thats so awful, actor gary burghoff, was also a talented drummer in several known bands, he was a broadway actor , he has 2 patents for his fishing bait inventions, a well accomplished man, but he was typecast as radar o reily and was never able to escape the character, he would go on match game or hollywodd squares as gary burghoff, and people on the show would address him as radar or always talk about mash,maybe he liked getting the bear but i can see how it would be painfull for him,
@@salag13 Nimoy actually *embraced* his role as Spock later on, going on to narrate Star Trek Online, where there is a memorial to him on the planet Vulcan.
@@kennethneece4838 Everyone else calls him Henry, and it's a friendly gesture; Frank calls him Henry, and it's a clear sign he doesn't take Blake seriously. (Yeah, I know no one really takes either Henry or Frank seriously, but the difference is that most everyone likes Henry. )
There's another episode where Margaret does the talking for Frank and Henry says " wow Frank, I didn't see your lips move once!" That cracks me up too!😆
@trha2222 SERIOUSLY?! He was trying to get out of the service!!!! And if a person does dress this way, and he's clearly a man, then yes, he DOES have mental issues!!!!
It's the catch 22. Any sane person would try to get out. But that proves that they are sane and should stay. Any insane person would not try to get out. Hence they stay.
Jason Leslie- I always like it when they brought in Col. Flagg in the episodes and there was that episode of where Col. Flagg was somewhat interrogating BJ Hunnicut and Hawkeye Pierce and Col. Flagg was talking to Hunnicut thinking he was Pierce and Hawkeye told Col. Flagg he was Pierce and Col. Flagg turns to Hawkeye and says, you want to play that game, I can play it too!😄😄
@@kennethneece4838 yea flagg was always a welcomed return. He's hilarious. There's also the time that pierce suggested, very sarcastically, of dropping a nuke on the enemy. And flag was suggesting that he "not try and get friendly with them" They definitely got a great set of talent to do the show
Jeremy Herz there's an episode where Colonel Blake threatens to belt Frank in the mouth if Margaret doesn't shut up. I can't find it right now but it's my first favorite. This one is my second favorite. ❤
I liked the episode of where Frank sat there rather quietly while Margaret talked and Henry said to Frank, please say something, at least a gurgling sound would be better than nothing, then Margaret kept on talking and Henry finally said to Frank, Frank, you keep this up and someone is going to do an autopsy on you!😄😄
Frank says "clingers bucking for a section 8, I say we give him one" clincher says "bless you sir" pure gold. I'm 52 and seen all episodes loads of time and can still belly laugh at them today. Thank you mash team.
Well, this is a familiar sight: Frank and Margaret in Henry's office, bitching about something and threatening to go over his head. As Henry so passionately explained, "They already did that so many times, he's got Athlete's Scalp".
@@TheLowBrassDude The better was when Flagg asked who that was, and Captain Pak said "Thats my wife". Sidney was sitting right there and said, "Thats a very interesting remark Sam". In response, Pak said "Thanks for the house call Sidney".
Flaggs probably my favorite, he's just so dry. And the goofy shit he says with a serious attitude 😆 reminds me of Leslie Nielsen in Naked Gun. Ironically enough, he appeared in an episode lol
It took real talent for a actor, Larry Linfield to play a character like major Burns, a nerd,cluts,nearly brain dead,and all ways the bad guy,he was a really talented actor, never got the best of the other characters in the mash series, rest in peace Larry!!!
Unfortunately, the laugh track seems to have been scrubbed. The pauses originally included for the laugh track are still there, throwing off the timing of the scene and making it drag a bit. Better to do without the laugh track in the first place…..
If I were ever to meet any of my favorite stars, the first thing I would like to ask them is do they realize the joy they have given to so many people?
my favorite part of the series was the casual acceptance of most of the characters of complete insanity!...in an earlier episode..Lt Col Blake to Klinger..in the presence of jaw gaping high ranking visitors: (Klinger comes into Blake's office in a morning robe).."Klinger, it's past 5:OO, get into an evening gown!" Klinger.."Yes, Sir!"
I more saw it as refusing to acknowledge it as acknowledging it would give credence to his efforts for a Section 8. Both Blake and Potter knew Klinger wasn't crazy and ordering him to wear proper uniform would only result in a court martial for disobeying an officer. Klinger shot himself in the foot by actually being an asset to the MASH unit by doing his job and keeping morale up. You can tell through the series that all the doctors and nurses but Margaret and Frank thought highly of him as he was a true assistance to their work. And then he was made Company Clerk after Radar's leaving and he excelled even more. Not only that, he actually figured out he enjoyed what he was doing.
