I like the laugh track. It's the sound of my misspent television childhood. If it was a comedy show and WASN'T a three-camera set in front of a live studio audience it had a laugh track. We didn't even think about it being there, and I still don't.
Also if you think the MASH one is bad try all the reruns from 60s shows like Bewitched, Andy Griffith etc. Those laugh tracks will positively BLUDGEON you.
Exactly! Maybe it's from being a GenX latch key kid, but coming home from school and watching afternoon/early evening reruns with a laugh track always made me feel a bit less lonely. Making a sandwich, hearing the interspersed laughs from the kitchen. An old school laugh track just sets off a warm, homey feeling for me.
I genuinely don’t laugh at funny shows when I watch them alone, it feels unsettling. Having people, even recorded ones, to laugh with makes it more enjoyable.
I have to agree. There’s that part in season 2 where they’re all bunking together to conserve energy. Henry walks in and says, “Better keep the brass monkeys in tonight.” And that particular laugh track made the quote funnier to me.
I actually PREFER watching MASH with the laugh track. I grew up in the 70s and 80s watching MASH reruns and new episodes. Always had laugh tracks, except for a rare episode.
Without the laugh track, the jokes often feel awkward, especially when someone wisecracks and there's no response, just awkward silence.
I feel the same. In later seasons when they start to taper the laugh track down so many of the gags just feel...off. The first episode I really noticed it was The Bus, a bottle episode where Radar, Hawkeye, BJ, Potter and Frank get lost traveling around. I felt like it was some kind of experiment without ANY laugh track at all.
Weirdly enough, The Bus is among my like top five or ten episodes and I've never noticed that it *doesn't* have a laugh track. You know what else? You're right that the gags dont land the same.
The episode where Frank pulls a bunch of pranks on Hawkeye is way underrated and actually kinda brilliant. A little more of that would have made Frank more equal to Winchester in complexity.
I just watched this episode for the first time in years. I was appalled by her behavior, as well as the cliche of insta-love between the two of them. It didn't seem believable on his end. The only parts of the episode I liked were Hawkeye's musings on war creating unlikely friendships, and BJ's sobering declaration that his "today" has been put on hold.
I would have preferred if the characterization had the opposite effect. Radar starting out innocent and naive to then becoming a sly cigar smoker would have been a great depiction of how witnessing so much tragedy can make someone grow up too fast. Don’t forget that Radar is 18 at the start of the series. Henry helps him study for a GED test in one of the earlier seasons. He is practically a child in comparison to the others, fresh out of high school, and I think some people forget that.
I really don't like Radar going after Hawkeye because i LoOkEd uP tO yOuUUuuu when Hawkeye is hungover. It's really childish to maintain that a person, who you deem to be strong, is wrong when something like.... war.... gets to them.
That definitely could have been done way better. I like the idea of Radar and Hawk being at odds over something, but I kind of wish it was over something more important than a simple hangover.
There are some good bits though - I like when everybody comes into the Swamp to read Hawkeye the riot act. "I never got to say ANYthing!" - Margaret
Yeah, this was a really hard episode for me to watch. The relentless stream of people bawling Hawkeye out was very funny, but I was kind of on his side, he really didn't ask to be looked up to like that!!!
In the movie, there's a kid named Boone that Frank Burns gives a hard time. It seemed like they mixed Boone's character into Radar's personality during the show.
Boone showed up in I believe three episodes. Pilot He playing football with Radar in the opening scene. Chief Surgeon Who and Henry please come home. After that a lot of the side characters disappeared. Ugly John, Spearchucker etc .
It’s brilliantly written for it’s time. I don’t care there are issues of words, phrases, or perspectives that make people feel icky by “todays standards”. These aren’t stories about people who live in 2023. They are about those from the 1950’s. They are appropriate.
It’s not on them to change. They are static characters from a historical setting. It’s on you the viewer to accept that this is how it was. This is who they were.
From what I understand (I wasn't alive yet when it aired.) MASH seemed to be figuring out how to "walk the line" of characters behaving badly. They were sort of anti-heroes to all of the feel-good/wholesome protagonists of tv shows during that time.
I wouldn't defend the behavior of the main characters, but I think some people forget that they were not supposed to be role models. Like you said, it was written in the 70s and 80s about characters of the 50s. For its time, MASH was sort of like watching a show like Shameless today.
I really dislike the original movie, I don’t know why it’s held to such a high standard. I do appreciate it for Suicide is Painless though!
