M*A*S*H (television): Difference between revisions

[[File:MASH.jpg|frame|Seasons 1-3 cast. Left to right: Frank "Ferret Face" Burns, Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Henry Blake, "Trapper" John McIntyre, John Patrick Francis Mulcahy, Walter "Radar" O’Reilly, and Maxwell Q. Klinger]]

 

 

The show ran on [[CBS]] [[Long Runner|from 1972 to 1983]], seven years longer than [[The Korean War]] during which it takes place. At first seen as a wacky, slightly edgy sitcom based on [[M*A*S*H (film)|Robert Altman's 1970 movie]], the series moved away from strictly comedic storylines early in its run (Season 1's "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" was the first [[Tear Jerker]]), and began to incorporate dramatic plotlines in conjunction with comedic ones in the same episode.

* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The movie itself [[Composite Character|combined two characters to create Major Burns]]. The show removed the character Duke Forest altogether, and Ugly John and Spearchucker Jones [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|disappear without explanation]] later on in the first season. Painless Pole, the camp dentist, seems to be an exception, since he shows up from time to time throughout the series.

** Painless is more of an [[Unseen Character]], being mentioned but rarely if ever actually appearing. The only dentist actually shown on screen who was stationed at the 4077 appears in one episode, completely paranoid about being injured in the last few hours before he goes home. (He does get injured, crashing the jeep as he's driving out of camp because he insisted on driving the jeep himself instead of allowing his assigned driver to do it.)

* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: Numerous times, generally at least once a season.

* [[All Asians Are Alike]]

'''Hawkeye:''' Everybody runs around half-naked.

'''Trapper:''' Norman Mailer?

* [[Bottle Episode]]: "O.R.", "The Bus", "Hawkeye", "A Night at Rosie's"

* [[The Boxing Episode]]: "Requiem for a Lightweight" has Trapper John taking on the champ of the 8063rd, a heavyweight enlisted man.

'''Potter:''' I'm not fond of personal abuse, Flagg. I was in this man's Army when the only thumb you cared about was the one in your ''mouth''. }}

* [[Briefer Than They Think]]: As mentioned above, you could fit three Korean Wars into the show's run.

* [[Bucket Booby Trap]]: Frank rigs one for Hawkeye (yep, you read that right) in "Showtime".

* [[Bug-Out]]: Amusingly averted for virtually the entire run of ''M*A*S*H''; the "M" in "M*A*S*H" stands for "Mobile", but for obvious reasons of production logistics the camp was almost always in the same location. The only exceptions were the two-part episode "Bug Out" from 1976, and the 1979 episode "C*A*V*E". In the former, the camp's comfortable location had to be abandoned in the face of an enemy advance; in the latter, a seemingly endless barrage of friendly artillery fire forces the camp to relocate to a nearby cave.

* [[Strip Poker]]: An early episode has a gag where Hawkeye and Trapper are down to their underwear while playing this with - and losing badly to - a nurse.

* [[Sugar and Ice Personality]]: Margaret Houlihan, [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that she took her job as head nurse seriously (and that she was an Army brat). Frank Burns was too immature, and Donald Penobscot treated her poorly behind the scenes, but the likes of BJ, Col. Potter, [[Foe Yay|and especially Hawkeye]] helped [[Defrosting Ice Queen|soften her up]].

* [[Surrogate Soliloquy]]: "Hawkeye"

* [[Tanks, But No Tanks]]: An interesting example. In the finale, a wounded tanker drives an [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/M24-Chaffee-latrun-1.jpg M24 Chaffee light tank] into the compound, destroying the latrine in the process. The tank begins drawing enemy mortar fire, so Klinger erects a tent to hide it. It doesn't work, and the mortar crew resumes firing on the camp, and Hawkeye drives it out of the camp. The tank he drives out is an [http://www.usarmymodels.com/AFV%20PHOTOS/M4%20SHERMAN/M4%20Sherman%20Front%20Left.jpg M4 Sherman], [[Brick Joke|destroying the newly built latrine]]. The two tanks look nothing alike, not even the treads (possibly foreshadowed when Klinger holds up a tent flap to show Potter).

** Occasionally moved into the realm of [[Vitriolic Best Buds]], whenever Hawkeye or BJ would have an actual problem and Winchester's empathy would kick in, and likewise Hawkeye and BJ both admitted a respect and care for Charles they never displayed for his predecessor Frank.

** Then there were those times when one of them (usually BJ) would form a [[Strange Bedfellows|temporary alliance]] with Charles, either against the remaining Swampmate (usually Hawkeye) or some other character.

* [[Yank the Dog's Chain]]: "Ceasefire"

* [[You Are in Command Now]]: "Carry On, Hawkeye"

{{reflist}}

{{TV Guide's 50 Greatest}}

[[Category:American Series]]

[[Category:The Fifties]]

[[Category:Dramedy]]

[[Category:TV Series]]

[[Category:Military and Warfare Television]]

[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1970s]]