I didn't know he died or realize he was 89 years old. He's one of those actors that always seemed older when he was young and younger than he actually was when he was old.
I met Larry Linville. Nothing like Frank Burns. Witty, warm and all around nice person. It is tragic that he died young and have an opportunity to explore roles that could have expanded his portfolio. He was certainly capable of it. Kind of side note- he and Burghoff were good friends and stayed in touch That said, the Frank Burns character was enormous fun and Larry put everything into it
I'd think you would have to be. I can't imagine playing roles that showed such hostility to one another if you didn't really trust one another a great deal.
He did a great job, and Burns was a wonderful character, but both seemed wasted. I remember the show gradually turning into a long series of shallow, cruel jokes at his expense, typically just an insult from Hawkeye followed by a peal of that insipid laugh-track.
@@heliumcalcium396 Alan Alda using the opportunity to belittle a person's appearance was the last straw for me. Calling someone "ferret face" and expecting a laugh was cruel. Alda had some roles where he's a despicable and evil person which in my opinion is close to his personality.
Stevenson said in an interview that he left not because he wanted the leading role, but because the show was moving away from being an ensemble show and becoming more and more about Hawkeye. To him the fact that it was supposed to be an ensemble show and, with Alda’s growing influence and power, was shifting to a show centered around him. This cut deeply into the other characters storylines.
@@ApothecaryGrant He definitely was the most popular character, at least in the first few years. The producers saw him as the show's core and focused on him the most. It's all about ratings and money.
It became in many ways, the Hawkeye show. I would’ve liked to have seen more character development on Frank Burns rather than him just being an adulterous foil for Hawkeye jokes.
Like the candy bar episode when he found out the candy he gave out was traded for food. I don't remember the specifics other than it was a great episode.
He was my favorite character. The one handed pianist and the soldier who stuttered episodes, really displayed that humanity. When the Korean musicians were killed in the last episode, he made me cry. I loved Frank, but Winchester was a character with more depth.
Gary Burgoff lives near me in an RV park where residents own the lots. Access is limited to those with the gate code. I've been to this park numerous times, but never saw him and never looked for him. He lives a very modest lifestyle. He wants a private life and his neighbors respect that. None of them will tell where he lives. He is a skilled fisherman, and goes out into the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently he is locally famous for his skill in handcrafting fishing lures.
@@evalehde3869 I found him to be an arrogant, unpleasant person. Possible he was just having a bad day, but I don’t take kindly to the rudeness he exhibited, and it wasn’t even towards me.
When I was young, I really liked watching MASH; however, I can't stand it now. I never realized how completely obnoxious Hawkeye/Alan Alda was, but Potter/Harry Morgan and Winchester/David Ogden Stiers make it worth watching.
AA gave me the impression that he thought wisecracks coupled with supposed 'thought-provoking' insights were a sign of intelligence and anyone slightly 'right'(in HIS eyes)of Karl Marx was a KKK N**i warmonger,I think the term 'empty vessels make most noise' was tailor-made for him.
When the actors started writing and directing the show, it lost its spontaneity. They tried too hard to push social agendas, making the humor seem forced.
I was born in mid 60's and I understood the humor and would explain the jokes to some adults. At the time I found it sophisticated humor but I was a kid. Now I watch it and the jokes and lines seem so obvious. And I think if they said this it would of been funnier. I considered it funny and one of the greatest shows ever. But now I don't.
The episode where Blake's death was revealed to the TV audience was Gary Burgoff's best acting moment. I love this show and thought all of the actors were awesome.
As a 9 or 10 year old and watching in reruns, when Henry died I was so shocked that I couldn't watch it for years. That was beginning of the end of the great mash episodes.
Many have commented that the show was not as good in the later years for a variety of reasons. While I agree that the quality was not as good near the end of its run, I still loved the show all the way through.
he wasn't acting. he wasn't given line or direction until mere moments before being sent in to deliver the line. gary was appalled by a number of things about it, that the rest of the cast was kept in the dark, that they killed henry, that he had to deliver the news, etc. and everyone was already emotional about mclean's leaving. when gary went in and delivered the line, he forgot his mask, so radar forgot his mask. the line "mask, radar" was ad-libbed, but audio on set doesn't sound like what we hear on the screen. not sure whether gary heard that line or not, or if it was added in post. he had to concentrate on delivering that gut-wrenching line.
I really liked Frank Burns... For a while. They really needed to evolve that character though. He had no redeeming qualities whatsoever and was all bad, all the time. He was a funny archetype, and I know the kind of person they were making fun of with his character. But the gag had really worn thin.
It always sickened me Alda went on rants portraying America as a war monger when, in fact, we were in Korea to help them stay free from communist takeover. The Koreans we thrilled and grateful we were, and still are, there, so anti war mash is a hypocritical Hollywood lie.
They took advantage of the Vietnam War to go to their anti-war garbage and that's fine is the anti-American stuff that really is shameful, every time there was a war crime it was an American when a village got blown up it was American an Air Force pilot flying over bombing civilians it was an American , making generals looking like morons, , it's probably the most anti-American TV show ever,
paulprigge1209, Yeah those liberals, how dare they think about all of humanity, and how when we work together we do better. Why not be like the reptilian brain thinkers with the Survival of the fittest, or the what's in it for me, and if it's not for me, then who is taking from me. Yeah, I'm on Alan's team sanity.
All the always speaks about American motive in Korea but it seems to me South Korea is doing pretty damn well these days. I guess that was an accident?
A veteran will always play the "I was there and it wasn't like that" but this is tv you idiots trying to enlighten yes laugh at it. Most vets seem to patronise us civilians for not suffering PTSD as if we don't have a political say in sending these brainwashed pawns off to war
EXACTLY! He was not good looking thank God they partnered him with good-looking men because no one would believe he could get any of the hot nurses by himself, he was like an obnoxious Jewish grandmother always sticking her nose into everything and I got tired of watching him, so I stopped watching the show in the 5th season.
McLean Stevenson said it and Wayne Rogers nailed it, when he said: “I joined an ensemble cast show that became The Alan Alda Show. So I left.” And, indeed it was all Alda all the time. It’s very uneven and ranges from a few great shows, some good, many mediocre, and too many bad shows.
Wayne and Mcclean were my utmost favorite for sure. I didn't watch after these two left. Plus I was getting older and busy. I don't watch the reruns. Either.
Do you know why it became so centered on Alan Alda ? Its because the people demanded it and as an egalitarian ensemble not centered on Alan Alda the ratings were enough to ensure the survival of the series . Alan Alda was their insurance against unemployment . Wayne Rogers did not have that effect .
@@dennisv8934 That never happened . The writers elected to spotlight Alda . Largely because Alda was far more capable AND popular than Wayne Rogers . Want proof ? The show continued easily without him and he did feck all without MASH .
I don't blame him. My respects to him. I despise dim witted people who are clueless to the fact the Koreans were happy we were there and are one of our staunchest allies.
