There was an episode of M*A*S*H where they had a movie night, and this was the film they hired. And the projector kep breaking down so they made their own entertainments while it was being fixed.
And it was the worst episode of M*A*S*H ever.
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Not the worst, one of the better ones...........
You better get a new pair of glasses...........and new ears.........and while you're at it...........a new sense of humor.
I just finished watching that episode and now feel like watching My Darling Clementine. I reckon was a nice episode.. Klinger mopped and worked on fixing the movie, he gets my 5 stars for the most hardworking person on that episode.
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In your opinion, maybe. He brought a sense of stability to the show.
shareMASH was ruined by a lot of things, Mike Farrel being one of them. Frank Burns leaving killed the show. And Jaime Farr, the worst actor on the PLANET, having a more prominent role, didn't do the show any good. Basically, the first four seasons were gold, particularly 2 and 3. After that, forget it. It turned into this STUPID melodrama, totally unwatchable. I'll never forget that episode where Potter puts on this WW1 uniform and drinks a toast to his buddies because hes the last surviving member of the group. That was so over the top BS I can't believe it was ever put down on paper. The only other show to end up SO bad that started out SO good has to be Friends. The first season was well-written, clever, funny, creative, tight..and that was it. That show dragged on forEVER omg..it was horrible. The worst writing, the most ridiculous scenarios, the horrible acting --- Phoebe: "I think this cat is my mother!" Oh...okay..sure. Because youre the ditzy blonde. Puke.
shareAnother factor with M*A*S*H is that Alan Alda got a lot more control over the show in the second half of its duration - scripts, casting, casting of Farrell, etc. Alda believed himself to be a comic genius. Memo to Alda: Not, dude. All of that said, I liked Harry Morgan's toast to his absent buddies, I'm a sucker for toasts to absent friends. Harry Morgan by the way plays U.S. Grant in "How the West Was Won" and does beautiful work with about two minutes of screen time. John Wayne is William Sherman. How cool if someone had worked up a great script for Wayne as Sherman and gotten Harry into three or four scenes. John Ford missed the boat there.
I agree, it's a very good episode, and now I want watch My Darling Clementine. It's not on NetFlix or here, so I'm watching the 1957 version "Gunfight at the OK Corral", but it's not the same.
shareM*A*S*H " Jumped The Shark " after Season 3 , from Season 4 it was a downhill slide. The replacement actors were good quality , but just didn't fit in with what they had the first 3 seasons.
shareI thought we were supposed to be discussing "My Darling Clementine."
sharelol..thats funny. I love that episode of Mash. And I think its my brother's favorite episode. The series was unwatchable after Frank left, I mean really really bad, but it was still good during this season. Isn't that the episode where people were trying to guess the impressions Radar was doing and Hawkeye and BJ yell out, "Barbara Bel Geddes!" and "The Mills Brothers!" Guess you had to be there. Just cracks me up thinking about it.
shareI wouldn't say that - it's that very episode that inspired me to see this film when it was on a few weeks ago (without the splices and Klinger at the controls)...
I now have "MDC" on DVD, so, if it hadn't been for my watching that MASH episode...
And, I had to laugh at the bad copy of the "MDC" film that was sent to the 4077th - it reminded me of being in grade school - our black and white film copies also had as many splices, with the exception of the original "Miracle Worker" - how they were ever able to get a copy of that just 2 years after the film opened was a wonder...
LOL
'M*A*S*H " Jumped The Shark " after Season 3 , from Season 4 it was a downhill slide. The replacement actors were good quality , but just didn't fit in with what they had the first 3 seasons.'
This. I was beginning to think that I was the only one who felt that way.
Friend of yours, Brain?
M*A*S*H did not "jump the shark" after season 3. You have to remember, the first 3 seasons were more of a comedy joke about war. In Season 4 when Col. Potter arrives, the show became more serious while still retaining the comedy aspect. The writers, directors and cast have all said this in the reunion episodes.
