I don't remember this well enough to rate it.

M*A*S*H, on CBS
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This was based on a movie of the same name (IMDb), which I've never seen, as yet. It was about the 4077th, a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean War. The show's famous for having lasted longer than the war itself. (Well, it's famous for a lot of things, actually.) Anyway, I used to watch this when I was a little kid, but I don't remember it that well (it started a few years before I was born, and ended when I was about 8). I think Radar O'Reilly was my favorite character, but there were lots of memorable characters. The main one was probably Hawkeye Pierce. Klinger's also memorable for his cross-dressing (trying to get dishonorably discharged, as I recall). There was "Trapper" John McIntyre, who later got a spin-off of his own, though I don't remember ever seeing that. There was a chaplain named Father Mulcahy, who I'm sure was among my favorite characters. There was "Hot Lips" Houlihan, Colonel Henry Blake (later replaced by Colonel Sherman Potter), Frank Burns, and... lots of others.

The show was mostly a comedy, but given the setting, of course there was also a great deal of drama, especially in the later seasons. If I wasn't putting my review in the "period" section, I'd have to call it a "dramedy." About the most even mix I think I've ever seen, definitely more comedy than in most dramedies. So even though I don't have to choose between the "comedy" and "drama" sections... I still kind of do, since I had to choose where to list it in the navframe here in the "period" section. Of course, I went with drama... but of course, I'm not entirely comfortable with that. Anyway, that's another thing the show's famous for- the mix of drama and comedy, and the network forcing the producers to use a laugh track. It's also something that's been parodied in pop culture... I particularly remember one scene in an episode of Futurama....

Well, like I said, I don't remember much specifically about the show, given how young I was when it was on. There is a scene I definitely remember from the end of the third season, which made me cry. But now... I realize that originally aired before I was even born, so I guess... there's a good chance that any episodes I ever saw when I was little were probably reruns, even if the show was still airing new episodes at the time. I'm not sure how that works, considering we didn't have cable until much later... I guess maybe I watched the show in syndication, when I was too young to even know there was such a thing. (Maybe I watched some first-run eps and some syndicated eps, and didn't know the old ones were old?) Ah well, it's not important. But anyway, I should probably try to watch the whole series from the beginning, someday. And the movie, too. But I may never get around to it. But still, the show's definitely nostalgic for me. Oh, and the theme music is pretty memorable, too.


AfterMASH, on CBS
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A short-lived spin-off that took place after the war, back in the States. I know I watched it, but I don't really remember it that well. Which is probably just as well, because apparently it wasn't very good. But anyway, Potter, Klinger, and Mulcahy were all in it. Also there was a Korean woman named Soon-Lee (Rosalind Chao), who I guess had married Klinger at the end of the original series.


period index
drama nostalgia