1972-1983
FOUR-STAR EPISODES
A four-star movie begat 61 four-star episodes. No other television show comes close.
-season one: 8
-season two: 9
-season three: 11 (by this measure, the greatest single season of serial television ever)
-season four: 9
-season five: 9
-season six: 5
-season seven: 1
-season eight: 5
-season nine: 1
-season ten: 0
-season eleven: 3
PERFORMANCES (# of episodes)
Alan Alda (Benjamin Franklin Pierce, 251)
Who was the most influential creator of the most influential sitcom ever? Larry Gelbart. After that...Burt Metcalfe? Or Alan. He wrote nineteen episodes, directed thirty, and was creative consultant for one hundred thirty-one. All with nary a single Hawkeye-less entry.
HAWK-A-THON
-Yankee Doodle Doctor
-Tuttle
-Dear Dad, Again
-Adam's Ribs
-The Late Captain Pierce
-Hawkeye
-The More I See You
-Hawk's Nightmare
-Inga
-Peace on Us
-Who Knew?
-Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen
Loretta Swit (Margaret Houlihan, 237)
One of the most clearly-rendered character arcs in television history.
HOTLIPS-A-THON
-Hot Lips and Empty Arms
-The Nurses
-Margaret's Marriage
-Comrades in Arms
-Stars and Stripes
-Father's Day
Jamie Farr (Max Klinger, 211)
Early-series Klinger was classic, latter-series Klinger lovely (though occasionally forced). Who wouldn't love an actor who turned "Halt! Who goes there?" into a character for the ages? Think of how the very lifeblood of M*A*S*H would have been diminished had Klinger been portrayed swishily, as originally written?
KLINGERTHON
-Chief Surgeon Who?
-Radar's Report
-Ain't Love Grand
-Too Many Cooks
-Dear Uncle Abdul
-As Time Goes By
William Christopher (Francis Mulcahy, 210)
William created a character so sweetly and understatedly lovable, we forgot to be annoyed that he's a bible-thumper.
MULCAHYTHON
-Alcoholics Unanimous
-Movie Tonight
-Mulcahy's War
-Dear Sis
-Blood Brothers
-Heroes
Harry Morgan (Sherman Potter, 179)
Can anybody calculate how towering it is that every episode from seasons 4-11 didn't end with the viewer thinking about how much they miss Henry?
POTTERTHON
-Change of Command
-Dear Mildred
-Hawkeye Get Your Gun
-Potter's Retirement
-Pressure Points
-Old Soldiers
Mike Farrell (B.J. Hunnicutt, 178)
See the previous actor's note.
B.J.-A-THON
-Welcome to Korea
-B.J. Papa San
-Hanky Panky
-Period of Adjustment
-The Party
-Oh, How We Danced
Gary Burghoff (Radar O'Reilly, 155)
A timeless synthesis of actor and character. Can we please have W*A*L*T*E*R released on dvd? We don't mind if it sucks.
RADAR-A-THON
-Springtime
-The General's Practitioner
-Fallen Idol
-Your Hit Parade
-Lt. Radar O'Reilly
-Mail Call Three
-Hot Lips is Back in Town
-Good-Bye Radar
-The Foresight Saga
-"It Had to be You", AfterMASH
David Ogden Stiers (Charles Emerson Winchester, 131)
Back up a fresh truckload of superlatives, please.
WINCHESTERTHON
-Fade Out, Fade In
-The Winchester Tapes
-Dr. Winchester and Mr. Hyde
-Mr. & Mrs. Who?
-Morale Victory
-Death Takes a Holiday
-Run for the Money
Larry Linville (Frank Burns, 117)
The greatest pure acting performance of the series?
BURNS-A-THON
-Five O'Clock Charlie
-Rainbow Bridge
-Major Fred C. Dobbs
-House Arrest
-Soldier of the Month
-Margaret's Engagement
Wayne Rogers (Trapper John Macintyre, 73)
Focusing on how well M*A*S*H replaced lost characters so seamlessly makes you overlook how easily Alan and Wayne made us forget Donald and Elliot.
TRAPPERTHON
-Requiem for a Lightweight
-Ceasefire
-As You Were
-Bombed
-Bulletin Board
-Check-up
McLean Stevenson (Henry Blake, 70)
The best character on the best sitcom ever.
BLAKE-A-THON
-Sometimes You Hear the Bullet
-The Army-Navy Game
-Cowboy
-Henry, Please Come Home
-The Trial of Henry Blake
-Henry in Love
-Abyssinia, Henry
Allan Arbus (Sydney Freedman, 12)
The highest per-episode rating of any M*A*S*H actor.
SIDNEYTHON
-O.R.
-Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?
-Dear Sigmund
-War of Nerves
-The Billfold Syndrome
-Bless You Hawkeye
Edward Winter (Col. Flagg, 7)
The second-highest per-episode rating.
FLAGG-A-THON
-Deal Me Out
-A Smattering of Intelligence
-Officer of the Day
-The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan
-Rally Round the Flagg, Boys
-"Trials", AfterMASH
Soon-Tek Oh (5)
The greatest recurring guest star in M*A*S*H history who never played the same role twice. Surgeon, soldier, medic, translator...and no one ever surrendered with more charm.
TEKOHTHON
-Love and Marriage
-The Bus
-The Korean Surgeon
-The Yalu Brick Road
-Foreign Affairs
-"Honor Thy Brother", TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY
GREATEST GUEST STAR PERFORMANCES
-Virginia Ann Lee, "The Moose"
-Leslie Nielsen, "The Ringbanger"
-Harry Morgan, "The General Flipped at Dawn"
-Blythe Danner, "The More I See You"
-Mariette Hartley, "Inga"
ENSEMBLE-A-THON
-Big Mac
-Deluge
-The Interview
-Point of View
-Life Time
-Our Finest Hour
COMINGS AND GOINGS
It's tempting to think about what might have been, had the original cast stayed together. But...a marathon of the debut and finale episodes of the changing characters might be the most satisfying marathon of all.
-Abyssinia, Henry
-Welcome to Korea
-Change of Command
-Fade Out, Fade In
-Good Bye Radar
Showing posts with label M*A*S*H. Show all posts
Showing posts with label M*A*S*H. Show all posts
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
M*A*S*H, season 11
FOUR STAR
-Foreign Affairs
Just when you thought that M*A*S*H had nothing left to say, Charles falls for a french Red Cross ambassador. He shuts down a touching romance, when he decides she is too bohemian. No happy ending, no lesson learned. How miserably human. The B plot almost rises to the same level, as a soulless P.R. major (Jeffrey Tambor[!] - THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) wants to make a hero out of an enemy pilot who (accidentally) delivered a high-tech plane to the americans. Hawk and BJ connive to replace the pilot with the translator (the infinitely-delightful Soon-Tek Oh in his final 4077 go-around) who actually wants to go to America.
-Who Knew?
Hawkeye has a fling with a nurse who is killed by a landmine. He realizes that nobody really knew her, least of all himself. He is forced to take a hard look at his own emotional standoffishness. The eulogy he delivers is one of Alan's most moving moments in the show's history. The fine B plot has Klinger trying to convince Winchester that hula hoops and frisbees would be good investments. Directed by Harry Morgan.
-Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen
If this isn't the most exquisite series finale of all time, i wish to know what is. Is it possible for me to overstate the sweeping, monumental brilliance? Yes, but i did quite well on my verbal SATs. Suffice to say that if every fan who ever loved this show were to have imagined the most perfect swan song, it's doubtful that many of those flights of fancy would have even come close to this. Tears, laughter, and everything in between. It starts and ends with Alan, who co-wrote and directed. They gave everyone memorable, perfect moments...but Hawkeye's storyline, which starts with him in a sanatorium after a nervous breakdown, is a stark, towering performance that, in a sense, was the only way to end his arc. In a way that perhaps the writers never even intended, it also makes a laser-sharp point about mental health. Earlier in the series, Sydney called Hawkeye the "sanest person" he'd ever me. If you think a mental breakdown during war isn't consistent with that, you don't understand sanity. Alan and Allan's scenes are searing. Hawkeye is ultimately sent back to camp. In the O.R., we hear armed forces radio announce the end of the war. It's indescribably moving. Mulcahy loses his hearing. Klinger stays in Korea, to help Soon-Lee find her parents. Winchester finds himself trying to teach a group of P.O.W.s about Mozart...only to see them killed after they finally get it right. And the mess tent farewells...you would think there's no way they could avoid being indulgent, with how long it goes on. But it's not. As the credits rolled, i stood in silence and clapped.
NOTEWORTHY
-Trick or Treatment ***
George Wendt! Andrew (no Dice) Clay!
-Run for the Money ***
A passable tale of a running scam pitting Mulcahy against the 8063rd's best, lifted up by a poignant gem of a B plot. Winchester defends a stuttering soldier, and tries to convince him he's not dumb. His behavior is curious, until the final shot reveals that his beloved sister at home is a stutterer.
-U.N., the Night and the Music ***
Not all flawless episodes are four stars. Some are merely delightful. Three U.N. delegates make a lasting impression. An Indian turns Potter and Klinger upside down. An impotent Swede falls into Margaret's arms. And an unctuous Brit outsnobs Charles, only to reveal that he's the son of a butler. Purely charming.
-Strange Bedfellows **
Potter's son-in-law (Dennis Dugan - Captain Freedom, HILL STREET BLUES) visits, and Sherm finds out he had an affair in Tokyo. Oh the angst, oh the hand-wringing! It's maudlin, embarrassing, and childish (not the affair, our society's obsession with soul-destroying monogamy), and only saved by the revelation that Potter had a similar affair when he was young.
-Say No More ***
It's fascinating to contrast this episode with numerous other M*A*S*H treatments of high-ranking officers insensitized to the killing they oversee. An abrasive general (John Anderson, PSYCHO) sets up a temporary base of command while his son is recovering from injuries. The son dies. There's no attempt to turn the general into a caricature, no crazy scheme whereby wacky doctors outwit said general. He and Hawkeye have an unexpectedly poignant and strikingly real conversation when Hawk delivers the news. Then of course, the general goes back to work. Ultimately there's the sense of something missing...but it was a hell of a try.
-Give and Take *
If you're ever trying to make someone understand that M*A*S*H could be saccharinly cringe-worthy, here's a nice exhibit A.
-As Time Goes By ***
A somewhat meandering penultimate episode, but sweet. Margaret prepares a camp time capsule, and Hawkeye lobbies to have less "proper" items included. The debut of Soon-Lee (Rosalind Chao - THE JOY LUCK CLUB, STAR TREK, AFTER MASH). They bury Radar's teddy bear.
-Foreign Affairs
Just when you thought that M*A*S*H had nothing left to say, Charles falls for a french Red Cross ambassador. He shuts down a touching romance, when he decides she is too bohemian. No happy ending, no lesson learned. How miserably human. The B plot almost rises to the same level, as a soulless P.R. major (Jeffrey Tambor[!] - THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) wants to make a hero out of an enemy pilot who (accidentally) delivered a high-tech plane to the americans. Hawk and BJ connive to replace the pilot with the translator (the infinitely-delightful Soon-Tek Oh in his final 4077 go-around) who actually wants to go to America.
-Who Knew?
Hawkeye has a fling with a nurse who is killed by a landmine. He realizes that nobody really knew her, least of all himself. He is forced to take a hard look at his own emotional standoffishness. The eulogy he delivers is one of Alan's most moving moments in the show's history. The fine B plot has Klinger trying to convince Winchester that hula hoops and frisbees would be good investments. Directed by Harry Morgan.
-Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen
If this isn't the most exquisite series finale of all time, i wish to know what is. Is it possible for me to overstate the sweeping, monumental brilliance? Yes, but i did quite well on my verbal SATs. Suffice to say that if every fan who ever loved this show were to have imagined the most perfect swan song, it's doubtful that many of those flights of fancy would have even come close to this. Tears, laughter, and everything in between. It starts and ends with Alan, who co-wrote and directed. They gave everyone memorable, perfect moments...but Hawkeye's storyline, which starts with him in a sanatorium after a nervous breakdown, is a stark, towering performance that, in a sense, was the only way to end his arc. In a way that perhaps the writers never even intended, it also makes a laser-sharp point about mental health. Earlier in the series, Sydney called Hawkeye the "sanest person" he'd ever me. If you think a mental breakdown during war isn't consistent with that, you don't understand sanity. Alan and Allan's scenes are searing. Hawkeye is ultimately sent back to camp. In the O.R., we hear armed forces radio announce the end of the war. It's indescribably moving. Mulcahy loses his hearing. Klinger stays in Korea, to help Soon-Lee find her parents. Winchester finds himself trying to teach a group of P.O.W.s about Mozart...only to see them killed after they finally get it right. And the mess tent farewells...you would think there's no way they could avoid being indulgent, with how long it goes on. But it's not. As the credits rolled, i stood in silence and clapped.
NOTEWORTHY
-Trick or Treatment ***
George Wendt! Andrew (no Dice) Clay!
