Best scene from M*A*S*H
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- Опубликовано: 26 май 2012
- One of the many hightlights of M*A*S*H, a scene from season 11's episode 2.
An outstandig performance by David Ogden Stiers as Major Charles Winchester, reluctantly treating a US Marine (played by George Wendt, later to be known as Norm from Cheers) for the results of a stupid party trick. Written by Dennis Koenig and first aired November 1, 1982. 
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Charles traumatized him so much that he was forced to spend the rest of his life guzzling beer in a bar in Boston.
He would have done that anyway...
So that's why he's there.All that beer has preserved him well.Got to Cheers in 1954 and still looks the same in 1985.I think I need a beer right about now!
Ironically, Charles is also from Boston, so it might not have been a good idea .
Even better theory...The beer acted as a muscle relaxant, ensuring such an event could never happen again.
Well Norm was in the services.
My favorite Charles episode was "Run for the Money (S11E9), in which he stood up for a stuttering soldier whose comrades - and worse, CO- teased him mercilessly. Charles first told off the Class A jerk of a CO, then tried to convince the soldier that, contrary to his self-image, he was much smarter than others gave him credit for - and gave him a leather-bound "Moby Dick". Finally, he listens to a tape from his sister Honoria, who also stuttered.
I'd counter with the Christmas episode where Charles takes the packages to the orphanage in secret.
@@drewbishop3531 I liked that one too - his initial anger that the chocolate was sold on the black market, then his chagrin on learning why, finally his brief truce with Klinger.
@@smwca123 His anger was so justifiable on so many levels. Who wouldn't be enraged.
@@tonyv2373 I would be too - and equally chagrined on learning why. That gave rise to one of Charles's stand-out lines: "It is sadly inappropriate to give dessert to a child who has had no meal".
that episode is personal to me. same situation, except instead of a sister, its an ex gf, whome i still love and am friends with.
This shows what a great character Winchester is. He's funny, menacing, professional and sympathetic, all at the same time! Something Frank Burns could never hope to be.
Frank only hoped to be a fink.
Ya, but Frank was nailing Hot Lips. Winchester never got near to the prize.
@@49525Bob It wasn't his priority.
Frank's character was funny in his own way. I liked them both.
Yeah. imho, the show really gelled once they got both Harry Mogan _and_ David Ogden Stiers into the regular cast.
Charles can be as pompous as Frank at times, but he has the professionalism to back it up. PLUS, he has his moments of humanity.
Col. Potter is a no-nonsense career military man, but he has a warm heart to go along with his brass.
George Wendt displaying so much emotion without ever saying a word. Priceless.
"I'll be treating some leatherhead who literally decided to have a ball."
Love it!
The technical term is “leatherneck”, but close enough. 😎
@@crazyman8472 I think it was his opinion of the marine's "intelligence"!
"Would that be with one "M" or two?"
Indistinct grumbling
"Of course, three." LOL
MarkVaderr so, Normmm
Going into the exam room knowing about the pool ball in the guys mouth and asking those questions and feigning surprise at seeing the pool ball.30 years later I'm still on the floor laughing.One of the best funny scenes in the entire shows run!
Get this, Private Mosconi...
I love that line! Didn't know Winchester was aware of one of the legends of the sport.
I met him in real life at a French horn symposium at the University of North Texas where I was a student around 1989. He was a very gracious, humble man who truly loved the French horn.
When I was in 8th grade, my father introduced me to M*A*S*H and I loved it, even though my classmates had never even heard of it. Around that time, my mother revealed to me that she had actually met Larry Linville once. Apparently, Linville was a member at a country club that my mom worked at and she was always warned to stay away from him because he was a VIP.
One day, my mom is going up the elevator when who would enter on the 2nd floor but Linville. He asked my mother how her day was and they ended up having a conversation that ended up lasting a couple minutes off the elevator. To this day, my mom still says Linville was one of the sweetest men she ever met.
Interesting. I would not guess that about private Muscony
@@StValentine-uh5lv
He was in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" where he played a homicide investigator who was absolutely convinced that Jessica was working for the CIA. That was very well played.
Very Interesting. You’d never know it from the episode he played it in.
George Wednt's initial appearance at comedy performed well despite not a single word exchanged.
I love that Charles' behavior in this scene is not out of petty distain, but because he knows that this stupid man's troubles are nothing to the wounded young men who could arrive at any moment, potentially while he's tied up with this fool meaning that he can't be there to save someone's life.
At the end of the day, Charles was a decent man whose biggest vice was his arrogance.
"Be forewarned, Pvt. Musconi, the next time we meet, I plan to perform MAJOR surgery whether you need it or not..." They always gave Stiers' character such great lines!! and he had that STENTORIAN VOICE with which to deliver them!!