Being pedantic here, Henry Blake to Klinger, ‘Klinger, it is 4.00 in the afternoon and you are still in a housecoat, put a dress on, you don’t know who will be coming”
It was "both" an honor, and a pleasure.....and a privilege to grow up watching M.A.S.H.! Still my favorite TV show ever! The first five years or so of Andy Griffith is right there too! But it got really lame really fast after Barney left...
Ironically, in "The Andy Griffith Show" network run, its best ratings came during the color years, leaving the air as the Number 1 show ("I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld" were the others to accomplish that feat). However, as time went on, especially the late 1980's, it was clear that its best years were the first five. This is why most channels show the b&w episodes and color episodes separately or, more so, don't show the color episodes at all. As for M*A*S*H, it the standard for the evolution of a television show.
Libertu Bey to me, be it Mash, everybody loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Andy Grifith, Taxi, Mary Tyler Moore, 5 years is comic gold. For a ten year show as an example the first year takes a half year to get its legs and character development. Seasons 2-5 are gold. Then Cheers the series with Ted Dansen as with Andy Griffith and Mash, characters leave and its never Truly great again. Seasons 6-7 bring new characters and usually a new tone which also means new writers and some stars like Alan Alda writing and directing which got good on serious episodes but fell flat on comedy. Even going to color took something away from Andy Griffith. You can’t replace Don Knotts, Shelly Long, McLean Stevenson/ Wayne Rodgers, and Larry Linville and not change dramatically. By season 8-10 your watching out of habit and not content. After season 5 and Frank Burns leaving Mash was woeful comedic wise. Andy was almost unwatchable and Cheers had the good luck to have a huge ensemble but the timing between Sam & Diane gone forever. Anyone agree?
I remember watching M*A*S*H during the summer late in the evening with my mom, grandma, and sister. The funny thing is my mom wasn’t allowed to watch it when it was on the air. When my mom pointed it out to my grandma, she simply replied “Times have changed”.
I Never liked Mash after Wayne Rogers and Maclean Stevenson left. And Larry Linville for that matter. Just not the same, moreover, Mike Farrell’s character seemed too contrived and predictable. Winchester tried too hard to be unique and wasn’t and Colonel Potter was better playing that nut job general in just one episode. I’m still mad that they killed off Colonel Blake! 😡
Fun Fact a) most people tend to forget that MASH - the series is based on the movie MASH that had even more spike and satirem in fact the series had even tuned down those elements to be more family friendly. b) the more serious counter version to MASH was the movie BATTLE CIRCUS with Humphry Bogart as a doctor and June Allyson as a nurse. Just for reference.
Sheila Smith - absolutely! I was always a huge fan of Larry Linville. I think he was a phenomenal actor and did a superb job with Frank Burns. But it seemed to typecast him and I don’t recall seeing him in very many things after MASH. So sad to hear of his passing in 2000.
No, Frank did develop. But unlike everyone else, he became more despicable and pathetic. Not the kind of development one would want. But it made way for Winchester, who was every bit the snob of Frank and every bit the doctor of Hawkeye.
@Bob nagel Linville claimed, once, that he left because he had taken Burns as far as possible. He also claimed that he felt MASH left comedy ideas and started being more a Drama. We tend to forget that Linville was a good comedian though most overlook this fact.
At 0:50 when the Colonel stands and tips his hat to Klinger entering the room and then at 1:18 when the Colonel smiles admiringly at Klinger.. just kills me! 😂
The other night i was going thru the guide on tv, i asked my almost 14 yr old what do you want to watch, she says do we have any mash taped? Warmed my heart
Klinger himself said to his father that it was no wonder he didn't get a Section 8. He said that he was nobody special and that EVERYBODY was crazy around those parts.
Flying T-70 The laugh track in MASH was a recycled soundbyte so you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about and are just hating on what’s on television now because it’s new
Aaron I don’t hate new shows I hate shitty laugh tracks that play too often on any shows. I personally feel if you aren’t even going to try to match it up with actually attempts at humor then there’s no reason to even have a laugh track. So while yes MASH without a laugh track is better I felt it worth noting it felt less of a cheap trick (less of one, laugh tracks have and always will be cheap tricks unless used in a creative way). Or like “we have to have a laughtrack because we are a sitcom”. I don’t honestly care if it was a sound byte as long as it wasn’t overused. That’s what matters to me. So that’s why it still feels more genuine to me personally.