-Run for the Money ***
A passable tale of a running scam pitting Mulcahy against the 8063rd's best, lifted up by a poignant gem of a B plot. Winchester defends a stuttering soldier, and tries to convince him he's not dumb. His behavior is curious, until the final shot reveals that his beloved sister at home is a stutterer.
-U.N., the Night and the Music ***
Not all flawless episodes are four stars. Some are merely delightful. Three U.N. delegates make a lasting impression. An Indian turns Potter and Klinger upside down. An impotent Swede falls into Margaret's arms. And an unctuous Brit outsnobs Charles, only to reveal that he's the son of a butler. Purely charming.
-Strange Bedfellows **
Potter's son-in-law (Dennis Dugan - Captain Freedom, HILL STREET BLUES) visits, and Sherm finds out he had an affair in Tokyo. Oh the angst, oh the hand-wringing! It's maudlin, embarrassing, and childish (not the affair, our society's obsession with soul-destroying monogamy), and only saved by the revelation that Potter had a similar affair when he was young.
-Say No More ***
It's fascinating to contrast this episode with numerous other M*A*S*H treatments of high-ranking officers insensitized to the killing they oversee. An abrasive general (John Anderson, PSYCHO) sets up a temporary base of command while his son is recovering from injuries. The son dies. There's no attempt to turn the general into a caricature, no crazy scheme whereby wacky doctors outwit said general. He and Hawkeye have an unexpectedly poignant and strikingly real conversation when Hawk delivers the news. Then of course, the general goes back to work. Ultimately there's the sense of something missing...but it was a hell of a try.
-Give and Take *
If you're ever trying to make someone understand that M*A*S*H could be saccharinly cringe-worthy, here's a nice exhibit A.
-As Time Goes By ***
A somewhat meandering penultimate episode, but sweet. Margaret prepares a camp time capsule, and Hawkeye lobbies to have less "proper" items included. The debut of Soon-Lee (Rosalind Chao - THE JOY LUCK CLUB, STAR TREK, AFTER MASH). They bury Radar's teddy bear.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
M*A*S*H, season 10
FOUR STAR - none
NOTEWORTHY
-That's Show Biz ***
This two-part season opener is long on heart and an innocence reminiscent of early seasons. A USO troupe is forced to lay over in camp. Legendary stripper Brandy Doyle (played by legendary hoofer Gwen Verdon) falls for Potter. Klinger endlessly emulates hack comic Fast Freddie. Winchester poo-poos an accordion player (Amanda McBroom), and is chagrined when she reveals herself to be a concert pianist payin' the bills (TREK fans might become moist when they recognize her from the TNG episode "Measure of a Man"). One plot line that looks retro but has the whiff of late-series maudlinity, involves a singer falling for Hawkeye, who rebuffs her because he doesn't want to "take advantage". You won't know whether to reach for the barf bag or tissue.
-Identity Crisis ***
One of two episodes David Ogden Stiers would direct. Joey Pantoliano (RISKY BUSINESS, THE MATRIX) is a soldier who has switched dog tags with a dying comrade who was due to be shipped home. He is counseled by Father Mulcahy. The presence of a priest on the greatest television half-hour of all time has never heretofore been irksome. But as the soldier tells Mulcahy he just doesn't want to kill any more, Mulcahy pushes him to resume his "duty". The offensive hypocrisy of anyone who wears that collar along with soldier garb has never felt more noxious. M*A*S*H dropped the ball by never devoting an episode to the obvious conflict of interest inherent in the phrase "army priest".
-Wheelers and Dealers ***
Potter must take a remedial driving course. His instructor is Sgt. Rizzo (G.W. Bailey, in the 8th of 13 episodes over five seasons). This is the first time G.W.'s appearance is seamless and spot-on. BJ is miserable that his wife had to take a job, and takes it out on everyone with undue aggression at the camp poker game, and then at the pinball table.
-Communication Breakdown ***
If getting to your tent from the shower naked be a rite of M*A*S*H passage, Charles finally belongs.
-Follies of the Living, Concerns of the Dead *
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhunh.. Before i get to the vomit-inducing part, let me say that there was some merit and perhaps even bravery in exploring the idea that people in a state of fever may be perceptive to realities that "normal" folk are not. Fair enough. Now...the only sane reaction to this episode is dragging yourself to the IMDB page to find out who was RESPONSIBLE. Not only who created it, but who gave it permission to breathe. There ain't a woodshed big enough. In a nutshell...Klinger has a high fever, and is able to talk to the "ghost" of a deceased soldier. Horribly, the creative footprints lead right to Alan's size 13s. Not just as director, but writer too. This isn't just mawkish prostrating to superstitious ignorance, either. At the end, the soldier joins a parade of the "deceased" heading off into the mist, they know not where. All the "dead" are soldiers...never mind the fact that the majority of war deaths are civilian. Alan should have known better. Somebody, anybody should have known better.
-Blood and Guts ***
Rita "Odin-be-praised-she-didn't-change-her-name-to-Hanks" Wilson!
-The Tooth Shall Set You Free **
Baby-faced Laurence Fishburne, anyone?
-Heroes ***
The camp is at the center of a press storm when a famous ex-boxing champ dies while on a morale tour. The man had been Mulcahy's boyhood hero, and William shines, particularly in the speech he gives at the comatose man's bedside.
-Sons and Bowlers ***
One rewrite shy of greatness. A serviceable plot about bowling is paired with a plot about Hawkeye finding out his father is being operated on for cancer. We are allowed to see more nakedly than ever how genuinely insufferable he could be. Charles accidentally becomes his confidant, and the two of them, alone and together, have some profoundly touching moments.
NOTEWORTHY
-That's Show Biz ***
This two-part season opener is long on heart and an innocence reminiscent of early seasons. A USO troupe is forced to lay over in camp. Legendary stripper Brandy Doyle (played by legendary hoofer Gwen Verdon) falls for Potter. Klinger endlessly emulates hack comic Fast Freddie. Winchester poo-poos an accordion player (Amanda McBroom), and is chagrined when she reveals herself to be a concert pianist payin' the bills (TREK fans might become moist when they recognize her from the TNG episode "Measure of a Man"). One plot line that looks retro but has the whiff of late-series maudlinity, involves a singer falling for Hawkeye, who rebuffs her because he doesn't want to "take advantage". You won't know whether to reach for the barf bag or tissue.
-Identity Crisis ***
One of two episodes David Ogden Stiers would direct. Joey Pantoliano (RISKY BUSINESS, THE MATRIX) is a soldier who has switched dog tags with a dying comrade who was due to be shipped home. He is counseled by Father Mulcahy. The presence of a priest on the greatest television half-hour of all time has never heretofore been irksome. But as the soldier tells Mulcahy he just doesn't want to kill any more, Mulcahy pushes him to resume his "duty". The offensive hypocrisy of anyone who wears that collar along with soldier garb has never felt more noxious. M*A*S*H dropped the ball by never devoting an episode to the obvious conflict of interest inherent in the phrase "army priest".
-Wheelers and Dealers ***
Potter must take a remedial driving course. His instructor is Sgt. Rizzo (G.W. Bailey, in the 8th of 13 episodes over five seasons). This is the first time G.W.'s appearance is seamless and spot-on. BJ is miserable that his wife had to take a job, and takes it out on everyone with undue aggression at the camp poker game, and then at the pinball table.
-Communication Breakdown ***
If getting to your tent from the shower naked be a rite of M*A*S*H passage, Charles finally belongs.
-Follies of the Living, Concerns of the Dead *
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhunh.. Before i get to the vomit-inducing part, let me say that there was some merit and perhaps even bravery in exploring the idea that people in a state of fever may be perceptive to realities that "normal" folk are not. Fair enough. Now...the only sane reaction to this episode is dragging yourself to the IMDB page to find out who was RESPONSIBLE. Not only who created it, but who gave it permission to breathe. There ain't a woodshed big enough. In a nutshell...Klinger has a high fever, and is able to talk to the "ghost" of a deceased soldier. Horribly, the creative footprints lead right to Alan's size 13s. Not just as director, but writer too. This isn't just mawkish prostrating to superstitious ignorance, either. At the end, the soldier joins a parade of the "deceased" heading off into the mist, they know not where. All the "dead" are soldiers...never mind the fact that the majority of war deaths are civilian. Alan should have known better. Somebody, anybody should have known better.
-Blood and Guts ***
Rita "Odin-be-praised-she-didn't-change-her-name-to-Hanks" Wilson!
-The Tooth Shall Set You Free **
Baby-faced Laurence Fishburne, anyone?
-Heroes ***
The camp is at the center of a press storm when a famous ex-boxing champ dies while on a morale tour. The man had been Mulcahy's boyhood hero, and William shines, particularly in the speech he gives at the comatose man's bedside.
-Sons and Bowlers ***
One rewrite shy of greatness. A serviceable plot about bowling is paired with a plot about Hawkeye finding out his father is being operated on for cancer. We are allowed to see more nakedly than ever how genuinely insufferable he could be. Charles accidentally becomes his confidant, and the two of them, alone and together, have some profoundly touching moments.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
M*A*S*H, season 9
FOUR STAR
-Death Takes a Holiday
The camp hosts a group of orphans for a Christmas dinner. Charles tries to uphold his family tradition of giving anonymously at holiday time, while BJ, Hawkeye, and Margaret try to keep a mortally-wounded soldier from dying on Christmas day. One of a very small handful of M*A*S*H episodes to prompt tears from two plot lines. Charles' moments are a touch more poignant, as he becomes enraged when the orphan's caretaker (Keye Luke: KUNG FU, GREMLINS) trades gourmet candy for rice and cabbage. Despite the mawkish glorification of charity, Charles' abashedness when he realizes what's happened, ranks among Stiers' finest moments. The wounded soldier dies at 11:25PM; Hawkeye changes the clock's hands.
NOTEWORTHY
-Letters ***
Like a sweet blast from the past, an episode that feels like it slipped through the cracks of the early seasons to suddenly appear, free of overearnestness. Little slices of life, as the camp responds to letters from grade schoolers back home. Potter shoots hoops.
-Father's Day ***
Andrew Duggan gives a seamless performance as Margaret's retired father, "Howitzer" Al Houlihan. On an inspection visit, he reacts with callousness to her need for acceptance and love. He comes to his senses a bit, but not in an unrealistic way.
-Oh, How We Danced ***
Hawkeye and crew prepare a surprise for BJ, who is disconsolate over being alone on his anniversary. They arrange for a home movie sent by Peg. If you're an easy mark for tears, bring the tissues.
-The Red/White Blues **
Every time a white person says "negro", you must take one drink.
-Blood Brothers ***
A towering performance by William Christopher. A Cardinal is due to visit, and Mulcahy is having fits over the camp's "wicked" ways. He spends a night with a soldier (Patrick Swayze) who's been told he has leukemia. The off-the-cuff sermon Mucahy delivers the following morning about the perils of self-absorption, will freeze you to your seat. Swayze too is disturbingly effective.
-The Foresight Saga ***
A letter from Radar tells of great success on the farm, but an accidental conversation with his mom reveals another story. Potter hits upon a plan to send a Korean youth, Park Sung, to live and work with Radar. Sweet.
-Death Takes a Holiday
The camp hosts a group of orphans for a Christmas dinner. Charles tries to uphold his family tradition of giving anonymously at holiday time, while BJ, Hawkeye, and Margaret try to keep a mortally-wounded soldier from dying on Christmas day. One of a very small handful of M*A*S*H episodes to prompt tears from two plot lines. Charles' moments are a touch more poignant, as he becomes enraged when the orphan's caretaker (Keye Luke: KUNG FU, GREMLINS) trades gourmet candy for rice and cabbage. Despite the mawkish glorification of charity, Charles' abashedness when he realizes what's happened, ranks among Stiers' finest moments. The wounded soldier dies at 11:25PM; Hawkeye changes the clock's hands.
NOTEWORTHY
-Letters ***
Like a sweet blast from the past, an episode that feels like it slipped through the cracks of the early seasons to suddenly appear, free of overearnestness. Little slices of life, as the camp responds to letters from grade schoolers back home. Potter shoots hoops.
-Father's Day ***
Andrew Duggan gives a seamless performance as Margaret's retired father, "Howitzer" Al Houlihan. On an inspection visit, he reacts with callousness to her need for acceptance and love. He comes to his senses a bit, but not in an unrealistic way.
-Oh, How We Danced ***
Hawkeye and crew prepare a surprise for BJ, who is disconsolate over being alone on his anniversary. They arrange for a home movie sent by Peg. If you're an easy mark for tears, bring the tissues.
-The Red/White Blues **
Every time a white person says "negro", you must take one drink.
-Blood Brothers ***
A towering performance by William Christopher. A Cardinal is due to visit, and Mulcahy is having fits over the camp's "wicked" ways. He spends a night with a soldier (Patrick Swayze) who's been told he has leukemia. The off-the-cuff sermon Mucahy delivers the following morning about the perils of self-absorption, will freeze you to your seat. Swayze too is disturbingly effective.
