# The only M\*A\*S\*H fan. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561 "2003-05-26T11:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/61 "2003-05-28T18:26:43Z")
You know what? I’ve completely blocked out Radar’s leaving. Did he come back for the finale? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/62 "2003-05-28T18:44:15Z")
Radar only figured into the plot a couple of times after he was granted a hardship discharge. The first was BJ and Klinger getting pissed then drunk, the second was the call to Ottumwa and finding he wasn’t doing so well, the third was the time capsule in which Hawkeye put the teddy bear. I wonder if that time capsule is still somewhere under the [Malibu Creek State Park](http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=614). ---
**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:** [May 28, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/63 "2003-05-28T19:19:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*Radar only figured into the plot a couple of times after he was granted a hardship discharge. The first was BJ and Klinger getting pissed then drunk, the second was the call to Ottumwa and finding he wasn’t doing so well, the third was the time capsule in which Hawkeye put the teddy bear. > > I wonder if that time capsule is still somewhere under the [Malibu Creek State Park](http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=614). \*\* Let’s not forget Radar’s important roles in **After M_A_S\*H** and **W_A_L_T_E\*R** On second thought, let’s forget them. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/64 "2003-05-28T19:40:20Z")
Ah, yes! Jonathan Tuttle, Druid – Reformed. I was so obsessed with M_A_S\*H at one point that I wanted to turn our guest room into a replica of the swamp. I finally spend a summer writing a trivia book that was about 300 pages. I submitted it to Harry Abrams Publishers (who held the license). They liked it but wanted to see how well _The Complete Book of M_A_S_H\* did. Meanwhile, I divorced, changed my name and moved away. I didn’t notify the publisher of the change. Doh! My favorite seasons were after Frank left and Winchester came along. B.J. was there too. But I think that it did go on two or three seasons too long. They were repeating themselves. Anyone remember the name of Colonel Potter’s horse? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/65 "2003-05-28T20:26:59Z")
Sophie! ---
**Author:** ![bwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwk)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/66 "2003-05-29T04:34:48Z")
I like the continuity errors when they first find the horse. First it is chestnut with a blaze, and then a bay, and then some other color. And Radar was saying, ‘easy, boy.’ I like that it pooped on the floor in the office. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/67 "2003-05-29T06:41:30Z")
You know, I was just thinking about the finale, and I think that the Hawkeye/Hot Lips goodbye kiss was one of the best things I’ve ever seen on the show. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/68 "2003-05-29T11:19:04Z")
That’s what threw me about the episode where they find Sophie. Surely a farm boy and animal lover like Radar could tell a male from a female horse. He admitted to looking at _National Geographic_ for the “African issues” as a boy, don’t tell me he wasn’t watching the farm animals doing it. He might have been peeking through his fingers and saying, “Ooo! Ick!” the whole time but he would have peeked. I love all the references to Godzilla movies playing at the camp. That’s pretty amazing considering that the first film wasn’t made until after the Korean War, much less released in America with the footage of Raymond Burr added to it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/69 "2003-05-29T14:08:15Z")
That’s the thing about M_A_S\*H, they took bits and pieces from all over the time frame (sometimes from out of the frame) and tossed them in. I don’t have any specifics but some of the references when Potter was CO should have happened when Henry was there, for example. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/70 "2003-05-29T19:08:09Z")
M_A_S\*H was probably the best sit-com over the long haul (pushed for this perhaps by _All in the Family_ for those who liked the humor of that show). But the all time best sit-com for funniest, side-splitting episodes has to be _Soap_. Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do with the tale of two families filled with disfunctional characters… M_A_S\*H was at its best during the period after Frank leaves and until Radar leaves. It is too bad that they didn’t have Trapper around then; the character of the Swamp changed considerably with his replacement by the more low-key and serious B. J. (“anything you want them to…”). But Winchester for Burns was delicious, replacing what had become a tired shtick with a sublime foil. Of all the shows on T.V., I probably, no, definitely watched M_A_S\*H more religiously than any other. Nowadays, the only TV I watch regularly is Saturday or Monday Premier League games… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/71 "2003-05-29T20:35:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Labdad \* > \*\*Potter is Father Time at the New Years’ Party welcoming 1951 > > Klinger runs a baseball bet all season long, taking the Brooklyn Dodgers against the rest of the league. Charles bets heavily, giving very long odds. The episode ends with everyone listening to the Giants/Dodgers game where Bobby Thompson hit “The Shot Heard Round the World.” (“The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”) Charles loses big. \*\* Actually, the episode ended with a MovieTime (?) news reel showing the highlights of 1951… when the Giants HR was showed, Winchester went in a rage, tore down the screen and shouted “Where is that Lebanese… (something or other).” I love M_A_S\*H as well, and consider it my all-time favorite TV show because I can still watch it 25 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561/72 "2003-05-31T04:01:59Z")
It’s almost summer. You know what that means for an unemployed student like me? M_A_S\*H! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-only-m-a-s-h-fan/177561.md?page=3)