F. Peña Jamie Farr decided and agreed with executives and producers to drop the Klinger in dresses gag as the show became more serious especially after Gary Burghoff left the show and Klinger became company clerk. Farr also had young kids then and decided not to have his character wear dresses so they wouldn’t be made fun of. It had to do more with more somber tone the show became after season 7
This came from in interview Jamie Farr (klinger) for one of the anniversary shows. He said he stopped wearing dresses after Gary Burgof (radar) left mainly because his children were at an age where they or their friends would be watching and he didn’t want to embarrass them.
Rader acts like a child towards his teddy bear because he feels safest and most secure in the company of his childhood innocence, as well as the comfort connection it has to home. Really and turely, this becomes very normal for solider and people in general during horrific or even just hectic times. We find so much comfort in the things either from our own childhoods or something that takes us back and reminds us, no matter our age. Even in my 40's, if I was in the 4077, if not trying to lose myself in my own imagination and writing my own stories, I'd be trying to get my hands on some good books, children's books, Barbie dolls, or simple baby dolls or My Little Pony and would be playing with them any chance I could get.
Theres hardly an episode of MASH that I don't love. The acting, the script writing, the underlying cause of the need for mash units, these people are those I would choose to be my family. Fabulous, and as often as I watch the entire series from whoa to go, I still love it.
We had a guy in our Unit that wore glasses and wasn't a stones throw away in looks from Walter and he was called Radar. I know his last name, but after 30 years, I still don't know his first name and I'd say that the Coy clerk is the only person in a whole battalion, if not the entire Army, that knows his first name
@@snipper1ie In basic training, I had the nickname "Radar". Mainly because I had glasses and was the House Mouse (aka Flight Clerk). Not because I had a teddy bear. He stayed at home during basic.
Radar was probably crazier than Klinger--at least Klinger didn't give a sip of coffee to a Teddy bear. Leading an invisible camel was as close as he ever got.
Frank Burns was the only character who was not allowed to develop. Which was a shame. Larry Linville was a great actor and I really believe he could have done so much more.
Linville had said he left the show because of as much. That there was nowhere left to go with the character. Trapper didn't develop much as a character either, though. As much as I liked the early seasons, he wasn't differentiated enough from Hawkeye, and Pierce got most of the one liners that either of them could have delivered. He left the show abruptly over a contract dispute, so maybe his character could have gone somewhere, but we never got to see.
People forever try to analyze what MASH's true shark-jumping moment was. For it me, it wasn't Trapper leaving or Blake dying, it was when they decided to have Houlihan fall in love with Donald Penobscot, and then ultimately, Larry Linville's departure. The Hot Lips-Burns relationship was the comedic heart of the show, and it never was the same after that ended.
Really? I thought the show changed for the better when that happened. Until that point, Margaret was such an insufferable, hypocritical shrew that nobody liked or respected. Ditching Frank and Frank leaving was the best thing that could’ve happened to her character because it allowed her to grow and evolve as a person who had empathy and understanding. She didn’t fully shed her army colors, but she didn’t have to, she just needed to cut everyone else from Hawkeye to Radar to Klinger to the nurses some slack and show them respect and admiration. And ultimately they returned it to her.
The show acquired depth after Frank and Trapper left. Not so one-dimensional and cartoonish. BJ was a nuanced good guy character with occasional flaws, Winchester was a nuanced bad guy who had nobility. And Margaret's character was similar evolved into a more complex person than just a feisty head nurse having a fling with Frank. She developed toughness and vulnerability. I honestly don't know what you're on about.
@trha2222 Okay, but Frank was unbelievably cartoonishly unlikeable in every aspect (no fault of Larry Linville, that's how he was written). If you like pure farce, then cool. But for me, nonsensical farce is the easiest sort of comedy, the comedy of exaggeration. Trapper was fine, and BJ I had no trouble with - he seemed like a normal easy-going family guy dropped into a hellish situation he wasn't cut out for (neither Hawkeye nor Trapper were family guys, so that element of social dynamics was underrepresented till BJ could anchor those sorts of subplots). Henry and Potter I liked equally (obviously for different reasons). There were LOTS of farcical comedies like Three's Company and many more before and since (and lots of Britcoms). MASH evolved into something more, I'm a bit sad for you that you can't appreciate that show's evolution. It strangely reminds me of the Beatles going from 'Yeah yeah yeah' to freaking Abbey Road, Sgt Pepper etc. I like the entire Beatles' history, but they were most impressive in the later years...like MASH.