-The Foresight Saga ***
A letter from Radar tells of great success on the farm, but an accidental conversation with his mom reveals another story. Potter hits upon a plan to send a Korean youth, Park Sung, to live and work with Radar. Sweet.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
M*A*S*H, season 8
FOUR STAR
-Good-Bye Radar
After a feature film and 152 episodes, Gary Burghoff calls down the curtain. If you're tempted to second-guess his choice, this towering two-parter should silence you. It deftly avoids predictability and maudlinity, to stand with the series' best. Radar's Uncle Ed dies, and he is given a discharge. He can't decide whether to stay or leave. Finally and fittingly, his goodbye party is cancelled by incoming wounded. Peering through the O.R. window, he receives a goodbye salute from Hawkeye. After surgery, the swamprats return home to find Radar's teddy bear left behind.
-Period of Adjustment
Klinger struggles mightily with his new duties as company clerk. B.J. finds out that his daughter Erin called Radar "daddy" at the San Franciso airport. They go on a drinking binge, brought together by mutual Radar-resentment. B.J. destroys the still and punches Hawkeye out. B.J.'s agony, and reconciliation with a helmeted Hawkeye, are unforgettable.
-The Yalu Brick Road
A rollicking good time, as Hawkeye and BJ are lost near the front. They surrender to a North Korean soldier (the irrepressible Soon-Tek Oh!), who surrenders right back. They find a motorcycle, which BJ resuscitates. Back at camp, everyone is down with salmonella except Father Mulcahy. The first of four episodes written by Mike Farrell. Soon-Tek's adorable performance is one of the top-ten M*A*S*H guest turns of all time.
-Life Time
Unforgettable. Most of the episode passes with a ticking clock superimposed on the screen, counting down the minutes until a soldier will be permanently paralyzed, as the surgeons scramble to graft a piece of artery from a dying soldier into him. One slightly mawkish moment involving Kevin Brophy (star of LUCAN!) doesn't drag this brilliance down.
-Dreams
During a marathon OR session, everyone grabs quick naps and has disturbing dreams. Ensemble nirvana. They aimed big and found iconic touches, with images so subtly disturbing that they might filter into the viewer's dreams...Margaret in a bloody wedding dress, BJ dancing with his wife Peg (the first of two memorable appearances by Catherine Bergstrom), Winchester performing parlor tricks trying to save a life, Hawkeye losing two arms to an unforgiving professor, Klinger in Toledo watching himself on an army operating table...not top-ten worthy, but one hell of an effort. Maybe she just had an off-day, but on one of the few occasions they gave Nurse Kellye (uber-supporting actor Kellye Nakahara, the only non-regular to appear on the M*A*S*H IMDB title page, with 166 episodes, 11 more than Radar) an actual scene, she comes up with a, shall we say, unfortunate performance.
NOTEWORTHY
-Too Many Cooks ***
Dragged down by a Potter B plot that doesn't have legs, this story about a wounded, bumbling soldier (Ed Begley Jr.!!) who is a brilliant but misassigned cook, is a scrumptious delight. Klinger acts as his maitre'd and personal agent, until Ed asks to cook for his front-line unit. There's also a tiny scene of Radar in Tokyo supposedly partying, but actually alone in his hotel room. It's poignant and sweet, knowing Gary's episodes are almost gone. The Balmagia era is over...whew.
-Are You Now, Margaret? **
Unexpectedly hard-hitting and relevant compared to season 7. M*A*S*H takes on McCarthyism, when Maragaret is asked by a congressional aide to "name names" from her college days. She faces the loss of her career. The resolve feels recycled, but a wonderful attempt.
-Guerrilla My Dreams **
The irrepressible Mako (CONAN THE BARBARIAN) stars as a South Korean ready to torture and kill a North Korean when she recovers from surgery. M*A*S*H at its most unrealistic, soap-boxy worst.
-Mr. & Mrs. Who? ***
Absolutely seamless, resolutely non-cliched, and utterly charming. Charles gets monumentally drunk in Tokyo, and his new wife (the delightful Claudette Nevins) arrives in camp soon after. Stiers gets to show humanity, not just pomposity.
-Dear Uncle Abdul ***
Perhaps unique in M*A*S*H history for the greatest number of sub-plots juggled without any discernible weak link. Klinger writes to his uncle, Charles goes pheasant hunting, Margaret shoots her foot locker, Hawkeye and BJ bicker over who is a better joke-teller (that's all you do...BIRD imitations?), a mildly-retarded soldier (Richard Lineback, NATURAL BORN KILLERS) is looked after by his buddies, and in a moment that's more poignant than you remember, Mulcahy writes a Korean war song.
-Captains Outrageous **
A middling episode juiced up by the presence of John Orchard, he of ten episodes as Ugly John during the Henry/Trapper era. This time he's an Aussie blowhard named Muldoon.
-Stars and Stripes **
Joshua Bryant played Margaret's fourth love interest of the series, Jack Scully, in three episodes. The character was well-conceived and well-executed, but never became more perhaps because none of those episodes were four-star.
-Yessir, That's Our Baby ***
An example of a fine episode that (ironically) would have been laughed out of the studio exec's office had it been offered as a series pilot. It's just not funny. It almost gets away with it by tackling a very serious issue (unwanted mixed-race children of american G.I.s) with very good writing and acting...but it bites off a bit more than it can chew. Making it a two-parter might have saved it. A fine appearance by William Bogert (WARGAMES, CHAPELLE'S SHOW).
-Bottle Fatigue ***
Hawkeye drives everyone insane when he goes on the wagon. The B plot, about Winchester's attempt to stop his sister from marrying an italian, deserves a spot on a Winchester top-ten list...its only weakness is a turnaround that seems too easy. Look for a fine little performance by Shelley Long (CHEERS, THE MONEY PIT), as a date who alienates Hawkeye by tossing back a few.
-Heal Thyself ***
With a bickering Winchester and Potter quarantined with the mumps, a replacement surgeon (Edward Herrmann - THE LOST BOYS, RICHIE RICH) suffers a nervous breakdown. Wonderful.
-Old Soldiers ***
Iconic, four-star moments. The last of Potter's WWI cavalry buddies dies, leaving him morose and withdrawn, as a group of orphans pass through. The scene with Potter and a child eating fudge and listening to old french records, and the scene of Potter in his old uniform sharing decades-old brandy with his new friends, are Harry Morgan's finest M*A*S*H moments this side of "horse hockey".
-Morale Victory ***
The A plot, wherein BJ and Hawkeye deliver a beach party courtesy of Klinger's crabs, is serviceable. The B plot, wherein Charles tries to comfort a classical pianist soldier (James Stephens) who has lost dexterity in one of his hands, is towering...and even more amazing when you realize that Stephens didn't fully deliver the goods. May we propose the question, of how much credit goes to Mr. Stiers for the fact that M*A*S*H lasted six seasons beyond Frank Burns?
-Lend a Hand **
Alan wrote and directed this Alda family reunion, with Robert returning as the overbearing Dr. Borelli, and brother Antony playing a medic. Nice try.
-War Co-Respondent ***
The first episode Mike Farrell wrote and directed. BJ and a correspondent (Susan St. James, KATE & ALLIE) fall for each other. Poignant chemistry and nuanced acting almost overcome this mawkish, wretch-inducing love note to self-sacrificial monogamy.
-Good-Bye Radar
After a feature film and 152 episodes, Gary Burghoff calls down the curtain. If you're tempted to second-guess his choice, this towering two-parter should silence you. It deftly avoids predictability and maudlinity, to stand with the series' best. Radar's Uncle Ed dies, and he is given a discharge. He can't decide whether to stay or leave. Finally and fittingly, his goodbye party is cancelled by incoming wounded. Peering through the O.R. window, he receives a goodbye salute from Hawkeye. After surgery, the swamprats return home to find Radar's teddy bear left behind.
-Period of Adjustment
Klinger struggles mightily with his new duties as company clerk. B.J. finds out that his daughter Erin called Radar "daddy" at the San Franciso airport. They go on a drinking binge, brought together by mutual Radar-resentment. B.J. destroys the still and punches Hawkeye out. B.J.'s agony, and reconciliation with a helmeted Hawkeye, are unforgettable.
-The Yalu Brick Road
A rollicking good time, as Hawkeye and BJ are lost near the front. They surrender to a North Korean soldier (the irrepressible Soon-Tek Oh!), who surrenders right back. They find a motorcycle, which BJ resuscitates. Back at camp, everyone is down with salmonella except Father Mulcahy. The first of four episodes written by Mike Farrell. Soon-Tek's adorable performance is one of the top-ten M*A*S*H guest turns of all time.
-Life Time
Unforgettable. Most of the episode passes with a ticking clock superimposed on the screen, counting down the minutes until a soldier will be permanently paralyzed, as the surgeons scramble to graft a piece of artery from a dying soldier into him. One slightly mawkish moment involving Kevin Brophy (star of LUCAN!) doesn't drag this brilliance down.
-Dreams
During a marathon OR session, everyone grabs quick naps and has disturbing dreams. Ensemble nirvana. They aimed big and found iconic touches, with images so subtly disturbing that they might filter into the viewer's dreams...Margaret in a bloody wedding dress, BJ dancing with his wife Peg (the first of two memorable appearances by Catherine Bergstrom), Winchester performing parlor tricks trying to save a life, Hawkeye losing two arms to an unforgiving professor, Klinger in Toledo watching himself on an army operating table...not top-ten worthy, but one hell of an effort. Maybe she just had an off-day, but on one of the few occasions they gave Nurse Kellye (uber-supporting actor Kellye Nakahara, the only non-regular to appear on the M*A*S*H IMDB title page, with 166 episodes, 11 more than Radar) an actual scene, she comes up with a, shall we say, unfortunate performance.
NOTEWORTHY
-Too Many Cooks ***
Dragged down by a Potter B plot that doesn't have legs, this story about a wounded, bumbling soldier (Ed Begley Jr.!!) who is a brilliant but misassigned cook, is a scrumptious delight. Klinger acts as his maitre'd and personal agent, until Ed asks to cook for his front-line unit. There's also a tiny scene of Radar in Tokyo supposedly partying, but actually alone in his hotel room. It's poignant and sweet, knowing Gary's episodes are almost gone. The Balmagia era is over...whew.
-Are You Now, Margaret? **
Unexpectedly hard-hitting and relevant compared to season 7. M*A*S*H takes on McCarthyism, when Maragaret is asked by a congressional aide to "name names" from her college days. She faces the loss of her career. The resolve feels recycled, but a wonderful attempt.
-Guerrilla My Dreams **
The irrepressible Mako (CONAN THE BARBARIAN) stars as a South Korean ready to torture and kill a North Korean when she recovers from surgery. M*A*S*H at its most unrealistic, soap-boxy worst.
-Mr. & Mrs. Who? ***
Absolutely seamless, resolutely non-cliched, and utterly charming. Charles gets monumentally drunk in Tokyo, and his new wife (the delightful Claudette Nevins) arrives in camp soon after. Stiers gets to show humanity, not just pomposity.
-Dear Uncle Abdul ***
Perhaps unique in M*A*S*H history for the greatest number of sub-plots juggled without any discernible weak link. Klinger writes to his uncle, Charles goes pheasant hunting, Margaret shoots her foot locker, Hawkeye and BJ bicker over who is a better joke-teller (that's all you do...BIRD imitations?), a mildly-retarded soldier (Richard Lineback, NATURAL BORN KILLERS) is looked after by his buddies, and in a moment that's more poignant than you remember, Mulcahy writes a Korean war song.
-Captains Outrageous **
A middling episode juiced up by the presence of John Orchard, he of ten episodes as Ugly John during the Henry/Trapper era. This time he's an Aussie blowhard named Muldoon.
-Stars and Stripes **
Joshua Bryant played Margaret's fourth love interest of the series, Jack Scully, in three episodes. The character was well-conceived and well-executed, but never became more perhaps because none of those episodes were four-star.
-Yessir, That's Our Baby ***
An example of a fine episode that (ironically) would have been laughed out of the studio exec's office had it been offered as a series pilot. It's just not funny. It almost gets away with it by tackling a very serious issue (unwanted mixed-race children of american G.I.s) with very good writing and acting...but it bites off a bit more than it can chew. Making it a two-parter might have saved it. A fine appearance by William Bogert (WARGAMES, CHAPELLE'S SHOW).
-Bottle Fatigue ***
Hawkeye drives everyone insane when he goes on the wagon. The B plot, about Winchester's attempt to stop his sister from marrying an italian, deserves a spot on a Winchester top-ten list...its only weakness is a turnaround that seems too easy. Look for a fine little performance by Shelley Long (CHEERS, THE MONEY PIT), as a date who alienates Hawkeye by tossing back a few.