Yeah, but from interviews with many of the cast... it was what the writers and producers wanted. Exactly why Wayne left the show... Sadly, I found BJ to be way funnier and loved his more subtle humor (and when it was in your face too)... Still, the show is a classic and I watch often to this day (the Mrs. gave me the complete DVD collection for Christmas years ago). Even though so much of the tech in the show is beyond out dated.. it still feels like it's so good it could be a hit today.
Most of the characters were well played by the actors. The last few years of the series, Alda became a predictable stage hog of poor quality. He began to think that he was Groucho Marx. Frankly, he wasn’t. His arrogance turned him under. Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
I realized that Alda was a stage hog as was his character, so I focused more on the other actors. I loved Col. Blake and Col. Potter, Radar, and Clinger.
I stopped watching the show because I couldn't stand Hawkeye. He was wanting everything to go his way. You couldn't do what you wanted to do but you had to do what he wanted to do. I caught a lot of flack for that. Yet after the show and years after the show Alan alda actually came out and said that. He said Hawkeye was really not a nice guy. And he didn't understand why people didn't see it. Hawkeye was caring of others especially patients, but he was very self-centered.
Once BJ appeared the show took a strong left tilt and became preachy and too political. The fun loving Hawkeye became a self-centered focal point with ego driven dialog. Up through Trapper the show was great and then it went downhill every season.
I remember watching one episode where Hawkeye got a concussion and he had to talk nonstop to keep himself from losing consciousness. It was so boring that I vowed to skip that episode whenever it aired in syndication or if I was watching it on DVD.
Yep, look at the local people in the background and what they were wearing, it was Vietnamese gear, and the most despicable thing they did, they used Japanese actors as Koreans you have any idea what the Japanese did to the Koreans,
@@gusloader123 Well , leadership yeah … The Cold War was full of propaganda . We fought Communism not for the benefit if people but largely for continued exploitation of those peoples’ natural resources . A lot of people question for whom the pay off actually paid off . I had to agree with him on that point . Communism is unchecked Socialism but unchecked Capitalism is Fascism . We have the better system but that worth is decreased the more we creep toward unfettered capitalism . Its a moot discussion trying to suss out which is worse , Communism or Fascism .The goal if each is the subjugation of people .
I disagree. It became a different show but I still liked it. And I think Larry Linville had to go. At a certain point, you could only explain his (Maj. Burns) behavior by him being crazy. And then making him the but of all your jokes and tricks is just cruel. They needed a new target for all of their silly pranks, etc. And Charles was perfect. He could poke back!
So basically the first three actors; Stevenson, Rogers, and Linville ALL LEFT mash for the Exact Same Reasons....the shows obsession with alan alda. Think how the show would have been MUCH BETTER if they had kept it as an ensemble show !
I can understand why Rogers was upset. If you watch the movie with Sutherland the reason Trapper was brought to the 4077th was because they needed a Thoracic surgeon. Sadly when a patient required chest surgery, the powers that be gave the part to Alda. (Hawkeye) As the show went on Alda was given too much attention, which would make any actor feel like a second banana. Although I loved the show, I grew sick of Alda getting all the praise.
I agree with you and scottcaldwell it got preachey and more like a soap opera with comic relief, when alda took over the show lost its earlier light hearted humorous edge, and for no particular reason it seemed they (or alda) axed the guitar player that was in the original movie as well.
@@ApothecaryGrantyes, but you can noticeably see the changes, to Alda's leftism. Stevenson and Wayne left because they were no longer in the feature mix as much...just sidekicks.
It was a TV show. It wasn't meant to be accurate to reality. It wasn't about Korea anyway, it was a thinly veiled analogy to Vietnam. They couldn't have made a show about Vietnam at that time because it was too controversial.
@@edmundcharles5278a 5 star general can be replaced by just promoting another 4-star general. A soldier with a medical degree and experience doing fast surgeries under combat settings is tougher to replace, and thus probably got quite a bit more slack than an average grunt.
One of the greatest shows of All Time. Every single character was so likable, the stories, the humor, the journey of life viewed through the prism of war......this was deep. Till this day, my eyes tear up feeling that these characters that many have passed away (may they RIP) were somehow part of my family, my life. Thank You MASH, and all the wonderful actors, writers and producers (and the rest of the crew) that gave us a multitude of memories.
My father loved this show. It pissed him off a lot (he often raged at how a couple of generic Asian actors played multiple Asians, from Korean to Chinese), but he loved it. He served in WW2 and the Korean War as a Marine. He received five purple hearts before he was done. Perhaps his admiration for the men and women who treated him in both wars explains his love for the show.
God bless your dad for being a person that nowadays gets little recognition. We ALL need to respect the people that risked their lives to give us the freedoms we have from the service of our military.
27:09 "The Series Premiered On CBS In 1972 And Burghoff Was The Only Actor From The Movie Asked To ReturnTo The Role" No, Rene Auberjonis was also offered to reprise the role of Father Mulcahey, but he'd turned it down
did he? i didnt mind him. i first saw him in "kelly's heroes" as oddball, playing a hippy 30yrs early along with the terminology was a bit silly though.
@@StephanieFlynn-y3i Sutherland was Hawkeye. Elliott Gould was Trapper John in the movie. Both of them far superior to the TV actors. They were more like anarchists at war with the army than the smart alecks of the TV series.
Yes, I know. To me, Sutherland's portrayal was the BEST Hawkeye Pierce Eliot Gould and Wayne Rodgers were pretty equal. Robert Duvall's Frank Burns was a complete psycho where Larry Linville brought a tiny bit of respect and a whole lot of humanity. Hotlips H. in the movie had NO RESPECT and slept with anybody and everybody. TV Margaret was played much better than movie Hotlips.
I stopped watching it after the first few years when the anachronisms became too overwhelming. Instead of a 1950s Mobile Army Surgical show it became a sociology platform.
I get the feeling that Alan Alda was the reason so much of the talent in the show left. He must have been a real piece of work to drive people away considering that it had to have been financially stable and well paying work. He drove me away and I loved the show for years...
I will still watch M*A*S*H, but only the first 3 seasons. It became "The Alan Alda Show" after that. I have nothing against Harry Morgan, but Mike Ferrell was a terrible actor, and Loretta Swit became a shrieking mess. The scripts went downhill fast. Most episodes had the main characters talking over each other at some point like children, with Hawkeye's "No, no, no, no!" at the forefront. Not funny. LOVED Henry Blake and Trapper John.
@@angelmorris7361 I don't know why you singled out Will Ferrell. William Christopher, Jamie Farr, and Gary Burghoff were all hammy, thoroughly unbelievable caricatures. And Kellye Nakahara had no business delivering lines at all: total amateur.
Stevenson himself said he just got “too big for his britches”, or something along those lines. I loved Blake but thought it was a brilliant choice to have him not make it home.