RIP David Ogden Stiers We found you too late.
The man’s voice was like a melody. I could listen to him read anything.
Mosconi, as in Willie Mosconi, a legendary pool player. It’s a sarcastic remark, not the character’s real name.
Charles' sarcasm was almost equally hilarious.
And they always leave this part out of the TV reruns.
I agree with Winchester here. He spends at least 12 hours a day, covered in blood and guts sewing people back together, living on cold coffee and stale bread and *YOU* grown man asks him to drop all that to fix something that is your own stupid fault? Oh he will cure you, he is a doctor after all, but he sure as hell won't be nice about it!
"NORM!"
"How's the world treatin' you, Norm?"
"MMMMFFFFPHMM!!"
I'm trying to figure out how to write a flash fanfic where "Dr. Winchester" pops into Cheers, sees "Norm", and has a flashback-memory to this...
"Would that be with one "M", or two?"
Andrea Lyon that would be awesome!
@@laurabeane8862 "Of course, three."
"What's happening, Mr. Petersen?"
"Oh, same old, Woody. Pool ball went in one pocket, but didn't quite make it out the other."
Hawkeye says it in one episode: "Charles... you're POMPOUS, EGOTISTICAL and a COMPLETE BOOR... but you're ALL RIGHT!!!" He was an ARROGANT ASS... but when it came down to it he had a BIG HEART!!!
He got down from his high horse, although it took him a while. He never lost his class & style ( or his appreciation of the finer things ). He was the Frasier Crane of " MASH ".
Daniel Appleton "He was the Frasier Crane of " MASH ""
Oh, goodness, that is the PERFECT description!
Yesica1993 He was also a great counterpoint to the one - dimensional, one - note Frank Burns, whom Larry Linville grew tired of playing.
Daniel Appleton Yes, he was.
The sad part is Larry Linville did SUCH a brilliant job at it, that he pretty much worked himself out of a job.
Yesica1993 He was also wary of being typecast as a Frank Burns character for the rest of his career.
Winchester (as well as Potter) was the best thing ghat could've happened to MASH. Hawkeye felt too untouchable in the earlier seasons with Henry and Frank. One had authority and no skill, while the other had skill but no authority. But both Winchester AND Potter had authority and skill to match if not exceed Hawkeye's.
I find Hawkeye tiresome, and BJ is the most bland character I've ever seen. Trapper had personality, and a bit of an edge. He was a scoundrel, and I'm really sorry that Wayne Rogers felt he wasn't being used very well.
The show was still finding its way. Potter was a major improvement (even though I liked Henry), and the replacement of Frank with Charles was nothing short of genius. David Ogden Stiers didn't get nearly the recognition he deserved, because he was brilliant.
One other thing that made a huge difference in the show was the "development" of Margaret. The strong, confident, powerful woman she was was inspiring. I hated her as "Hot Lips" and Frank's lover. She was whiny, and clingy and she had no self-respect. Getting the divorce from Penobscot took her to a whole new level, and she never looked back.
@@canadianfreespirit BJ is a dreadful character. Worst character by order of magnitude on the show. Way too many episodes centered around him. Then on top of that his idea of a practical joke was destroying the stylus on Charles' record player, thus ruining his ability to escape the torture of his situation.
Mike Farrell is also a jerk and a poor actor so I think he was basically playing himself.
Hawkeye improved greatly as the series matured. Early Hawkeye is very childish. Too many cheap Groucho gags.
Margaret became a very interesting and well developed character.
Potter is a way more compelling commander than Henry Blake. I love the history of the character. 3 wars. That's deep.
As i said above Charles is my favorite character and was able to balance the doctors off. They were all good surgeons but Charles forced them to be at the top of their games, almost as a point of pride.
@@yummyyum36719 Charles is by far and away my favourite character. He's the only one who could move me to tears (in the final episode when he saw the dead musician), and I know his monologue from "Morale Victory" by heart.
Charles had an exquisite vulnerability that we saw enough to see through the pompous facade he tried to project. I actually think that Charles was the character who felt the deepest emotions. I always considered him to be the most "human" character. Then Potter, Margaret (when they started writing good stories for her), Klinger (same thing). I was never crazy about Radar, and Fr. Mulcahy was just sort of there. As I said, I found Hawkeye tiresome (probably because Alan Alda used the character as a vehicle after he was made a creative consultant. Big mistake there.) And there's just no excuse for BJ. I like Frank better than BJ.
@@canadianfreespirit Frank was needed for the original formula of the show.