-Heal Thyself ***
With a bickering Winchester and Potter quarantined with the mumps, a replacement surgeon (Edward Herrmann - THE LOST BOYS, RICHIE RICH) suffers a nervous breakdown. Wonderful.
-Old Soldiers ***
Iconic, four-star moments. The last of Potter's WWI cavalry buddies dies, leaving him morose and withdrawn, as a group of orphans pass through. The scene with Potter and a child eating fudge and listening to old french records, and the scene of Potter in his old uniform sharing decades-old brandy with his new friends, are Harry Morgan's finest M*A*S*H moments this side of "horse hockey".
-Morale Victory ***
The A plot, wherein BJ and Hawkeye deliver a beach party courtesy of Klinger's crabs, is serviceable. The B plot, wherein Charles tries to comfort a classical pianist soldier (James Stephens) who has lost dexterity in one of his hands, is towering...and even more amazing when you realize that Stephens didn't fully deliver the goods. May we propose the question, of how much credit goes to Mr. Stiers for the fact that M*A*S*H lasted six seasons beyond Frank Burns?
-Lend a Hand **
Alan wrote and directed this Alda family reunion, with Robert returning as the overbearing Dr. Borelli, and brother Antony playing a medic. Nice try.
-War Co-Respondent ***
The first episode Mike Farrell wrote and directed. BJ and a correspondent (Susan St. James, KATE & ALLIE) fall for each other. Poignant chemistry and nuanced acting almost overcome this mawkish, wretch-inducing love note to self-sacrificial monogamy.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
M*A*S*H, season 7
(The worst season of M*A*S*H, and second-worst isn't even on the radar [ahem]. Why? In a word [or two] - Larry Balmagia. After a couple season 6 writing credits, he was promoted to story editor. Again and again, the plotlines feel embarrassingly average.)
FOUR STAR
-Inga
Just as some flawless episodes don't achieve four stars, flawed ones occasionally do. Iconic memorableness will do that. A visiting Swedish surgeon (Mariette Hartley - the James Garner Polaroid commercials) unabashedly shows greater skill than all the surgeons in camp, and Hawkeye must face his chauvinism (on top of striking out with her romantically). This episode needed to be, to inject into the zeitgeist the awareness that horrific chauvinism is ingrained in our society...but this too shall pass. For purists who hold that M*A*S*H should have started and ended with the movie, this episode is exhibit A in why they're dead wrong. The fact that they pulled off the most albatross-laden "message" show they ever attempted, with such grace, is little short of stunning. Mariette is at once delicate and iron. Alan nails it, as always.
NOTEWORTHY
-Peace on Us ***
The camp is in foul spirits as peace talks go nowhere, and when Hawkeye finds that the number of points leading to discharge has been upped, he steals a jeep and bluffs his way into the peace conference, where he rants and pleads for the war to end. At camp, they greet him with a party where everything is red instead of green (including the hair of the major sent to scold him, Kevin Hagen of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE).
-Our Finest Hour ***
I cannot tell you how hard it is to not give this four stars (but the kneejerk reaction to any clip show is just barrrrrely too strong). With new footage, courtesy of bona fide Korean correspondent Clete Roberts returning for another B&W newsreel interview episode. Intercut are scenes from the first six seasons. The selection they trot out is so absolutely perfect, you'll never be able to mock clip shows again. Well, okay, you will.
-The Billfold Syndrome ***
Charles declares he'll never talk to anyone in camp again, and Sydney visits to try to help a medic who can't remember who he is. With BJ and Hawkeye providing sound effects, Sydney hypnotizes the boy. Allan Arbus, the man can do no wrong.
-They Call the Wind Korea ***
Seamless. A Manchurian wind batters the camp, while Charles and Klinger get stuck tending wounded Greeks in an overturned truck all night. M*A*S*H's good is better than just about anyone else's great.
-Point of View ***
A thoroughly excellent, essential episode in the history of television's greatest half hour. Seen entirely through the perspective of a soldier who's been wounded in the throat. A brilliant idea brilliantly executed, it gives us an entirely different perspective on characters we know like the back of our hand.
-An Eye for a Tooth **
Crystallizes everything that made season 7 so bad. A tale of practical joke one-upmanship, with Winchester playing both sides against each other, until he finally gets his comeuppance. Fine, but...one joke ends with Hawkeye and BJ having to get from the showers to the Swamp naked. We can perhaps buy that BJ might cover himself frantically, but Hawkeye? We're past failing to live up to the movie, we're now failing to live up to ourselves. Season 1 had Hawkeye strolling across the compound naked to make a point. Also, witness the ascendancy of Margaret's Tammi Faye Baker look.
-Hot Lips is Back in Town ***
The A plot, with Margaret's divorce being finalized, comes off a little obligatory. But the B story, wherein Radar falls for a new nurse (the heart-warming Peggy Lee Brennan), and tries to win her. One of Radar's finest moments.
-Ain't Love Grand ***
Oh so close to sweet greatness. Max and Charles fall in love with women who are all wrong for them. Very realistic stuff for a while, and for both of them worthy of a place on any "best-of" list. Max is ultimately more tragic, leaving dresses behind and wanting to create a life with a woman he's known for three days. Winchester poignantly tries to play Henry Higgins with a prostitute (Sylvia Chang) who wants no part of it. Four-starness is foiled by a poorly-resolved C plot in which BJ's concern for a patient who has moved on is just too unrealistically excitable, given the meat-grinder life they lead.
-The Party ***
What a flawless M*A*S*H moment in time. A depressed BJ tries to arrange a stateside party for everyone's relatives. It looks like it won't happen, but finally does. Superlative character work all round, probably the most perfectly balanced seven-character effort of the series. I went with three stars because there was no X factor to make this one unforgettable.
FOUR STAR
-Inga
Just as some flawless episodes don't achieve four stars, flawed ones occasionally do. Iconic memorableness will do that. A visiting Swedish surgeon (Mariette Hartley - the James Garner Polaroid commercials) unabashedly shows greater skill than all the surgeons in camp, and Hawkeye must face his chauvinism (on top of striking out with her romantically). This episode needed to be, to inject into the zeitgeist the awareness that horrific chauvinism is ingrained in our society...but this too shall pass. For purists who hold that M*A*S*H should have started and ended with the movie, this episode is exhibit A in why they're dead wrong. The fact that they pulled off the most albatross-laden "message" show they ever attempted, with such grace, is little short of stunning. Mariette is at once delicate and iron. Alan nails it, as always.
NOTEWORTHY
-Peace on Us ***
The camp is in foul spirits as peace talks go nowhere, and when Hawkeye finds that the number of points leading to discharge has been upped, he steals a jeep and bluffs his way into the peace conference, where he rants and pleads for the war to end. At camp, they greet him with a party where everything is red instead of green (including the hair of the major sent to scold him, Kevin Hagen of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE).
-Our Finest Hour ***
I cannot tell you how hard it is to not give this four stars (but the kneejerk reaction to any clip show is just barrrrrely too strong). With new footage, courtesy of bona fide Korean correspondent Clete Roberts returning for another B&W newsreel interview episode. Intercut are scenes from the first six seasons. The selection they trot out is so absolutely perfect, you'll never be able to mock clip shows again. Well, okay, you will.
-The Billfold Syndrome ***
Charles declares he'll never talk to anyone in camp again, and Sydney visits to try to help a medic who can't remember who he is. With BJ and Hawkeye providing sound effects, Sydney hypnotizes the boy. Allan Arbus, the man can do no wrong.
-They Call the Wind Korea ***
Seamless. A Manchurian wind batters the camp, while Charles and Klinger get stuck tending wounded Greeks in an overturned truck all night. M*A*S*H's good is better than just about anyone else's great.
-Point of View ***
A thoroughly excellent, essential episode in the history of television's greatest half hour. Seen entirely through the perspective of a soldier who's been wounded in the throat. A brilliant idea brilliantly executed, it gives us an entirely different perspective on characters we know like the back of our hand.
-An Eye for a Tooth **
Crystallizes everything that made season 7 so bad. A tale of practical joke one-upmanship, with Winchester playing both sides against each other, until he finally gets his comeuppance. Fine, but...one joke ends with Hawkeye and BJ having to get from the showers to the Swamp naked. We can perhaps buy that BJ might cover himself frantically, but Hawkeye? We're past failing to live up to the movie, we're now failing to live up to ourselves. Season 1 had Hawkeye strolling across the compound naked to make a point. Also, witness the ascendancy of Margaret's Tammi Faye Baker look.
-Hot Lips is Back in Town ***
The A plot, with Margaret's divorce being finalized, comes off a little obligatory. But the B story, wherein Radar falls for a new nurse (the heart-warming Peggy Lee Brennan), and tries to win her. One of Radar's finest moments.
-Ain't Love Grand ***
Oh so close to sweet greatness. Max and Charles fall in love with women who are all wrong for them. Very realistic stuff for a while, and for both of them worthy of a place on any "best-of" list. Max is ultimately more tragic, leaving dresses behind and wanting to create a life with a woman he's known for three days. Winchester poignantly tries to play Henry Higgins with a prostitute (Sylvia Chang) who wants no part of it. Four-starness is foiled by a poorly-resolved C plot in which BJ's concern for a patient who has moved on is just too unrealistically excitable, given the meat-grinder life they lead.
-The Party ***
What a flawless M*A*S*H moment in time. A depressed BJ tries to arrange a stateside party for everyone's relatives. It looks like it won't happen, but finally does. Superlative character work all round, probably the most perfectly balanced seven-character effort of the series. I went with three stars because there was no X factor to make this one unforgettable.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
M*A*S*H, season 6
FOUR-STAR
-Fade Out, Fade In
Hello, Charles Emerson Winchester. Is there any show in television history which replaced beloved characters as successfully? Certainly no show ever put together their replacements' debuts as fantastically. This two-parter absolutely roars in...so tight and so hysterical (without any idiotic laugh track). David Ogden Stiers' performance is seamless. We instantly get his character. The chemistry between Alda, Farrell, and Morgan can't be overstated. Add Swit, Burghoff, Farr, and Christopher pinging their energy perfectly...
-Fallen Idol
Radar gets wounded while driving to Seoul to have sex for the first time. Hawkeye had urged him to go, and gets so drunk from guilt he has to leave the O.R. the next day. Radar and Hawkeye explode at each other for the first time ever. Maudlin? A little. Brilliant? A lot.
-The Winchester Tapes
Charles records a long letter to his wealthy folks, imploring them to use their influence to get him reassigned in Tokyo or stateside. A great episode for BJ, who pranks Charles by continually changing the size of his uniform. Hawkeye is desperately trying to get to Seoul for a weekend with Nurse Gilmore. The dialogue is brilliant, and Stiers is perfect.
-Comrades in Arms
Hawkeye and Margaret are trapped behind enemy lines. They're holding on to each other through the night in a hut while being shelled, after she'd received a poisoned letter from Donald...you may fill in that ellipse in the most sexy way you like. As wonderfully planned and acted as this is, it does make you pause a moment to think about the movie. The inconceivability of anything like this ever happening within that paradigm...yet in the series, it's hard to argue that there wasn't a certain inevitability. The uncomfortable aftermath amounts to some of Loretta's best work and a writing staff that was at its deadly best, navigating what could have been the worst M*A*S*H episode of all time in lesser hands.
-Potter's Retirement
After negative reports from within the camp on Potter's efficiency prompt an I-Corps investigation, he decides to take early retirement. The snitch (George Wyner - SPACEBALLS, HILL STREET BLUES) turns out to be a plant, courtesy of a disgruntled ex-patient. Morgan is ferocious.
NOTEWORTHY
-Last Laugh ***
James Cromwell (SIX FEET UNDER, STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT) drops in as Leo Bardonero, BJ's college prankster buddy. Gotchas abound. Plus John Ashton (BEVERLY HILLS COP) as a dour MP.
-War of Nerves ***
Sydney drops in with a head wound suffered while making a foxhole housecall with Michael O'Keefe (CADDYSHACK, THE GREAT SANTINI). This episode almost takes the happy face off Sydney, and gives you a truer sense of the unsavory side of military psychiatrists, as you feel sympathy for a boy who loathes him for sending him back to the front. The overstressed camp lights a cathartic bonfire. Plus Pete Riegert (ANIMAL HOUSE)!
-The Light that Failed ***
A mystery novel gets torn apart and passed around chapter by chapter to a stir-crazy camp. Philip Baker Hall (MAGNOLIA) plays a cranky, jaded supply sergeant.
-In Love and War ***
A well-crafted, emotionally-resonant episode. Hawkeye falls for a Korean woman (a tender performance by Kieu Chinh, THE JOY LUCK CLUB) living in the remains of her once wealthy home, who cares for orphans. Margaret comes face to face with Donald's philandering, in the form of a new nurse who had her fingers licked. Despite this episode's excellence, this may be the moment when fans (and creators) of the movie turned off their sets for good. Any remnants of the original edginess are gone, gone...