I loved M*A*S*H but yes, after a while, the Hawkeye character became the main focus and I thought some of the other characters were equally deserving of more storylines. Loved Klinger. He was hilarious.
Starting in Season 4 and through the rest of the series the producers gave most of the creative side to Alda and it changed from a sitcom to a preachy boring waste of time
@my3dviews - When Bart started telling people to "Eat my shorts!".. well, everyone thought it was hilarious. Until parents like myself would say something to the effect of "Hey, don't forget to take your laundry basket upstairs!" Only to be told " Eat my shorts mom!".
I think Linville had the most challenging role. Roger Bomen, who played Lt. Col Henry Blake in the film passed away February 16, 1996. The day after McLean Stevenson.
It was the stupidest role on the show . Of course it was a challenge . All of the other characters were plausible but Burns was a caricature . He did it well but I thought it detracted more than it added
The character of Frank Burns was over-the-top. I didn't know that about the two Col Blakes, though: what a coincidence! Both died of heart attacks according to what I googled.
Larry played Frank to perfection. I don't know if anyone else could do it better. That said, I think Winchester was the most dynamic and complex character. He has always been my favorite.
Wow, no mention of this.... "To evoke genuine emotions of shock and sadness, the final O.R. scene was kept a secret from the cast until immediately before filming; only then did Gelbart hand out the last page of the script. As a result, Stevenson was still on the set and saw the final scene being filmed." Henry Blake's death was also regarded as the most controversial episode in the series.
Leaving a hit show, especially when it's a breakout role, tends to not be a great career move. Most actors will never be in a hit show. Those who do usually never get another role of the same caliber.
@@antonnakic8539 You're right. It lasted 37 months which times four is 12 years and 4 months. Was.it 11 seasons?, I thought it was longer. It seemed like it was on tv forever.
@patrickradcliffe3837 Not the only show to do that. The Young Riders, about the Pony Express, lasted 3 years. Twice as long as the real Pony Express. But Combat is the real winner of the three, lasting more than 5 times longer than it's original subject. Set in World War 2 starting at D day and covering the war in Europe, Combat was on for 5 years. D day was June 6, 1944 and VE day was May 8th 1945 so the portion of World War II Combat covered, in actuality lasted 11 months but Combat had 5 good years.
I met "Radar"/ Berghoff, briefly in "real life". I was so disappointed. My impression was that the loveable teddy bear from Mash, was, in real life, a snob, who thought too much of himself and too little of others.
@@bartdrennon1764 Where did you hear that? Larry Linville was nothing like the character Frank Burns and other cast members enjoyed working with him. He was described as friendly, kind and down to earth. Because there was tension between Alda and Burgoff, It's possible that Linville might have been caught up in that defending Gary who was close friends with Linville.
Everything I've read says the opposite, that the cast did not hate Gary Burghoff. However, he wasn't too social on set, but they all knew he was dealing with problems in his personal life that was making things difficult for him. Despite that, Loretta Switt said even in later seasons they still managed to make each other laugh.
Having grown up with Larry Linville, I can say honestly that even after he left the show we would always think of him as Frank Burns (or 'Ferret Face'), I realize that the cast loved him and he was a very talented actor but such was his ability to act that he would carry that stigma throughout his post-MASH life.
The whole idea of a Trapper John series is what seemed weird to me. Somebody did one helluva job pitching that idea to the execs. Wayne Rogers in the lead would have tanked it. The guy seemed like a doofus; I never liked him.
The first three years of this show was magic. The onscreen chemistry with key actors show cased on this documentary makes me think back to being a kid watching this show that was always on top of the do list back then. When Stevenson left it was the beginning of the end to this show as Cornel Blake was such a favorite character. The night I watched Blakes departure and Hawkeye sending him off I remember getting something out of the fridge and almost changed the channel. The scene in the operating room when Radar came in with the telegram about the plane crash and no survivors; Henry Blake was dead; stopped me in my tracks and the cracking in Radars voice, the scalpel dropping then hearing Hotlips start to cry, I to started to sob. I remember a phone call from a friend of mine who I use to go to school with and race motocross with ask me if I saw the show tonight. He to was verbally upset. A night engrained in one of many child hood memories. Imagine that sobbing over a T.V show. That how much that show was a part of my whole families life as well friends and relatives. When the key characters started to leave so did the vibe of that show. Hate to say this they seriously made the wrong choice leaving that show in its infancy.
Alda made it all about him. Took the top surgeon Trapper, a heart surgeon, and Hawkeye the best buddy to the camp personality/ nickname and made it 1 character best surgeon camp buddy. So it's all about him. He was writing scripts not long after the show started AND OF COURSE all about him. Wayne Roger's leaving the show went downhill. Especially with M. Steven's also left. Hell, the last episode was all about Alda total ME ME
Gary Burghoff I respect the most. never remarried after divorce. Got the hell out of hollywood and kept perfecting his Jazz drumming and did wildlife art work. Relocated to a small city area out in the south. Good man.
People get so critical of actors who choose to leave a show. Its a job, people. Most people quit a job and move on for various reasons. Maybe its money, maybe the boss, possibly coworkers or it could ba that the job isn't a challenge anymore. Why are actors expected to be any different?
For one thing, regular actors on a show have contracts; they're not at-will employees. If they break the contract or negotiate to get out of that contract early, they get a reputation for being "difficult".
One of the best things about M*A*S*H, was that for each characters that left early: Colonel Henry Blake, Trapper John and Frank Burns, they actually brought in an even better character. Col Potter, Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt and Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III were even more interesting, dynamic characters who were able to grow. Larry Linville wanted to have his character mature like the others were starting to, but the writers kept him pigeon-holed as a jerk who was also a bad doctor (which you couldn't change). They were smarter with Winchester and made him a snob, but an excellent surgeon. He was able to eventually grow his character into someone starting to care about others.
Blake was great, his goofy character is what the show was about. Potter? Anytime someone said, “I was once in..” He would interrupt with a long personal story . I know he was really liked, but many found him incredibly annoying.
It wasn't the shows that were genius, it was the relatable characters. People fell in love with them & watched them grow. It started as pure silliness, eventually becoming a platform to protest war, but how the characters faced changes & tried to adapt or at least cope was absorbing. If you binge watch, it's easy to find yourself getting depressed in spite of the humor. Even the score "Suicide is Painless" contributes to this effect. A miracle mix of talent made it worth seeing once, though.
FASCINATING FUN FACT: For a little while before his "MASH" audition, Gary Burghoff was the drummer for a band called The Relatives, featuring a pretty young girl named Lynda Carter and her cousins.
I read sometimes back the writer of the book wasn't a fan of the series on TV. He really was a guy that had respect for the Military and didn't agree with the direction of the show.
@@mousetreehouse6833 But it drove the author nuts that they never followed the script when filming. They basically let Sutherland do whatever he wanted and it worked.
