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fancoloredglasses · 10 months

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M*A*S*H (An 11-year series about a 3-year war)

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(Thanks to Lathan Luu)

[All images are owned by 20th Century Fox Disney. Please don’t sue or draft me]

It’s always weird when war is played for laughs. WWI had Blackadder Goes Forth, WWII had McHale’s Navy and Hogan’s Heroes, Vietman had Good Morning Vietnam, and Korea had M*A*S*H...twice.

(Thanks to Pixels)

M*A*S*H was originally a movie made in 1970 (starring Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould) about a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit designated the 4077th doing whatever they have to in order to stay sane during the Korean War. The film was rated R for good reason (some of the gags were NOT kid-friendly, such as the one where the doctors tore away a shower curtain, allowing the entire camp to see the head nurse bathing herself)

For whatever reason, CBS thought this was a great idea for a sitcom, and M*A*S*H debuted in 1974 (without shower gags, I’m sure) All of the characters were reprised (though all but one was recast), with one new role added. The series lasted 11 seasons, which displays the show’s popularity since the Korean War (which was the backdrop of the series) only lasted 3.

Though the series was technically a sitcom, it debuted during the Vietnam War, so there was a “War Is Bad” theme throughout the series (with one glaring exception)

Stationed less than 10 miles from the front lines, it is said several times in the series that the 4077 specializes in “meatball surgery” (pretty much patching up and stabilizing wounded enough that they can be either safely shipped off to an actual hospital or returned to the front lines) and has one of the best records of any MASH units in terms of survival among the dozens of casualties that are brought in daily, and it’s all due to the skilled surgical team (well...most of them are skilled anyway)

Commanding the 4077 is Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (played by McLean Stevenson in probably the only series he ever starred in that wasn’t cancelled during the first season), who mainly got his rank because he had administrative experience when he was drafted.

Henry barely manages to keep any semblance of control over the unit (which, when you consider most of his staff was also drafted and wants to be there even less than he does, says a lot about his administrative skills that he can keep most of them from openly revolting as they steamroll over him though sheer force of personality)

Henry’s second in command (and the only member of the unit that is so Army gung-ho that he actually wants to be there) is Major Frank Burns. Now, I’m not saying that Frank’s a bad surgeon, but there’s a joke that goes “What do you call someone who barely makes it out of med school?” “Dr. Burns”. I’m fairly certain the only reason he made Major involved lip balm and mouthwash.

Frank pretty much sums up the definition of ‘Murica: he’s racist, small-minded, and not that competent at his job. As such, he’s the butt of half the gags on the show.

The Chief Surgeon is NOT Frank (thank god!), but Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce (played by Alan Alda), who is the best surgeon in the unit and the Chief Loony in this bin. If there is any sort of chicanery happening in the camp, you can bet that Hawkeye has some sort of hand in it (usually against Frank, whom he has the misfortune of bunking with) He is also a bit of a womanizer, having slept with most of the company nurses.

Hawkeye is also the most compassionate among the surgeons (certainly better than Frank, who has the bedside manner of a two-by-four to the head) and does what he can to wage his little protests against the war, including inducing stomach pains on a unit’s bloodthirsty CO to fake an appendicitis diagnosis in order to send him home before he gets any more of his men killed.

The Head Nurse is Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (the nickname is a holdover from the film and is thankfully only referenced in the first season), a career military woman devoted to her duty (and unfortunately to Frank, who she has a not-so-secret relationship with. Just two problems: He’s married, and he obviously doesn’t plan on leaving said wife, despite making future plans with Margaret)

Margaret is a hard-nosed officer who respects discipline doesn’t take BS from anyone (though she’s also had to put up with a lot of Hawkeye’s shenanigans), especially male soldiers who can’t seem to hear her over the sound of her ovaries. She has been known to put men who disrespect her in their place, either dressing them down or punching them out, depending on the situation. Honestly, I would have a lot more respect for her if she didn’t let herself be the doormat of a weasel like Frank.

Hawkeye’s other bunkmate, as well as his co-conspirator, is Captain “Trapper” John McIntyre.

Sadly, the writers didn’t expand on his personality more than “Harpo to Hawkeye’s Groucho”

Lieutenant (later Captain) Father Francis Mulkahy is the spiritual advisor for the 4077.

Given the nature of the unit he shepherds, he understands the need to “blow off steam” and is a bit lenient when it comes to a few of the Commandments, but he is steadfast in his faith and his mission, and can be a badass in his own way (he stared down a soldier who had him at gunpoint, disarmed the man, then embraced him as the soldier begged forgiveness)

Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly (played by Gary Burghoff, the only member of the film’s cast that was also in the series) is the company clerk and assistant to Henry. He also seems to have a “sixth sense”, often knowing things (such as incoming wounded) before anyone could know.