The obvious tension of Margaret is that she is impressed by medical excellence. She found Hawkeye the man repulsive but found Hawkeye the doctor irresistible. That was an interesting tension that I believe was introduced as early as the 2nd season (if I remember correctly) wherein they were sent to an aid station and she had to perform well along side him. They gained mutual respect long before the later "hook up" episode.
Based upon the finale I imagine them reconnecting in the US and Hawkeye being a very changed person. Perhaps a more mature romance blooms because outside of the war as they realize that their very different characters complete each other.
Frank was one dimensional but as the antagonist he was there to represent the foolishness of the war itself. He was always foolish but the show needed that fool so that Hawkeye and Trapper could justify their behavior.
Once gone he had to be replaced by a better character for the show to survive.
Trapper was completely wasted. He was his own character and the 2nd fiddle role was binding.
BJ never was a 2nd fiddle. He was just a bland waste of writing energy. Again BJ is Mike Farrell. He is not a good enough actor to play anyone other than himself. I met Farrell personally when I was an undergrad. He was pushing a super left wing agenda on 19 year kids regarding Latin America and did not like the push back I gave him about his inability to speak Spanish while he was touring El Salvador vs Nicaragua. Total douche.
I struggle to keep watching during his scenes and I avoid episodes that feature him.
A really nice later episode was the one where Charles and Hawkeye talk about their fathers. The men bonded and gained a mutual respect.
Hawkeye eventually treats Charles as a friend.
Charles' pomposity is just a front. He is in fact a very tender heated person posing as a snob to keep people at bay.
He is without a doubt the deepest character and was the heart of the show for the entire 2nd half of the run.
@@yummyyum36719 so well put. I don't find many people who can see Charles as I did. Do you remember the episode where he fell in love with the French woman, and later rejected her because of her "bohemian" past? The anguish on his face was so real.
When they created the character of Charles, and got David Ogden Stiers to play him, they did something magical.
One of my biggest regrets is that I never wrote to David Ogden Stiers and told him how much I enjoyed the character, and his portrayal. I think he deserved to know, and would have appreciated that.
Charles was a gem on M*A*S*H. He was very intelligent, sincere and absolutely hilarious. An all around great character.
+Stevie G. He was more likeable than Maj. Burns, once you got past the pompousness. Frank Burns was just a 1 - dimensional cardboard character.
Frank Burns aka Lipless Wonder
The show was Better with Maj. Burns. Charles was just one more Impossibly Glib, annoying character.
I loved both Burns and Winchester. As far as Burns goes, his actor _hated_ him, always feeling bad at some of the horrible things he said. Still, he made for a great foil.
NO WAY. Frank was great. But he was very one dimensional. Charles is the whole annoying blue blood. So much more to hate. And David plays it brilliantly. That is why you hate him. Because the actor is so good.
Charles was easily one of the best characters on MASH. RIP David Ogden Stiers. This is probably one of his more well known roles but he also did a ton of voice acting after MASH...including quite a few iconic Disney characters.
Let's not forget that he also played Asst. D.A. Michael Reston in several Perry Mason TV movies.
His narration in "Icewind Dale" elevated the entire game. The final reveal of who the narrator is remains one of my favorite moments in decades of gaming.
@@nicoleknight9412 And a former special forces operator turned blind murderer on an episode of Matlock.
@@HustleMuscleGhias
Which we see him do at the beginning of the episode, which is unusual.
He was also on Star Trek TNG
"Could that be how OLD you are..?" Ha! David Ogden Stiers is great in this scene. And NORRRM!
TM Rezzek He didn't study at Julliard for nothing, y'know! :)
That line KILLED me!
Cogsworth
When I first saw this, I thought he was going to ask, is that you intelagnce?
I think one of my favorite Charles moments, if I recall correctly, is where he set up Col. Flagg. I think Flagg thought Charles was his inside man, but Charles was playing him for a fool the whole time.
WIth Charles' intellect, he could play most people for fools and they'd never know it.
Edward Winter as Col. Flagg was always a great guest star.
He bribed Charles to spy on Hawkeye and Charles made a fake map and placed it under a POW in post op tricking Flagg into busting in on the local mayor and his brother, the police chief.
Charles was a great character. Frank was a pompous, no nonsense, and heartless jackass. Charles reminds me of Frasier Crane, pompous and pretentious, but with heart and humanity. Charles was no nonsense, but he was lighthearted and put others first before himself when he had to. Normally, it's hard to replace characters with new ones, but the writers did well with replacing Frank with Charles.
He does remind me of Frasier, I didn't the that until just now
+Adeptus Jengaris *see
+Jenga Fett David Ogden Stiers also guest starred in "Frasier" where he played a good friend of the title character's mother and Frasier's father was suspicious because Frasier, his brother, and Stier's character had so much in common.