No, according to what I've read, it wasn't so much that Richard Hooker respected the military (no need to capitalize) as he didn't respect the actors in the show.
Potter & Winchester were good to offset Hawkeye's preaching - BJ was there to support Hawkeye's liberal ideals (BJ from CA was so true of CA liberal socialist stance even then in the 70's)
The original mash cast was great. Honeycutt made me want to vomit as did alda after a while with his rants. Funny it seems South Korea is doing pretty well these days. Guess that was an accident
No, not an accident that South Korea is doing well these days. Between American aid after the war and the Korean work ethic, it's not a surprise they are successful. I watch K-dramas and they are terrific.
A sad thing I heard, was some dopes had to go and have a survey, who's more popular as lead funny man, WAYNE ROGERS or ALAN ALDA?! ALAN won the poll, and WAYNE was hurt. He ended up leaving the show after that, career took a dive. NOW why did they have to go and ask that? BOTH were important in their own ways and great together , and not a looks and popularity contest!
Good attempt at telling a story as to why the actors left. Instead of just telling the truth, they could not stand a certain actor who tried to make everything about himself.
During that final episode (Farewell MASH), I was in Grade 9 and I distinctly remember the tears rolling down my cheeks during the final moments of that installment. Velox Versutus Vigilans
On RUclips there's an interview I saw a while back of producer Larry Gelbart. Stevenson and Rogers did leave largely because they didn't like MASH becoming the Alan Alda show. Part of the reason Blake was killed off and not just written out was because CBS was angry at him for leaving the show. Killing the character made sure he couldn't return even if he wanted to. His leaving was known so the episode was crafted for his departure. Rogers, on the other hand, left for summer hiatus without signing the contract for another 3 years. He finally decided not to return, leaving the show in a lurch. He also got sued by CBS. He won since the network didn't have a legal leg. That's all why the 4th season opening seems thrown together like it does. It was, the casting of MIke Farrell was fairly hasty.
"Trapper John" was very funny. "Huneycutt" on the other hand, was just meh and flat, no real depth. I thought they could've ended the show after the 3rd or 4th season.
I eventually came to hate this show. It became preachy. Hawkeye became so virtuous he practically walked on water, and toward the end, a lot of the humor was groan-inducing puns.
My God I loved this series, read for it a few times in my career then did a movie for Alan's Brother, Tony RIP.....and those who leave because they feel underused in an ensemble show- I just will never wrap my head around that....Producers are there for a reason- they see the big picture. There is a reason this show ran for 11 years
@@Plisken65I can see the irony of it. Both are cancers, and in the 50's there was little hope for leukemia patients, and there is little hope for pancreatic cancer now.
McLean made a bad decision leaving MASH. I think to this day the final episode of MASH still holds the record for the being the most watched episode of any tv show at any one time of all time. I’m talking about when it initially aired (not reruns of it) it set a world record for the amount of people watching it and it hasn’t been broken. The sadder thing is I think Alan Alda is the only one who had a real movie career after MASH. Sure not Tom Cruise movie famous but he’s done some films compared to the rest of MASH cast.
The cool thing about the episode in which Henry dies is that none of the cast was informed ahead of time. It was a surprise to everyone, so the reactions are genuine.
Larry Linville got the part by reading Hawkeye's lines as Col. Burns, which sounds very hard. Personally, I think the show tanked after the third season. The original cast was wonderful.
Again, there are MISTAKES in this script Burghoff is NOT the only actor from the film who was asked to do the series. I talked to Fred Williamson, and he stated that ALL the actors from the film were asked to do the series. Williamson was not interested in a series. Timothy Brown was in both rhe film and series. So was Corey Fischer and G. Wood. Burghoff and Wood played the same characters. Timmy played Williamson's character, and Fischer played a new character. PLEASE do NOT rely on Google as your sole source of information. Otherwise, a good look at a terrific series.
I read years back that Stevenson's character was killed off because the producers never wanted him to come back as he had been a royal pain in the arse. Ironic that he regretted it years later.
I heard that McLean Stevenson didn't know his Henry Blake character would be killed off until it happened. There was also talk that Alan Alda had a hand in the decision to do it.
I saw an interview with Stevenson where he said he thought the audience liked and wanted to see HIM....he didn't figure out till later that they liked HIS CHARACTER you gotta be a fool not to have seen THAT
Let's take a moment to remember the first Hawkeye Pierce, Donald Southerland. RIP sir and thank you for all the memories.
🙏Mr. Sutherland. 👏
@@Plasmastorm73_n5evv That would be who the character was based on.
I didn't know he died or realize he was 89 years old. He's one of those actors that always seemed older when he was young and younger than he actually was when he was old.
He started Hawkeye. Alda perfected him
@@Plasmastorm73_n5evv
Please explain to me who Richard Was. I have no knowledge of him and am quite interested.
I met Larry Linville. Nothing like Frank Burns. Witty, warm and all around nice person. It is tragic that he died young and have an opportunity to explore roles that could have expanded his portfolio. He was certainly capable of it. Kind of side note- he and Burghoff were good friends and stayed in touch
That said, the Frank Burns character was enormous fun and Larry put everything into it
I'd think you would have to be. I can't imagine playing roles that showed such hostility to one another if you didn't really trust one another a great deal.
He did a great job, and Burns was a wonderful character, but both seemed wasted. I remember the show gradually turning into a long series of shallow, cruel jokes at his expense, typically just an insult from Hawkeye followed by a peal of that insipid laugh-track.
Frank Burns eats worms.
@@heliumcalcium396 Alan Alda using the opportunity to belittle a person's appearance was the last straw for me. Calling someone "ferret face" and expecting a laugh was cruel. Alda had some roles where he's a despicable and evil person which in my opinion is close to his personality.
Oh he was a sharp tack wasn’t he ? He was pretty committed too
Stevenson said in an interview that he left not because he wanted the leading role, but because the show was moving away from being an ensemble show and becoming more and more about Hawkeye. To him the fact that it was supposed to be an ensemble show and, with Alda’s growing influence and power, was shifting to a show centered around him. This cut deeply into the other characters storylines.
Yes Alda ruined it and the preachy writing. Couldn't stand the show after a while even with some good cast members. Alda wasn't one of them.
Well it ruined Allan Alda! He was so type cast he never really got another part!
The reason was because Alda was that good . He was a clear break out star . It wasn’t because Alda demanded it , like some here say .
@@ApothecaryGrant if you say so.
@@ApothecaryGrant He definitely was the most popular character, at least in the first few years. The producers saw him as the show's core and focused on him the most. It's all about ratings and money.
I grew tired of Alan Alda. ‘Hawkeye’ took up too much of what could have been a more compelling cast of characters.
He was always trying to make it a political statement and act like a martyr. He was sickening. It ruined the show for many people.
It became in many ways, the Hawkeye show. I would’ve liked to have seen more character development on Frank Burns rather than him just being an adulterous foil for Hawkeye jokes.
