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M.A.S.H.

Started by Fambo Number Mive, November 02, 2020, 06:02:57 PM

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crankshaft

I remember enjoying the repeats of MASH on BBC2 as a kid (early 90s, maybe?) but I haven't seen it since. There's just too much of it to consider diving into now.

The film, though, is a lot of old shit. The plot is basically "two awful men sexually harass a woman for 2+ hours". When I rented Nashville, I realised it was going to be more of the same and fucked it off after 15 minutes. That's enough Altman for life.

jobotic

Quote from: Satchmo Distel on November 08, 2020, 11:54:09 AM
Loretta Swit was the original choice for Cagney in 'Cagney and Lacey', and played her in the pilot. In MASH I think she has an impossible task - to humanize a misogynistic stereotype - but there are episodes where she almost manages it.

I'd love to do a C&L rewatch. Love that show.

Dropshadow

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on November 08, 2020, 08:24:22 PM
Ray Davies wrote Dedicated Follower of Fashion in 1966, 13 years after the Korean War ended, so if the writers did include that bit of wordplay in an episode of M*A*S*H then, well, what a bunch of silly billies they were. As The Cloud of Unknowing says, it's definitely a Billy Bragg lyric. I'm assuming Bill coined it.

I'm 99% sure that Alan Alda said it, but maybe it was outwith of MASH. But I'm sure I remember thinking the line was incongruous......... it's a mystery.

Were there any other jokes on the show that relied on knowledge that wasn't available in the early 50s? It always seemed to me that Hawkeye was a character whose entire perspective was as if he'd arrived in a time machine from the early 70s.

The Cloud of Unknowing

Hawkeye's quip just after 14:30 here https://www.facebook.com/21CFMASHTV/videos/1028959497257911/ . The Mickey Mouse Club started after the Korean War finished.

Yes, I'd imagine there are a few of those, but I also think that Hawkeye exudes a form of fuzzy liberalism and moral conscience regarding the humanity of the population the Yanks were bombing that was specific to boomers.

Edgar Balloon III

Quote from: JamesTC on November 02, 2020, 08:11:00 PM
I'd love to see AfterMASH. It can't have been that bad to go on for two seasons. Doesn't seem to be available anywhere.

I bought some off-air copies of this on disc years back. I'd love to watch it again, but I have no idea where all the discs went.

The worst thing is that it got cancelled right as it was really getting good. My memory is very last episode is the best of the entire run (and IMDb would seem to agree, as it is the highest rated episode.)

The early episodes are as if they were doing a spin off from the early years of M*A*S*H, rather than following on from the ending. Larry Gelbart came back, having been away from M*A*S*H for a few years, and there are two characters who are a complete copy of the early Burns/Houlihan. It also seems to be very happy in the shadow of the previous show and there are so many mentions and call-backs that stop the show from finding its own identity. They were also aware of Hawkeye's popularity, so he gets mentioned often, even though it was clear he would never make an appearance.

Season two drops some characters, brings in some new ones, and makes it darker and more intense. And I really works. The new doctor they brought in is the best character in the show. Getting through season one isn't great, but the last episode is focused on the new doctor and it left me really wanting to watch some more.

M*A*S*H wasn't that popular in its early years, but they kept it going and it got huge. I think it's unlikely this ever would have been as popular, but it still could have been a big success.

And, even at its worst, it's better than W*A*L*T*E*R.

JamesTC

AfterMASH actually had a decent audience until it was pitted against The A Team, didn't it? Basically one of the worst cases of broadcaster sabotage. If they had left it alone, it probably would have ticked along and had a decent run of seasons.

The Culture Bunker

#38
Quote from: JamesTC on November 23, 2020, 08:59:40 PM
AfterMASH actually had a decent audience until it was pitted against The A Team, didn't it? Basically one of the worst cases of broadcaster sabotage. If they had left it alone, it probably would have ticked along and had a decent run of seasons.
Kind of weird to think of the A-Team being prime-time viewing in the States, when I'm sure it was on Saturday afternoons here, reflecting that it was perhaps seen as a programme for kids over this way. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

JamesTC

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on November 23, 2020, 09:11:14 PM
Kind of weird to think of the A-Team being prime-time viewing in the States, when I'm sure it was on Saturday afternoons here, reflecting that it was perhaps seen as a programmes for kids over here. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

I got the Blu-Ray a few months back and watched the first disc a couple of weeks ago. Very tame, silly and innocent but it does have themes that really don't fit for kids. Then again, you could say the same for The Simpsons.