That was always my assumption – that Swit (as well as the other actors who were in the series for a long time) wanted to make her character less of a caricature.
And she got her chance because Larry Linville did not want to continue as the one-note Frank Burns. Ironically, it was the transition episodes where Burns was going through an identiy crisis/breakdown because he lost Margret that he finally became interesting.
Even as a lad l thought Loretta Swit was made of hotness. She, Jayne Kennedy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Phyllis Coates, and Jayne Kennedy are what made me heterosexual.
ETA: I seem to have put Kennedy on the list twice. Obviously that is a mistake; she should be there three times.
I liked the early episodes because they had a bit of an edge to them.
I’ll swap you three Phyllis Coates for one Noel Neill. 
When MAS*H was on, I didn’t know who Jayne Kennedy, Maureen O’Sullivan or Phyllis Coates were. I recall liking Valerie Bertinelli & Kristy McNichol and the girl from Fish who upon looking her up was Denise Miller.
Exactly. I remember as Margaret and Donald are leaving on their honeymoon, Frank is the last one at the landing pad just watching their chopper disappear. He just whispers, “Goodbye, Margaret.” The best moment he ever had on the show.
I prefer seasons 1-3, but also like 4,6 and 8. Season 5 was Penebscott this and Penebscott that, and brought a power imbalance to the show which was restored by the arrival of Winchester. Burns had some backing from Blake and Houlihan during the first 3-4 seasons. Seasons 6 & 8 were the best of the Winchester years.
See, while I’m not absolutely sure on any of the rest, I know for sure that I preferred Potter to Henry. That alone makes the first three seasons not as good.
Skald, I bring unto Rhymer Industries some valuable data, courtesy of the Geeks at GraphTV. Many Banthas died to bring this information… wait, that’s something else I have going on. Nobody died to get this info, though I did bang my knee against the desk a few minutes ago. Does this gig have a health plan?
http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt0068098
MASH fans and critics favored the first three seasons more than any other season, and the overall trend line for the show is downward in slope. Interestingly enough, the final season seemed to be saddled with more lesser episodes than any other. It’s also interesting to see how Seasons 4-6 start strong, then fade as the season progresses.
The least liked episode of all? Season 11, episode 11 - “Strange Bedfellows”, the one where Charles’s snoring is driving everybody crazy: "M*A*S*H" Strange Bedfellows (TV Episode 1983) - IMDb
Some other shows…
Buffy: http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt0118276
Breaking Bad: http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt0903747
The Simpsons: http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt0096697
Klinger was there from the beginning. It was supposed to be a one-off character, but Jaime Farr did such a good job impressing the producers that they kept him on the full run of the show.
I simply felt that many of the early characters that eventually left had little depth-it might have been a funnier show back then, strictly speaking, but it was also more one-dimensional, and unlike most other sitcoms it was definitely a dramedy. When I watch old reruns, I cringe at the early antics of Burns and Hot Lips, for example.
It’s hard to choose between Seasons 1-3 and Seasons 4-7 because they feel almost like two different shows. The exit of both Henry Blake and Trapper John McIntyre and the entrance of Sherman Potter and BJ Hunnicut was a HUGE change. It changed the fundamental set-up of the show, IMHO.
I like both shows. Henry Blake may not have been much of a camp commander, but he was a helluva nice guy and a great foil for the team of Pierce and McIntyre. And when called upon for a dramatic scene (e.g. “All I know is what they taught me in command school. Rule 1 is: Young men sometimes die. Rule 2 is: Doctors can’t change Rule 1”) McLean Stevenson could truly hit it out of the park.
As for the rest… you can take the last three seasons and maybe come up with a half-dozen good episodes. You can tell the writers were just running out of gas. Even the finale is just not that great. Sorry.
First three seasons were the best, although I will admit Winchester was a better foil than Burns.
I agree with Sam Stone. Radar was a much better character when he was a conniving country boy. The episode where he was mailing a jeep home piece by piece was hilarious.
The episode about Tuttle did a much better job of ridiculing the stupidity and waste of war and the Burns/Houlihan brand of patriotism than all the Alan Aldo preaching.
First three seasons were a classic.
Also agree that Henry Blake was a competent doctor, he just sucked at running a camp per Army regs. (I must also admit I have a soft spot for Blake because I played him in high school when we put on MASH for the senior play. It was pretty funny because we kids wanted to have Klinger in the cast – “He doesn’t have to say anything, Mrs. ___, he can just run around in a dress” – but the teacher vetoed it. She was afraid of the parents’ reaction. This was in southern Indiana in late 1976 and I guess all the conservatives were afraid the kids would be corrupted by seeing Klinger. LIke we weren’t watching the show with our parents anyway.)
There’s no box for “I liked them all.”
I preferred Winchester to Burns. In general, I prefer a competent rival to a buffoon*. Likewise, I preferred it when Houlihan’s character was allowed to grow a bit.
I always thought the whole point of the Henry Blake character was that, despite his totally non-army way of doing things, the MASH actually ran pretty effectively under his command. He was well aware, for instance, that despite being a stickler for the rules, Frank was quite useless or even dangerous, whereas Hawkeye and Trapper, despite being cut-ups with utter contempt for anything military, and who totally did not want to be there, were, in fact, very competent and caring doctors who were saving lots of lives, always came through in the pinch, and, in fact, were the keys to the hospital’s success. He also understood how to get the best out of other types of odd, unmilitary people like Radar and Klinger, and even not so odd, more conventionally military ones, like Margaret.
Henry’s character was a key part of the anti-war, anti-military, and generally radical message of the early series of MASH, and this was considerably blunted when he was replaced by Potter (who, unlike essentially all of the original characters, managed to make the traditional military look good, and whose character was undoubtedly created with just that purpose in mind). I do not think that the original versions of Hawkeye and Trapper would have responded well to Potter at all. The fact that they accepted him when he actually did arrive can be explained either by the fact that they had become more inured to army life over their time serving under Henry, or to the fact that the rebellious aspects of their characters had been gradually toned down (perhaps under pressure from the network) to make the show more safe and acceptable to conservative sensibilities, and less subversive (and by the fact that Trapper turned into BJ).
Potter ensured that he was worthy of respect, and he winked at/ignored almost as much silliness as Henry did, in the end.
Sure, but that is not the point. Henry’s management style sent the message (to the viewer) that the military style sucks, or, at least, it is wrong for smart, talented people. Potter’s style sent the opposite message, that military style, smartly and sensitively handled, works great for smart, talented people.
<shrug> Not everyone has to be an archtype. Plus I think Larry Gelbart et al. were shooting for new characters which weren’t like their old counterparts, and seeing how they would work with the remaining cast members.
A common myth, spread by MAD magazine, (or was it Cracked?)
He left to do The McLean Stevenson Show, 1976–77. *Hello, Larry *was several years later, 1979-80.