I can understand why some people on this thread only like the first 3 seasons. They don't want to hear about the serious side of war when the show is supposed to be based on the movie which was mostly a comedy take on war and did not include added characters as the tv show did. But as Captain Hawkeye Pierce once said "Three hours ago, this man was in a battle. Two hours ago, we operated on him. He's got a fifty-fifty chance. We win some, we lose some. That's what it's all about. No promises. No guaranteed survival. No "saints in surgical garb." Our willingness, our experience, our technique are not enough. Guns and bombs and anti-personnel mines have more power to take life than we have to preserve it. Not a very happy ending to a movie. But then again, no war is a movie." So I personally like seasons 4-11. It showed that the comedy part was just a way for the doctors and nurses and army personnel to deal with the horrors of war but there was still a very real side to war. It also showed how people in M*A*S*H units dealt with losing friends and gaining new friends as well as losing people like Major Burns only to gain someone like Major Winchester. It showed that no one was gonna be there forever. Certain people however stayed for the duration of the war while others left and you get to see .a whole new side to the unit and the war. I personally think that seasons 4-11 showed the most realistic view of what war is like. It showed what the emotions they all went through and how hard they had it and how they dealt with it and how some went crazy because of it and others dealt with it better. I haven't seen that in any movie or other tv show. Which is why it is one of the all time greatest shows on tv.
I personally loved this episode. It's one of my favorites. But thats mostly because I'm a huge Western movie fan and a fan of the movie "My Darling Clementine". However I did love the singing and The song "Gee Mom, I want to Go Home" as well as the imitation of Father Mulcahy. Col. Potter's imitation of Father Mulcahy "Jocularity, Jocularity" is one of the great scenes in M*A*S*H history. My all time favorite episode is "Five O'Clock Charlie."
To Romancing the.. Very well said. Your quote from the Yankee Doodle Doctor from season 1 is a stand out because it points to the where the show was going... rather than what it was in those first couple of years: a standard sitcom.
the show really did develop after the early episodes. The character of Charles Winchester was indicative of that. He was everything Burns was but with more depth and was one who could compete with Hawk and BJ. He was a 3 dimensional character. And sure, there was more than enough saccharine episodes, sometimes thanks to Alan Alda, but overall, I think the show took on a greater depth.
But back on topic; My Darling Clementine was one of the greats. Radar's impression was one of those classics, too.
I thought that this was one of the funniest ever. As to those who think the early years of M*A*S*H were the best -- you have got to be kidding. The first year was so incredibly lame and inept -- by today's studio policies the first season would never have even been completed. As mean-spirited and dark as the film was, at least there was some intelligence and thought behind it. I know it was the height of the Vietnam war, but the portrayal of the military was beyond insulting and demeaning. They are all portrayed as stupid and vapid. (And NO, I do not come from a military family and I did not serve myself). Trapper and Hawkeye were boozing, womanizing clowns and Henry was not much better. Both Trapper and Henry were cheating on their wives constantly and this was a big joke to all around. BJ and Potter were married but managed to respect their vows. True, BJ had one brief affair and one close call, but rather than treat is as a joke, he was truly penitant and remorseful -- a rare thing in a Hollywood mentality where marriage is just a convenience until it gets tough.
As for the episode where Potter drank to his fallen comrades -- how could you not be moved by that? Extremely poignant and true to life. Just talk to any older person who sees that all his/her firends are dying off and you're the last one left. (And NO, I am not close to that age yet).
Sorry, this show got better (and bolder) as the years went on -- with a few glitches and misteps along the way, to be sure.
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This has to be the first time in my life that I have ever been accused of being "right-wing" on anything!!! Morality and good, proper behavior is not the province of the right or the left -- all of us are supposed to behave properly. Even secular humanists would support that. If you find that there are moral people in the world to be creepy, well, that's just you. I am not judging so much as I am saying that there is proper behavior and improper behavior, and that fact that some, maybe many, people don't think marital fidelity is important, does not change things. The left is quick to condemn conservative politians who cheat on there wives -- or is left-wing moralizing okay? Sorry, some things are just wrong. Anyway, my issues with the early years has less to do with moral issues than that some, but not all, scripts were just plain silly (take "Yankee Doodle Doctor" for example). A cartoonish, buffoonery of the military metality that was not at all amusing. And the early schemes of Frank (who could be really funny) and Margaret to undermine Henry were just too gung-ho, and it got stale very soon.