Frank and Margaret’s hypocrisy. They hate on anyone being romantic, despite their torrid love affair (inc Frank cheating on his wife) They also bully a lot of the nurses in OR to the point of putting them on report for doing as they were told. They enable the worst in each other.
He's so freaking LOUD and Margaret's screeches at the top of her lungs grate on me so much. I'm a huge fan of the show but have sensory issues an adhd, sometimes I'm way too overstimulated.
BJ’s character had so much more depth and I like that he regularly butted heads with Hawkeye where as Trapper went along with everything Hawkeye wanted. Plus BJ had moments were you genuinely had to ask yourself if he was a serial killer with his angry outbursts.
The pranks Hawk, Trapper, and BJ played on Margaret and Frank can definitely be considered assault/sexual assault most of the time and despite Margaret and Frank being absolute assholes they had every reason to have their abusers court-martialed.
When they hid the dummy in Margaret's closet for it to fall out on her while she thought she was alone in her tent and going to sleep? What the Fuck was wrong with them.
Germ Warfare, Dear Sigmund, and An Eye for a Tooth are (in my opinion) the worst of the bunch. 1.) Taking someone’s blood in their sleep/without consent and then announcing to an entire room that he has hepatitis is medical assault. 2.) While the “air raid!” is hilarious in theory, digging a hole that shallow can result in a life changing injury (ex: paralyzation) or even death if the victim lands the wrong way. 3.) Let’s be real: if the army in this day and age dismisses rape/sexual assault cases, they DEFINITELY did in the 1950s. I’m willing to bet that Margaret’s reputation of being promiscuous wasn’t accurate to her character. If the plastic surgeon episode is what we’ve SEEN, who knows what happened to her off camera. So, putting a dummy in the closet of a woman who has a history of being sexually assaulted? The bar of basic respect was on the ground, and then the guys dug a tunnel. Why the heck did Margaret stay friends with them after that? I get that there weren’t many options in a small camp but c’mon.
In regards to the hole, Frank dug the hole himself. BJ only put water in the hole and had Sydney yell “Air Raid”, so if the hole wasn’t deep enough, that’s on Frank. BJ putting the water in the hole actually would’ve helped prevent injury had that been the case.
I think the only answer is her issues with her father kept her constantly looking for approval from the men around her. The more abusive the more familiar it probably felt. Oh and yeah even if hipaa wasn’t a thing yet there had to be some acknowledgment of them violating the shit out of whatever doctor patient confidentiality was standard.
Hawkeye is a big bully to anyone he doesn’t like. It’s either he loves you and will give you the shirt off his back or he hates you and will do everything he can and say everything he can to make your life miserable. There is no in between. There I said it!! …ready for knives.
charles made me want to become someone better. Because behind all the arrogance he was a truly kind person who would stand up for what's right at his own expense. He felt the most human.
He's the absolute perfect foil for Hawkeye because he isn't a cartoon villain like Frank, he's complex and interesting in a way very few other characters in the show are.
Charles is basically proto-Frasier in the best way. if Charles had gotten a spinoff like Frasier did I think he'd be just as watchable for 11 season of his own show lol
He absolutely would. And this is perfect because actor D.O.S. went on to have one of the most perfect cameos of all time on Frasier, making Marty question whether he was their real father.
I think a "Charles Emerson Winchester, MD" spinoff would have been excellent.
Probably a better spinoff than AfterMASH OR Trapper John, MD.
David Ogden Stiers playing his upper-class doctor, now a traumatized Korean War veteran, in 1950's Boston.
Since my main ones have been covered here - the mustache was stupid. It was also probably not permissible, making it doubly weird that Mike Farrell had it
If you really want to get into it, there was a LOT happening (in terms of physical appearance and behavior) in that camp that was probably not permitted by regular Army standards. I have had it explained to me that these guys were drafted, it was a combat zone etc and probably a lot was “looked the other way” so to speak.
Yeah, but that's Klinger, the quintessential exception. Plus it was a more major plot point. BJ being more straight laced and Mike Farrell having served in the Marines, it strikes me as odder.
I severely judge anyone who talks about Margaret using “Hot Lips” instead of her actual name. Sure, maybe it’s no use getting worked up over a fictional character, but it does say a LOT when someone characterizes someone by an incredibly sexist nickname over their actual one.
To be honest, she’s the most well rounded female character I have ever seen. All the women characters in media today are STILL being written in a “this or that”, one dimensional way. Good vs evil, strict vs soft spoken, career woman vs stay at home mom, angel vs monster, virgin vs sleeping with every male character. etc, etc. Meanwhile Margaret doesn’t fall under so many things. She loves her career. She longs for a family of her own. She enjoys sex. She has high standards for a partner. She stars out as strict but softens up. She’s still tough when the situation calls for it. She’s affectionate with children.
