# Ridiculous M\*A\*S\*H hypocrisy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105 "2011-04-04T01:57:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/41 "2011-04-05T00:51:34Z")
Other than Cheers, is there another network TV show besides MASH that shows as much overall drinking, in a mostly positive (and in the early seasons, downright glorified) depiction? They seemed to drink a lot on Frasier, but it was not even close to the amount of screentime or number of scenes that MASH showed the heroic surgeons boozing it hard… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/42 "2011-04-05T00:55:42Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Other than Cheers, is there another network TV show besides MASH that shows as much overall drinking, in a mostly positive (and in the early seasons, downright glorified) depiction? Oddly enough, there is not much drinking in Cheers. I mean, Sam is a recovering alcoholic. There is a lot of drinking on Supernatural, but it isn’t glorified. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/43 "2011-04-05T01:03:26Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > …They seemed to drink a lot on Frasier, but it was not even close to the amount of screentime or number of scenes that MASH showed the heroic surgeons boozing it hard… Other than Frasier and Niles sharing an occasional evening sherry or being pompous about their wine club, and Martin having a beer as he watches TV, I actually don’t recall much drinking on _Frasier_, either. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/44 "2011-04-05T01:37:25Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Oddly enough, there is not much drinking in Cheers. I mean, Sam is a recovering alcoholic. Well, I would say that there was constant drinking. They all always had a beer in hand and Norm in particular counterbalanced Sam’s abstinence. But of course, they never got drunk more than tired. I’m going to have to ponder a drinker glorifying network show. _Cougar Town_ comes to mind as I type. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/45 "2011-04-05T01:38:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Oddly enough, there is not much drinking in Cheers. How many beers did Norm drink per episode? ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/46 "2011-04-05T01:44:22Z")
If he did more than just nurse one throughout an evening, he’d’a been dead by the second season. I mean he spent a _lot_ of time in that bar. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/47 "2011-04-05T01:45:43Z")
It’s been many years since I last saw an episode of Bewitched, but it seems like Sam and Darrin usually had a highball or 6 in the evenings… If I was married to hottie Sam, I would be mixing her all the stiff drinks she could choke down!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/48 "2011-04-05T02:15:29Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > How many beers did Norm drink per episode? One? He’s almost never(if ever) seriously drunk on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/49 "2011-04-05T02:50:30Z")
> [@choie](#): > > The still is definitely around throughout the run of the series. [Here you go](http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx51/choie_album/general%20stuff/mash_still.gif), from the last regular episode (S11 ep 15, “As Time Goes By”). I’ll be darned, it was still (hardy har-har-har) around. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Other than Frasier and Niles sharing an occasional evening sherry or being pompous about their wine club, and Martin having a beer as he watches TV, I actually don’t recall much drinking on _Frasier_, either. Don’t forget, Frasier dreamed of becoming Corkmaster! mmm ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/50 "2011-04-05T02:50:44Z")
Ah…no. Norm imbibes gallons of beer. How else do you explain his girlish figure? Or his bar tab, for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/51 "2011-04-05T03:09:33Z")
Speaking or MASH and alcohol, there was one episode where the only source for a rare-type blood transfusion was a very drunk bomb disposal expert. After the surgery, BJ asks the patient, “How do you feel” and the patient replies, “I feel…” and trails off. I always suspected that the writers wanted him to say, “I feel drunk” but were told by consultants that such a small amount of alcohol in a transfusion wouldn’t make a patient feel drunk. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/52 "2011-04-05T03:11:39Z")
DUI could cost me my job. Any felony charge gets reported back to the bosses. I never drove drunk anyway. Way back 20 or more years ago I’d drive after a couple beers, but the alcohol tests weren’t as tough. They’ve toughened the limit since then. Worth mentioning that MASH was based on some true experiences of Surgeons in the Korean War. No doubt, the fiction was more extreme, but I suspect the real guys and gals consumed plenty of booze. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Do you have a job for which you have to be particularly careful about alcohol abuse, or the perception of it? Or are you just wary of being stopped for DUI on your way home? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/53 "2011-04-05T03:24:17Z")
Thanks for your answer. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/54 "2011-04-05T03:59:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > One? He’s almost never(if ever) seriously drunk on the show. I just watched the pilot episode. Norm was definitely pounding 'em down; by the end of the evening he was nodding off at the bar and Coach had to drive him home. (“Thanks, Coach–hey, why don’t we stop off somewhere on the way and I’ll buy you a beer.”) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/55 "2011-04-05T05:11:05Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > One? He’s almost never(if ever) seriously drunk on the show. He’s a big guy and he’s a regular. He should easily be able to pound back six pints a night without really showing it. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/56 "2011-04-05T17:59:12Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Just gotta get this off my chest. I’ve got M_A_S\*H on the telly as I’m checking out the Dope, and Klinger tells Potter he saw one of the nurses in the supply tent last night and she was (gasp) drunk. Potter talks to Houlihan, tells her to check it out, tells her we can’t have anyone with a drinking problem on his staff. Houlihan confronts the nurse and ultimately tells her she can’t take any chances, she is no longer allowed to work in OR. OK, now Houlihan tells Potter that she has someone keeping an eye on the nurse so she won’t sneak any booze. > > It’s a good thing nobody else at the 4077th shows any signs of excessive drinking. > mmm That’s not hypocrisy; that’s a double standard. It would be hypocrisy if Hawkeye had given that order. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/57 "2011-04-05T18:06:16Z")
The original M_A_S\*H book is a true to life look at the 1950’s standards. People who weren’t around before the 1970’s and all that women’s lib stuff do not realize how deep the double standard was. Men could smoke, drink and have sex indiscriminately. Any woman who did so was labelled a tramp or far worse. Men were doubly praised for keeping to extremely high standards; women were doubly damned if they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![MuleSkinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@MuleSkinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MuleSkinner)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/58 "2011-04-05T18:18:47Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > …a true to life look at the 1950’s standards. > > People who weren’t around before the 1970’s… That’s 1950s and 1970s without the apostrophes. Why do so many women get that wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/59 "2011-04-05T18:34:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > That’s not hypocrisy; that’s a double standard. It would be hypocrisy if Hawkeye had given that order. > [@MuleSkinner](#): > > That’s 1950s and 1970s without the apostrophes. I imply from the advise these two give that their English majors. mmm ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105/60 "2011-04-05T18:36:11Z")
Actually, **they’re** just grammar nazis. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-m-a-s-h-hypocrisy/577105.md?page=4)