shareLet me come to the defense of my old friend, Gerald-Flynn. We have known one another for more years than either of us care to remember! No way is this guy a right-wing anything! But, if some of you think that having a sense of right and wrong makes you right-wing, well, then let us be right-wing. My own two-cents on this: Trapper was not very funny and not very sympathetic and not very interesting. He was more of a clown than Hawkeye and Hawkeye became a better person after Trapper departed. Sure the immorality of some of the characters bothered me too. But, I always liked the show and am addicted to reruns whenever and wherever they crop up!
shareThanks for the back-up, Rekcilorf!!! Yeah, you don't have to be right-wing to have morals! And, it is not preachy to state one's convictions about personal behavior. Some posters complained that the BJ years featured, among other problems, "bad puns", Is there any other kind? That's what makes them funny!!! Some people just don't get that kind of humor and that's okay with me. We can all like different things and the civil discussion of these differences is what makes this site such fun. But when some resort to name-calling for those with different views, that's what I really need to preach against!
(Hey, Rekcilorf, take care, old buddy!)
It's not about right or wrong. It's about the show and what people prefer. In the first 4-5 seasons it was an irreverent comedy with dramatic overtones. It made a shift to more drama in the future years. The reason for this was Executive Producer Gene Reynolds left after season 5, and head writer Larry Gelbart left after season 4. That is why most people break up MASH into 2 parts (with season 5 being a transition year).
While you may enjoy the morality of the seasons after the first 4 or 5 (much of it due to Alan Alda and his severe sense of morality including woman's rights), it was actually very poorly written. Sure, it had it's moments, and don't get me wrong. The overall "message" may have been good, and I have no problem with some of the messages. Yet it was overly preachy, and left me wondering if I saw a tv show meant for entertainment or a college art film trying to jam a message down my throat.
Anyway, after those first 5 seasons the seamless transitions between drama and comedy were gone. The cleverness of the comedy had disappeared completely, and was replaced by poorly placed puns and gags. What made MASH so great is it could make you laugh and cry at the same moment. After Gelbart left (and to a lesser extent Reynolds) that no longer held true. The comedy and drama were separated, and the show became a preachy drama with some random poorly written comedy gags added in.
In the end it comes down to what you liked better, a heavier drama with random and often poorly written comedy or a clever comedy with some serious dramatic overtones. I personally prefer the comedy. It makes me laugh. I already have a strong set of values. I don't need my tv shows to preach to me.
The 'Movie Tonight' episode of M*A*S*H had a sweet sentiment to it, and some good chuckles. Having said that... There was some REAAALLLLY bad acting from the nurses. Remember this.....
NURSE 1: Have fun.
NURSE 2: (overacting and oversmiling) Sounds like they're having it!
There was also that stupid sing-along part where all the nurses somehow managed to sing an improvised song in unison. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
But I still liked the episode, especially the singing in the O.R. at the end and the Father Mulcahy imprersonations.
I couldn't agree with you more Gerald. The show only got better after Burns left and Winchester arrived.
shareWorst episode of M*A*S*H ever ?
is'nt that an oxymoron?
Somebody buy this man a dictionary.
shareMan, has this thread been hijacked!
It's funny how so many people hated to see how M*A*S*H changed after season 3, but apparently continued to watch it!
I caught up on M*A*S*H when it went to syndicated reruns and I was in the service. It helped me laugh at the insane world of the military.
When the finale aired, I choked up when BJ and Hawkeye saluted Colonel Potter. That will always be a special moment to television history.
Anyway, when watching that episode, you did feel like you were watching MDC as well!!
This is my second favorite episode of "M*A*S*H": my top pick is "Hey, Look Me Over".
The "Oh, We're Surgeons in the Army" portion of "Gee, Ma, I Want to Go Home" singalong always makes me laugh. And let's not forget Hawkeye leering as Margaret sings "C'est Magnifique".
"M*A*S*H" is my favorite television series of all time....and I go through tons of Kleenex each and every time I watch "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", which is 3 or 4 times a year.
WTNMovieFan, please check your PMs.
Far from the "worst' but not the best either.
I have to confess that upon seeing that episode 20-odd years ago it piqued my interest in seeing the film in it's entirety and it's been a personal favorite ever since.