I quit watching because of Alan Alda he just seemed like an arrogant superstar.
@@bryanbishop8973you forgot "Preachy" in there.
Alan Alda was to MASH what William Shatner was to Star TreK. He hogged all the glory to the detriment of other characters roles.
Stiers' character was so hilariously insufferable; but when the script called for him to show his humanity, he could break your heart.
Like the candy bar episode when he found out the candy he gave out was traded for food. I don't remember the specifics other than it was a great episode.
He was my favorite character. The one handed pianist and the soldier who stuttered episodes, really displayed that humanity. When the Korean musicians were killed in the last episode, he made me cry. I loved Frank, but Winchester was a character with more depth.
@@zerogrey3798 agreed, possibly his finest work other than the farewell episode.
@@toddwalker4301 the episode quoted and the farewell episode were his finest
I believe Stiers' character that was Major Winchester provided the template Kelsey Grammer would use to develop Dr. Frasier Crane.
Gary Burgoff lives near me in an RV park where residents own the lots. Access is limited to those with the gate code. I've been to this park numerous times, but never saw him and never looked for him. He lives a very modest lifestyle. He wants a private life and his neighbors respect that. None of them will tell where he lives. He is a skilled fisherman, and goes out into the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently he is locally famous for his skill in handcrafting fishing lures.
I’ve met him. I can understand why he may have been hated.
Radar was easily my favorite character-common sense in a crazy world. Saw every episode (or nearly every)
What a down to earth great guy! I would buy a fishing lure!
@@bricktop201 why is that?
@@evalehde3869 I found him to be an arrogant, unpleasant person. Possible he was just having a bad day, but I don’t take kindly to the rudeness he exhibited, and it wasn’t even towards me.
When I was young, I really liked watching MASH; however, I can't stand it now. I never realized how completely obnoxious Hawkeye/Alan Alda was, but Potter/Harry Morgan and Winchester/David Ogden Stiers make it worth watching.
So true Alan Alda was a bore.
AA gave me the impression that he thought wisecracks coupled with supposed 'thought-provoking' insights were a sign of intelligence and anyone slightly 'right'(in HIS eyes)of Karl Marx was a KKK N**i warmonger,I think the term 'empty vessels make most noise' was tailor-made for him.
I grew to dislike Alan Alda/Hawkeye - Col. Potter & Charles were the only bright spots in the later years.
Same
Ogden Stiers was definitely an improvement over Frank Burns' character.
When the actors started writing and directing the show, it lost its spontaneity. They tried too hard to push social agendas, making the humor seem forced.
Social agendas, environmental agendas, religious agendas...ANY agenda ruin entertainment.
Just tell a blanking story.
Its nothing like it would be today though. Now it would be insanely agenda driven and pushing modern politicals and issues into Korean war stories.
Agree 100%.
I was born in mid 60's and I understood the humor and would explain the jokes to some adults. At the time I found it sophisticated humor but I was a kid. Now I watch it and the jokes and lines seem so obvious. And I think if they said this it would of been funnier. I considered it funny and one of the greatest shows ever. But now I don't.
Alan Alda didn't ruined the show.
EDIT: Alda ruined MASH.
The episode where Blake's death was revealed to the TV audience was Gary Burgoff's best acting moment. I love this show and thought all of the actors were awesome.
As a 9 or 10 year old and watching in reruns, when Henry died I was so shocked that I couldn't watch it for years. That was beginning of the end of the great mash episodes.
@@leitheparsons1186 I did like Harry Morgan as Col Potter, and Winchester was an interesting character. Jaime Farr was always great.
The death of Henry Blake was kept secret from nearly the entire cast. This is one of the reasons that the reactions were so realistic.
Many have commented that the show was not as good in the later years for a variety of reasons. While I agree that the quality was not as good near the end of its run, I still loved the show all the way through.
he wasn't acting. he wasn't given line or direction until mere moments before being sent in to deliver the line. gary was appalled by a number of things about it, that the rest of the cast was kept in the dark, that they killed henry, that he had to deliver the news, etc. and everyone was already emotional about mclean's leaving. when gary went in and delivered the line, he forgot his mask, so radar forgot his mask. the line "mask, radar" was ad-libbed, but audio on set doesn't sound like what we hear on the screen. not sure whether gary heard that line or not, or if it was added in post. he had to concentrate on delivering that gut-wrenching line.
Larry had to play the most difficult person, Frank Burns. He played him perfectly.
@@jameskelly8506 He played Frank Burns perfectly. I loved him. My favorite character.
I really liked Frank Burns... For a while. They really needed to evolve that character though. He had no redeeming qualities whatsoever and was all bad, all the time. He was a funny archetype, and I know the kind of person they were making fun of with his character. But the gag had really worn thin.
I met Larry Linville in the very early 80s. Such a nice man...RIP, Sir.
It always sickened me Alda went on rants portraying America as a war monger when, in fact, we were in Korea to help them stay free from communist takeover. The Koreans we thrilled and grateful we were, and still are, there, so anti war mash is a hypocritical Hollywood lie.
They took advantage of the Vietnam War to go to their anti-war garbage and that's fine is the anti-American stuff that really is shameful, every time there was a war crime it was an American when a village got blown up it was American an Air Force pilot flying over bombing civilians it was an American , making generals looking like morons, , it's probably the most anti-American TV show ever,
Just remember Alan Alda Liberal type always has been
Alan went on rants about how disgusting war is period, and he is right!
paulprigge1209,
Yeah those liberals, how dare they think about all of humanity, and how when we work together we do better.
Why not be like the reptilian brain thinkers with the Survival of the fittest, or the what's in it for me, and if it's not for me, then who is taking from me. Yeah, I'm on Alan's team sanity.
All the always speaks about American motive in Korea but it seems to me South Korea is doing pretty damn well these days. I guess that was an accident?
Wayne Rogers was much funnier than Alan Alda . Alda was a Grucho Marx spin off and it showed. Rogers had me laughing more than any other.
I agree with you. I stopped watching it when he left.
A veteran will always play the "I was there and it wasn't like that" but this is tv you idiots trying to enlighten yes laugh at it. Most vets seem to patronise us civilians for not suffering PTSD as if we don't have a political say in sending these brainwashed pawns off to war
Rogers and Larry Linvile - that dude was HYSTERICAL.
Funny and not political either!
@folgore1 based on their Hawaiian shirts I introduced crazy shirt Friday on my palliative care unit
So what happened to the "they hate me" comment by Burghoff? Not a mention.
The comment I was looking for , thanks for the time saver. 👍
Welcome to the internet where nothing is as it seems but it always generates hits and clicks for ad revenue.
It's not Gary, IYKYK, who is 8Ted
The best episodes were the ones with Sidney and Col. Flagg.
Flagg was the GREATEST!
