# The bullying of Frank Burns in M\*A\*S\*H
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted
**Created:** [October 6, 2020, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329 "2020-10-06T10:53:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 10
### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/181 "2020-10-17T02:49:57Z")
MASH is on Hulu. Just watched S1E1 and noticed something which may have been edited out of the reruns I’ve seen - the opening sequence is a much longer version of the familiar opening theme sequence in S1E2 and beyond. It starts off with the people in the camp, unintroduced, doing whatever they’re doing… Hawkeye and Trapper are golfing, Houlihan and Burns are reading the Bible while playing footsie, and then Radar turns his head… and then the theme music starts, the same sequence (but with additional shots) but with no credits. Those came at the end of the episode.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/182 "2020-10-17T03:07:49Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> > [@Schnitte](#):
> >
> > I discovered MASH (can’t spell it with the asterisks here, Discourse interprets that as italics) for myself recently and watched the first season. …
>
> I agree with most of the previous replies, but no one has responded to THIS?! 😃
>
> Just curious, what is your age/location? Because for most - ahem - mature folk, M _A_ S _H was pretty damned hard to avoid. ISTR it was the standard post dinner watch in the dorm lounge. I think we joked that it was likely that at some point you could find a M_ A _S_ H rerun playing some where at any hour of the day/night. I think it was the first series that I absolutely felt I had ODed on, having seen every episode when they came out and multiple times in re-runs.
Just opened this thread and this reminds me of a joke I once played on a co-worker. This was back around 1990 and as you note, _MASH_ was everywhere. You would have no problem watching a thirty episodes of it each week. My co-worker and I were talking about TV shows we liked and he mentioned _MASH_.
I decided to mess with his head. I said “You know it’s a funny thing. I know it’s a popular show and all but I have never watched an episode of it. It’s not like I was trying to avoid it or anything. It’s just I’ve never happened to watch it.” (This was of course a complete lie.)
My co-worker was incredulous. _“How could you never watch it? It was on for years. They show reruns all the time.”_
I just kept saying it with a deadpan face and I finally had him convinced I had somehow never seen the show.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/183 "2020-10-17T03:15:49Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> I think they used that bit twice on the show, because I distinctly remember both happening.
We’re talking about a series set in a war that only lasted thirty-seven months that had four Christmas episodes.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/184 "2020-10-17T03:41:46Z")
In one episode, Margaret’s marriage is on the rocks, she and Hawkeye are behind enemy lines (I could be mixing episodes here), and she and Hawkeye have an uncharacteristically intimate conversation. Hawkeye says “Well, Frank Burns was no Donald Penobscott.” And Margaret replies “In some ways, Donald was no Frank Burns.” The man could apparently do something right…
I live in Korea and there is no awareness by Koreans of this show that is just about the only thing most Americans of my generation have ever seen of Korea. I like the arduous, deadly jeep trips between Uijeongbu (where the 4077th is located) and Seoul. In real life, the two cities are practically across the street from each other, like Yonkers and New York City (_Hello Dolly_ has a similar running gag about the long, involved train trip between those two).
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/185 "2020-10-17T18:19:32Z")
S1E4. Frank is writing letters to his ex-patients from his practice. (Smart!) Hawkeye and Trapper give him shit, to which Frank responds “You’re both just jealous. I was in practice only three years and I already had a $35,000 house and 2 cars.” The reaction shot was of Trapper, who merely looked at Frank, saying nothing.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/186 "2020-10-17T18:33:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> Just watched S1E1 and noticed something which may have been edited out of the reruns I’ve seen - the opening sequence is a much longer version of the familiar opening theme sequence in S1E2 and beyond.
Plenty of stuff was removed from syndication in order to have more time for commercials; there’s a wiki list somewhere for everything that had been edited out.
Almost all episodes on MeTV either were never edited or had their removed content restored; in some cases, only the edited versions exist. I’m guessing Hulu has the same epsidoes.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/187 "2020-10-17T18:37:39Z")
I think I’ve only ever watched it in syndication. Sounds like I’m due to rewatch. Are the episodes on Hulu the restored versions?
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/188 "2020-10-17T19:04:35Z")
Seems to be. I’ve gone through S1E6 and there are shots, lines that I don’t remember. Could be wrong, however.
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/189 "2020-10-17T20:15:32Z")
Still technically possible.
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### Author:  [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/190 "2020-10-18T06:22:57Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#):
>
> Still technically possible.
Not when hostilities started in June 1950 and ended in July 1953. 😉
(Unless it was [Christmas in July](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_July).)
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/191 "2020-10-18T07:54:21Z")
> [@robby](#):
>
> Not when hostilities started in June 1950 and ended in July 1953.
