Blogs & News

Anonymous Critic

MASH: No more

November 22, 2006

This may be the wrong time to say this, due to the untimely death of Robert Altman, but I can’t watch any more episodes of M*A*S*H.

It’s a show that still holds the honor of having the most-watched series finale of all time. But here’s a little known rumor that I’m going to continue to spread about the Nielsen families. We hear a lot of speculation in the TV circuit about the ratings system’s flaws back in the day.

And "MASH" is supposed to be the prime example.

In a time when television was just beginning to explore it’s political side, or “TV that means something” – "MASH" was doing a show about war. And though many of the Neilsen families weren’t watching it, (because let’s be honest, it’s just not that funny) a lot of them were writing into their "watching journals" that they were. Hence the huge ratings. This is, let’s be clear, just a rumor we’ve heard a few times. And there’s no real way to be sure. But boy, that makes sense.

Comments

Edgeoforever wrote:

Mash has been the sanity zone on TV - as I avoided the pundits lying about the current war.
Sorry Altman died, I loved his other movies but M.A.S.H was not one of them.
The series though - I watch every night - and always laugh. And never at the straw man examples you gave.
We live in times of an absurd war, when everyone is been afraid to to tell the truth for years. Very few truthful voices on TV on the matter.
Keith Olberman. Comedy Channel and Hawkeye.That's about it.

posted at November 22, 2006 07:55 PM

wasteofbandwidth wrote:

To show how much of a moron you are,
"with a drunken clown-doctor with a clever nickname" really would have been more relevant with "drunken-clown doctor" as more often than not, alcoholism, and it's effects, were shown more than "clown-doctors". (ie: doctors that dressed as clowns) Perhaps you should think about the actual Vietnam War AND it's effetcs. Until thwen, you get an "F" on interpretation.

Wasn't funny? Neither was Cheers. And perhaps Cheers could have benefitted from a few more episodes highlghting the effect of drunk driving. Cliff gets thrown through his mail truck's front window because he's a booze-hound would have made a great episode. TV isn't about reality, it's about entertainment, moron.

posted at November 26, 2006 12:04 PM

PileggiFan wrote:

MASH not funny? Hmmm. When did they start letting aliens from Planet Idiot write columns here?

posted at November 27, 2006 02:17 PM

Karen wrote:

What are you talking about? Mash was one of the very first shows of it's kind. You have to be older than 35 to appreciate the humor. Just because it doesn't have curse words, people like jackass on it, doesn't mean it isn't one of the funniest shows of all time.

posted at November 27, 2006 03:05 PM

Chris M. wrote:

You don't even have to be 35 to appreciate it, I've significantly younger than that and the show's *fantastic.*

posted at November 29, 2006 11:41 AM

Dennis Booth wrote:

I have the complete collection of MASH. It was and still is a funny show, Alda is absolutely brilliant but there is much more to the series than just humour. The pathos and the sheer hell of war is more than ably demonstrated in any number of the series. Might I suggest that as good as Altman was that perhaps a shade of envy and jealousy set in that a spin-off of his successful movie was so tremendously successful. Lets face it for the show to run for so long and to have to many viewers says a great deal. I think also from memory that more people viewed the final episode than any previous show.

posted at November 29, 2006 09:10 PM

Smelly Kelly wrote:

My friend! Looks like you and me are in a very exclusive group. When I was a kid, I *LOVED* TV and would watch just about anything. Anything except "M*A*S*H*" (or "Barney Miller," but that's another post for another time). To me, "M*A*S*H*" was terribly pretentious and self-rightous and self-important and not terribly funny.

And I think it still is. My local FOX affiliate recently used to run it at various times on the weekends and light nights. It came on, and I figured I'd give it a try, since I'm a grown up now. Didn't make no difference. I found it terribly pretentious and self-rightous and not terribly funny.

The only reason I would even thing about watching it is to see Wayne Rogers, because I'm a sucker for cute, curly-headed guys. But then Alan Alda gets on my last nerve, so. . .

posted at December 2, 2006 12:09 AM

helen wrote:

I think the series was a lot funnier than the movie. I didn' care for the movie, but loved the series. I like to watch it every night. Anyone who thinks the people who like the series are morons, is a moron themselves. We all have different tastes and as long as there are people who enjoy the show, it should be aired in sindication.

posted at December 2, 2006 06:55 AM

DL wrote:

MASH is and always will be a classic but it may be difficult for someone in this era of idiot, Jackass, Reality TV numbness. As for the ratings rumor, who cares now. Maybe the same goes for many shows. Not just the one you are targeting. ANd for the truly idiotic, it was the Korean War not Vietnam, dumba**.

posted at December 3, 2006 12:07 PM

greg wrote:

MASH was funny and thought-provoking (although
you didn't know you were thinking) at one time.
But as soon as a political agenda enters the
scripts, it goes flat, they all do. Look at
DESIGNING WOMEN, as soon as we had to hear Linda
Bloodsworth's political views, the show failed.

posted at December 4, 2006 11:28 AM

Indigo810 wrote:

MASH was by far one of wittiest, poinant, heart-wrentching, clever, wonderfully-written and honest TV shows, then and now. I was 7 yrs old when I first started watching it on late-night reruns (along with Mary Tyler Moore and The Odd Couple), grew up to watch the series (it aired at 9pm, Mondays, I think), bawled thru the series finale when I was in HS, and I continue to watch it everytime its on, along with watching it on my DVD collection. In fact, I didn't know of the film until I was in HS--I grew up watching MASH. I appreciate the film also as being incredibly witty. Nothing gets better than MASH...it's timeless humor...

posted at December 4, 2006 12:00 PM

dumbod wrote:

Actually, there were two MASH's. The first had McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers. It was funny and somewhat more true to the "Suicide is Painless" soul of the movie. It was TV but, remembering the time frame, it had some edge.

The second MASH became the Alan Alda show; was preachy, predictable (watching Alan Alda do poor Groucho impressions got really old really quickly), unsubtle and not funny. It was the "personification" (showifcation?) of dumbing down. Too bad.

posted at December 5, 2006 08:33 AM

Linda wrote:

Writing that MASH was not (is not)funny ranks right up there with saying this Administration knows what they are doing in Iraq? What planet is that guy from?

posted at December 5, 2006 01:46 PM

Luvin'Life wrote:

The examples you give illustrate your superficial point of view. "enter drunken clown doctor" sounds as if there was a new one each week & if Loretta Switt was "mannish" for being outspoken, then I guess her obsession with Frank was her inner homosexual male side trying to get out?

Criticize her character for being too emotionally dependent on a buffoon or something else real when picking on the show, for pete's sake. This show was (at the time) innovative and risk-taking and other shows began delving further into realism because of it.

You don't like war and humor? Blame America's early viewing audiences for having to be spoon fed a realistic view of war in comedic blended doses. But you might want to start with Hogan's heroes, Sgt.Bilko, Gomer Pyle, etc, or even F-troop for that matter.

Unwilling to admit to enjoying our emotionally stunted, head in the sand, racially insensitive, bone-headed early TV shows?

Maybe you should give a show that attempted to move us past that fluff and get us thinking, a break--even if it did get preachy at times.

posted at December 6, 2006 01:25 PM