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice
I couldn’t agree more
@@northernbohemianrealistFlagg was the best
Flagg 🤣
Though I was a teen, I couldn't watch it any more when it became the "What Alan Alda will lecture us on this week" show.
I’m pretty liberal but even I think he could’ve dialed it down a little
EXACTLY! He was not good looking thank God they partnered him with good-looking men because no one would believe he could get any of the hot nurses by himself, he was like an obnoxious Jewish grandmother always sticking her nose into everything and I got tired of watching him, so I stopped watching the show in the 5th season.
Alan Alda; The EMASCULATED Man! The ULTRA LIBERAL FEMINIST hero! YEECH!
👏well said
Dude, that is quite a bit of retconning...
McLean Stevenson said it and Wayne Rogers nailed it, when he said: “I joined an ensemble cast show that became The Alan Alda Show. So I left.”
And, indeed it was all Alda all the time.
It’s very uneven and ranges from a few great shows, some good, many mediocre, and too many bad shows.
I didn't like Alda and then I couldn't stand him so -- it was over for me. Alda was Hawkeye and Hawkeye was Alda both on and off Mash.
Wayne and Mcclean were my utmost favorite for sure. I didn't watch after these two left. Plus I was getting older and busy. I don't watch the reruns. Either.
Alda would get scripts changed to give Trapper’s funny lines to Hawkeye, and Rogers had enough of that.
Do you know why it became so centered on Alan Alda ? Its because the people demanded it and as an egalitarian ensemble not centered on Alan Alda the ratings were enough to ensure the survival of the series . Alan Alda was their insurance against unemployment . Wayne Rogers did not have that effect .
@@dennisv8934 That never happened . The writers elected to spotlight Alda . Largely because Alda was far more capable AND popular than Wayne Rogers . Want proof ? The show continued easily without him and he did feck all without MASH .
My Dad was in Korea, he couldnt stand MASH. He would say I was there, and there was nothing funny about it.
God bless your dad 🇺🇲
@kennethtyree4770 : My dad felt the exact same way about that show. He was in the Pacific theater.
The man who wrote the book the movie was based on was clear about how he hated that TV show.
I don't blame him. My respects to him. I despise dim witted people who are clueless to the fact the Koreans were happy we were there and are one of our staunchest allies.
My uncle was taken to a MASH unit when he was wounded in Korea, and he was impressed by how accurate a MASH unit was portrayed on the show.
Alan Alda just over acted every scene . Then it did get preachy so very very preachy .
He was right
@@ApothecaryGrantno communist is right.
Yeah, but from interviews with many of the cast... it was what the writers and producers wanted. Exactly why Wayne left the show... Sadly, I found BJ to be way funnier and loved his more subtle humor (and when it was in your face too)... Still, the show is a classic and I watch often to this day (the Mrs. gave me the complete DVD collection for Christmas years ago). Even though so much of the tech in the show is beyond out dated.. it still feels like it's so good it could be a hit today.
AMEN !
@@InCountry6970 huh ?
It actually was an anti war Vietnam Show,as a nurse for 47 years,working in war zones,I often saw the humanity,and inhumanity that Mash exemplified.
Loved Sidney the Field psychiatrist!
He was married to Diane Arbus, a fasinating artist.
"Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice." ... Sidney Friedman
@@edmundcharles5278 he was the BEST!
Most of the characters were well played by the actors. The last few years of the series, Alda became a predictable stage hog of poor quality. He began to think that he was Groucho Marx. Frankly, he wasn’t. His arrogance turned him under.
Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
I realized that Alda was a stage hog as was his character, so I focused more on the other actors. I loved Col. Blake and Col. Potter, Radar, and Clinger.
I stopped watching the show because I couldn't stand Hawkeye. He was wanting everything to go his way. You couldn't do what you wanted to do but you had to do what he wanted to do. I caught a lot of flack for that. Yet after the show and years after the show Alan alda actually came out and said that. He said Hawkeye was really not a nice guy. And he didn't understand why people didn't see it. Hawkeye was caring of others especially patients, but he was very self-centered.
Yeah, it kind of became the Hawkeye show for a couple of episodes.
Once BJ appeared the show took a strong left tilt and became preachy and too political. The fun loving Hawkeye became a self-centered focal point with ego driven dialog. Up through Trapper the show was great and then it went downhill every season.
Ditto. Many feel the same way. Nobody likes a smart azz!
Alan alda was mash.
I remember watching one episode where Hawkeye got a concussion and he had to talk nonstop to keep himself from losing consciousness. It was so boring that I vowed to skip that episode whenever it aired in syndication or if I was watching it on DVD.
This was really Vietnam disguised as Korea. It started out funny, but became a Hollywood anti war platform for Alan Alda.
Yep, look at the local people in the background and what they were wearing, it was Vietnamese gear, and the most despicable thing they did, they used Japanese actors as Koreans you have any idea what the Japanese did to the Koreans,
It always was antiwar
@@user-bl6ne3hc6nOh come on
@@ApothecaryGrant ,,, at least very anti-military.
@@gusloader123 Well , leadership yeah … The Cold War was full of propaganda . We fought Communism not for the benefit if people but largely for continued exploitation of those peoples’ natural resources . A lot of people question for whom the pay off actually paid off . I had to agree with him on that point . Communism is unchecked Socialism but unchecked Capitalism is Fascism . We have the better system but that worth is decreased the more we creep toward unfettered capitalism . Its a moot discussion trying to suss out which is worse , Communism or Fascism .The goal if each is the subjugation of people .
When wayne rogers , maclean Stevenson and larry linville left the show went downhill.
yeah, I agree. those three key actors were essential to the storylines.
Aww, I don't agree. They all were great! I was a MASH groupie for years.
Wayne Rogers was easily replaced.
Yes. Those three made the show.
I disagree. It became a different show but I still liked it. And I think Larry Linville had to go. At a certain point, you could only explain his (Maj. Burns) behavior by him being crazy. And then making him the but of all your jokes and tricks is just cruel. They needed a new target for all of their silly pranks, etc. And Charles was perfect. He could poke back!
When I stopped watching. Larry Linvile was HYSTERICAL!!
So basically the first three actors; Stevenson, Rogers, and Linville ALL LEFT mash for the Exact Same Reasons....the shows obsession with alan alda.
Think how the show would have been MUCH BETTER if they had kept it as an ensemble show !
You have to live with it
and he carried the show for 11 years- so yup- THE PRODUCERS WERE NOT IDIOTS
I can understand why Rogers was upset. If you watch the movie with Sutherland the reason Trapper was brought to the 4077th was because they needed a Thoracic surgeon.
Sadly when a patient required chest surgery, the powers that be gave the part to Alda. (Hawkeye)
As the show went on Alda was given too much attention, which would make any actor feel like a second banana. Although I loved the show, I grew sick of Alda getting all the praise.
@@olesrensen5020 In denial.