-Images ***
Talk about high-voltage guest stars before they were famous...is that little doggie Jack from TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY!?
-The M*A*S*H Olympics ***
Set against a Helsinki backdrop, an out-of-shape camp holds its own Olympiad. Donald shows up. As fun and memorable as three stars gets.
-The Grim Reaper **
Ewwwwf. Col. Bloodworth, a casualty predictor, is strongly disliked by Capt. Niceguy, er, Pierce. The writing is so lacking in subtlety that a two year-old might look askance. The only thing that rescues this a bit is a sub-plot with Charles sharing canned, botulistic pheasant with Margaret.
-Your Hit Parade ***
Really quite sweet, with a semi-retro feel. Radar entertains the camp as a DJ, during a marathon O.R. stretch. This one makes the top-ten Radar list (without a bullet).
-Mail Call Three ***
All the necessaries for four stars...perhaps just an extra take or two away. Klinger's wife leaves him, BJ's wife becomes independent, Hawkeye receives torrid letters belonging to another Benjamin Pierce, and Radar's Mom is dating. Another Radar top-ten.
-Dr. Winchester and Mr. Hyde ***
The first sitcom to ever deal with amphetamine addiction? The first network prime time show, even?
-Fade Out, Fade In
Hello, Charles Emerson Winchester. Is there any show in television history which replaced beloved characters as successfully? Certainly no show ever put together their replacements' debuts as fantastically. This two-parter absolutely roars in...so tight and so hysterical (without any idiotic laugh track). David Ogden Stiers' performance is seamless. We instantly get his character. The chemistry between Alda, Farrell, and Morgan can't be overstated. Add Swit, Burghoff, Farr, and Christopher pinging their energy perfectly...
-Fallen Idol
Radar gets wounded while driving to Seoul to have sex for the first time. Hawkeye had urged him to go, and gets so drunk from guilt he has to leave the O.R. the next day. Radar and Hawkeye explode at each other for the first time ever. Maudlin? A little. Brilliant? A lot.
-The Winchester Tapes
Charles records a long letter to his wealthy folks, imploring them to use their influence to get him reassigned in Tokyo or stateside. A great episode for BJ, who pranks Charles by continually changing the size of his uniform. Hawkeye is desperately trying to get to Seoul for a weekend with Nurse Gilmore. The dialogue is brilliant, and Stiers is perfect.
-Comrades in Arms
Hawkeye and Margaret are trapped behind enemy lines. They're holding on to each other through the night in a hut while being shelled, after she'd received a poisoned letter from Donald...you may fill in that ellipse in the most sexy way you like. As wonderfully planned and acted as this is, it does make you pause a moment to think about the movie. The inconceivability of anything like this ever happening within that paradigm...yet in the series, it's hard to argue that there wasn't a certain inevitability. The uncomfortable aftermath amounts to some of Loretta's best work and a writing staff that was at its deadly best, navigating what could have been the worst M*A*S*H episode of all time in lesser hands.
-Potter's Retirement
After negative reports from within the camp on Potter's efficiency prompt an I-Corps investigation, he decides to take early retirement. The snitch (George Wyner - SPACEBALLS, HILL STREET BLUES) turns out to be a plant, courtesy of a disgruntled ex-patient. Morgan is ferocious.
NOTEWORTHY
-Last Laugh ***
James Cromwell (SIX FEET UNDER, STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT) drops in as Leo Bardonero, BJ's college prankster buddy. Gotchas abound. Plus John Ashton (BEVERLY HILLS COP) as a dour MP.
-War of Nerves ***
Sydney drops in with a head wound suffered while making a foxhole housecall with Michael O'Keefe (CADDYSHACK, THE GREAT SANTINI). This episode almost takes the happy face off Sydney, and gives you a truer sense of the unsavory side of military psychiatrists, as you feel sympathy for a boy who loathes him for sending him back to the front. The overstressed camp lights a cathartic bonfire. Plus Pete Riegert (ANIMAL HOUSE)!
-The Light that Failed ***
A mystery novel gets torn apart and passed around chapter by chapter to a stir-crazy camp. Philip Baker Hall (MAGNOLIA) plays a cranky, jaded supply sergeant.
-In Love and War ***
A well-crafted, emotionally-resonant episode. Hawkeye falls for a Korean woman (a tender performance by Kieu Chinh, THE JOY LUCK CLUB) living in the remains of her once wealthy home, who cares for orphans. Margaret comes face to face with Donald's philandering, in the form of a new nurse who had her fingers licked. Despite this episode's excellence, this may be the moment when fans (and creators) of the movie turned off their sets for good. Any remnants of the original edginess are gone, gone...
-Images ***
Talk about high-voltage guest stars before they were famous...is that little doggie Jack from TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY!?
-The M*A*S*H Olympics ***
Set against a Helsinki backdrop, an out-of-shape camp holds its own Olympiad. Donald shows up. As fun and memorable as three stars gets.
-The Grim Reaper **
Ewwwwf. Col. Bloodworth, a casualty predictor, is strongly disliked by Capt. Niceguy, er, Pierce. The writing is so lacking in subtlety that a two year-old might look askance. The only thing that rescues this a bit is a sub-plot with Charles sharing canned, botulistic pheasant with Margaret.
-Your Hit Parade ***
Really quite sweet, with a semi-retro feel. Radar entertains the camp as a DJ, during a marathon O.R. stretch. This one makes the top-ten Radar list (without a bullet).
-Mail Call Three ***
All the necessaries for four stars...perhaps just an extra take or two away. Klinger's wife leaves him, BJ's wife becomes independent, Hawkeye receives torrid letters belonging to another Benjamin Pierce, and Radar's Mom is dating. Another Radar top-ten.
-Dr. Winchester and Mr. Hyde ***
The first sitcom to ever deal with amphetamine addiction? The first network prime time show, even?
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
M*A*S*H, season 5
FOUR STAR
-Bug Out
The camp must relocate in the face of a Chinese advance. Hawkeye, Margaret, and Radar stay behind with a spinal patient. Potter and B.J. move the unit to an (almost) ex-brothel. Klinger gives up his dresses in exchange for the new building, a writing choice that almost turns prostitution into a disrespectful joke.
-Margaret's Engagement
Margaret returns from a wild weekend in Tokyo, with an engagement ring. Her crassly insensitive treatment of Frank is a human twist on their relationship, which was never ideal for her. Frank's phone conversation with his mother, talking about how Dad never liked him, is brilliantly executed...for just a second, you cry for this noxious fool. Alda's observation that the greatest performance of the series belonged to Mr. Linville, is a thought worth pondering. At the end, all the Swamprats enjoy their first shared laugh ever.
-The Nurses
One of Margaret's most enduring moments, as tensions mount between her and her staff. She tightens discipline, and they hiss back. Lt. Baker gets confined to quarters, as her new husband arrives for a 24-hour honeymoon. The Swamprats conspire to get them alone. Margaret bursts into tears when she confronts the nurses, saying that all she ever wanted was to be included in their fun.
-The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan
Margaret goes off in the night to help deliver a Korean baby. Klinger, the only one who knows she's gone, goes to sleep. Frank goes into hysterics, and Radar goes into the women's shower. Col. Flagg shows up, and he's never better (as Italian officer or Vegas showgirl). They took an idea and went the perfect way with it...the episode would have been abysmal had Margaret been actually abducted.
-Dear Sigmund
Sidney drops in for an extended stay, burnt out from work. He writes a letter to Freud about the lunatic 4077th, which is currently under siege by a phantom practical joker (who turns out to be, of all people, BJ). Beautiful little moments of anarchy, and Allan Arbus is priceless as always. Plus a lovely appearance by Sal Viscuso (Father Tim, SOAP).
-Hawk's Nightmare
Hawkeye starts sleepwalking and having nightmares of childhood friends dying. Brilliantly rendered work by Alan (and Gary), and another irrepressible appearance by Sidney.
-Hanky Panky
B.J. falls off the fidelity wagon, while comforting a nurse whose husband is divorcing her. As a child, this episode hit me indelibly...it was just inconceivable that B.J. could stray. The performances by Mike Farrell and guest Ann Sweeny are tender and nuanced. On another level, this episode is a testimony to the debilitating effects of culturally-enforced monogamy, and a maudlin endorsement thereof...but at least it's a fantastically-made maudlin testimony.
-The General's Practitioner
A near-seamless slice of perfection. A hard-nosed general (Edward Binns, TWELVE ANGRY MEN) sets his eyes on Hawkeye as his personal physician. Hawkeye resists, making the general want him more. The B plot is towering. A G.I. returning home asks Radar to look after his Korean girlfriend...and child. Gary's sensitive, touching performance belongs on any Radar top-ten list. The G.I.? Only Larry Wilcox (Jon! Of CHiPS!).
-Movie Tonight
Potter tries to raise camp morale with a viewing of MY DARLING CLEMENTINE. The clips of the movie are a delight. Everyone entertains themselves during the (literal) breaks. If you think about it too closely, this episode is just a vehicle for a bunch of actors to show off performance skills that are more polished than their characters would be capable of. But somehow, it all comes together in priceless delight. The roundtable impersonations of Mulcahy? Iconic.
NOTEWORTHY
-Hawkeye Get Your Gun ***
Potter and Hawkeye help out a frontline aid station, and on the trip back come under heavy fire. Hawkeye comes up with an alternate solution to shooting back. The driving and drinking scene is too classic, in no small part because it would never make it onto the air today.
-Exorcism ***
Potter allows a Korean spirit exorcism after a rash of bad incidents. It's always fun to see guest actors re-used. A double-dip in this case, with Philip Ahn (the father in Hawkeye's concussion episode) as a superstitious grandfather, and Virginia Ann Lee (Yung Hi, the most adorable moose ever) as the sweet, sensible granddaughter.
-The Most Unforgettable Characters **
Radar takes a writer's correspondence course. It's unfair to come down too hard on a single episode for not clicking, but...if there is any legitimacy to the charge that M*A*S*H (particularly the later seasons) occasionally descended into saccharine sentimentality, this might be the first place to look.
-End Run **
A star college football player loses a leg. See the previous entry's note, and wrap it in a Hallmark card.
-Souvenirs ***
Michael Bell (Groppler Zorn! Sabrina's ex on CHARLIE'S ANGELS!)! And...Brian Dennehy! Woo woo!
-Post Op ***
As breezy and fun as three stars gets. A parade of interactions with recovering soldiers in post op, including another helping of Sal Viscuso (SOAP), a standup routine of a come-on to Margaret by Andy Romano, and a shot-in-the-butt Jack Baker (KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE).
-Bug Out
The camp must relocate in the face of a Chinese advance. Hawkeye, Margaret, and Radar stay behind with a spinal patient. Potter and B.J. move the unit to an (almost) ex-brothel. Klinger gives up his dresses in exchange for the new building, a writing choice that almost turns prostitution into a disrespectful joke.
-Margaret's Engagement
Margaret returns from a wild weekend in Tokyo, with an engagement ring. Her crassly insensitive treatment of Frank is a human twist on their relationship, which was never ideal for her. Frank's phone conversation with his mother, talking about how Dad never liked him, is brilliantly executed...for just a second, you cry for this noxious fool. Alda's observation that the greatest performance of the series belonged to Mr. Linville, is a thought worth pondering. At the end, all the Swamprats enjoy their first shared laugh ever.
-The Nurses
One of Margaret's most enduring moments, as tensions mount between her and her staff. She tightens discipline, and they hiss back. Lt. Baker gets confined to quarters, as her new husband arrives for a 24-hour honeymoon. The Swamprats conspire to get them alone. Margaret bursts into tears when she confronts the nurses, saying that all she ever wanted was to be included in their fun.
-The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan
Margaret goes off in the night to help deliver a Korean baby. Klinger, the only one who knows she's gone, goes to sleep. Frank goes into hysterics, and Radar goes into the women's shower. Col. Flagg shows up, and he's never better (as Italian officer or Vegas showgirl). They took an idea and went the perfect way with it...the episode would have been abysmal had Margaret been actually abducted.
-Dear Sigmund
Sidney drops in for an extended stay, burnt out from work. He writes a letter to Freud about the lunatic 4077th, which is currently under siege by a phantom practical joker (who turns out to be, of all people, BJ). Beautiful little moments of anarchy, and Allan Arbus is priceless as always. Plus a lovely appearance by Sal Viscuso (Father Tim, SOAP).
-Hawk's Nightmare
Hawkeye starts sleepwalking and having nightmares of childhood friends dying. Brilliantly rendered work by Alan (and Gary), and another irrepressible appearance by Sidney.
-Hanky Panky
B.J. falls off the fidelity wagon, while comforting a nurse whose husband is divorcing her. As a child, this episode hit me indelibly...it was just inconceivable that B.J. could stray. The performances by Mike Farrell and guest Ann Sweeny are tender and nuanced. On another level, this episode is a testimony to the debilitating effects of culturally-enforced monogamy, and a maudlin endorsement thereof...but at least it's a fantastically-made maudlin testimony.
