Had a little time on my hands the last few weeks, so I borrowed the DVDs and watched MAS*H from beginning to end. 251 episodes in all, a bit over 100 hours total viewing. Just finished “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” a few minutes ago.
MAS*H was a TV staple at my house growing up. My mother and I watched the new episodes on CBS as they came out in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and reruns were on every night on one of the local channels. I think it was a big influence on my sense of humor (second only to Monty Python), and gave me a leg up on my lifelong anti-authoritarianism. And and for a time I wanted to be a surgeon, although that didn’t last.
It’s been years since I’ve seen MAS*H, so I was curious if I remembered certain episodes accurately. I mostly did, although my attitude toward the show is now colored by adulthood. I was surprised at how much more I disliked Hawkeye Pierce this time around. I think I understand him to some extent, and I empathize with him much more in the later episodes. But there were a lot of times he was just a prick. Example: There’s an early episode where he punches Frank Burns, and I was excited to see that again. But I was disappointed to find that he was clearly in the wrong on that occasion, while there were plenty of other times he would have been completely justified. But since it was early on, I guess that one was played more for comedy.
The abrupt departure of Henry Blake was still sad, as was Radar getting wounded and losing his hero worship of Hawkeye. They were moving in a more serious direction by then anyhow, which was helped along by the departure of Frank Burns. I never found him very believable - he and Houlihan at that time seemed like caricatures. I was glad when Margaret’s character got more depth and humanity later on.
Another surprise was my favorite character this time around: Colonel Potter all the way. I think Harry Morgan was the most expressive and understated actor on the show. I now know people like Colonel Potter, and he seems more real to me than any other character. I wish I had admired him more when I was younger. He’s by far a better role model than Hawkeye Pierce.
My favorite episodes are pretty much the same, then and now. I preferred the more serious and edgy stories, although some when they were just trying to be funny were also good. Of the funny, my favorite was a final season episode where Hunnicutt takes a challenge to play practical jokes on everyone else, which drives Hawkeye into paranoia. But my real favorites weren’t very funny:
Point of View (season 7, episode 10): We see the MAS*H experience from a wounded soldier’s eyes. It starts with his injury in the field, his evacuation by chopper and care under the familiar cast of characters. He has a throat wound, so he doesn’t talk, just observes. He even takes part in the secondary plot of the episode, helping Colonel Potter with a personal problem.
Life Time (season 8, episode 11): In real time - with a clock in the lower right corner of the screen - Hawkeye races to save a wounded soldier with a very tricky operation.
Dreams (season 8, episode 22): During a long stretch of work, each of the main characters takes a nap and has a dream. Each is disturbing and somewhat surreal. I distinctly remembered the sounds from this episode in particular. There is a moment when Winchester dreams there is a patient in front of him, bleeding through the sheet, and he’s helpless to do anything about it. The man makes gurgling noises as he dies.
Death Takes a Holiday (season 9, episode 5): A soldier with fatal wounds comes in during a Christmas celebration. BJ, Hawkeye and Margaret work to prolong his survival until the next day so his family won’t have to deal with his having died on Christmas.
The final episode, one of the most viewed TV events of all time, was definitely moving. The nature of Hawkeye’s breakdown was a surprise to me when I saw it years ago, and I was impressed with how they built up to it on this viewing. And while it’s clear he doesn’t come away from the experience “cured”, I do think he looked a bit too good toward the end. I imagine a person like that dealing with such a nightmare for the rest of his life.
So it was good to visit my old friends from the 4077th. I like to imagine them in civilian life my own way, not as in “After MAS*H”, or “Trapper John, MD”. Seeing these episodes first as a kid and then as an adult I find I have many of the same reactions, although I’m much more aware of how bad some of the comedy was at times. Had the show not gone more in a serious direction, it might have been just another sitcom.