Charles also had the saving grace that he was a fine doctor. Even when his personality was at his most grating, you knew he wasn't going to kill a patient through sheer incompetence. That was always a possibility with Frank.
The reason the actor of Frank left, was because he knew there wasn't anywhere his character could go. Charles got the better deal on that end.
I like WInchester more than Burns. Burns was a jerk with no sense of humor whatsoever. Winchester at least had a cynical sense of humor.
And a really compassionate Human Side too, from time to time. He was just too proud to openly show it.
Johannes Julius Exactly. Like when he stood up for that soldier that stuttered.
M*A*S*H is the only show I can think of that replaced the characters with better ones. I think BJ better than Trapper (Trapper was good too.) and I think that Winchester is better than burns.
Radar Hawk Agreed.
cpc28655 And when he helped a pianist who lost dexterity in his fingers to play again.
I love Charles his sarcasm is legendary!!!
My favorite episode with Charles, was when he helps out the man with a stuttering problem, only to find out the reason he as so passionate in helping him out. Was the fact that his sister, was a stutter her self. You just love, absolutely love to hate that character. So snooty, and pompous. Yet, when he lays down and listens to that recording and you hear his sister start to stutter. You end up with the greatest "OOOOHHHHHHhhhhh" in your life. Even as kid watching this with my grandmother I remember tearing up at this scene.
"Ooh look! There's a little '6' painted on it! Could that be... how old you are?"
No...the funniest scene was when Col. Potter and Winchester were quarantined in the same tent with the mumps. Potter passing the time with his Zane Grey novels and Charles with his opera records. Potter: "Can that Carusso guy yodel?!?" Winchester: "NOT EVEN AT GUNPOINT!" Classic.
Funniest was when Hawkeye wore a dress
@@1223steffen What episode was that lol?
nah best episode was when Winchester trolling col. Flag from CIA
That one was on metv yesterday, love it.
Nah, his best moment with Potter were when they sparred like the way they did in, "The Winchester Tapes," and, "The Young and the Restless."
My fave episode involving "Charles Emerson Winchester, the Third" was when he'd gotten bagged and had to operate, hungover and suffering. This was the same time where Col Potter had a leg injury and suffered depression, refusing to get out of bed even though he knew himself that was exactly what he needed to do to recover; he was feeling useless and sorry for himself. He finally goes in after Margaret harasses him, and he and Winchester are scrubbing up. Charles sees it as a chance to beg off duty; but Col. Potter is having none of it, and after Charles berates Potter for his recent "slackitude", Potter gives Charles a piece of his mind, telling him that in spite of his considerable surgical talents, if his life were on the line, he'd rather have Hawkeye operate on him, and tells him, "you're just not WORTH it!". Charles is offended, and rescinds his request to be relieved of duty, saying that he's never shirked his responsibilities and is a "damned fine surgeon." Potter replies that he can out-drink Charles "under the table, and out-operate him OVER it." The two storm into the OR in a huff, determined each to show the other up. After several hours, each working busily away, outlasting Hawkeye and BJ, sans complaint or even flinching, Charles admits to Margaret, assisting, that if Potter's leg hurt only half a bad as his own head was feeling at the moment, he's at least twice the man everyone thought he was.
Of all the characters in the series, Charles was arguably the most relatable of them all to me, which is ironic since he hails from an aristocratic background. His ending was the most tragic in the final episode when his private music troupe of Chinese musiciabs gets killed. He is literally shown to be on the verge of depression and now actively despises music. Throughout his tenure, music was his escape and in the end, he realised the war caught up to his escape plan and feels utter hopelessness.
Why he is my favourite character? Because of all of the cast, he is the only one not to be given a happy ending. (it wasnt happy for a few other characters as well, but his is downright tragic). He is about to be Chief surgeon at Boston General and he looked like he is totally clueless about what he is going to do. The show truly shows that practically no one escapes from war unscathed. It will affect everyone on some level in varying degrees, whether it be physically or psychologically.
I would image Stiers and Wendt had a blast doing that scene.
Larry Linville, apparently a great guy in real life, quit because Frank was the one character on M*A*S*H who never seemed to make any progress. In Larry's words, a cartoon.
Charles had a human side, and David Ogden Stiers has never been better than when he showed that side of Charles, whether it was humorous or poignant.
Linville was great as Burns. His best moments were when e became human, like when he got drunk with Trapper and Hawkeye, or played gags on Hawkeye to get even. You could tell Linville relished those chances. Linville was on other shows, like Adam-12 as a guest, and he never got to get a really good role like that. Shame, he was a good actor.
