Quote: Timbo @ February 10 2010, 11:09 PM GMTI actually rewatched the show a few years ago , and found it in any case to be very weak, though in part I was put off by a laughter track that I do not recall being there first time around
IIRC
They didn't have a laughter track when they first showed it in the UK.
It was an accident, but it improved the show.
I have to admit to not liking M*A*S*H much.
It was on about the time I was nagging my parents to let me stay up late. I loved when it was Dallas, but M*A*S*H bored me to tears.
Now, when I hear the theme tune, a little bit of me dies inside.
Never cared for MASH...toward the end it got preachy and sentimental. Maybe that was a by-product of staying on for 13 years. Who knows?
On a side note...I do like Alan Alda. He had a pretty good role in "Manhattan Murder Mystery" that I quite enjoyed
I was really tempted to get the complete boxset but after reading these comments, now I'm not too sure. I've watched it on occasion when it is on Paramount and I don't really see what's funny about it, it just seems like a dark drama. I thought it was just me missing the point, but it appears not.
Quote: jmorton @ February 20 2010, 10:35 PM GMTNever cared for MASH...toward the end it got preachy and sentimental. Maybe that was a by-product of staying on for 13 years. Who knows?
On a side note...I do like Alan Alda. He had a pretty good role in "Manhattan Murder Mystery" that I quite enjoyed
The preachier episodes come after Alda gets more creative control. I think it's no coincidence that Alada goes on to never start or direct in anything funny ever again. Even his 30 Rock appearance was a let down.
Quote: MTpromises @ February 21 2010, 9:47 PM GMTThe preachier episodes come after Alda gets more creative control. I think it's no coincidence that Alada goes on to never start or direct in anything funny ever again. Even his 30 Rock appearance was a let down.
He was dire in 30 Rock. Totally ruined it for me and I've got a crush on Alec Baldwin in that show, it would take a lot to put me off.
Quote: MTpromises @ February 21 2010, 9:47 PM GMTThe preachier episodes come after Alda gets more creative control. I think it's no coincidence that Alada goes on to never start or direct in anything funny ever again. Even his 30 Rock appearance was a let down.
Unfair. He was very funny in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanours. And damn fine in Manhattan Murder Mystery. And although not comedies, he was also excellent in The Aviator and The West Wing. He's also written some pretty good memoirs.
Quote: Mickeza @ February 21 2010, 10:49 AM GMTI was really tempted to get the complete boxset but after reading these comments, now I'm not too sure. I've watched it on occasion when it is on Paramount and I don't really see what's funny about it, it just seems like a dark drama. I thought it was just me missing the point, but it appears not.
I'd buy it - if it cost a tenner.
Early 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.
Hmmm...
Never thought there'd be so many MASH haters here...
Quote: chipolata @ February 21 2010, 10:10 PM GMTUnfair. He was very funny in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanours. And damn fine in Manhattan Murder Mystery. And although not comedies, he was also excellent in The Aviator and The West Wing. He's also written some pretty good memoirs.
I'll admit I've never given Woody Allen much of a chance, I've seen Sleeper and Bananas, the pathetic man of the early 90's press left a negative lasting impression upon me.
Quote: MTpromises @ February 22 2010, 9:07 PM GMTI'll admit I've never given Woody Allen much of a chance, I've seen Sleeper and Bananas, the pathetic man of the early 90's press left a negative lasting impression upon me.
Forget about that and read two of his books: Without Feathers and Side Effects. Very silly and funny. And verging back on topic, the chap who wrote the MASH book, Richard Hooker, apparently felt a bit shafted when his publisher sold the movie/TV rights for only a few hundred dollars.
He hated both the film and series. Said the real Hawkeye had not been womenizer at all, but quite shy.
Earlier episodes of M*A*S*H were amusing in places. But overwhelmingly, and increasingly through the run, it was both depressing and - most criminally of all - deeply, deeply unfunny.
And I hate the theme tune.
It wouldn't do half as well today as it did in its own day, mainly because there have been so many medical comedy dramas and dark comedies which were largely inspired by itself. It's one of those shows where I find it hard to give short snappy overviews of - it changed quite a lot in its 13 year run, inc. characters and actors, and it was a deep, 2D comedy anyway. It had many good points, like being sophisticated in its scripts; we in Britain were not used to this maturity in sitcoms and that's probably why it did very well over here. It had bad points too, like being a bit sentimental, preachy, sanctimonious and trying too hard at times to be cerebral - a fault I often find in American shows. It also went on way too long, but most US sitcoms do.