Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ March 26 2010, 8:08 AM GMTit was a deep, 2D comedy anyway.
How on Earth can something be both deep AND 2D?!
M*A*S*H Page 3
In the way that it isn't 1D. If I'd said 3D you'd have thought I meant 3D vision, if I'd said 4D or more you'd've thought me a nutter, so I said 2D, hoping people wouldn't take it in the literal maths sense, but dear Aaron, I forgot about you.
Of course, it's occurring to me now that I should have said two dimensional, and maybe I should have said 'deep, in the emotional sense only'. Oh well it's done.
I can assure you that I wouldn't have thought you meant 3D vision!
Quote: Jackson Neil @ April 30 2009, 12:28 PM GMTGood show, I prefered the early-mid years. It's never really been amongst my all-time faves really, though. My favourite season was probably 3.
Favourite character: Hawkeye.the early shows seemed more comical. it tended to get more serious as time went on .loved the show
Quote: roscoff @ February 22 2010, 10:24 AM GMTEarly episodes were by far the best. The whole thing was then spoilt for me as I watched the film. Far superior with far superior actors.
series better than the film
Been showing on True Entertainment (Freeview 61) early evening for the last few months.
They've been a mixture of canned laughter and laughter track removed.
Still I think the best US sitcom ever. Good characters, good stories.
There are two schools of thought about M*A*S*H. One - the series was at it's best for the first three seasons, with the original characters from the book/movie; Trapper and Henry. It was a comedy in which the serious and dark elements came as a shock, which helped to make it's points more effectively. Two - it was at it's best from season four onwards, with BJ and Potter replacing Trapper and Henry, because the drama now came to the fore. I used to belong to the second but am now firmly of the first.
Watched four on the trot yesterday, quite late in the series with no laugh track and they were better than anything being made today. Funniest comedy drama by a long way, in fact I'd call at least that series a sitcom as there were plenty of comedy cues. Weirdly I noticed them more without the laugh track, it's not really a studio sitcom but a location based one with studio scenes. Whatever it is it's still unique in sitcom.
Also better for having no Radar, I realised how irritating he was without him in it. Sharp scripts as ever but obviously as a fault of team writing with new writers being added over time they mangled up the chronology as one episode 8 years into the show spanned a whole year in the early part of the war but with later characters who weren't in the earlier series, That wouldn't happen here, fans of a sitcom would go nuts if they cocked that up here. US productions just don't seem to be as carefully created.
I thought it improved when Klinger became the new 'Radar' too
Great character
I've almost become immune to the laughter track. I think it's being shown regularly on at least 2 freeview changels these days.
The non laugh track version is currently on The Sony Channel for anyone interested and it's far more watchable imo. Audience laughter doesn't seem to work on comedy drama, especially one in a realistic war zone setting with some graphic scenes as MASH is. The two versions serves as good evidence in any debates about laugh tracks.
Another thing I've noticed about it now is how left leaning the comedy in it can be, it's definitely a show for Democrats rather than Republicans. But then the 70s was a very Left leaning decade I suppose.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 10th December 2019, 8:20 AMThe non laugh track version is currently on The Sony Channel for anyone interested and it's far more watchable imo. Audience laughter doesn't seem to work on comedy drama, especially one in a realistic war zone setting with some graphic scenes as MASH is. The two versions serves as good evidence in any debates about laugh tracks.
Another thing I've noticed about it now is how left leaning the comedy in it can be, it's definitely a show for Democrats rather than Republicans. But then the 70s was a very Left leaning decade I suppose.
It's anti-war, which isnt neccessarly a left wing position.
It's half n half
Burns and Hot lips are having a whale of a time giving the commie monsters everything they deserve
Whereas Hawkeye n co recognise the utter stupidity and futility of the war they find themselves in
Quote: chipolata @ 10th December 2019, 11:43 AMIt's anti-war, which isnt neccessarly a left wing position.
But tends to be, in practise. I was just surprised after a 30 plus year gap of watching it how Liberal and left leaning the sentiments in it were, from Hawkeye especially. I expect it ruffled a few feathers in the Midwest and beyond but as noted in a post above it was an extremely popular show.
It can be left right thing, but somebody like Trump got to power pushing a doctrine that America shouldn't get involved in foreign wars. The anti-war sentiment in MASH was more about the Vietnam war than anything, which I'm not sure was particularly popular with anybody at the time.
Being re-run on Great TV at the moment (Virgin 189) AND (fanfare) unlike those twats on Sky, when they repeated it a few years back..................is the NO canned laughter version
WHOOPEEEEE!!!!