I agree Linville should have had the opportunity to allow the character to mature, add range. I was a bit sad to see him go, there were certain qualities which I could identify with but the producers and writers were obviously hellbent on maintaining Maj. Burns as a one-dimensional cartoon character.
I remember this scene when Hot Lips was leaving for a quick honeymoon with her new hubby. And there was Frank, watching her go with a dejected look on his face. You almost felt for the guy... until you remembered he was a married cad. But that was the genius of Linville. He could make you really feel for the most unliked character in the history of the show.
Yes Frank Burns never showed a human side he was always a heel that can wear on you after 5 years even Margaret became human
Frank was funny in his own way. Each played their part well, but he was the brunt of jokes and when he got even it was classic!
This is why Winchester was my favorite character on the show.
What always makes me laugh whenever I see this episode in reruns is that this scenario could just as easily have happened to Norm on "Cheers". Norm and Cliff are at the bar (obviously), arguing (obviously) about What The Biggest Thing That Could Fit In A Human Mouth is; Norm says "A billiard ball"; Cliff says "No way"; Norm goes back to the pool room, and......After nature takes its course, Sam drives Norm to the hospital, of which Charles is now the head. A nurse catches him in the hall, and says "Dr. Winchester, you'll never BELIEVE the case that just came into the emergency room"; Charles, his curiosity piqued, goes to the ER, and......
That would have been an EXCELLENT idea for a Cheers episode. 😂👍
And Nurse Hullihan is assisting.
Well, Norm nursing his brewski at Cheers in the mid-1980s might just have been a tad old to have served in Korea. 'Nam, perhaps, but not "The ROK". But you're idea could still be preserved if Norm's Uncle (George Wendt playing a dual role, with some clever camera shots and makeup to age him to be the "Uncle") is, say, a maintenance engineer at that hospital, and he hears his nephew did the same idiotic stunt he'd pulled in Korea some 35 years prior...and Charles WInchester, MD and Chief of the hospital, hears of this remarkable case, comes in and says, "Hmm...runs in the family, I see...".
@@selfdo Given that MASH was only set in Korea because ACTUALLY setting it in 'nam wouldn't have been socially acceptable, I'd argue it'd be acceptable for the hypothetical Cheers episode to have dropped the pretense.
"Hello I'm Dr. Winchester, and your name is?"
"NORM!"
Best show ever but I’m sure we all have our own “best scenes”
For those of us who appreciate David Ogden Stiers, a must-see Frasier, season 10 episode 22. Whoever wrote that episode was inspired! David Ogden Stiers is a wonderful actor who does beautifully with any role he undertakes. Thanks for uploading this.
I like David's role as Cogsworth and Ratcliffe.
David is a good actor. It is too bad he got stuck on MASH during its worst years. He could have been a good Ugly John the gas passer.
Yes. Frasier and MASH, best shows ever, along with Cosby but yeah a bit controversial, anyways
@@GeneralHeavy HE was Ratcliffe? Did he also sing?
@@colleen4ever Yep
My favorite Winchester moment is when he comes unglued on those guys bullying the soldier with the speech impediment.
He mostly came unglued at the soldier's superior officer. Mainly because Winchester outrank him.
I would agree that this was the funniest scene in the show, and that is saying quite a lot.
Potter and Winchester were two tremendous improvements to the show; David Ogden Stiers and Harry Morgan were both wonderful additions. And as far as this scene goes, George Wendt was fantastic.
Charles had a number of great scenes, many of them poignant; my favorites of those were the scene with Hawkeye: "Where I had a father ... you had a dad." With Klinger after misguidedly accosting a foster home leader for selling Christmas candy: "Thank you, Max." "You're welcome ... Charles." And the scene with the birch leaf in the answering-mail episode. All three truly touching. Plus the scene with the crippled pianist and the finale with the "band" that others have mentioned here.
RIP David Ogden Stiers. One of the best characters ever.
David had big shoes to fill once Linville left the set. He wasn't the same comedy relief like Burns, but what he was is something that was a stuffy uptight surgeon with a true heart. David's best role until he played clockwork.
Ya mean Cogsworth?
@@colleen4ever lol, yeah.
WInchester and his sarcasm XD
This is one of the reasons Maj. Winchester was such a good character. Despite his pompous attitude, he often gave as good as he got
and people are saying that the later seasons weren't good anymore. They were brilliant, and this is just one of the many examples :)
the later seasons were ever BETTER! thanks in large part to the addition of charles emerson winchester.
***** oh,that's right; my mistake.
I think people said that because they weren't comical anymore. Funny, but the sitcom ridiculousness had gone.