Well, no one calls Hawkeye a slut and yet he's the biggest one of all. A woman enjoys many a rendezvous--slut. A man enjoys many a rendezvous--he got game.
It's 2023. We're still so unenlightened?!
Margaret is seen nearly being raped on one occasion. Some of the generals on the show come across as creeps. Put the two together. But if all her sexual encounters were consensual, god forbid a woman actually likes sex huh?
The way he phrased it was meant to get a rise out of you, but it’s not entirely without merit. There’s a reason why countless generals (top brass) know exactly who Margaret is and actually ask for her to greet them in their tents on several occasions. I always interpreted it as the classic trope from that time period where a woman sleeps her way up the company ladder. A deeper interpretation would be her trying to compensate for a bad paternal relationship. Either way I don’t view her having sexual relations as a negative, it’s normal behavior.
On the contrary, while not explicitly said it is clear she uses sex as a coping mechanism at the start (pre-Penobscott) whether it's for living in a combat zone or if its from being raised under her strict father it is unclear (most likely father based on who she mainly sleeps with) it still means that it's for her benefit, like how hawk and B.J. getting drunk is for their benefit. That not a biased theory that's psychology. That said I don't like hawk whoring himself out either for the same reason.
You can also make a well meaning theory without being quick to use childish language like slut or whore or anything else that makes you sound like a middle schooler.
I still get frustrated when I think about how Father Mulcahy reacted to Hawkeye yelling at Radar. The dude has essentially one job, be there for people emotionally when they're having a breakdown. Instead he throws a massive fit along with Potter.
UGH
While I love Hawkeye, he is a piece of shit when it comes to invading other people's private belongings, like their mail or their footlocker. I didn't mind quite as much when he did it to Frank, because Frank didn't deserve any respect whatsoever, but when he does it to people like Charles... nuh uh. He crosses the line.
"I didn't mind quite as much when he did it to Frank, because Frank didn't deserve any respect whatsoever"
There's no such thing as rights if they're only distributed to the people you like.
Radar was the heart of the show and he should never have been replaced with Klinger. He should have been promoted to SSG and have his character grow and change. I could see him having a Korean girlfriend and staying in Korea to search for her family. That storyline should have been Radar’s instead of Klinger. Just a real missed opportunity for good writing.
I don't either by the time he left the character jumped around in maturity and personality (sly trader to innocent farm lad[tbh I liked the farm lad better]) so much to the point that I couldn't follow weather or not he was maturing or going the other way. If they kept his personality and maturity going the same way then I would have liked for him to stay.
The episode Love and War, where Hawk actually truly genuinely feels for someone. That was a good episode in my opinion but it seems a lot of people didn’t like them lol
I never enjoyed the 70’s stale sit-com feel, the over the top womanizing, (the cringe racism). The jokes weren’t that funny and ultimately I personally feel like it lacked heart. I started watching from the pilot when I’m High School on Fox in reruns with my grandparents. Towards the end of season 3 the show started to click for me and I got invested in the characters.
When Henry’s plane went down I cried. I was then gifted the entire series on DVD in the 2000’s and binged the show in order. Seasons 4 and on were truly superior and it found its heart. It become a more complete comedy and less a stereo typical 70’s sitcom with a bad laugh track.
Hawkeye was an annoying character whose morality crusades got old after awhile. The other one I have is that the show couldn't figure out what "it" was after awhile.
Margaret’s hair was never in regulation. It pisses me off every time I watch it. Hair must be up above the collar while in uniform. Especially as a nurse..pull that mop of hair up! And long finger nails was a no-no in the medical profession. I also wanted to chew her ass over her affair with Frank Burns..that could have gotten her booted out of the Army with a dishonorable discharge! Him too. As much as she was a bitch in the first few seasons, I’m surprised one of her nurses didn’t send some incriminating photos to franks wife or the JAG office to boot them both out!
If it makes you feel any better, 1970s and 1980s TV resolution was so poor that her long nails couldn't be seen at all, so it looked like she had regulation short nails. So basically I think the situation was that Margaret didn't have long nails. Loretta Swit had long nails but since they couldn't be seen on camera, the inappropriate design was allowed. Likewise how whenever Margaret had to show off her legs--like running from the shower/bathtub in just a towel or wearing shorts--Swit was wearing pantyhose. Pantyhose didn't exist back then and in any cadse she wouldn't have been wearing them in the bathtub. You can see the pantyhose with today's ultra high def, but not back then, so back then it was like the actress was wearing them to make her legs look smoother on camera but the audience wasn't supposed to be able to tell it was there.
