M*A*S*H

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Very funny, very clever, a classic, but sooooo soulful. Very deep stuff.

 

[NannyBeBe]

So true. Every episode could make you laugh and cry.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Unpopular opinion: got preachy after a few seasons. After the first couple of Colonel Potter seasons, I stopped watching.

 

[footballmouse]

Such a funny show.

 

[goofyernmost]

Unpopular opinion: got preachy after a few seasons. After the first couple of Colonel Potter seasons, I stopped watching.

That's a shame because, in my opinion, you missed a whole lot of really good shows.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Col. Flagg is my hero

 

[easyas123]

Unpopular opinion: got preachy after a few seasons. After the first couple of Colonel Potter seasons, I stopped watching.

We enjoy the show - still catch it here & there on reruns, and agree it can get preachy at times.

 

[goofyernmost]

We enjoy the show - still catch it here & there on reruns, and agree it can get preachy at times.

Yes, it was and it was intended since the book, published in 1968, to be just that. It is an anti-war program and having been in one, (a war) it is needed to inform those that haven't just how freaking awful war is, albeit shown in a more palatable way! What they managed to do was to expose just enough personal upset with absolute human waste of life. Sorry, if hearing about it offends anyone, however, living it was and still is far worse. If "preachy" means being shown the crap that humans are constantly seemingly programed to institute, then it is used properly.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Best show ever written. Alan Alda is a genius.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

One of those shows I watched as a kid but when I go back and try to watch as an adult I just don’t get it. I think it’s primarily because I just don’t find the Hawkeye character likable.

 

[easyas123]

Yes, it was and it was intended since the book, published in 1968, to be just that. It is an anti-war program and having been in one, (a war) it is needed to inform those that haven't just how freaking awful war is, albeit shown in a more palatable way! What they managed to do was to expose just enough personal upset with absolute human waste of life. Sorry, if hearing about it offends anyone, however, living it was and still is far worse. If "preachy" means being shown the crap that humans are constantly seemingly programed to institute, then it is used properly.

Whoa, chill. I wasn't denigrating anyone who served our Country or making light of how awful war is. Nor do I need a sermon on WHY it is needed to be portrayed the way it was in that show.
You stating such doesn't offend me, nor should me finding some of the storylines a tad 'preachy' offend you. Please don't presume that others of us on this board do not understand the toll serving during war time or peace time can take on a person and/or their family due to some offhand comment about a TV show that is a piece of entertainment.

I wish you peace.

 

[goofyernmost]

Whoa, chill. I wasn't denigrating anyone who served our Country or making light of how awful war is. Nor do I need a sermon on WHY it is needed to be portrayed the way it was in that show.
You stating such doesn't offend me, nor should me finding some of the storylines a tad 'preachy' offend you. Please don't presume that others of us on this board do not understand the toll serving during war time or peace time can take on a person and/or their family due to some offhand comment about a TV show that is a piece of entertainment.

I wish you peace.

There's a lot to unpack in your post, but to do so might come across as "preachy" when I would only be trying to inform those that have never been involved directly can ever possibly understand.

I wish you peace also!

 

[fla4fun]

I prefer the first five seasons, when the show was a comedy with dramatic moments here and there. When it switched to more of a drama with a little comedy here and there, it felt like a different show. I know it was due to changes in staff behind the scenes (particularly the writers) and changes in cast, but it just wasn’t the same. The trio of Hawkeye, Trapper, and Ferret Face Frank worked so well comedically, and it wasn’t the same with BJ and Charles.

 

[goofyernmost]

I prefer the first five seasons, when the show was a comedy with dramatic moments here and there. When it switched to more of a drama with a little comedy here and there, it felt like a different show. I know it was due to changes in staff behind the scenes (particularly the writers) and changes in cast, but it just wasn’t the same. The trio of Hawkeye, Trapper, and Ferret Face Frank worked so well comedically, and it wasn’t the same with BJ and Charles.

I think that they eventually became a strong part of it and it reflected, very clearly, that in a real modern day war, people come and go. New personalities, aging and maturing, becoming numb to the evil surrounding them and frustrated when they realize how much life is wasted in any type of armed conflict. Things change, people change and the only thing that remains is the suffering and dying.

 

[bcla]

It was a movie directed by Robert Altman. Donald Sutherland. Elliott Gould. Tom Skerritt. Robert Duvall. Sally Kellerman. Rene Auberjonois. Just sayin'.

The original story was not anti-war. The author of the novel apparently signed over the movie rights for a few hundred dollars and was bitter about it for years. He did end up selling a lot of books though.

The other thing was that the series wasn't necessarily that accurate. Real mobile US Army hospitals tended to have over a dozen doctors. They couldn't possibly operate with just a staff of four doctors and however many nurses.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

I'm not sure which era of MASH I loved the most. Different strains brought different elements to the fore. One thing's for sure - they don't make 'em like they used to!

 

[goofyernmost]

It was a movie directed by Robert Altman. Donald Sutherland. Elliott Gould. Tom Skerritt. Robert Duvall. Sally Kellerman. Rene Auberjonois. Just sayin'.

The original story was not anti-war. The author of the novel apparently signed over the movie rights for a few hundred dollars and was bitter about it for years. He did end up selling a lot of books though.

The other thing was that the series wasn't necessarily that accurate. Real mobile US Army hospitals tended to have over a dozen doctors. They couldn't possibly operate with just a staff of four doctors and however many nurses.

The physical acting was necessarily compacted, but the message was the same. In the end, It was a book, a movie and a 11 year long TV program. About three years longer then the actual war. It was formed on paper, then on film, it wasn't real. It was as close as they could reasonably get but in the end it all of it was just pure entertainment that carried a message that the wonderful human species wrongfully interpret in a variety of ways.