@@annabethgrace5432 I think removing the sitcom ridiculousness helped it much more. Everyone's more used to being in Korea, so they don't joke as much. The times that they do, though, it's absolutely brilliant
@@lucinavonnolaran8728 I think it’s great that they toned it down. I heard that the comical-ness in the early seasons was to keep it on the air before it blew up and they could tackle these topics with more weight.
When I would watch M.A.S.H. at my grand parent's house I would get excited when Charles appeared in the scene. His voice, sarcasm, and humor was my favourite thing about him. The British accent was the icing on the cake.
He's highborn bostonian in the show not british , easy to confuse the two tho
Rest In Peace my good sir. Thank you for the laughs.
The episode of Charles humanity, is the concern he has for Hawkeye's dad. I will include the final episode with the musicians.
"I had a father, you had a dad"
The musicians part had me crying.
Definitely!!!
And when he defended Houlihan and stood up for the one soldier who stuttered. Winchester is awesome
@@warriorsorb1111 And a wicked sense of humor!😝
Requiescat in Pace, Mr. Stiers. Thank you for your many brilliant, inspired artistic efforts.
Every now and then, I am glad I took some Latin. :-)
I wish I had- but I do know what “ Requiescat in Pace” means.
R.I.P. David Ogden Stiers, you were amazing as Charles.
David ogden was so great playing charles. NORM !!!!
For all his griping, bet Charles was having the time of his life!
It isn't often you see an actor who is just as great at drama as he is at comedy.
I really can't tell when I like this guy more; when he's being pompous, over bearing and full of himself or when he's holding a dying soldier's hand or talking to his sister.
R.I.P. David Ogden Stiers (1942-2018).
One of my top two favorite Charles moments. Closely followed by when he trolls Colonel Flagg!
Straight from the pool halls of Montezuma.
Clever play on the Marine Corps hymn.
@1973Washu Now this, right here, is the best comment on this vid.
Laughing only like we Marines can!!! LOL🤣
Charles is one of my top three characters on this show alongside Margaret and Radar. Not only is he savagely funny, when he shows his human side you really feel for and root for his character. R.I.P. David Ogden Stiers.
Thank you for including the first 20 seconds. Give it great context which makes Charles Emerson Winchester's skit all the funnier.
Loved Charles, and it was great how the scriptwriters let him grow and change - into a real human being!
I love this scene because Charles is joking with him instead of yelling at him. It's like Hawkeye and BJ are rubbing off on him
Charles is by far my favorite character on this show.
Winchester. Jerk with a heart of gold, hiding his kind and sensitive nature under dry sarcasm and sharp barbs. He didn't hate any of the people, he hated the situation. He would duel with Hunnicut and Hawkeye, but just as readily stand by their side because he liked and respected them as men and surgeons. He was infinitely better than Burns.
An unpolished leather shoe full of head lice and soggy linguini would have been better than Frank Burns, honestly.
winchester kept asking whats his name i kept yelling NORM!!!!
"Oooo lookie! A little... SIX, painted on it. Could that be... How old you are?"
Savage level CHARLES%
I love this scene for several reasons:
1. George Wendt typifies every single USMC I have ever met in real life.
2. I love Major Winchesters answers to both Cpl Klinger and George Wendt. He acts and should be too busy to handle stupid stunts like this. I love it especially when he gives it to George Wendt about the number on the pool ball being a 6 to indicate his age. I would have loved it even more had Maj. Windchester referenced the 6 as his or a USMC's collective IQ OMG would he have been spot on right. I also love how Windchester says to Wendt I will pull out all your teeth. Wendt WHIMPERS and begs Windchester to remove the ball from his mouth and Windchester is right in saying its the COWARDS way out!!!
My brother is pretty smart and he was a marine. He is also a pompous ass at times.
@@j.dragon651 The pompus ass part comes from him being a marine in the 1st place. Haven't yet met one marine in 56 yrs of life like Gomer Pyle USMC. I would like to someday. All I have ever met is pompus asses like (Frank Sutton Sgt Carter) from the show or the terrorists that did the January 6, 2021 riots.
One of my favorite lines was when Charles first came in, he did some delicate surgery on some kid and after the surgery was over and the kid was ok, the kid told Charles that Hawkeye told him that Charles did an amazing job and Charles replys "To him, perhaps" as Hawkeye was listening. He gave Hawkeye a little dose of his own ego medicine. I think it went like that.....I might have it all fucked up
That would be all funked up.
I think I just didn't get Winchester when he first came on the show, but then again, I was a kid when MASH was in its heyday. I just took him as a pompous ass, and indeed, when the character first came on the show, he indeed was. The lasting brilliance of the show was the theme it always pushed on you, about the brutal absurdities of war, and those who actually retain their souls throughout the meatgrinder experience are indelibly altered, their humanity is enhanced, and they come to realize that war is the most inhuman of all activities. One of the things I like about watching the show now as an adult as opposed to when I was a teenager is that I got to watch Winchester evolve.