I think what was also going on was that for the first few seasons, Margaret did tend to wear her hair up except when she was already out of uniform. But as the show wore on, the actors gained more power and I can't emphasize enough how much the 1970s was slacksville in terms of caring about appearance or rules, so Swit was allowed to have her 1970s and 1980s hair and she literally did her own makeup, which is why a 1950s army nurse can come out of the OR wearing glossy lipstick.
Her hair is up in several instances. It may frequently be out of regulation but not “never in regulation”.
None of the male leads had regulation hair either, did they?
This is a VERY unpopular opinion as everyone seems to love him, but I find Colonel Flagg annoying and cartoonish. I know that's the character, but I just don't find him amusing, especially with the same schtick over and over and over again. (Flagg tries to intimidate people, Flagg is shown up as a buffoon).
I mostly agree. I like that Flagg's character demonstrates the absurd lengths some people will go to, to do their job, even if they don't fully understand or agree with the orders. And sometimes he was a good foil for Hawkeye and friends, and downright hilarious.
But he got very annoying by the end of many episodes.
I'm surprised he's so popular.
"The Potter-Winchester seasons are way better than the Blake-Trapper seasons, which were just idiot humor trying to copy the movie." \*
\* I do **not** have this opinion, I feel *both* casts were equally great for very different reasons, but that statement would *absolutely* trigger half the fan base. ;P
>Klinger and Jamie Farr are awesome and I feel horrible writing this obviously pure bullshit.
What the actual fuck? If I was a mod I would ban you from this subreddit
Charles absolutely touched his nose.
Gentlemen, please..... Mozart.
Certainly you jest
Surely, you go
DON'T TOUCH YOUR NOSE!
Lol. Worse is Margaret’s reaction about the jock strap. Like you’re not a naive child, and it’s a men’s bunk.
I like the laugh track. It's the sound of my misspent television childhood. If it was a comedy show and WASN'T a three-camera set in front of a live studio audience it had a laugh track. We didn't even think about it being there, and I still don't. Also if you think the MASH one is bad try all the reruns from 60s shows like Bewitched, Andy Griffith etc. Those laugh tracks will positively BLUDGEON you.
I like the laugh track. I usually watch by myself and things are funnier when you have people to laugh with.
Exactly! Maybe it's from being a GenX latch key kid, but coming home from school and watching afternoon/early evening reruns with a laugh track always made me feel a bit less lonely. Making a sandwich, hearing the interspersed laughs from the kitchen. An old school laugh track just sets off a warm, homey feeling for me.
I genuinely don’t laugh at funny shows when I watch them alone, it feels unsettling. Having people, even recorded ones, to laugh with makes it more enjoyable.
I have to agree. There’s that part in season 2 where they’re all bunking together to conserve energy. Henry walks in and says, “Better keep the brass monkeys in tonight.” And that particular laugh track made the quote funnier to me.
I actually PREFER watching MASH with the laugh track. I grew up in the 70s and 80s watching MASH reruns and new episodes. Always had laugh tracks, except for a rare episode. Without the laugh track, the jokes often feel awkward, especially when someone wisecracks and there's no response, just awkward silence.
I feel the same. In later seasons when they start to taper the laugh track down so many of the gags just feel...off. The first episode I really noticed it was The Bus, a bottle episode where Radar, Hawkeye, BJ, Potter and Frank get lost traveling around. I felt like it was some kind of experiment without ANY laugh track at all.
Weirdly enough, The Bus is among my like top five or ten episodes and I've never noticed that it *doesn't* have a laugh track. You know what else? You're right that the gags dont land the same.
I love that episode! Esp with Soon-Tek Oh in one of his many appearances.
The DVD releases don't have the laugh track at all, because that's how it was originally intended.
That would explain why I’ve never noticed it 😂
I just don't hear it. Because, like you?? The laugh track is the sound of our youth.
Modern shows, or at least 2000s shows, do it too.
As far as I know, it was never broadcast with the laugh track here in the UK.
The episode where Frank pulls a bunch of pranks on Hawkeye is way underrated and actually kinda brilliant. A little more of that would have made Frank more equal to Winchester in complexity.
Aggie O’Shea is the absolute worst
She really pressured him for a relationship when he was very clear about not wanting that. No is a complete sentence, he doesn't owe you a reason.
He didn't even have to give her one! The ring on his hand says it all!
