# M\*A\*S\*H **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 1999, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594 "1999-09-27T04:04:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/1 "1999-09-27T04:04:00Z")
I was laying in bed last night thinking, and I remembered a bit from an episode of M_A_S\*H. It was the one where Hawkeye and his companion (don’t recall if it was BJ or the other one) met up with an old army doc doing seminars in Tokyo. They invite him back to the front, and he ends up unable to operate due to the fact that he’s plastered. Hawk goes on one of his rants (_why should this patient suffer because YOUR to cowardly to stay sober_, etc.). So here’s the question: Wasn’t there an episode once where Hawkeye was to drunk to operate, and he defends himself against a disillusioned Radar (_I’m not here to be a role model; I’m here because I have to be_, or something like that)? * * * Cessandra [My Homepage](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/Home.html) ([http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/Home.html](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/Home.html)) [The RHPS: Website For Virgins](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/RockyHome.html) ([http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/RockyHome.html](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/RockyHome.html)) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/2 "1999-09-27T04:22:00Z")
Yes. There was an episode where Hawkeye couldn’t operate because he was drunk. Radar had been injured and Hawk couldn’t deal with it. Radar got all upset with Hawk for failing to perform, Hawk flamed him, and the rest of the show was about everyone in the 4077th pissing on Hawkeye. At the end, Hawk and Radar are both in the canteen and Haweye swaps Radar a beer for a Ne-Hi. Rather wierd episode IMO. (Consistency was not a great aspect of M_A_S\*H. You can find several shows that “violate” or contradict the “messages” in other shows. But that is the fallout for spending 11(?) years on the air with different writers.) * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/3 "1999-09-27T04:56:00Z")
an alternative theory is that Hawkeye was a self-centred, self-righteous jerk - consistently ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/4 "1999-09-27T05:08:00Z")
But Alan Alda was soooo cute! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pickman\_s\_Model](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Pickman\_s\_Model](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pickman_s_Model)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/5 "1999-09-27T05:41:00Z")
Maybe. But he didn’t look anywhere near as sweet in a pair of tight fatigues as Loretta Swit did. Hubba hubba! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/6 "1999-09-27T10:51:00Z")
Wasn’t there a kind of sequel to M_A_S_H (and I don’t mean "After M_A_S_H") that showed the life of one of the main characters thirty years later–maybe “Trapper John, M.D.”? Also, do you remember that there was some computer or office equipment maker (HP? Xerox?) that had most of the cast of the original M_A_S\*H TV show starring in a series of commercials in the mid to late 80s? Henry Blake and Radar and some others were there, I know, except they had some sort of soul transmigration into the bodies of a bunch of office workers. I always thought that was bizarre. DHR DHR ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/7 "1999-09-27T12:23:00Z")
Re the OP, IIRC, the part of the other doctor that was to drunk to operate was played by Robert Alda, Alan’s father. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen that episode, so my memory could be faulty. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/8 "1999-09-27T13:19:00Z")
_Doghouse Reilly: Wasn’t there a kind of sequel to M_A_S_H (and I don’t mean "After M_A_S_H") that showed the life of one of the main characters thirty years later–maybe “Trapper John, M.D.”?_ Yes. “Trapper John, MD” was quite successful on it’s own, running for 7 seasons. It’s only real link to M_A_S\*H was TJ himself. No other characters were brought over. ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/9 "1999-09-27T15:00:00Z")
DIVEMASTER, I think you’re right about that. I remember reading it either on the M_A_S\*H website (the url for which I have long since lost), or maybe in the biography of Alan Alda’s that I read. * * * Cessandra [My Homepage](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/Home.html) ([http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/Home.html](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/Home.html)) [The RHPS: Website For Virgins](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/RockyHome.html) ([http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/RockyHome.html](http://www.shsu.edu/~stdmed17/RockyHome.html)) ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/10 "1999-09-27T15:09:00Z")
I recall this supposed hypocrisy, but this is just one of the reasons I think _M_A_S_H\* was such a great show. Like in real life, and unlike most TV (certainly at the time) it showed good guys with faults, bad guys with redeeming qualities, especially in the later years. That show, I like to say, explored the “gray areas” in all humanity, where nothing is absolute, much like _All In The Family_ did as well. * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/11 "1999-09-27T15:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > But Alan Alda was soooo cute! Nah, Wayne Rogers was DEFINATELY the hottie in that cast! Maybe we should take this to GD: Hawkeye or Trapper John? * * * ``` Jess ``` Full of 'satiable curtiosity ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/12 "1999-09-27T15:20:00Z")
I always thought that Will Farrell ( From SNL who plays the spaztic cheerleader guy) looked like Wayne Rogers son. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/13 "1999-09-27T15:53:00Z")
How come Trapper and Hawkeye were always drinking when they were on call, huh? I can remember zillions of episodes where they were sitting around in the swamp knocking back a martini when the alert goes off and they run out of the tent to the operating room. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/14 "1999-09-27T18:03:00Z")
Of course, the _real_ star of the show was Larry Linville, as Frank Burns (“It’s nice to be nice to the nice.”) ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/15 "1999-09-27T18:18:00Z")
As I recall, Hawkeye flamed Radar for his “Iowa naivete,” which Radar took as an insult to Iowa. And Nurse Able was the cutest. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/16 "1999-09-27T18:22:00Z")
How did Hawkeye get away with insulting Radar/Iowa like that? I remember him being from Maine, right? That down-east bastion of suave urbanity and jaded cynicism. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/17 "1999-09-27T18:28:00Z")
\*Ukulele Ike: How did Hawkeye get away with insulting Radar/Iowa like that? I remember him being from Maine, right? That down-east bastion of suave urbanity and jaded cynicism. \* They finally settled on Maine, though he once said he was from Vermont. He interned in Boston, so he probably got his cynicism there. My question: where’s his New England accent? No dropped/added “R”'s, no “dooryards”, no “ahyup”'s. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/18 "1999-09-27T18:59:00Z")
AWB: Yeah, it occurred to me, just as I was hitting the “send” button, that he probably got the heck out of lobsterland to pursue his medical studies. And I also remembered that he had a hankering for spare ribs from a barbecue place in…was it Chicago? Or St. Louis? Maybe that explains his accent…the midwesterners got hold of him at some point and steamrolled all the “ayuhs” right out of him. ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/19 "1999-09-27T21:22:00Z")
I have a bunch of questions now. First, could you guys explain to me what “dooryards” and “ahyup”'s are? I’m trying to imagine a New Englander saying these things, but I can’t. What are these words/phrases translated into non-New Englandish? I’ve never been great at figuring out regional accents, in case you hadn’t guessed. Second, does anybody know where Alan Alda’s reputation as the epitome of the sensitive guy came from? On M_A_S\*H he’s an arrogant sexual harasser, and I don’t remember what he was like in the movies. But I always here people saying stuff like, “Oh he’s so sensitive he’s a regular Alan Alda”. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 1999, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594/20 "1999-09-27T21:52:00Z")
> [@](#): > > And I also remembered that he had a hankering for spare ribs from a barbecue place in…was it Chicago? Or St. Louis? ## Chicago. Adam’s Ribs - across the street from Dearborn Station. Near a dry cleaners. I always wondered if it was ever a real place or not. Anyone from the city want to investigate? 😉 “I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-a-s-h/9594.md?page=2)