I know I’m not imagining this, because I’ve asked this question to people in my real life. None of us has an answer to this, so I thought I’d toss it out here.
In the last few seasons of MAS*H, it seemed like the characters were always shouting at each other. Even in normal conversation. Klinger was especially guilty of this, but they all did it. Anyone else notice this, and anyone have any idea why?
Because in the last few seasons they had an unfortunate tendency to eschew comedy for melodrama? And nothing says “We’re discussing a vitally important moral question” like two characters shouting dialogue at each other.
If there really a difference, maybe it was a response to fan mail saying that people are yelling during triage and the operating room, because of the noise and confusion.
I never put my finger on it in that manner before, but in retrospect I think your description is exactly right. In later seasons the actors (Harry Morgen, Hotlips, and Klinger most notably, but everyone to one degree or another) deliver their lines in a distinct “stage-y” and self-conscious manner (which often translated to a louder, more “projected” delivery) in a way that was not present in the earlier seasons. All the production values also seemed to veer toward a cleaner, more “summer camp”-ish look, with scenes that felt very much like one set-up after another. All nuance in the dialogue was gone, - that’s one of the many, many reasons it wasn’t funny anymore.
The earlier seasons were more gritty; when Trapper, Hawkeye, or Blake delivered a funny line it was so off-hand, almost said to themselves, with barely a shrug of the shoulders or a lift of the eyebrow, that it took the viewer a bit by surprise - and thus made it hilarious. MHO, anyway.
It could be that in later seasons they got a whole new group of directors. Those directors were the actors themselves. Alan Alda and Mike Farrell, IIRC, handled quite a bit of the directing duties. I remember at least one Harry Morgan episode and, I believe, at least one David Ogden Stiers.
The success of the show illustrates that the cast was uncommonly good at their roles. I don’t feel, though, that they made the best directors. Unfortunately I think that they were occasionally guilty of seeing their colleagues emote rather than act.
I think Charles S. Dubin was the go-to director in MASH. Farrel directed 5. Harry Morgan directed 9, which is substantial. Alda directed 32, which is a ton.
I think it is all moot since the OP’s suggestion is entirely false. The later seasons are not louder at all. Preachier, sappier maybe, but not louder.
The OP’s suggestion is not entirely false. The next time you have a chance, watch an episode from the first couple of seasons and then follow it up by an episode from the last couple of seasons.
You can’t help but notice it.
Unless, of course you refuse to believe for the sake of being a contrarian. That’s your right, of course, but you gain nothing by refusing to believe. Let me guess. You hate Tim Tebow?
Not a Teabow hater, but have to agree somewhat with the OP.
I am not sure I would say it got so much louder as more strident.
Early episodes were subtle and funny, later they became more “in your face” and almost slapstick. That was when they lost me as a fan.
I think it was just a response to cultural changes - society changed as the series aged. It just was not so much to my taste anymore. So I stopped watching. Maybe I just outgrew it.
I was going to make exactly this point but wasn’t quite sure how to put it. It’s like the actors were playing caricatures of their characters. I’m not sure why they did that… maybe they thought the writing had gone down the pipes and they just couldn’t “inhabit” the characters anymore. But it was pretty awful.
I don’t even know who Tim Tebow is and I don’t appreciate being swept away like I’m a contrarian. I’ll double-check tonight, but I’m a huge MASH fan and have never noticed this before.
OK, tonight, I’ll look at:
Tuttle(season 1)
The Sniper(season 2)
White Gold(season 3)
Then, I’ll skip over to season 10 and 11. I’ll look at:
Communication Breakdown(season 10) - directed by Alda
Strange Bedfellows(season 11) - directed by Farrell
Give and Take(season 11) - directed by Dubin
To be honest, up to know I’ve been going by memory. I’m going to actually watch, setting the volume at the same level and see if I can tell a difference between any of them. Hey, maybe I am wrong and it is louder later.
I think you may have misunderstood what’s being claimed here. The contention is not that there’s a higher volume level, but that (at least some of) the dialogue is delivered in a more forceful manner.
Note the quotation marks around loud.
Note the word seemed.
Those who agree with the OP’s observation are talking more about speaking style than about raw volume level.
BTW, Mahaloth, good on ya for getting in the trenches to conduct the real research in the true spirit of Doper inquiry. It has been a long, long time since I’ve seen any eps of Mash, so I’ll be interested to hear the results of your semi-scientific study.
Thanks. I’ll get to it and update the thread. Others should feel free to do the same. I’m curious about it. Reviewing it in my mind, I may be wrong. Perhaps they did get more “intense” later.
It was a way more laid back show when Henry was there. Potter was more intense for sure and Klinger is quite loud(his role is expanded especially after Radar leaves).
So:
Potter - louder than Henry
Klinger - louder than Radar
Charles - louder than Frank? Maybe he is. He’s certainly more flabbergasted with the ridiculousness of a MASH. Frank was just an idiot.
BJ - quieter/equally quiet to Trapper. Trapper was kind of laid back, too.
I think that this nails it on the head. Stage-y and self-conscious.
Many years ago I lived without a TV for quite a while. Then I asked a roommate if I could watch his TV. The first thing I watched was a later episode of MASH. I was astonished at how fake it all sounded, and wondered if going without TV for so long tuned me out of fake dialog and tuned me more in to the way that real people speak.