MASH (1972- 1983)

One of my favorite memories, growing up in Bowling Green, Ohio, was the daily viewing of MASH. It came on at 7 and 7:30 PM, Monday through Friday and, with few exceptions, my dad and I would watch it together. Following dinner, Dad would watch Walter Cronkite and then one hour of MASH. In the days before Jeopardy, the 7 o’clock hour was the MASH HOUR. I loved to laugh at the antics of the zany doctors, Hawkeye and Trapper, the madness of Klinger and revel in the idiocy of Frank Burns. Little did I know, I was learning about history, modern warfare and misunderstanding 70% of the jokes. Who could know that a show about a ‘police action’ in Korea, showed in the midst of the Vietnam War would be such a part of my childhood.

Introduced in 1972, MASH was the national progression of big screen film to small screen as the movie MASH became the TV series. Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould became Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers. The brainchild of TV legend, Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds, they took the reins from the film director, the great Robert Altman (I’ll be reviewing MCcabe and Mrs. Miller in a few weeks). Larry Gelbart, a veteran comedy writer for Sid Caeser and Danny Kaye (he also co-wrote A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum) as Executive Producer, pushed the comedic elements of the story and set the tone for the first five years.

The first five year, really the first three, are my favorite of the series. At first, a true comedy with drama as the background, the comedy could be situational, verbal or even slapstick. As we’re seeing doctors, under horrible conditions work miracles, the audience is able to laugh at the situations around the horror. The actors grew into their roles. Only Gary Burghoff, as Radar, transferred from the film to the small screen. Characters such as Ugly John and, the horrifically named, Speerchucker Jones, played brief roles and a main character from the film, Duke Forrest, never made it at all. Actors like Mclean Stevenson and Loretta Swit, took over roles and over time, made the roles their own.

The series earned it’s first dramatic chops toward the end of year one. The episode, ‘Sometimes you hear the Bullet,’ is when MASH first bridged comedy with true drama. In the episode, Tommy Gillis, Hawkeyes childhood friend, comes to MASH for a visit. A journalist in civilian life, he’s a foot soldier in Korea. His appearance displays a deep friendship between Tommy and Hawkeye and insight into Hawkeye’s civilian world the audience hasn’t seen, outside of letters to his dad. When later in the episode, Tommy is a patient on Hawkeye’s table and Hawkeye can’t save him, it is a dramatic jolt never before seen on MASH. From that episode forward, the show mixed laughter and sadness better than any show before or since.

The show dimmed, in my view, the later years. After the departure or Gelbart and Reynolds, Alda and Burt Metcalfe took on the producer reins. The show became more dramatic and the focus seemed to drift. Larry Linville, as Frank Burns, left and was replaced by David Ogden Stiers as Charles Emerson Winchester III. To be fair, even though I think the show lagged years 7-11, Winchester was a highlight. His droll, pompous demeanor provided a sharp contrast to Frank Burns hypocritical fool, played brilliantly by Larry Linville. The writers showed a human side to Winchester and a growth of character that Frank was never provided. But, the show focused mostly on Alda and Hawkeye and not always for the better.

This is not meant to diminish the strength of the later years, only applaud the brilliance of the earlier ones. ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan became a more rounded character as the years progressed and Loretta Swit did a terrific job creating that depth. Jamie Farr as Klinger became a respected member of the team after years of being a hilarious malcontent. Harry Morgan always had Colonel Potter on the beam and that never waivered. I almost hate to mention that my least favorite character was BJ Hunnicutt and mostly because they rarely gave him much to do. It wasn’t all Mike Farrell’s fault.

In the end, the show produced endless entertainment for me and introduced me to actors, such as: Patrick Swayze, Ron Howard, Pat Morita, Shelley Long, Teri Garr, Jeffrey Tambor and Burt Young. Sadly the days of my dad and I watching MASH on WTOL-11 Toledo, are gone but, it’s still on MeTV. It’s amazing, I get to re-live the memories of watching this great show with my dad, only now, after Jeopardy is over.