I screen-capped that onto my tumblr haha
Well said.
the characters evolution was not realistic. The most realistic was Frank Burns but he didnt evolve enough.
+andy o'connor oh ye of little faith
rootnon huh?
David Ogden Stiers did a GREAT job in that scene!!
No, Im not crying, just wiping tears of laughter from my eyes!😂🤣
underneath all the bluster and egg, Charles was actually a pretty good guy and a decent surgeon, too.
he was from a totally different background from everyone else - which made things difficult. ever stop to wonder how he ended up in a MASH unit?
He lost a card game (Poker, I think) to a General who sent him to the M*A*S*H unit as a "joke". Either that, or he won the game and made the General look stupid, so as "punishment", the General assigned him to the 4077th.
he won a cribbage match and Lt. Colonel Horace Baldwin rather than pay off his winnings sent Winchester to the 4077
Thanks. At least I was on the right track. :-)
your very welcome
Later on, said Col. Baldwin came to the 4077th. Charles proceeded to lose a few cribbage games to him to erase the debt, in the hopes of getting to go back to Tokyo. Col. Baldwin then got fresh with Margaret and offered him a transfer if he'd testify that she came on to him (rather than what really happened). Charles refused and told him off.
How can you choose just one scene? This show has way too many favorites for me, but I loved this. MASH for ever!!!
I wasn't around when mash was a relatively new show, but man, this is one of the best sitcoms on tv. I like how it was able to be funny at times while at others was able to show the horrors of war
David acts this to absolute perfection
MASH has a lot of favorite episode moments! "5 O'clock Charlie" was a hilarious one!
By jove, I believe I hear Charlie
George should get better credit than he gets for this scene. Not a word spoken but carries then scene brilliantly. He did the pool ball bit again in the series Cheers. To prove he actually could do/or did each scene with a real pool ball. Cheers George :)
+Steacy783 i liked it on cheers whenever he came into the bar, he'd say'' hello, everybody' so friendly like
I agree! He was absolutely brilliant in this!
Steacy783 don't remember that episode
He's confirmed on multiple occasions it was NOT a real pool ball and there is no such scene in any Cheers episode.
@@mwilliamshs I recall a scene in which Sam ends up with a pool ball in his mouth, although I'm sure it was fake.
You know he's trying to say "Afternoon, everybody".
Watching this I'm reminded of David Ogden Stiers great guest appearance on Frasier
Combat veteran says: I've watched this twice, and still cannot figure out why Major Winchester is messing around with the patient. Just remove the ball. Why screw with him? It was just a childish decision made for entertainment. People in war do childish things all the time because it is war, and these childish pranks or stunts help with morale. Just for a few minutes, the jokester and those around him get to laugh, and take their minds off of the horrors of war. Winchester must surely know this.
True, but I think by screwing with Norm Charles got to have a little fun of his own.
Oh Winchester, I adore you.
George Wendt's finest hour as an actor!
After the war, they both went back to Boston. Charles went to Boston Mercy hospital, and Norm sat on the corner stool of Cheers.
“Come on, sport; are you a Marine or a mouse?” 😜
Trick or Treatment was one of my favorite episodes too. Another one of my favorite Charles moments is when he stood up for Margaret against Colonel Baldwin. I don't remember the episode name but it was when BJ bet Hawkeye that he couldn't go 24 hrs. without telling a joke.
charmedfan7704 The episode is called No Laughing Matter. Stand by while I finish my cigarette and I can get you the season and episode number. I have the entire series on my hard drive.
charmedfan7704 No Laughing Matter is Season 9, Episode 13. Btw, it's also one of my favorite Winchester moments. Even under his intense pompousness, he was still a good guy underneath.
It was Col. Baldwin, who 'sent' Charles to the 4077th, to get out of paying off his cribbage losses. It seems, no one ever got around to telling Maj. Winchester, one of the "oldest rules in the Army"! "Always, ALWAYS, let the 'C. O.', win!"
My favourite scene of Charles was when he met a soldier who studdered and taught him that just because he stuttered, he wasn't stupid and then it turns out one of the people he most respected, his sister, stutters aswell. It was such an emotional episode and you saw a side of Charles you rarely got to see. I also liked the crab episode where Charles showed a pianist who lost most function in his right hand that he could still do beautiful music. I love David Ogden Stiers. He's such a good actor! (And did you know he was in the animated Beauty and the Beast movie? He played Cogsworth and was the narrator at the beginning. He also was in Stargate Atlantis)
Id write down the season and episode but its late and i don't want to wake my dad while shuffling through all my CDs
WE lost another from our Past today... R.I.P. David.. May God Bless All who feel your Loss with some Peace knowing you will be remembered..