-The General's Practitioner
A near-seamless slice of perfection. A hard-nosed general (Edward Binns, TWELVE ANGRY MEN) sets his eyes on Hawkeye as his personal physician. Hawkeye resists, making the general want him more. The B plot is towering. A G.I. returning home asks Radar to look after his Korean girlfriend...and child. Gary's sensitive, touching performance belongs on any Radar top-ten list. The G.I.? Only Larry Wilcox (Jon! Of CHiPS!).
-Movie Tonight
Potter tries to raise camp morale with a viewing of MY DARLING CLEMENTINE. The clips of the movie are a delight. Everyone entertains themselves during the (literal) breaks. If you think about it too closely, this episode is just a vehicle for a bunch of actors to show off performance skills that are more polished than their characters would be capable of. But somehow, it all comes together in priceless delight. The roundtable impersonations of Mulcahy? Iconic.
NOTEWORTHY
-Hawkeye Get Your Gun ***
Potter and Hawkeye help out a frontline aid station, and on the trip back come under heavy fire. Hawkeye comes up with an alternate solution to shooting back. The driving and drinking scene is too classic, in no small part because it would never make it onto the air today.
-Exorcism ***
Potter allows a Korean spirit exorcism after a rash of bad incidents. It's always fun to see guest actors re-used. A double-dip in this case, with Philip Ahn (the father in Hawkeye's concussion episode) as a superstitious grandfather, and Virginia Ann Lee (Yung Hi, the most adorable moose ever) as the sweet, sensible granddaughter.
-The Most Unforgettable Characters **
Radar takes a writer's correspondence course. It's unfair to come down too hard on a single episode for not clicking, but...if there is any legitimacy to the charge that M*A*S*H (particularly the later seasons) occasionally descended into saccharine sentimentality, this might be the first place to look.
-End Run **
A star college football player loses a leg. See the previous entry's note, and wrap it in a Hallmark card.
-Souvenirs ***
Michael Bell (Groppler Zorn! Sabrina's ex on CHARLIE'S ANGELS!)! And...Brian Dennehy! Woo woo!
-Post Op ***
As breezy and fun as three stars gets. A parade of interactions with recovering soldiers in post op, including another helping of Sal Viscuso (SOAP), a standup routine of a come-on to Margaret by Andy Romano, and a shot-in-the-butt Jack Baker (KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE).
Monday, October 3, 2011
M*A*S*H, season 4
FOUR STAR
-Welcome to Korea
Henry and Trapper have left the building. How do you recover from that? By having the services of Larry Gelbart. No matter which characters you preferred, season 4 bursts out of the gate with a burst of excellence that is in all ways undeniable. Hawkeye stumbles home from R&R, to find that Trapper's been discharged. He rushes to the airport to say goodbye. Missing him by ten minutes, he and Radar welcome his replacement, B.J. Hunnicut. They smuggle coroporal-captain O'Reilly into an officer's club, treat dying soldiers on the road, and get smashed at Rosie's...all before B.J. even meets Frank.
-Change of Command
Horse hockey! One of Klinger's most shining moments. Army careerist Sherman T. Potter arrives to take command. Tensions run high and Frank runs away, but by the end of the episode Potter's singing drinking songs in the Swamp.
-The Late Captain Pierce
Hawkeye is mistakenly declared dead. Eisenhower's visit has communications down. A dogfaced undertaker (Richard Masur - RISKY BUSINESS, THE THING, RHODA) wants his body. Seamless.
-Dear Mildred
Potter writes an anniversary letter. Margaret and Frank commission him a bust, made by the indomitable Cho (Richard Lee-Sung). Radar gives a rescued horse. Potter's road apple slip is iconic.
-Hawkeye
Hawkeye has a jeep accident. With a head injury, he is taken in by a family who speak no English. He babbles to them (and sings the odd show tune) to avoid falling asleep. An indelible performance by Alan.
-Some 38th Parallels
Frank auctions garbage, Radar is shaken by the sudden death of a patient whose life he'd saved, and Hawkeye delivers a messy present to a colonel (Kevin Hagen, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE) who delivers too many dead soldiers. Hawk has a bout of impotence with Lynette Mettey (in the last of her six unforgettable appearances as various nurses...a great actor and the sexiest jaw in television history). The resolve is a bit unsatisfying, but what do you want from twenty-four minutes?
-The More I See You
The woman Hawkeye could never get over (the wonderful Blythe Danner) is assigned to the 4077th. She's married now. Their feelings return. He proposes himself into a corner, literally...and she knows he'll always be married to his work first. She transfers out, leaving him hollow and alone.
-Deluge
It's hard to describe why this episode is four-star. It's missing the "unforgettable" factor that is the most pertinent requirement. Heck, it's even missing a plot. But this unrelenting unspooling of the worst conditions the camp has ever dealt with taps into the idea of M*A*S*H at its purest. Unending casualties as supplies disappear...fire, explosions, blood in the eye, surgery without gloves, and the announcement that China has entered the war sending 300,000 soldiers...all of it interspersed with B&W newsreels.
-The Interview
Real-life Korean correspondent Clete Roberts stars as himself, interviewing camp personnel for a newsreel. Filmed in black & white without a laugh track, the network was very nervous, but this episode is an essential part of any conversation invoking the words "greatest M*A*S*H ever". Written and directed by series creator Larry Gelbart, his swan song after four seasons. Words can never express our thanks, Larry.
NOTEWORTHY
-Hey, Doc ***
An airtight lil' gem focusing on "under the table" treatments for visiting officers who don't want indiscretions on their records. Frank drives a tank over two tents and a jeep. Plus the delightful Ted Hamilton (THE PIRATE MOVIE).
-The Bus ***
The surgeons and Radar get stranded on a broken-down bus in the middle of nowhere. Frank hoards chocolate, and a surrendering North Korean (the endlessly delovely Soon-Tek Oh) fixes their ride.
-The Kids ***
A gem of a look into O.R. life on the day orphans stay in camp. Frank loses his dubious purple heart to a newborn.
-Of Moose and Men ***
B.J. helps an outraged Zale write a letter to his straying wife. Zale, of course, has a moose in town. A bristly colonel (Tim O'Connor, BUCK ROGERS) is outraged at Hawkeye's lack of discipline.
-Soldier of the Month ***
Frank, delirious from fever, says "The only one who ever liked me as a kid was the school janitor...he showed me pictures of the heavyweight champs." Where i come from, we call that "slidin' a live one past the censors".
-The Gun ***
The lovely Warren Stevens (http://nakedmeadow.blogspot.com/2011/08/warren-stevens.html) plays a wounded colonel whose fancy gun is stolen.
-Welcome to Korea
Henry and Trapper have left the building. How do you recover from that? By having the services of Larry Gelbart. No matter which characters you preferred, season 4 bursts out of the gate with a burst of excellence that is in all ways undeniable. Hawkeye stumbles home from R&R, to find that Trapper's been discharged. He rushes to the airport to say goodbye. Missing him by ten minutes, he and Radar welcome his replacement, B.J. Hunnicut. They smuggle coroporal-captain O'Reilly into an officer's club, treat dying soldiers on the road, and get smashed at Rosie's...all before B.J. even meets Frank.
-Change of Command
Horse hockey! One of Klinger's most shining moments. Army careerist Sherman T. Potter arrives to take command. Tensions run high and Frank runs away, but by the end of the episode Potter's singing drinking songs in the Swamp.
-The Late Captain Pierce
Hawkeye is mistakenly declared dead. Eisenhower's visit has communications down. A dogfaced undertaker (Richard Masur - RISKY BUSINESS, THE THING, RHODA) wants his body. Seamless.
-Dear Mildred
Potter writes an anniversary letter. Margaret and Frank commission him a bust, made by the indomitable Cho (Richard Lee-Sung). Radar gives a rescued horse. Potter's road apple slip is iconic.
-Hawkeye
Hawkeye has a jeep accident. With a head injury, he is taken in by a family who speak no English. He babbles to them (and sings the odd show tune) to avoid falling asleep. An indelible performance by Alan.
-Some 38th Parallels
Frank auctions garbage, Radar is shaken by the sudden death of a patient whose life he'd saved, and Hawkeye delivers a messy present to a colonel (Kevin Hagen, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE) who delivers too many dead soldiers. Hawk has a bout of impotence with Lynette Mettey (in the last of her six unforgettable appearances as various nurses...a great actor and the sexiest jaw in television history). The resolve is a bit unsatisfying, but what do you want from twenty-four minutes?
-The More I See You
The woman Hawkeye could never get over (the wonderful Blythe Danner) is assigned to the 4077th. She's married now. Their feelings return. He proposes himself into a corner, literally...and she knows he'll always be married to his work first. She transfers out, leaving him hollow and alone.
-Deluge
It's hard to describe why this episode is four-star. It's missing the "unforgettable" factor that is the most pertinent requirement. Heck, it's even missing a plot. But this unrelenting unspooling of the worst conditions the camp has ever dealt with taps into the idea of M*A*S*H at its purest. Unending casualties as supplies disappear...fire, explosions, blood in the eye, surgery without gloves, and the announcement that China has entered the war sending 300,000 soldiers...all of it interspersed with B&W newsreels.
-The Interview
Real-life Korean correspondent Clete Roberts stars as himself, interviewing camp personnel for a newsreel. Filmed in black & white without a laugh track, the network was very nervous, but this episode is an essential part of any conversation invoking the words "greatest M*A*S*H ever". Written and directed by series creator Larry Gelbart, his swan song after four seasons. Words can never express our thanks, Larry.
NOTEWORTHY
-Hey, Doc ***
An airtight lil' gem focusing on "under the table" treatments for visiting officers who don't want indiscretions on their records. Frank drives a tank over two tents and a jeep. Plus the delightful Ted Hamilton (THE PIRATE MOVIE).
-The Bus ***
The surgeons and Radar get stranded on a broken-down bus in the middle of nowhere. Frank hoards chocolate, and a surrendering North Korean (the endlessly delovely Soon-Tek Oh) fixes their ride.
-The Kids ***
A gem of a look into O.R. life on the day orphans stay in camp. Frank loses his dubious purple heart to a newborn.
-Of Moose and Men ***
B.J. helps an outraged Zale write a letter to his straying wife. Zale, of course, has a moose in town. A bristly colonel (Tim O'Connor, BUCK ROGERS) is outraged at Hawkeye's lack of discipline.
-Soldier of the Month ***
Frank, delirious from fever, says "The only one who ever liked me as a kid was the school janitor...he showed me pictures of the heavyweight champs." Where i come from, we call that "slidin' a live one past the censors".
-The Gun ***
The lovely Warren Stevens (http://nakedmeadow.blogspot.com/2011/08/warren-stevens.html) plays a wounded colonel whose fancy gun is stolen.
Monday, August 1, 2011
M*A*S*H, season 3
FOUR STAR
-The General Flipped at Dawn
A joy to behold. Every cylinder fires, starting with Hawkeye, who runs afoul of a visiting general, the highly-honored, ultra-strict, and by-the-way loony Bartford Hamilton Steele (Harry Morgan, in TV's greatest "can he join this cast" moment ever). Inspecting the troops, he thinks Klinger is his wife. Steele court-martials Hawkeye, but it falls apart when he breaks into a negro work song. Lynette Mettey is drippingly good as Hawk's romance, Nurse Baker. Teddy Wilson (THAT'S MY MAMA) is spot-on as a chopper pilot. Ain't it great to beat your feet...
-Rainbow Bridge
Loudon Wainwright sings us in...ahhhhhhhh. A Chinese doctor (the effervescent Mako) offers to return some wounded G.I.s as long as the docs come get them, far behind enemy lines. Frank nearly gets everyone killed.
-Officer of the Day
Hawkeye's wit is in high gear, as officer of the day. He'll even hari kari if you show him how. Col. Flagg drops in, with a wounded prisoner he plans to execute. The Flagg character worked best when they balanced his comedic paranoia with real menace.
-O.R.
Death, desperation, and gallows humor. Hawkeye tries open-heart massage, and Sidney is asked to scrub up.
-Check-Up
Trapper gets an unexpected ticket home, in the form of an ulcer (until the army changes its mind). Wayne Rogers' best episode. Watching it, one becomes entirely sympathetic to why he left. Instead of being half of a comedic duo, he'd become an afterthought. Yes, Hawkeye made M*A*S*H, but if this episode is any indication, Wayne could have carried so much more. This episode is also a schizophrenic study in the evolution of American mores. Hawk and Trap reach a place beyond jokes, becoming unabashedly emotional over their imminent separation. In 1974, American men were still taught that emotion wasn't "manly". In terms of changing that, it's fair to say that M*A*S*H was the most influential show in TV history. And yet fascinatingly, there's also a scene between Hawkeye and Margaret that is appalling in terms of putting a happy face on sexual harassment.