Radar is at once naive/innocent and the shrewdest member of the unit. If he was less honest, he’d be running the 4077 within a week (he once tricked Henry into signing several blank pages so he could send through memos without his knowledge...in an effort to be more efficient, of course)

Corporal (later Sargent) Max Klinger (the only main character not from the film, played by Jamie Farr) is an orderly doing his damnedest to find any excuse to be shipped home and out of the Army.

ANY EXCUSE!

This lineup lasted for 5 seasons (remember what I said earlier about the length of the Korean War?) before casting changes started.

The first to be replaced was Henry Blake in the finale to Season 5. He received his discharge papers and was sent home (leaving Frank in charge) However, the writers weren’t content with that and, in a controversial move that pissed off a lot of viewers, gave Blake a sendoff that would be a metaphor for McLean Stevenson’s career after M*A*S*H...

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(Thanks to jaslefty)

However, Frank’s power trip command would be short-lived, as a new CO would be quickly assigned shortly after Season 6 began.

Colonel Sherman Potter is career military and has been a field surgeon since WWII after serving in the cavalry (yes, the Army had Cavalry divisions as late as 1939. Not entirely sure why)

Potter brings a sense of discipline and gravitas Henry lacked (for starters, he’s not on a first-name basis with anyone in the unit) While he still tolerates Hawkeye’s (and Klinger’s) shenanigans, he’s just as likely to put a stop to them.

In the time between the end of Season 5 and the beginning of Season 6, Trapper was shipped home off-camera. Don’t worry though. He made it home safely...

...and wound up in a spin-off medical drama.

However, that left Hawkeye without a sidekick.

Enter Captain B.J. (his full name is never given) Hunnicutt. Unlike Trapper, B.J. didn’t blindly follow Hawkeye’s lead (in the faked appendicitis stunt earlier I mentioned earlier, B.J. tried to talk him out of it)

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(Thanks to the martini kid)

B.J. is a very passionate surgeon (one Christmas, a fatally wounded soldier is brought in. B.J., knowing the man was going to die, refused to give up until after midnight so his family wouldn’t have bad memories associated with Christmas)

With the addition of Potter and B.J. (as well as Alan Alda’s growing influence about the direction of the show), the show began to morph from a sitcom to a dramedy, with the gags (while still a major part of the show) often taking a backseat to the horrors of war. Additionally, Margaret had moved on from a surrogate wife for Frank to an actual wife, marrying another career military man

...not that it kept her from doing her job.

With all of this, Larry Linville (who played Frank Burns) was getting frustrated as his character was becoming even more of a caricature. His departure (much like Trapper’s) was done off-camera. He pretty much disappeared with little fanfare. His official status at the end of the series was AWOL. I’d like to think that somewhere in South Korea, an ancient Frank Burns is moping in the tattered remains of his uniform and wondering where it all went wrong.

But without Frank to kick around, Hawkeye and B.J. needed a new target for their antics.

Fortunately, Potter managed to trick a visiting surgeon, Major Charles Winchester (played by David Ogden Stiers), into remaining with the unit. While he is the target of many of Hawkeye’s and B.J.’s antics (fairly easy since he got Frank’s old bed), he is able to dish it out as well (including collapsing their tent on his bunkmates as they slept)

Winchester obviously comes from Old Status and tries to bring a bit of culture to the chaos. He has a similar bedside manner as Frank (though much less abusive), but he cares about his patients (when he found out a soldier who lost the full use of a hand was a concert pianist, he found the soldier a number of pieces that could be played one-handed) and, though he hides it, is a compassionate soul (he had a case of chocolate shipped from his home in Massachusetts so he could anonymously give it to a Korean orphanage for Christmas)

This casting change was the final piece for the version of the cast most fondly remembered.

However, it was not the final change in the cast. Radar left the series at the beginning of Season 8. Unlike the other cast members, his spot was not replaced. Rather, Klinger was slotted in as the new company clerk.

There is a very good reason the series has often been touted as one of the greatest of all time. It tackles very weighty subjects in the middle of the antics, doesn’t shy away from how bleak the setting is, and (with the exception of Frank) the characters are allowed to grow, evolve, and most importantly, be human beings doing what they can to stay sane in the middle of hell.

If you would like to see the series, it’s available on Hulu.

I’ll review an episode if you want, but as will all comedies, my jokes are likely going to fall flat in comparison.

#m*a*s*h #alan alda #jamie farr #david ogden stiers #korean war #war is hell #Fan Colored Glasses

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