the finale, I've probably seen, at least once or twice, but not in a long long time. For some reason, it wasn't included in the package that Sundance was running. The only thing I remember is the final shot from the helicopter where you see the rocks spelling out, was it "Goodbye" or "Farewell"?
.What's the thinking here on the M*A*S*H* finale?
I thought it was a great finale. Probably the first great, series finale after the Mary Tyler Moore Show finale.
Agreed, the MTM finale was over the top outstanding.
It's a long way to Tipperary,
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to Tipperary,
To the sweetest girl I know!
Goodbye, Piccadilly,
Farewell, Leicester Square!
It's a long long way to Tipperary,
But my heart's right there.
I'm remembering an early MASH episode where Henry tells Hawkeye..... Pierce, I'm gonna be frank with you, and Hawkeye says Frank? Why won't you be Henry with me?.....
As far as show finales go, I still say Newhart topped everyone else.
But you wanna talk about finales, how about worst finales? One that comes to mind is Star Trek Enterprise. I mean, it was practically a TNG episode!
Seinfeld was kinda stupid too.
I thought Seinfeld finale was really great - a tribute to all the character actors who really made the show.
Another finale which really hit home was Blackadder. Touching and infuriating at the same time.
And one which frankly seemed like they ran out of ideas was the Prisoner.
The Dexter finale was not great either, but the whole last season was heading downward anyway.
I wanted to chime in before the MASH subject peters out. I loved this show, followed it avidly during its prime-time run, and watched it a ton more once it moved to syndication. I can't think of another show that transitioned so successfully from near-slapstick comedy to the quasi-dramedy it became in later seasons. Losing the laugh track was a stroke of genius. I found something to like in all the characters as they came and went, largely due to the way the writers created stories that focused on individuals, fostering a depth of character that was pretty rare for the time. I don't know if the last episode was the "best" series finale, but IMO it was extremely satisfying and stands the test of time. Favorite moment: Radar announcing in the OR that Henry's plane had crashed. Favorite episode: tough, but the one where Winchester ministers to the soldier/pianist who lost the use of his right hand was great.
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
^^ When did they lose the laugh track? I know there were a couple of episodes without it, but I thought they carried it through the entire series, even though the creators fought like hell against it from the beginning.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Charles's story arc, teaching the Chinese musicians the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, was heartbreaking.
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
The most stereotypical and cheesy finale was CSI. Gil Grissom and Sarah Seidel literally sailed off into the sunset.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Favorite moments/episodes...hmmm, for the comedy side of things, I had a lot of favorites. For comedy purposes, I liked the "Captain Tuttle" episode, where Hawkeye and Trapper invent an imaginary soldier, for the purposes of making donations to the local orphanage, which in turn draws too much attention for their superiors (to say nothing of making Hotlips horny and Frank jealous).
Also, the one where Trapper has to box the guy from the other camp, so Hawkeye and Ugly John cook a plan to make sure Trapper wins. The gag where Ugly John is showing him how to hold the boxing glove (which has ether poured over it) in the other guy's face and he ends up knocking himself out with the demonstration, is golden.
There was also one where they're expecting I think it was General MacArthur to visit, so they get all setup for this elaborate welcoming ceremony, and they're getting the camp it tip top shape, and then when the General shows up, his jeep just drives around the sort of parade field in the middle of the camp, then goes straight out and leaves, without witnessing the planned ceremonies.
As for the sort of serious dramedy stuff, I mentioned the nightmares episode before. I remember seeing that when it first aired, and that was kind of a trip for a 7-8 year old to see. Winchester and the pianist was a great one too.
To the tune of Squeeze Box, no doubt.
Don't forget Klinger at the end dressed up like the Statue of Liberty getting a salute from MacArthur.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Yeah, that too.
And there was one episode I remember, where whichever General comes to visit, and he bursts into Henry's office, to find Radar behind Henry's desk, drinking his brandy and smoking one of his cigars. I think that was one of the early episodes, before Gary Burghoff and the head writer decided they should push Radar in a different direction.
There was also a gag about a racist colonel, who was sending the black soldiers out on more dangerous missions than he was assigning to his white charges. As I recall, Hawkeye invites the Colonel to a poker game in the swamp, getting him to open about his views on integration, before telling him one of the other players was a big wig from I-core, and therefore basically blackmailing the colonel.
I remember M*A*S*H* , but it's a long time ago I've seen it and can't remember any of the episodes.
I've seen the original film and I've read some of the books but I've never seen an entire episode of the TV series; I vaguely remember some scenes of Hawkeye in a hospital because he's had a mental breakdown or something and writing a letter: "We're going to have a game of cards as soon as we find someone with a full deck".
Didn't know there were also books.
The movie was actually based on a book, MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, by Richard Hooker. There were sequels; the only one I remember was MASH Goes to Maine. Looking at Amazon I also see ...to Hollywood and ...to Las Vegas.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
The later books were a sort of update of the Hope and Crosby 'Road' movies, where Hawkeye and Trapper John get inveigled into all sorts of globetrotting nonsense, with various other characters showing up. Hotlips is now a Reverend Mother, for reasons that escape me, and Frank Burns is still the target of their lack of affections.
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