-Adam's Ribs
We want something else! After eleven days of liver of fish, Hawkeye throws a mess hall berserk, and begins a quest to obtain Chicago ribs. The only classic episode without Frank and Margaret.
-A Full Rich Day
Chin-lee! A Luxembourger corpse goes missing, an armed soldier (William Watson) insists his buddy be operated on immediately, and a Turkish soldier (Sirri Murad) refuses sedation or surgery so he can go kill more Chinese.
-Bombed
The camp is shelled by friendly fire. Henry and Mulcahy get bombed in the latrine. Trapper and Margaret get trapped and cozy in the supply room. Nurse Sanchez (Louisa Moritz) does a lot of non-English screaming. That perfect classic M*A*S*H feel.
-Bulletin Board
The camp watches Shirley Temple, and holds a picnic with a tug-of-war over a mud pit. The first fight between Klinger and Zale.
-Big Mac
Macarthur's coming, Macarthur's coming! Hawk and Trap keep the irreverant faith while the camp goes into a tizzy when heap big chief is scheduled to inspect them. Radar's MacArthur and Klinger's Statue of Liberty are pure-fection.
-Abyssinia, Henry
The most profound gut punch in the history of television. Henry gets his discharge, and the episode seamlessly builds toward goodbye. As Radar walks into the O.R. at the end and gives the news of Henry's death...the world stops. McLean has looked back and wished that he'd never left the show, and i want to agree. But without this moment, the most memorable in M*A*S*H history, can anyone say for sure that the show would have been the greatest in TV history? One of six episodes directed by series creator Larry Gelbart.
NOTEWORTHY
-Iron Guts Kelly ***
A fun frolic about a decorated general who dies in Margaret's arms, brightened by Keene Curtis (CHEERS, SMURFS) and James Gregory (BARNEY MILLER).
-Springtime ***
Klinger gets married (by radio)! Radar gets slaked! Plus Mary Kay Place (THE BIG CHILL) and Alex Karras (BLAZING SADDLES)!
-Alcoholics Unanimous ***
Father Mulcahy gives a temperance sermon, and Bill Christopher gives his most humorous performance of the series. Acknowledging that Hawk and Trap have a problem was a big step in this country's attitude toward drinking.
-Mad Dogs and Servicemen **
Sub-par writing, but fun for the presence of Michael O'Keefe (CADDYSHACK, THE GREAT SANTINI) and the debut of Rosie (Shizuko Hoshi).
-The Consultant ***
Robert Alda stars as Anthony Borelli, a consultant giving seminars in Tokyo. He visits the unit, and convinces them he should do a risky operation. He can't handle the pressure, and gets drunk, requiring Hawkeye to operate. A touching dynamic as youth is unforgivingly disappointed by age.
-House Arrest ***
Stage/screen legend Mary Wickes (THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS) brightens proceedings as a visiting colonel who makes a pass at Frank. Hawkeye is under house arrest for hitting Frank, but the tables turn...and Radar gets lifts, making Hawkeye acknowledge how wrong he'd been for making fun of his height. In an era when making fun of one another was almost the full extent of how American males showed affection for one another, this was a subtle but enormous moment.
-Aid Station ***
Klinger, Hawkeye, and Margaret staff an aid station. Solidly lovely.
-Payday ***
Frank buys Margaret fake pearls, Hawkeye mistakenly gets $3000 extra army pay, and Trap finally wins the big pot. Plus Jack Soo.
-The General Flipped at Dawn
A joy to behold. Every cylinder fires, starting with Hawkeye, who runs afoul of a visiting general, the highly-honored, ultra-strict, and by-the-way loony Bartford Hamilton Steele (Harry Morgan, in TV's greatest "can he join this cast" moment ever). Inspecting the troops, he thinks Klinger is his wife. Steele court-martials Hawkeye, but it falls apart when he breaks into a negro work song. Lynette Mettey is drippingly good as Hawk's romance, Nurse Baker. Teddy Wilson (THAT'S MY MAMA) is spot-on as a chopper pilot. Ain't it great to beat your feet...
-Rainbow Bridge
Loudon Wainwright sings us in...ahhhhhhhh. A Chinese doctor (the effervescent Mako) offers to return some wounded G.I.s as long as the docs come get them, far behind enemy lines. Frank nearly gets everyone killed.
-Officer of the Day
Hawkeye's wit is in high gear, as officer of the day. He'll even hari kari if you show him how. Col. Flagg drops in, with a wounded prisoner he plans to execute. The Flagg character worked best when they balanced his comedic paranoia with real menace.
-O.R.
Death, desperation, and gallows humor. Hawkeye tries open-heart massage, and Sidney is asked to scrub up.
-Check-Up
Trapper gets an unexpected ticket home, in the form of an ulcer (until the army changes its mind). Wayne Rogers' best episode. Watching it, one becomes entirely sympathetic to why he left. Instead of being half of a comedic duo, he'd become an afterthought. Yes, Hawkeye made M*A*S*H, but if this episode is any indication, Wayne could have carried so much more. This episode is also a schizophrenic study in the evolution of American mores. Hawk and Trap reach a place beyond jokes, becoming unabashedly emotional over their imminent separation. In 1974, American men were still taught that emotion wasn't "manly". In terms of changing that, it's fair to say that M*A*S*H was the most influential show in TV history. And yet fascinatingly, there's also a scene between Hawkeye and Margaret that is appalling in terms of putting a happy face on sexual harassment.
-Adam's Ribs
We want something else! After eleven days of liver of fish, Hawkeye throws a mess hall berserk, and begins a quest to obtain Chicago ribs. The only classic episode without Frank and Margaret.
-A Full Rich Day
Chin-lee! A Luxembourger corpse goes missing, an armed soldier (William Watson) insists his buddy be operated on immediately, and a Turkish soldier (Sirri Murad) refuses sedation or surgery so he can go kill more Chinese.
-Bombed
The camp is shelled by friendly fire. Henry and Mulcahy get bombed in the latrine. Trapper and Margaret get trapped and cozy in the supply room. Nurse Sanchez (Louisa Moritz) does a lot of non-English screaming. That perfect classic M*A*S*H feel.
-Bulletin Board
The camp watches Shirley Temple, and holds a picnic with a tug-of-war over a mud pit. The first fight between Klinger and Zale.
-Big Mac
Macarthur's coming, Macarthur's coming! Hawk and Trap keep the irreverant faith while the camp goes into a tizzy when heap big chief is scheduled to inspect them. Radar's MacArthur and Klinger's Statue of Liberty are pure-fection.
-Abyssinia, Henry
The most profound gut punch in the history of television. Henry gets his discharge, and the episode seamlessly builds toward goodbye. As Radar walks into the O.R. at the end and gives the news of Henry's death...the world stops. McLean has looked back and wished that he'd never left the show, and i want to agree. But without this moment, the most memorable in M*A*S*H history, can anyone say for sure that the show would have been the greatest in TV history? One of six episodes directed by series creator Larry Gelbart.
NOTEWORTHY
-Iron Guts Kelly ***
A fun frolic about a decorated general who dies in Margaret's arms, brightened by Keene Curtis (CHEERS, SMURFS) and James Gregory (BARNEY MILLER).
-Springtime ***
Klinger gets married (by radio)! Radar gets slaked! Plus Mary Kay Place (THE BIG CHILL) and Alex Karras (BLAZING SADDLES)!
-Alcoholics Unanimous ***
Father Mulcahy gives a temperance sermon, and Bill Christopher gives his most humorous performance of the series. Acknowledging that Hawk and Trap have a problem was a big step in this country's attitude toward drinking.
-Mad Dogs and Servicemen **
Sub-par writing, but fun for the presence of Michael O'Keefe (CADDYSHACK, THE GREAT SANTINI) and the debut of Rosie (Shizuko Hoshi).
-The Consultant ***
Robert Alda stars as Anthony Borelli, a consultant giving seminars in Tokyo. He visits the unit, and convinces them he should do a risky operation. He can't handle the pressure, and gets drunk, requiring Hawkeye to operate. A touching dynamic as youth is unforgivingly disappointed by age.
-House Arrest ***
Stage/screen legend Mary Wickes (THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS) brightens proceedings as a visiting colonel who makes a pass at Frank. Hawkeye is under house arrest for hitting Frank, but the tables turn...and Radar gets lifts, making Hawkeye acknowledge how wrong he'd been for making fun of his height. In an era when making fun of one another was almost the full extent of how American males showed affection for one another, this was a subtle but enormous moment.
-Aid Station ***
Klinger, Hawkeye, and Margaret staff an aid station. Solidly lovely.
-Payday ***
Frank buys Margaret fake pearls, Hawkeye mistakenly gets $3000 extra army pay, and Trap finally wins the big pot. Plus Jack Soo.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
M*A*S*H, season 2
FOUR STAR
-Five O'clock Charlie
An enemy prop plane hand-drops one small bomb each day, trying to hit the new ammo dump. The camp has a running pool on how wide the miss will be. Frank lobbies to get an anti-aircraft gun. The exchange between Hawk and Radar, as they count off for Trapper's MacArthur, features perhaps the funniest M*A*S*H exchange ever - "Are you 1?" "Yes, are you?" Madcap mayhem, with a dash of anarchy.
-The Trial of Henry Blake
A rollicking good time. Henry is court-martialed for aiding and abetting the enemy (giving supplies to a hill clinic that helps South and North Korean women). Gen. Mitchell (Robert Simon) is crustily perfect. McLean's sportscasting of the gurney race is one of the show's seminal moments.
-Dear Dad...Three
Hawk and Trap play a prank on a soldier (Mills Watson, LOBO) worried about getting the "wrong color" blood. Henry shows home movies.
-The Incubator
Hawk and Trap go on a quest to get an incubator. The meeting with Captain Sloan (Eldon Quick), that paragon of military gobbledygook, produces one of the series' most classic lines -
SLOAN: Inhalator, indicator, innoculator, infusilator...here it is, 437 stroke R2, incubator.
HENRY: Thar' she blows!!
-Deal Me Out
Frank antagonizes a shell-shocked soldier (John Ritter), Hawk and Trap defy regulations to save a CID man's life, and "Whiplash" Hwang blackmails Radar, all while the weekly poker game goes on. Pat Morita is puckishly acerbic wonderfulness, Sidney Freedman has found his first name, and Col. Flagg (Edward Winter) makes his debut...or his proto-character Halloran does, only one layer of paranoia off the mark. The poker dialogue would make Neil Simon proud. This cup runneth over.
-Hot Lips and Empty Arms
A letter from a happily-married friend causes Margaret to lament her life, and request a transfer. She gets rip-roaring drunk. A coming-out episode for Loretta; she gets to try a different style of comedy, and nails it. Also take note of the scene where Henry orders the boys to sober her up. The actors start laughing, and it's them, not the characters. Heart-warming.
-Officers Only
In gratitude for saving his son, a general (the lovely Robert Simon) builds an officer's club for the unit. Hawk and Trap plot to allow enlisted men. The bartender Kwang (Clyde Kusatsu) is every bit as dry as his martinis.
-Henry in Love
Henry falls for a perky ex-cheerleader (the winning Katherine Baumann) who is half his age. He ponders what to do about his marriage, until she makes a pass at Hawkeye. The mawkish attitude toward monogamy makes you wince, but otherwise... Look for the under-the-radar unerring performance of Wayne Rogers.
-As You Were
Iconic moments in gorilla suits, plus Trap and a nurse realizing that two ten-minute breaks equal twenty.
NOTEWORTHY
-Radar's Report ***
The darling, droll debut of Alan Arbus as Sidney (er, Milton) Freedman, a psychiatrist sent to classify Klinger. Hawkeye's romance of a willing nurse (Joan Van Ark) who wants nothing to do with his dreams of marriage, is also adorable.
-L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel) ***
Burt Young (ROCKY) is a truculent lieutenant the Swamp rats bribe into okaying a marriage between an enlisted man and a local.
-The Sniper ***
The camp is pinned down. Hawk romances a silly nurse (the silly Terri Garr). The first male nudity in television history, compliments of Gary Burghoff's ass.
-Operation Noselift **
This must have been resonant for Alan, whose parents both came home with new noses when he was a child. Let's not talk about Loretta.
-George ***
A nuanced, unaffected performance by Richard Ely as a homosexual soldier beaten by his own comrades.
-Five O'clock Charlie
An enemy prop plane hand-drops one small bomb each day, trying to hit the new ammo dump. The camp has a running pool on how wide the miss will be. Frank lobbies to get an anti-aircraft gun. The exchange between Hawk and Radar, as they count off for Trapper's MacArthur, features perhaps the funniest M*A*S*H exchange ever - "Are you 1?" "Yes, are you?" Madcap mayhem, with a dash of anarchy.
-The Trial of Henry Blake
A rollicking good time. Henry is court-martialed for aiding and abetting the enemy (giving supplies to a hill clinic that helps South and North Korean women). Gen. Mitchell (Robert Simon) is crustily perfect. McLean's sportscasting of the gurney race is one of the show's seminal moments.
