It being network TV in the 1970s, they had to be circumspect about what happened and how they described it. But it seemed pretty obvious that B.J. had an actual one night stand. As he guiltily confessed to Hawkeye, “You’re looking at a guy who fell off the fidelity wagon last night.”
There was another episode where Susan Saint James played a war correspondent who seemed to be falling for B.J., but in that case I think he put a stop to it before it went beyond flirting.
It is cliche to say so, but absolutely true. I prefer BJ, Potter, Charles a lot more than their original. Trapper was great, but I find the same thing that Wayne Rogers was finding. They moved him down in standing compared to Hawkeye and he felt like a second lead character not getting the lines.
BJ was introduced as a partner to Hawkeye in a sense and fit into the role really well.
Uh, I also just prefer that BJ is openly cheating on his wife nightly like Trapper and Henry. I’m hardy a prude, but I wince thinking about their poor wives. Obviously Frank is cheating, too, but Frank is setup as an antagonist, hypocrite, and tremendous jerk, so hating on him for everything was intended.
I’m so sorry, but the fact you realized you were a jerk means you were never a full-blown jerk. Burns can not process his faults very well. He is aware no onel likes him(he tells his mother so on the phone), but he can’t find out why.
I suppose he, if he were real, has some kind of personality/mental disorder. As a character, he is just a terrible jerk.
Charles can be a jerk, too, but is keenly aware of how he is perceived and eventually even realizes that Sherman, Hawkeye, and BJ are…excellent meatball surgeons. He also realized that the war is wrong, nightmarish, and hell to live through and serve in. I love when he smashes his record in the final episode and says classical music will be a haunting reminder of Korea’s destruction instead of a solace.
The other (thanks MrAtoz, yes Susan Saint James) was an artist, and drew him a pic of him wearing a life ring, the rope trailing off to the side (ostensibly back to his wife in the States).
Nitpick: Steele, as in “That’s Steele with three E’s, not all in a row.”
For One Episode Wonders, I’ll go with Dr. Syn Paik - the North Korean surgeon who Hawkeye and BJ help pass as a US Army surgeon so he can still use his skills to save people.
Despite not caring for the show, it did give me a line I used often at work: “never let it be said that I didn’t do the least I could do”.
Wait, isn’t he racist in the end? “Get dancing, boy! You know how; it’s in your blood!”
Directed towards a Black guy who just stares blankly at him.
I believe…he was basically senile? Was that the main gag there?
One of the many appearance of Mako was also memorable. He played a cruel, cruel spy-finder/interrogator who wants a N. Korean to survive so he can torture and eventually kill her. He gets her in the end. Hawkeye says, “You son of a bitch!”
It actually was notable for being a very early unbleeped version of “son of a bitch” on network
I think when that stupid leader(the journalist I think) falls on his butt, Hawkeye says “fell on his ass” and it was a early use of “ass” that way as well.
That’s nothing. Colonel Potter was the first to say “Mule fritters” on network TV.
Didn’t they paint a racist white general black when he was out after surgery?
That was an enlisted man who had asked that he not be given any “colored blood” just as he was being anesthetized.
He was fruit loops. Something like:
Hawkeye: [after General Steele dances out of a court martial hearing singing a song] I take it we don’t have to leave.
Henry: Only the general does.
Hawkeye: Yeah, in a rubber truck.
Yes, and I am remembering the guy who wanted to write exciting stories about the blood being donated by people in America. When guys came in with injuries due to stupid mistakes, he didn’t want to write about that.
Played by veteran character actor Mills Watson. Probably best known as the deputy in Sheriff Lobo.
And a singular comedic genius in Up In Smoke.
Did you accidentally a “not” in there?
But yeah, all three main-cast replacements were improvements. But I’d say that the main way that BJ was better than Trapper was that he was distinct. Originally, it was Hawkeye, and The Other Hawkeye, Except Not Quite as Much. BJ was just enough like Hawkeye to be able to be a friend to him, but otherwise almost completely different.
Yes.
If anyone did not hear, Alan Alda and Mike Farrell got together and acted out a new MASH scene as Hawkeye and BJ. It was a MASH script written by AI.
You can hear Alda’s voice sounds different, but Mike Farrell sounds exactly the same as he did when he played the part.
Ho-Jon from the TV show just died, another small cast member to leave us.
Can’t really really recall him. But sounds like a good life (though sucks to lose your father so young) and 82…
Total agreement on Farrell (86), Alda (89) sounds like Alda yet he’s lost the Hawkeye.
Maybe I’ll change my custom title to Realized I’ve Been A Jerk.
Ho-Jon is the Korean boy they pay to clean. They, in the show, eventually get have him go live with Hawkeye’s Dad and attend college…never to be seen again.
In the movie, he was going to be all cured up, then come back and die on the operating table, but they cut the scene.
I identify with a few characters. I liked Trapper because he was funny and affable, yet sharp. I also, at moments, found myself liking Henry Blake. He was a lovable drunk, an inept leader, but when it mattered, he was resilient.
My opinion about the show in its entirety is that it was almost like two different shows. The first few seasons were campy and made fun of the war. There were comedic moments that were slapstick, like the original movie. When Potter came in, things took on a serious nature, and the show was different. Then BJ arrived, and Winchester and it was too serious. I know that Frank Burns was a simple character, but he served a purpose. He was great for Hot Lips to be ridiculous with. When Burns left, hot lips lost her devil may care attitude…she became to focused on her career. Also, Radar was needed as glue to keep things running smooth. When he left he show spiraled.