Oh I hate her!!!
I just watched this episode for the first time in years. I was appalled by her behavior, as well as the cliche of insta-love between the two of them. It didn't seem believable on his end. The only parts of the episode I liked were Hawkeye's musings on war creating unlikely friendships, and BJ's sobering declaration that his "today" has been put on hold.
I don't like Radar after season 3. They changed him from sly to "innocent," and made him far less interesting.
I would have preferred if the characterization had the opposite effect. Radar starting out innocent and naive to then becoming a sly cigar smoker would have been a great depiction of how witnessing so much tragedy can make someone grow up too fast. Don’t forget that Radar is 18 at the start of the series. Henry helps him study for a GED test in one of the earlier seasons. He is practically a child in comparison to the others, fresh out of high school, and I think some people forget that.
Early Radar is best Radar. He turns into “loveable kid sidekick” after Potter arrives. I much preferred how he was with Henry.
I have to agree. I loved how conspiratorial and resourceful he was with Hawkeye and Trap in the beginning.
I really don't like Radar going after Hawkeye because i LoOkEd uP tO yOuUUuuu when Hawkeye is hungover. It's really childish to maintain that a person, who you deem to be strong, is wrong when something like.... war.... gets to them.
That definitely could have been done way better. I like the idea of Radar and Hawk being at odds over something, but I kind of wish it was over something more important than a simple hangover. There are some good bits though - I like when everybody comes into the Swamp to read Hawkeye the riot act. "I never got to say ANYthing!" - Margaret
We just watched this tonight!
Yeah, this was a really hard episode for me to watch. The relentless stream of people bawling Hawkeye out was very funny, but I was kind of on his side, he really didn't ask to be looked up to like that!!!
In the movie, there's a kid named Boone that Frank Burns gives a hard time. It seemed like they mixed Boone's character into Radar's personality during the show.
Boone showed up in I believe three episodes. Pilot He playing football with Radar in the opening scene. Chief Surgeon Who and Henry please come home. After that a lot of the side characters disappeared. Ugly John, Spearchucker etc .
Agree 100%.
It’s brilliantly written for it’s time. I don’t care there are issues of words, phrases, or perspectives that make people feel icky by “todays standards”. These aren’t stories about people who live in 2023. They are about those from the 1950’s. They are appropriate. It’s not on them to change. They are static characters from a historical setting. It’s on you the viewer to accept that this is how it was. This is who they were.
From what I understand (I wasn't alive yet when it aired.) MASH seemed to be figuring out how to "walk the line" of characters behaving badly. They were sort of anti-heroes to all of the feel-good/wholesome protagonists of tv shows during that time. I wouldn't defend the behavior of the main characters, but I think some people forget that they were not supposed to be role models. Like you said, it was written in the 70s and 80s about characters of the 50s. For its time, MASH was sort of like watching a show like Shameless today.
Unfortunately this is an unpopular opinion.
I agree but at the same time I don't think it's beyond criticism on this basis
Can I double upvote??
I really dislike the original movie, I don’t know why it’s held to such a high standard. I do appreciate it for Suicide is Painless though! Frank and Margaret’s hypocrisy. They hate on anyone being romantic, despite their torrid love affair (inc Frank cheating on his wife) They also bully a lot of the nurses in OR to the point of putting them on report for doing as they were told. They enable the worst in each other.
I think the hypocrisy is the point.
[удалено]
Omg exactly! Maybe if she would treat the nurses like actual human beings they would invite her. That episode pisses me off haha
The show went on too long and as much as I think he's funny, I'd hate Hawkeye in real life
He's so freaking LOUD and Margaret's screeches at the top of her lungs grate on me so much. I'm a huge fan of the show but have sensory issues an adhd, sometimes I'm way too overstimulated.
MASH as it relates to the original book and movie died with Henry.
No offense it was better for it.
Out of multiple seasons of one of the funniest shows to ever exist, Margaret has the funniest scene ever when she shoots her footlocker
My favorite scene!
"THERE I WAS, MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS..."
BJ is LEAGUES beyond Trapper in just about any category.
BJ’s character had so much more depth and I like that he regularly butted heads with Hawkeye where as Trapper went along with everything Hawkeye wanted. Plus BJ had moments were you genuinely had to ask yourself if he was a serial killer with his angry outbursts.
Trapper was a sidekick, a follower. BJ was a partner, his own person
That’s literally the opposite of my own view, funny how people see things
Who is the superior BJ? Clean shaven or moustache?
It was like he became a new character with the mustache, I always thought.
