M.A.S.H.

[tiggymalvern]

I finally reached the end of my watch through of MASH - all 11 seasons of it. And yes, I'd have reached the end sooner if 2023 hasn't been The Year of Burn Notice when I watched BN all through four times and barely anything else...

I saw some MASH when I was a kid - my grandma used to watch it, and I saw some eps sometimes when I was visiting her, but that's different from a serial watch. The first few seasons are... patchy. It's a comedy very much of the time, with some entertaining moments, but also some moments that make you cringe with the sexism and racism.

Around season four and five, you can see when the creative control started to change hands. When the cast took more power and began to shape the narrative. When Loretta Swit walked out and wouldn't come back until her character was treated as a career woman instead of a sex object. And damn, do those later seasons hold up, even all these years afterwards. They address serious issues on every scale, from the traumas of war to the aforementioned sexism and racism, to overpowering familial expectations, to queer narratives. And obviously there are pure comedy episodes too, but the comedy stops being at the expense of any particular group. The character development is beautifully done, and yes, the ending absolutely made me cry.

MASH really shows what can happen when the people controlling a show care about what happens in it, are invested in it, and pour their souls into it. And unlike some shows where the creator was a visionary from the start, MASH was appropriated by the people who cared, and was completely transformed by it.

Now I'm considering what retro comedy from the American past that I missed out on to go to next, and I think it might have to be The Golden Girls...

Comments

[bymyverytoes]

MASH was on constant repeat in Australian TV, showing at 5.30pm but also in the prime time slots. So I've seen the entire run, multiple times.

I think the writing improved, and the new cast that replaced people like Wayne Rogers (who really harked back to the movie/book MASH), were able to make a clear break with the worst aspects of the movie/early seasons. Jamie Farr was critical of Alan Alda for driving so much of the progressive themes, but I think the show was better for it.

It's not something I want to watch any more, but I still quote it :) The final was amazing and sad and perfect.

[tiggymalvern]

Yeah, Alan Alda had a lot to say and he made a point of saying it. The finale really was perfect, you're not wrong there.

[tameiki]

I remember watching MASH as a kid, the subtle nuances were lost on me at the time. Now, I think I should go back and rewatch it. As you said, the later episodes were much better written. This will be put on the back burner until we get our place back, it's still not totally mold-free, but we're hoping the third time testing will come through.

One of my favorite "older" shows is still The West Wing. It's so well-written and thought provoking. Many of the subject matter that were covered are still relevant, unfortunately, and unresolved.

Another one that I want to revisit is Wise Guy with Ken Wahl. :)

[tiggymalvern]

Ugh, you still don't have the mould issues solved? That's a nightmare.

The West Wing was so good! I never got fannish enough about it to write it, but I definitely read a lot of Josh/Sam. The writing for it was fantastic. I lost interest in the later seasons, but I'd definitely be up for rewatching the first three again at some point.

[tameiki]

We are on day...ugh. I don't even know, but the swamp cooler leak that started it all was worked on April 25th.

The mold remediation company's guy didn't bother to do any testing after they cleaned before they called for the final air test (2nd test). They missed some spots and the mold count was very high. Know how they figured out that they missed some spots? They sprayed industrial strength hydrogen peroxide on it and figured that the guy who was sanding the floor was kneeling at that spot so he didn't get it well enough. You would think they'd spray the stuff to check their work before costing us another $450 in air testing that came back as failed. Then, once they recleaned and sanded down everything again, we had to have it retested. Again. They guy who does the test gave us a little over 50% off the "I'm coming to test" fee of $333.00, and just charged us $150 for the second test and the usual $50 eacj for the expedited tests (6 total).

Tony, the air test guy (totally different company from the mold remediation company), came out this morning the test again. He totally waived the "I'm coming to test" fee this time and only charging us for the 6 expedited tests ($300), and we should have the results sometime Monday afternoon.

The job that was supposed to take 3 - 5 days is now about the two week mark. We are being charged for the rental of the negative pressure fan (2 of them), and the HEPA fans at $70 per fan per day. The owner said he'd give us a discount since this is all coming out of our pockets, but he will be digging deeper once I check over the bill. I'm not paying for extra days and more work when his people didn't bother to check their work and cost us more for testing that shouldn't have need to be done.

Can you tell I'm not happy?

Sorry, didn't mean to rant. The good news is that I have this habit of documenting. Everything. Down to the minute of when they arrive and when they leave, and the updates of what they said at each step of they way. It's going to come in handy. I just hope I don't have to go to court over their incompetence. Grrrr

You should watch the rest of The West Wing, it's really worth the ride. Some of the episodes get a little slow, but...I don't want to spoil it for you. :)

Edited to add: Also, I had to take Cody to the vet yesterday because of bloody stools. The vet seems to think it's caused by stress from all the new people coming in and out, the door to the office being shut off to him, his bed had to be moved to a new location, the noise of the loud fans... *sigh*

[tiggymalvern]

Oh, I can tell you're not happy! Rants are permitted when they're justified, rant away...

I lost interest in The West Wing after Sam Seaborn wasn't in it any more. I don't remember exactly when I stopped watching completey. I definitely watched all through season five, maybe season six. But there was no Sam and it became a lot about Josh and Donna and I just wan't into them.

Stress colitis is definitely a common thing in small breeds of dog. Some larger breeds that are notorious for sensitive stomachs too (Boxers immediately come to mind), but more the little dogs. Hope he recovers soon ad that everything gets resolved to your (and the testers') satisfaction.

[kronette]

I watched the special MASH: The Comedy that Changed Television that aired a few weeks ago. The copyright date on it was 2024, but a lot of the interviews and footage was much older. It had cast and creators talk about a lot of what you mentioned, and seeing them reminisce decades later and still tear up was amazing. And yes, I watched the finale when it originally aired, and it still gut-punches me. I will also never, ever get over Henry Blake, but I understand why the writers did what they did. Doesn't make it any less impactful, even years later.

I watched MASH with mom & dad, I think since it was on later. I watched GG with mom, and it was raunchy :) Older women enjoying sex and talking boldly about things that probably can't even be talked about today. Hell, "Soap" still has warnings up about it being an adult comedy and it aired in the late 70s. Now that might be a show to try, if you've never watched it. It went hard right at some serious issues, but it had it's soap opera parody storylines to balance it out. I mean, there are aliens, gay and lesbians, interracial couple, infidelity, the antichrist, a cult and a revolution.

[tiggymalvern]

I do still need to watch the special - Hulu recommended it to me, since I'd been watching so much MASH, but I obvoiusly didn't want to watch it until I'd finished it all in case of spoilers. The Henry Blake decision was a good dramatic choice - it's war, somebody who matters had to die at some point.But yes, off screen or not, it hit hard.

I've seen so many interesting Golden Girls gifs, that's where the idea came from. Also my niece watched it and told me it was a lot of fun, so she's ahead of me there!

I've never even heard of Soap, some reasearch is clearly needed.