@trha2222 BJ wasn't slapstick funny, no. But that's not the only sort of funny. And Charles was certainly funny plenty of times, but if (as you say) you can't even watch an episode with BJ and Charles, how would you even know? Look, to take another example, Taxi was a great comedy from the same era. And like MASH, it dared to have some dramatic, heartbreaking moments - and those made for some of the best episodes, almost BECAUSE you weren't expecting such heartwrenching moments from what's usually a comedy. If you have to compartmentalize a drama as a drama, and a comedy as a comedy, and turn your nose up whenever a drama has a comedic moment or a comedy has a dramatic moment, go ahead. The rest of us will enjoy singularly fantastic writing and performing in these rare sorts of shows that are able to pull that off.
Plus, Frank was so inept that he wasn't a worthy adversary for Hawkeye or Trapper individually, never mind the two of them together. Winchester was as good a surgeon, wasn't an idiot, and could get the BETTER of Hawkeye on various occasions. And he had (under layers of snobbery) a core of integrity that Hawkeye had to grudgingly respect (and was even reciprocated on occasion). That made for a FAR more interesting conflict (Hawkeye vs Winchester) than Hawkeye vs a complete buffoon (Frank). If you don't get that, well, you don't get that. Your loss.
@@joenichols1958 On the other hand, the laughter covers some of the dialogue so it's quite intrusive. I know the show wasn't supposed to have a laugh track, but I also know they knew the US version would have one. I wonder if in the earlier episodes, they tried to find a middle ground and add some pauses where they guessed laughter would be edited in. I'm currently on Season 5 and it's like they gave up with that method. The acting feels more natural like they said "Screw the laugh track. The US version is butchered anyway."
Classic comedy! 😂😂😂 This kind of comedy just doesn't exist today. And to think the show was almost cancelled after the first season due to low viewers.
I remember this episode. In the end, Sigmund tells Klinger he will write a section 8 saying Klinger was homosexual. Klinger wasn't having it! LOL Times have changed.
As someone who has watched every single episode of M*A*S*H over, and over, and over again: - the first three seasons were the best, - seasons 4 and 5 were still very good, - seasons 6 and 7 had some good episodes, - seasons 8-11 were still heavily watched because the name of the show was M*A*S*H.
Klinger has the respect to come at attention, give Col. Blake a salute, and wait to be told to be at ease while Frank and Margaret do none of these as they complain about discipline in a military establishment.
“OK he’s here.Let’s have it. What’s wrong with Klinger?” Henry. “What’s wrong with Klinger? A soldier stands in your office in an evening gown and you ask what’s wrong?” Frank. This exchange between Henry & Frank always makes me laugh even though I’ve seen it more times than I can remember.
:45 - Her head nod is like the writers are telling us, "He spoke when she gave him permission to". Margaret was always the stronger of the two, this was driven home in the way they had them break up. I sure liked the early episodes with Frank, Henry, Sidney and Pat Morita as the Korean officer. :)
Frank and hot lips should never been complaining about anything, as they could have and should have have been courtmartialed for fraternization and definitely conduct unbecoming of an officer.
Mash wouldn’t have been the same without Radar. Its still great today to watch the reruns of this show. I know this was a show about the war but I’m thankful for the men and women who serve our country.
“Alright he’s here what’s wrong with Klinger?” O_o “I’ll admit he’s no Lana Turner.~” Why doesn’t Hot lips and Frank have no sense of humor in either of them?
Margaret grew up in the Army, and her father was probably a regular spit-n-polish soldier; she probably is a chip off the old block. Frank is just an officious jerk.
@@nolanboles8492 I believe there is an episode where Margaret does talk about her father, a general if I recall right andyes, he was very strict. Frank is just obnoxious because he's hoping to get some from Margaret later. I really don't think he'd care if she wasn't part of the picture.
@@wendigo-yt And not to push the crude dialogue too far, but as she indicated in Season 6 when comparing Frank's "performance" to her then-new husband Donald Penobscot, she actually rated Frank pretty high in that area.
This is one of the reasons why I preferred Potter, Burns and Hot Lips threatened to go over his head so often Blake might as well have had a ladder nailed to his back, with Potter you knew right off what would happen if you tried that.
Yeah, he ends up staying longer than all the others, getting married and searching for his wife's lost family. That should have been a TV show all it's own.