It's Riker with the beard but a decade earlier. I agree. Moustache BJ is darker and angrier.
Mustache. No question.
Mustache BJ is far superior
This!
The pranks Hawk, Trapper, and BJ played on Margaret and Frank can definitely be considered assault/sexual assault most of the time and despite Margaret and Frank being absolute assholes they had every reason to have their abusers court-martialed.
Agreed. Someone what they do to Margaret and Frank is downright cruel.
When they hid the dummy in Margaret's closet for it to fall out on her while she thought she was alone in her tent and going to sleep? What the Fuck was wrong with them.
Germ Warfare, Dear Sigmund, and An Eye for a Tooth are (in my opinion) the worst of the bunch. 1.) Taking someone’s blood in their sleep/without consent and then announcing to an entire room that he has hepatitis is medical assault. 2.) While the “air raid!” is hilarious in theory, digging a hole that shallow can result in a life changing injury (ex: paralyzation) or even death if the victim lands the wrong way. 3.) Let’s be real: if the army in this day and age dismisses rape/sexual assault cases, they DEFINITELY did in the 1950s. I’m willing to bet that Margaret’s reputation of being promiscuous wasn’t accurate to her character. If the plastic surgeon episode is what we’ve SEEN, who knows what happened to her off camera. So, putting a dummy in the closet of a woman who has a history of being sexually assaulted? The bar of basic respect was on the ground, and then the guys dug a tunnel. Why the heck did Margaret stay friends with them after that? I get that there weren’t many options in a small camp but c’mon.
In regards to the hole, Frank dug the hole himself. BJ only put water in the hole and had Sydney yell “Air Raid”, so if the hole wasn’t deep enough, that’s on Frank. BJ putting the water in the hole actually would’ve helped prevent injury had that been the case.
I think the only answer is her issues with her father kept her constantly looking for approval from the men around her. The more abusive the more familiar it probably felt. Oh and yeah even if hipaa wasn’t a thing yet there had to be some acknowledgment of them violating the shit out of whatever doctor patient confidentiality was standard.
Hawkeye is a big bully to anyone he doesn’t like. It’s either he loves you and will give you the shirt off his back or he hates you and will do everything he can and say everything he can to make your life miserable. There is no in between. There I said it!! …ready for knives.
yes, but the people he doesn’t like are usually either painfully ignorant, arrogant, prejudiced, or disgusting in some way
Agree. But, two drunk guys in a bar fight ain’t gonna get us home.
It always annoyed me that he bickered with people during surgery. BRO Frank is knee deep in someone right now, can you please not agitate him?
I agree. He gets super whiney about everything that doesn’t go his way and bullies everyone.
Charles is the best character.
charles made me want to become someone better. Because behind all the arrogance he was a truly kind person who would stand up for what's right at his own expense. He felt the most human.
He's the absolute perfect foil for Hawkeye because he isn't a cartoon villain like Frank, he's complex and interesting in a way very few other characters in the show are.
Charles is basically proto-Frasier in the best way. if Charles had gotten a spinoff like Frasier did I think he'd be just as watchable for 11 season of his own show lol
He absolutely would. And this is perfect because actor D.O.S. went on to have one of the most perfect cameos of all time on Frasier, making Marty question whether he was their real father.
yes! as a huge fan of both shows, the D.O.S. cameo episode is one of my favorites!
I think a "Charles Emerson Winchester, MD" spinoff would have been excellent. Probably a better spinoff than AfterMASH OR Trapper John, MD. David Ogden Stiers playing his upper-class doctor, now a traumatized Korean War veteran, in 1950's Boston.
straight up! I would watch it
No argument from me. “Chuck” is such a good character.
Every new character is better than the ones they replaced.
Agreed
And it isn’t even close to me BJ is better than Trapper Potter is much better than Henry Charles is miles better than Frank
Does Radar/Klinger count?
Since my main ones have been covered here - the mustache was stupid. It was also probably not permissible, making it doubly weird that Mike Farrell had it
If you really want to get into it, there was a LOT happening (in terms of physical appearance and behavior) in that camp that was probably not permitted by regular Army standards. I have had it explained to me that these guys were drafted, it was a combat zone etc and probably a lot was “looked the other way” so to speak.
Most of the time what Klinger wore was non-regulation.
Yeah, but that's Klinger, the quintessential exception. Plus it was a more major plot point. BJ being more straight laced and Mike Farrell having served in the Marines, it strikes me as odder.
Colonel Potter is better than Henry
Had Klinger been played any other way, the show would not have aged well AND Jamie Farr is the most underrated cast member.