-Dear Dad...Three
Hawk and Trap play a prank on a soldier (Mills Watson, LOBO) worried about getting the "wrong color" blood. Henry shows home movies.
-The Incubator
Hawk and Trap go on a quest to get an incubator. The meeting with Captain Sloan (Eldon Quick), that paragon of military gobbledygook, produces one of the series' most classic lines -
SLOAN: Inhalator, indicator, innoculator, infusilator...here it is, 437 stroke R2, incubator.
HENRY: Thar' she blows!!
-Deal Me Out
Frank antagonizes a shell-shocked soldier (John Ritter), Hawk and Trap defy regulations to save a CID man's life, and "Whiplash" Hwang blackmails Radar, all while the weekly poker game goes on. Pat Morita is puckishly acerbic wonderfulness, Sidney Freedman has found his first name, and Col. Flagg (Edward Winter) makes his debut...or his proto-character Halloran does, only one layer of paranoia off the mark. The poker dialogue would make Neil Simon proud. This cup runneth over.
-Hot Lips and Empty Arms
A letter from a happily-married friend causes Margaret to lament her life, and request a transfer. She gets rip-roaring drunk. A coming-out episode for Loretta; she gets to try a different style of comedy, and nails it. Also take note of the scene where Henry orders the boys to sober her up. The actors start laughing, and it's them, not the characters. Heart-warming.
-Officers Only
In gratitude for saving his son, a general (the lovely Robert Simon) builds an officer's club for the unit. Hawk and Trap plot to allow enlisted men. The bartender Kwang (Clyde Kusatsu) is every bit as dry as his martinis.
-Henry in Love
Henry falls for a perky ex-cheerleader (the winning Katherine Baumann) who is half his age. He ponders what to do about his marriage, until she makes a pass at Hawkeye. The mawkish attitude toward monogamy makes you wince, but otherwise... Look for the under-the-radar unerring performance of Wayne Rogers.
-As You Were
Iconic moments in gorilla suits, plus Trap and a nurse realizing that two ten-minute breaks equal twenty.
NOTEWORTHY
-Radar's Report ***
The darling, droll debut of Alan Arbus as Sidney (er, Milton) Freedman, a psychiatrist sent to classify Klinger. Hawkeye's romance of a willing nurse (Joan Van Ark) who wants nothing to do with his dreams of marriage, is also adorable.
-L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel) ***
Burt Young (ROCKY) is a truculent lieutenant the Swamp rats bribe into okaying a marriage between an enlisted man and a local.
-The Sniper ***
The camp is pinned down. Hawk romances a silly nurse (the silly Terri Garr). The first male nudity in television history, compliments of Gary Burghoff's ass.
-Operation Noselift **
This must have been resonant for Alan, whose parents both came home with new noses when he was a child. Let's not talk about Loretta.
-George ***
A nuanced, unaffected performance by Richard Ely as a homosexual soldier beaten by his own comrades.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
M*A*S*H, season 1
FOUR STAR
-Requiem for a Lightweight
Marcia Strassman (WELCOME BACK KOTTER, HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS) is a newly-arrived nurse whom Margaret transfers out. Hawk and Trap want her back. Henry's price? An inter-company boxing match against Gen. Barker's (Sorrell Booke, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD) bruiser. Trapper, with ethered gloves, gets the girl. William Christopher's debut.
-Yankee Doodle Doctor
Hawk and Trap subvert a rah-rah documentary being made about the unit. The first indelible moment of the series, and the first time the show strongly veers from comedy for a moment, when Hawkeye stops clowning and tells how awful the war is. His Groucho routine is a gem.
-Tuttle
Hawk and Trap invent a heroic officer. A seamless slice of cathode ray perfection. James Sikking (HILL STREET BLUES) has a fun moment as payroll officer. Tuttle "dies" in a parachute accident.
-The Ringbanger
Pure wonderfulness as Leslie Nielsen plays a wounded gung-ho colonel who is anxious to get back to the front, where his troops suffer twice as many casualties as other units. Hawk and Trap mess with his mind, to keep him off the lines.
-Sometimes You Hear the Bullet
A little miracle happens here. This episode is so breathtaking, and so much seems to be happening, that it feels like a full-length film while you're in the middle of it. A goofball buddy of Hawkeye's (James T. Callahan, CHARLES IN CHARGE) has joined the infantry, to write a book entitled "You Never Hear the Bullet". Frank is in traction, Hawk's wooing of a willing nurse (Lynette Mettey) goes comically unconsummated, and Ronny Howard(!) plays an underage marine who joined up to get revenge on a girl who snubbed him. Hawkeye's friend is killed, and he turns young Howard in. When Henry tells Hawkeye about the two rules of war, it's one of M*A*S*H's most unforgettable moments.
-Dear Dad, Again
A show that has found its stride. Seamless wonderfulness. Hawkeye bets Trapper that he can eat in the mess tent naked, and no one will notice. A brilliant new surgeon, Captain Casey, has a secret.
-The Longjohn Flap
In the middle of a cold snap, Hawkeye has the only pair of thermal underwear in the camp. Trapper loses them in a poker game, then Radar gives the away for a lamb with jelly sauce, then the cook gives them to Frank as a bribe, then Frank...priceless.
-The Army-Navy Game
An unexploded bomb falls into the compound. Whose bomb? Can they defuse it? Who gets the short straw? Will Henry read the directions correctly?
NOTEWORTHY
-pilot ***
A little all over the place, but a gem. A different Father Mulcahy, an enlisted Bruno Kirby with no lines, and a fascinating extended opening credits sequence. Hawk and Trapper run a raffle to send Ho-Jon to college in America.
-To Market, to Market ***
The wonderful Jack Soo (BARNEY MILLER) stars as a black market kingpin whom Hawk and Trapper must get hydrocortisone from. The only thing he wants is Henry's antique oak desk.
-Chief Surgeon Who? ***
The debut of Klinger, and the first poker game of the series. We love Ugly John.
-The Moose ***
Hawk and Trap object to a sergeant's owning a Korean girl, a "moose". They win her away in a poker game, and try to teach her to be her own person. A luminous, delightful performance by Virginia Ann Lee.
-Cowboy **
Chopper pilot Cowboy tries to push Henry out of a helicopter, whom he blames for not being allowed to go home to patch up his shaky marriage. Some of the show's most memorable comedic moments ("A double dear John John!") are undercut by a painfully unenlightened attitude toward monogamy.
-Henry, Please Come Home ***
A captured moment in time, during the first season of a show that could have had no idea it was to be the greatest television show of all time. There was a freewheeling "hit or miss" quality in the early seasons. Later seasons were more technically perfect, but also more self-conscious. In this seamless episode, Henry is bumped up to a cushy job in Tokyo, and the Swamp rats scheme to get him back with a "sick" Radar. As they're crossing the compound with a too-soon gone Spearchucker and Ugly John, it would make a great "wild bunch/resevoir dogs" poster.
-Dear Dad ***
It's funny...history thinks of Alan Alda as the archetype of the post-feminist sensitive male. And of course people think Hawkeye when they think Alan. Yet through modern eyes, it's quite something to watch Hawk react to a bent-over nurse in the operating room with, "You ever thought of leaving your behind to science?" Watching him chopper into combat surgery as Santa (despite the fact that it doesn't sustain much scrutiny) is one of the most enduring images of the show. Plus William Katt (GREATEST AMERICAN HERO) in a foxhole!
-Edwina **
The nurses stage a sex embargo until one of the men dates Edwina. So bad that it's almost good.
-Ceasefire ***
It unrolls like a joyous parade (with an ending that shows how many sins a laugh track can cover), as word spreads about the end of the war. Hawkeye invents a fictitious wife, Henry can't tell Rader exactly when they'll get together after the war, and Margaret falls to pieces with Frank. Trapper is the only one who suspects the ceasefire is a phony.
-Showtime ***
A sweet finale, it captures the cynical unself-consciousness of the early years as Hawkeye and Trapper fall asleep watching a USO show.
-Requiem for a Lightweight
Marcia Strassman (WELCOME BACK KOTTER, HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS) is a newly-arrived nurse whom Margaret transfers out. Hawk and Trap want her back. Henry's price? An inter-company boxing match against Gen. Barker's (Sorrell Booke, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD) bruiser. Trapper, with ethered gloves, gets the girl. William Christopher's debut.
-Yankee Doodle Doctor
Hawk and Trap subvert a rah-rah documentary being made about the unit. The first indelible moment of the series, and the first time the show strongly veers from comedy for a moment, when Hawkeye stops clowning and tells how awful the war is. His Groucho routine is a gem.
-Tuttle
Hawk and Trap invent a heroic officer. A seamless slice of cathode ray perfection. James Sikking (HILL STREET BLUES) has a fun moment as payroll officer. Tuttle "dies" in a parachute accident.
-The Ringbanger
Pure wonderfulness as Leslie Nielsen plays a wounded gung-ho colonel who is anxious to get back to the front, where his troops suffer twice as many casualties as other units. Hawk and Trap mess with his mind, to keep him off the lines.
-Sometimes You Hear the Bullet
A little miracle happens here. This episode is so breathtaking, and so much seems to be happening, that it feels like a full-length film while you're in the middle of it. A goofball buddy of Hawkeye's (James T. Callahan, CHARLES IN CHARGE) has joined the infantry, to write a book entitled "You Never Hear the Bullet". Frank is in traction, Hawk's wooing of a willing nurse (Lynette Mettey) goes comically unconsummated, and Ronny Howard(!) plays an underage marine who joined up to get revenge on a girl who snubbed him. Hawkeye's friend is killed, and he turns young Howard in. When Henry tells Hawkeye about the two rules of war, it's one of M*A*S*H's most unforgettable moments.
-Dear Dad, Again
A show that has found its stride. Seamless wonderfulness. Hawkeye bets Trapper that he can eat in the mess tent naked, and no one will notice. A brilliant new surgeon, Captain Casey, has a secret.
-The Longjohn Flap
In the middle of a cold snap, Hawkeye has the only pair of thermal underwear in the camp. Trapper loses them in a poker game, then Radar gives the away for a lamb with jelly sauce, then the cook gives them to Frank as a bribe, then Frank...priceless.
-The Army-Navy Game
An unexploded bomb falls into the compound. Whose bomb? Can they defuse it? Who gets the short straw? Will Henry read the directions correctly?
NOTEWORTHY
-pilot ***
A little all over the place, but a gem. A different Father Mulcahy, an enlisted Bruno Kirby with no lines, and a fascinating extended opening credits sequence. Hawk and Trapper run a raffle to send Ho-Jon to college in America.
-To Market, to Market ***
The wonderful Jack Soo (BARNEY MILLER) stars as a black market kingpin whom Hawk and Trapper must get hydrocortisone from. The only thing he wants is Henry's antique oak desk.
-Chief Surgeon Who? ***
The debut of Klinger, and the first poker game of the series. We love Ugly John.
-The Moose ***
Hawk and Trap object to a sergeant's owning a Korean girl, a "moose". They win her away in a poker game, and try to teach her to be her own person. A luminous, delightful performance by Virginia Ann Lee.
-Cowboy **
Chopper pilot Cowboy tries to push Henry out of a helicopter, whom he blames for not being allowed to go home to patch up his shaky marriage. Some of the show's most memorable comedic moments ("A double dear John John!") are undercut by a painfully unenlightened attitude toward monogamy.
-Henry, Please Come Home ***
A captured moment in time, during the first season of a show that could have had no idea it was to be the greatest television show of all time. There was a freewheeling "hit or miss" quality in the early seasons. Later seasons were more technically perfect, but also more self-conscious. In this seamless episode, Henry is bumped up to a cushy job in Tokyo, and the Swamp rats scheme to get him back with a "sick" Radar. As they're crossing the compound with a too-soon gone Spearchucker and Ugly John, it would make a great "wild bunch/resevoir dogs" poster.
-Dear Dad ***
It's funny...history thinks of Alan Alda as the archetype of the post-feminist sensitive male. And of course people think Hawkeye when they think Alan. Yet through modern eyes, it's quite something to watch Hawk react to a bent-over nurse in the operating room with, "You ever thought of leaving your behind to science?" Watching him chopper into combat surgery as Santa (despite the fact that it doesn't sustain much scrutiny) is one of the most enduring images of the show. Plus William Katt (GREATEST AMERICAN HERO) in a foxhole!
-Edwina **
The nurses stage a sex embargo until one of the men dates Edwina. So bad that it's almost good.
-Ceasefire ***
It unrolls like a joyous parade (with an ending that shows how many sins a laugh track can cover), as word spreads about the end of the war. Hawkeye invents a fictitious wife, Henry can't tell Rader exactly when they'll get together after the war, and Margaret falls to pieces with Frank. Trapper is the only one who suspects the ceasefire is a phony.
-Showtime ***
A sweet finale, it captures the cynical unself-consciousness of the early years as Hawkeye and Trapper fall asleep watching a USO show.
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