11 years at the top. The most watched show of all timr. Record ratings. Has never stopped airing. How much better could it have been..🤷♂️
It became Alan Alda's show.
It became Alda's show, and it suffered for it.
And his ego
Yup, the more it became his show, the worse it got.
I always wondered how he got away with sexual harassment, because he was a liberal?
@@BigBri550 Very much so.
Got to be too preachy halfway through.
Once Alan Alda became more involved in the writing and production of the show, the series started its steady drop in quality.
I agree with you and scottcaldwell it got preachey and more like a soap opera with comic relief, when alda took over the show lost its earlier light hearted humorous edge, and for no particular reason it seemed they (or alda) axed the guitar player that was in the original movie as well.
True
It was always politically driven . From day one .
@@ApothecaryGrantyes, but you can noticeably see the changes, to Alda's leftism. Stevenson and Wayne left because they were no longer in the feature mix as much...just sidekicks.
my dad, a Korean vet hated it. He said Hawkeye would be court marshelled for insubbordination
Your dad was tighter than a frog’s ass
If McArthur a noted 5 star general could be fired, so too could a mediocre saw bones like Hawkeye!
God bless your dad. I never understood why MASH was popular anyway.
It was a TV show. It wasn't meant to be accurate to reality. It wasn't about Korea anyway, it was a thinly veiled analogy to Vietnam. They couldn't have made a show about Vietnam at that time because it was too controversial.
@@edmundcharles5278a 5 star general can be replaced by just promoting another 4-star general. A soldier with a medical degree and experience doing fast surgeries under combat settings is tougher to replace, and thus probably got quite a bit more slack than an average grunt.
One of the greatest shows of All Time. Every single character was so likable, the stories, the humor, the journey of life viewed through the prism of war......this was deep. Till this day, my eyes tear up feeling that these characters that many have passed away (may they RIP) were somehow part of my family, my life. Thank You MASH, and all the wonderful actors, writers and producers (and the rest of the crew) that gave us a multitude of memories.
My father loved this show. It pissed him off a lot (he often raged at how a couple of generic Asian actors played multiple Asians, from Korean to Chinese), but he loved it. He served in WW2 and the Korean War as a Marine. He received five purple hearts before he was done. Perhaps his admiration for the men and women who treated him in both wars explains his love for the show.
God bless your dad for being a person that nowadays gets little recognition. We ALL need to respect the people that risked their lives to give us the freedoms we have from the service of our military.
Much Respect for your Father!
Soon Tek Oh was one of them, Mako another. I remember remarking on it but wasn't invested enough to get worked up.
Why do you not say mad upset angry why does it always have to be the p word people got to stop saying the p word that shouldn't even be a word
@@renettareno662Sack up.
Alan Alda ego ruined the show
No
I Disagree!
Too much was focused on him.
@@jonathanstein5049 Who else had that much charisma with the viewers ? Alda was made the star by the fans .
Alan Alda, comes across as arrogant, not only here, but in other shows.
27:09
"The Series Premiered On CBS In 1972 And Burghoff Was The Only Actor From The Movie Asked To ReturnTo The Role"
No, Rene Auberjonis was also offered to reprise the role of Father Mulcahey, but he'd turned it down
@@Plasmastorm73_n5evv Which two? I only know of Radar.
G Wood as General Hammond, but only for a few episodes.
M*A*S*H wasn’t the same without Radar O’Reilly. He was an essential character.
I agree although I enjoyed watching Klinger growing into Radar’s job.
100%
Who could forget col flagg
Frank was the best. Once he left, it wasn't as funny. The show slowly became a left wing lecture tour, meaning not funny, just p.c.lectures.
You going to cry snowflake?
I disagree Frank was good I agree however so were the other characters, BJ Charles and colonel potter and others had their moments too
I hated Frank he was a PUSSY
I love when people moss something from the beginning, but then think something changed
Hawkeye was portrayed by Donald Sutherland who passed away yesterday at 88
In the movie
did he? i didnt mind him. i first saw him in "kelly's heroes" as oddball, playing a hippy 30yrs early along with the terminology was a bit silly though.
No, he was Trapper John.
@@StephanieFlynn-y3i Sutherland was Hawkeye. Elliott Gould was Trapper John in the movie. Both of them far superior to the TV actors. They were more like anarchists at war with the army than the smart alecks of the TV series.
Yes, I know. To me, Sutherland's portrayal was the BEST Hawkeye Pierce Eliot Gould and Wayne Rodgers were pretty equal. Robert Duvall's Frank Burns was a complete psycho where Larry Linville brought a tiny bit of respect and a whole lot of humanity. Hotlips H. in the movie had NO RESPECT and slept with anybody and everybody. TV Margaret was played much better than movie Hotlips.
I stopped watching it after the first few years when the anachronisms became too overwhelming. Instead of a 1950s Mobile Army Surgical show it became a sociology platform.
The first TV platform for leftist, social engineering?
I get the feeling that Alan Alda was the reason so much of the talent in the show left. He must have been a real piece of work to drive people away considering that it had to have been financially stable and well paying work. He drove me away and I loved the show for years...
Yep. Alan Alda went from the main reason I watched the show to the main reason why I stopped watching.
I will still watch M*A*S*H, but only the first 3 seasons. It became "The Alan Alda Show" after that. I have nothing against Harry Morgan, but Mike Ferrell was a terrible actor, and Loretta Swit became a shrieking mess. The scripts went downhill fast. Most episodes had the main characters talking over each other at some point like children, with Hawkeye's "No, no, no, no!" at the forefront. Not funny. LOVED Henry Blake and Trapper John.
@@angelmorris7361 I don't know why you singled out Will Ferrell. William Christopher, Jamie Farr, and Gary Burghoff were all hammy, thoroughly unbelievable caricatures. And Kellye Nakahara had no business delivering lines at all: total amateur.
He is a turd in the punchbowl
And you would be wrong. Even with the reasons being listed you still want to cling to that nothingburger? Ok then.
Stevenson left because they were paying him peanuts. He was killed off to show other cast members that if you quit, you wouldn’t be able to return.
Right
Stevenson himself said he just got “too big for his britches”, or something along those lines. I loved Blake but thought it was a brilliant choice to have him not make it home.
I loved M*A*S*H but yes, after a while, the Hawkeye character became the main focus and I thought some of the other characters were equally deserving of more storylines.
Loved Klinger. He was hilarious.
Starting in Season 4 and through the rest of the series the producers gave most of the creative side to Alda and it changed from a sitcom to a preachy boring waste of time
Klinger was my favorite.
@@marklane61 Oh, dear.
I always thought Alan Alda over acted too much! Gary was great and I enjoyed his character. I was sadden when he left the series!
My mom's great aunt went to high school in Toledo with Jamie Farr!
"“I think there's a little Frank Burns in all of us.”' -- Larry Linville
There is only so much you can stretch out an idea. MASH was never meant to go 11 seasons.