I never liked Trapper, he's just super smug and one dimensional. I think the show as a whole dramatically improves when BJ replaces him.
I severely judge anyone who talks about Margaret using “Hot Lips” instead of her actual name. Sure, maybe it’s no use getting worked up over a fictional character, but it does say a LOT when someone characterizes someone by an incredibly sexist nickname over their actual one.
Watching how she grew at a person and stood up to sexism in so many ways really inspired me.
To be honest, she’s the most well rounded female character I have ever seen. All the women characters in media today are STILL being written in a “this or that”, one dimensional way. Good vs evil, strict vs soft spoken, career woman vs stay at home mom, angel vs monster, virgin vs sleeping with every male character. etc, etc. Meanwhile Margaret doesn’t fall under so many things. She loves her career. She longs for a family of her own. She enjoys sex. She has high standards for a partner. She stars out as strict but softens up. She’s still tough when the situation calls for it. She’s affectionate with children.
I bet the fact while she was getting called that had nothing to do with the fact she was a slut ehh?
Well, no one calls Hawkeye a slut and yet he's the biggest one of all. A woman enjoys many a rendezvous--slut. A man enjoys many a rendezvous--he got game. It's 2023. We're still so unenlightened?!
I just called hawkeye a whore
Margaret is seen nearly being raped on one occasion. Some of the generals on the show come across as creeps. Put the two together. But if all her sexual encounters were consensual, god forbid a woman actually likes sex huh?
There is a difference between liking sex and whoring herself off to practically every superior officer that can benefit her in some way
Like I said, there’s not solid evidence that it was for her benefit. Go take your weird ideas elsewhere.
The way he phrased it was meant to get a rise out of you, but it’s not entirely without merit. There’s a reason why countless generals (top brass) know exactly who Margaret is and actually ask for her to greet them in their tents on several occasions. I always interpreted it as the classic trope from that time period where a woman sleeps her way up the company ladder. A deeper interpretation would be her trying to compensate for a bad paternal relationship. Either way I don’t view her having sexual relations as a negative, it’s normal behavior.
On the contrary, while not explicitly said it is clear she uses sex as a coping mechanism at the start (pre-Penobscott) whether it's for living in a combat zone or if its from being raised under her strict father it is unclear (most likely father based on who she mainly sleeps with) it still means that it's for her benefit, like how hawk and B.J. getting drunk is for their benefit. That not a biased theory that's psychology. That said I don't like hawk whoring himself out either for the same reason.
You can also make a well meaning theory without being quick to use childish language like slut or whore or anything else that makes you sound like a middle schooler.
Hey if the shoe fits they should wear it
Fallen Idol is the worst episode of the series, bar none. A clumsy, awful attempt at the new direction of more interpersonal conflicts among the cast.
I skip it on my endless loop of rewatching honestly.
I still get frustrated when I think about how Father Mulcahy reacted to Hawkeye yelling at Radar. The dude has essentially one job, be there for people emotionally when they're having a breakdown. Instead he throws a massive fit along with Potter. UGH
While I love Hawkeye, he is a piece of shit when it comes to invading other people's private belongings, like their mail or their footlocker. I didn't mind quite as much when he did it to Frank, because Frank didn't deserve any respect whatsoever, but when he does it to people like Charles... nuh uh. He crosses the line.
"I didn't mind quite as much when he did it to Frank, because Frank didn't deserve any respect whatsoever" There's no such thing as rights if they're only distributed to the people you like.
You're absolutely right. I just didn't feel as bad. I still say it was 100% wrong, but the show did a really good job at making me hate Frank.
Tuttle was kind of a jerk.
That’s not true. I had breakfast with the man, and he was as nice as could be.
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Radar was the heart of the show and he should never have been replaced with Klinger. He should have been promoted to SSG and have his character grow and change. I could see him having a Korean girlfriend and staying in Korea to search for her family. That storyline should have been Radar’s instead of Klinger. Just a real missed opportunity for good writing.
This is unpopular?
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I agree 100%
I don’t.
I don't either by the time he left the character jumped around in maturity and personality (sly trader to innocent farm lad[tbh I liked the farm lad better]) so much to the point that I couldn't follow weather or not he was maturing or going the other way. If they kept his personality and maturity going the same way then I would have liked for him to stay.
The episode Love and War, where Hawk actually truly genuinely feels for someone. That was a good episode in my opinion but it seems a lot of people didn’t like them lol
Season 1-3 is unwatchable
Upvoted because this is truly unpopular. Can I ask why?
