Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Forgotten TV-A Favorite Episode of M*A*S*H
In the third season of MASH, the actor playing Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) decided he had a better future off the show and the writers shocked Americans, with an episode that killed him rather than sent him home. I never remember being this shocked by a TV show. Unfortunately, this series was his finest hour. And his replacement, Colonel Potter (Harry Morgan) had a long run in his place. He was probably a better fit for the long haul.
I don't much watch the later seasons of MASH, which at the time I loved. But now if I watch a rerun at all, it is those early, loony seasons that hold up best for me.
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10 comments:
I watched MASH sporadically. I agree with you: the early years were better.
I cried watching this episode and the reruns for a decade after. One of the best episodes of American television.
The more power Alan Alda got behind the scenes, the worse the show became, IMHO. And does anyone remember McLean Stevenson's post-MASH show, "Hello, Larry"?
I started watching Mash after it was in syndication. I generally enjoyed it pretty well. Liked Colonel Potter best.
I barely remember HELLO, LARRY. Yes, it was a big mistake on Stevenson's part, even if the scriptwriters never did get a consistent bead on him (apparently Stevenson and Burghoff were the least popular cast members on the set; Harry Morgan apparently kept his aggression in check till he got home). Potter the character helped them further the sloppy sentimentalism they encouraged throughout the later seasons, after the often very sharp observation of the first three seasons. Henry having in his indirect way to chew out Pierce, Trapper learning, without really wanting to, how a Frank Burns is created (some savage child abuse in an otherwise repressive family), the adventures in desk-trading and boot seeking, the sniper vs. the camp were all more memorable than nearly anything in the final eight seasons. Though this might win the Least Overlooked award this week...this episode has stuck with people. "Abyssinia, Henry", episode 324.
I don't agree. I liked Potter and BJ better than Henry Blake or Trapper. But this was a good episode.
Jeff M.
The actors were not told ahead of time that Blake's character would be killed. Their reactions on-screen when told his plane went down were real. Great television, but I always thought it was a rather cruel trick to play.
It is not the replacement of characters I meant. It was that the show became mushy and didactic (Alda's influence as Deb points out). Now I am in agreement with its loathing of war and I like Alda, but it does not make good TV week after week. The cast was good in both incarnations to me.
I was very excited to see HELLO, LARRY and then I realized he had always and would always play himself.
My second comment disappeared...yet again.
Anyway, Frank Burns was basically a cartoon character and Margaret became much more of a real person as the series went on.
Jeff M.
Well, Jeff...not quite. Margaret threatened to become a real character, as did Frank, fleetingly in the early series, and then Margaret became an Earth Mother and Frank was made ever more witlessly cartoonish till he was written off.
Trapper and Henry were supposed to be spikier characters than Potter and BJ. That was part of what made them better characters in the series. I didn't need a TGIF version of M*A*S*H, but that's what we got. There were some good episodes, but it lost a lot of integrity.
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