I wonder if Winchester was an inspiration for Greg House?
Intelligent, brilliant, egotistical, musical and sarcastic. He'll do absolutely anything to assist a victim, and say absolutely anything to a jackass or perpetrator.
RIP David Ogden Stiers :'(
Trapper John McIntyre: Womanizer like Hawkeye
Henry Blake: Relaxed
Frank Burns: Incompetent idiot and a perfect target for Hawkeye, Trapper, and B.J.
B.J. Honeycutt: Faithful married man
Sherman T. Potter: Strict but fair
Charles Emerson Winchester III: Skilled surgeon and a perfect foil for Hawkeye and B.J. (especially since he can dish it out as well as he can take it).
Good casting choices for the replacement characters. My mother never liked ol' Ferret Face anyway.
Trapper was a womanizer, but unlike Hawkeye he was married. Blake was also married and fooling around, but it seemed like he was having his affair with just the one nurse. Burns was also cheating on his wife, but only with Margaret until she dumped him.
BJ did slip up in one episode, which wasn't well done and never should have been done. Potter flirted once in a while, but never cheated. Winchester was single, but only had a couple of romances.
I kinda wondered how Frank and Charles would interact with one another.
@@djtodd3 Charles would cut Frank to ribbons with minimal effort.
RIP David Ogden Stiers. Thank you for leaving us a legacy of laughs.
NORM!! - His secret life in the military before Cheers.
yea i agree, i watched mash as a kid and i did not care for Winchester. As the show went on, i liked him more and more. Now that i'm an adult i think he was great. This scene is funny, however there are a lot of super funny scenes with Winchester. I think he's just super intelligent he really takes a more intelligent crowd to get him. As opposed to Klinger or Hawkeye where you get right away, even if your a kid. I even find myself liking Frank burns these days. Especially when you know that behind the scenes he was a brilliant engineer, and they all loved him. It really takes a genius to play these types of chars.
Charles Emerson Winchester The King.
That's Charles Emerson Winchester the third🎩🎩🎩🎩
David Ogden Stiers best performance (that I have seen) by far is as another medical professional in 19th century USA, the film titled I think "The Last of His Tribe" - it's a great movie, trust me. And brought me to tears. All great actors live forever, and so do the stories they tell.
R.I.P. Major Winchester 2018
Just watching this makes my jaw hurt.
See, this is why Norm drank so much...
Corvus Crow - Wendt pointed out that Norm actually didn’t drink that much. He sipped a beer through the whole show.
Love how the good doctor sticks to the Hippocratic Oath even when tempted to prolong suffering for the sake of schadenfreude.
The above was sarcasm.
Norm! So cool to see people in earlier roles before they get more significant roles.
This was funny, but I think the funniest scene is when Frank Burns falls in the air raid pit that was filled with water.
Yea, that was good.
For me, the most hilarious scene is the one with Klinger and the hang glider.
+TheJohnnyCotts Yes, that was so good too. Do you remember the time that Klinger inflated a self-inflating rubber raft in Colonel Potter's office? Klinger was caught trying to go AWOL. hahaha
I remember that one. Klinger got caught trying to go AWOL and was brought to Potter's office, where he explained how he was going to get out of camp by the nearby river, take that eventually to the Pacific Ocean and then to San Francisco. Potter told him he would have drowned first, to which Klinger said, "No chance, sir" and inflated the raft.
That's right. Thanks.
For some reason i prefer the laugh track on. I guess it makes it like the original producers intended.
Definitely my favorite Charles moment!
Favourite funny moment, followed by A War For All Seasons when he’s outside during the final game of the season.
Favourite moment of the entire series is between him and Max in Death Takes A Holiday.
Thanks Alan Alda for the beautiful memories ❤️ you
this episode aired just a month after CHEERS debuted.
+star trek Hey Norm :)
"NORM!"
A lot of people got their start here : Patrick Swayze & John Ritter, for 2 examples.
Dont forget Ron Howard.
Cowboy Curtis!
One of many of my favorite episode of M.A.S.H..
Stiers' acting in this was so on point!
Whenever I see this episode in reruns, I keep expecting Cliff to come around the corner, with a pool ball in HIS mouth. Cliff and Norm just made another one of their bets.
I love this scene, but I could never figure out how someone as out of shape as George Wendt could ever cut it as a leatherneck!
Just because he is overweight does not mean that he lacks strength or stamina.
Don't judge a book by the cover.