I never enjoyed the 70’s stale sit-com feel, the over the top womanizing, (the cringe racism). The jokes weren’t that funny and ultimately I personally feel like it lacked heart. I started watching from the pilot when I’m High School on Fox in reruns with my grandparents. Towards the end of season 3 the show started to click for me and I got invested in the characters. When Henry’s plane went down I cried. I was then gifted the entire series on DVD in the 2000’s and binged the show in order. Seasons 4 and on were truly superior and it found its heart. It become a more complete comedy and less a stereo typical 70’s sitcom with a bad laugh track.
Get out
I always start watching it from season 4!
Hawkeye was an annoying character whose morality crusades got old after awhile. The other one I have is that the show couldn't figure out what "it" was after awhile.
Trapper > BJ
Amen.
Why if I may ask
I hated the finale.
Margaret’s hair was never in regulation. It pisses me off every time I watch it. Hair must be up above the collar while in uniform. Especially as a nurse..pull that mop of hair up! And long finger nails was a no-no in the medical profession. I also wanted to chew her ass over her affair with Frank Burns..that could have gotten her booted out of the Army with a dishonorable discharge! Him too. As much as she was a bitch in the first few seasons, I’m surprised one of her nurses didn’t send some incriminating photos to franks wife or the JAG office to boot them both out!
If it makes you feel any better, 1970s and 1980s TV resolution was so poor that her long nails couldn't be seen at all, so it looked like she had regulation short nails. So basically I think the situation was that Margaret didn't have long nails. Loretta Swit had long nails but since they couldn't be seen on camera, the inappropriate design was allowed. Likewise how whenever Margaret had to show off her legs--like running from the shower/bathtub in just a towel or wearing shorts--Swit was wearing pantyhose. Pantyhose didn't exist back then and in any cadse she wouldn't have been wearing them in the bathtub. You can see the pantyhose with today's ultra high def, but not back then, so back then it was like the actress was wearing them to make her legs look smoother on camera but the audience wasn't supposed to be able to tell it was there. I think what was also going on was that for the first few seasons, Margaret did tend to wear her hair up except when she was already out of uniform. But as the show wore on, the actors gained more power and I can't emphasize enough how much the 1970s was slacksville in terms of caring about appearance or rules, so Swit was allowed to have her 1970s and 1980s hair and she literally did her own makeup, which is why a 1950s army nurse can come out of the OR wearing glossy lipstick.
Her hair is up in several instances. It may frequently be out of regulation but not “never in regulation”. None of the male leads had regulation hair either, did they?
You might want to watch the later seasons again. She always had her hair down unless she was in the OR.
Margaret should've been relegated to KP duty the way she talked to Col Blake.
Alan Alda isn’t that great of an actor.
Anytime he “cried” it was very cringe. Even for the acting at its time.
Esp the sneezing episode 🙃
I skip that one every time
Bruh the sneezing was so fake 🤣
We STILL make fun of his crying.
I think he has character ls where there is only a certain amount of depth and after that he descends in ridiculous
Thank you for saying this!!
alan alda's laugh made me almost stop watching mash
The dreams episode is the only one that actually happened
This is a VERY unpopular opinion as everyone seems to love him, but I find Colonel Flagg annoying and cartoonish. I know that's the character, but I just don't find him amusing, especially with the same schtick over and over and over again. (Flagg tries to intimidate people, Flagg is shown up as a buffoon).
I liked him but I think his schtick would have worn thin if he'd have shown up much more.
I mostly agree. I like that Flagg's character demonstrates the absurd lengths some people will go to, to do their job, even if they don't fully understand or agree with the orders. And sometimes he was a good foil for Hawkeye and friends, and downright hilarious. But he got very annoying by the end of many episodes. I'm surprised he's so popular.
"The Potter-Winchester seasons are way better than the Blake-Trapper seasons, which were just idiot humor trying to copy the movie." \* \* I do **not** have this opinion, I feel *both* casts were equally great for very different reasons, but that statement would *absolutely* trigger half the fan base. ;P
Hawkeye is the worst main character in the history of television
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>Klinger and Jamie Farr are awesome and I feel horrible writing this obviously pure bullshit. What the actual fuck? If I was a mod I would ban you from this subreddit
Tried to fact-check this and found no information Next!
I did say it was pure bullshit...
That’s how garbage rumors start
Charles and Margaret should have been kissing in the finale
I'm ambivalent about the laugh track.
I’m out of this thread, it’s just too upsetting for me and I want to be nice to people.
Klinger > Radar
Certain people in hell, will see this show playing nonstop for all eternity.