All those Christmas episodes, along with other impossible timelines\* and the early installment weirdness of character’s backstories, are why the show works best with each season – and sometimes a single episode\* – existing in its own reality.
\*Col. Potter being established as arriving on 19 September 1952 then being present for New Year’s '50 & '51.
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/192 "2020-10-18T12:34:45Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#):
>
> I live in Korea and there is no awareness by Koreans of this show that is just about the only thing most Americans of my generation have ever seen of Korea. I like the arduous, deadly jeep trips between Uijeongbu (where the 4077th is located) and Seoul. In real life, the two cities are practically across the street from each other, like Yonkers and New York City ( _Hello Dolly_ has a similar running gag about the long, involved train trip between those two).
Back in my young and single days, I knew a young lady from South Korea who was in the US for college. MASH was part of my clumsy attempts to flirt with her. She was completely unfamiliar with the show, of course, but she was slightly impressed that I had even heard of Uijeongbu. She was less impressed that I didn’t pronounce it correctly. 😀
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/193 "2020-10-18T12:48:16Z")
Friend of mine was dating a woman from Taiwan. When he met her brother, Ming, he (my friend) learned too late that Flash Gordon was not widely known in Taiwan.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/194 "2020-10-18T14:04:04Z")
In regards to problematic MASH episodes, in the first 6 episodes of Season 1 we’ve seen:
1. A racist charicature of a Chinese smuggler (John Ho)
2. Hawkeye buy a Korean slave.
3. Houlihan being set up, and having to endure, a sexual assault by a visiting psychiatrist.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/195 "2020-10-18T15:25:38Z")
> [@robby](#):
>
> > [@Dr\_Paprika](#):
> >
> > Still technically possible.
>
> Not when hostilities started in June 1950 and ended in July 1953. 😉
It’s also very clear that the first season (and all subsequent ones) do not take place in the first year of the war. The first year was what is often called the mobile phase of the war; the North Koreans invaded in June 1950, they almost succeeded in occupying all of South Korea, the Americans landed at Inchon and retook the south, then the Americans and South Koreans launched a counter-invasion into North Korea and almost occupied all of that country, then the Chinese intervened and drove the Americans and South Koreans back to the area of the original border. It was late December and early January when the armies settled into the stalemate situation we saw in _MASH_.
So all of the events we saw in eleven seasons of _MASH_ would have taken place in the thirty-one month period from December 1950 to July 1953 when the armistice was signed.
_MASH_ of course has some glaring chronological inconsistencies. Here’s some episodes which mention explicit dates:
“Point of View” - Season 7 - a soldier writing a letter says it’s September 11, 1951
“Radar’s Report” - Season 2 - Radar writing a report says it’s October 22, 1951
“Welcome to Korea” - Season 4 - A PA Announcement says it’s September 12, 1952 (this is when BJ arrives). Another announcement at the end of the episode says it’s September 19, 1952 (this is when Potter arrives).
“Our Finest Hour” - Season 7 - A character making a documentary says it’s October 9, 1952
“The Most Unforgettable Characters” - Season 5 - Radar writing a report says it’s June 13, 1953
This obviously makes no sense. Even if we assume the events we see in the show didn’t occur in the order of the episodes being broadcast, how do we explain Radar still being in Korea in June of 1953? That would mean all of the events of the show’s final three seasons - after Radar left - occurred in the six weeks between June 13 and war’s end on July 27.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/196 "2020-10-18T15:38:42Z")
The Goldberg got neatly around this by saying every episode takes place in “1980something.”
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/197 "2020-10-18T15:40:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> “Welcome to Korea” - Season 4 - A PA Announcement says it’s September 12, 1952 (this is when BJ arrives). Another announcement at the end of the episode says it’s September 19, 1952 (this is when Potter arrives).
Just wanted to add that both are already there for New Year’s in ‘52, and ‘51 (and, apparently, ‘50) as seen in “A War For All Seasons”.
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/198 "2020-10-18T16:12:37Z")
I suspect the original episodes were closer in spirit to the books on which the show was based. The series aired 1972-1983, which were probably not the best and brightest years. Even dark comedies are rarely known for their historical verisimilitude. However, I have a plan so cunning, you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel…
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/199 "2020-10-18T16:17:34Z")
You mean the reason Elizabeth I never had kids _isn’t_ because she was secretly Price Ludwig the Indestructible of Germany?
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bullying-of-frank-burns-in-m-a-s-h/922329/200 "2020-10-18T16:37:11Z")
‘Shorty-Greasy-Spot-Spot’?
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