The war was like two days. Just kidding. But very short compared to the show length
If you want to talk about a show that stretched out an idea too much, it would be The Simpsons. 35 seasons and the characters haven't aged a day. 😄
@@my3dviews - No argument there!! I was over the Simpsons at Season 1, Episode 3
@@clairewyndham1971 I liked it longer than that. But now and for the last several years, it isn't funny and is unwatchable.
@my3dviews - When Bart started telling people to "Eat my shorts!".. well, everyone thought it was hilarious. Until parents like myself would say something to the effect of "Hey, don't forget to take your laundry basket upstairs!" Only to be told " Eat my shorts mom!".
I think Linville had the most challenging role.
Roger Bomen, who played Lt. Col Henry Blake in the film passed away February 16, 1996. The day after McLean Stevenson.
It was the stupidest role on the show . Of course it was a challenge . All of the other characters were plausible but Burns was a caricature . He did it well but I thought it detracted more than it added
@@ApothecaryGrant
Same for Flagg.
The character of Frank Burns was over-the-top. I didn't know that about the two Col Blakes, though: what a coincidence! Both died of heart attacks according to what I googled.
I always thought it ironic that the only regular to die in Mash was the first of them to die in real life.
@@cmurdock5256 I'd say that was befitting, not ironic.
I loved ferret face aka frank
Frank burns eats worms!😂😂😂
"Mind your own beeswax, nosy Nate" 😅
"It's nice to be nice.....to the nice."
😂😂😂.
Larry played Frank to perfection. I don't know if anyone else could do it better.
That said, I think Winchester was the most dynamic and complex character. He has always been my favorite.
mine too
Absolutely. And David Ogden Stiers was magnificent in the role. He truly made me cry at times, with his touching and nuanced performances.
@@DawnDavidson I don't know if anyone could've played the role any better.
Wow, no mention of this.... "To evoke genuine emotions of shock and sadness, the final O.R. scene was kept a secret from the cast until immediately before filming; only then did Gelbart hand out the last page of the script. As a result, Stevenson was still on the set and saw the final scene being filmed." Henry Blake's death was also regarded as the most controversial episode in the series.
Wow, even back in the 70s most people thought that war only tickles people-until they see death. Until they see reality.
BJ Hunnicut by Mike Farrell was an insufferabe character
Couldn't stand him. Annoying as f**k.
The actor is even more insufferable .
I can't stand Mike Farrell
Yeah, like he was the only one with a family back home.
You're absolutely right, he just read lines and put no acting into his character
Leaving a hit show, especially when it's a breakout role, tends to not be a great career move. Most actors will never be in a hit show. Those who do usually never get another role of the same caliber.
The series lasted longer then war it was based on.
almost six times longer.
@@dean-ph2wwalmost 4 times longer.
@@antonnakic8539 You're right. It lasted 37 months which times four is 12 years and 4 months. Was.it 11 seasons?, I thought it was longer. It seemed like it was on tv forever.
@patrickradcliffe3837
Not the only show to do that. The Young Riders, about the Pony Express, lasted 3 years. Twice as long as the real Pony Express. But Combat is the real winner of the three, lasting more than 5 times longer than it's original subject. Set in World War 2 starting at D day and covering the war in Europe, Combat was on for 5 years. D day was June 6, 1944 and VE day was May 8th 1945 so the portion of World War II Combat covered, in actuality lasted 11 months but Combat had 5 good years.
@@cmurdock5256 I loved Combat when I was a kid in the 60s. They could never produce a show like that for television these days. Too expensive.
Mash was always the Alan Alda show. Toward the end, he was the writer and director. His influence determined who stayed, who left and who died off.
Nearly every actor with any name recognition was on Love Boat
Whoop-dee-doo
I was thinking the very same,should have been called the Life Boat, if your agent can't get you on that you're finished and so is he/she.
I heard if you were on your way up the ladder of success or on your way out of Hollywood you were hired to play on the love boat.
I had worms in my stool that did guest shots on Love Boat.
Fantasy Island as well beginning with Ricardo Montalban.
Many tens of thousands of viewers watched MASH only BECAUSE of Radar.
And Jaime Farr
I loved him growing up. He was the one I waited to see.
I met "Radar"/ Berghoff, briefly in "real life". I was so disappointed. My impression was that the loveable teddy bear from Mash, was, in real life, a snob, who thought too much of himself and too little of others.
@user-rz5vl5ft3k well I suppose they r actors not the characters.
@@deniseelsworth7816 Right, we can still love the characters! 🙂
The cast loved the Rader character but hated the actor. Larry Linville was the opposite. They hated the character but loved the actor.
I've also read the Alda was just as condescending and abusive to Linville off-camera.
@@bartdrennon1764 Where did you hear that? Larry Linville was nothing like the character Frank Burns and other cast members enjoyed working with him. He was described as friendly, kind and down to earth. Because there was tension between Alda and Burgoff, It's possible that Linville might have been caught up in that defending Gary who was close friends with Linville.
Everything I've read says the opposite, that the cast did not hate Gary Burghoff. However, he wasn't too social on set, but they all knew he was dealing with problems in his personal life that was making things difficult for him. Despite that, Loretta Switt said even in later seasons they still managed to make each other laugh.
@@bartdrennon1764
@@bartdrennon1764
Having grown up with Larry Linville, I can say honestly that even after he left the show we would always think of him as Frank Burns (or 'Ferret Face'), I realize that the cast loved him and he was a very talented actor but such was his ability to act that he would carry that stigma throughout his post-MASH life.
Larry Linvelle was a genious.
I enjoy your misspelling a word to describe intelligence
Brian Cooper is a maroon.🙄🙄
@bentnickel7487 excuse me u sob?
@@mazukakai are you legally blind?
@@briancooper2112 You misspelled genius.
It's weird that Wayne Rogers was not cast in the spin off Trapper John M.D., that always seemed strange to me.
The whole idea of a Trapper John series is what seemed weird to me. Somebody did one helluva job pitching that idea to the execs.
Wayne Rogers in the lead would have tanked it. The guy seemed like a doofus; I never liked him.
@@BigBri550 maybe
@@BigBri550 yeah I wasn't a fan of the show. I was just making an observation.
Couldn't happen. Can't advance time 20 or 30 years and put a guy still looking the same in the role. Pernell Roberts was fine in the role.
@@willflynn3370 I think Wayne Rogers was offered the role, and turned it down for that reason.
Hawkeye was insufferable. Winchester was okay.
My wife became very very irritated by Alda's showboating in repeat viewings. I gotta admit - he does wear thin ...
I always liked and preferred him. Of course, I was a child when I watched it. If I watched it now, I may think differently of him.
@@pallaszina Alda's character was self centered buffoon and a political activated cartoon joke.
Winchester was superb, as was Larry Linville (?)
Linville as Frank Burns.
The real reason is, it went from a show with a great cast to the Alan Alda liberal hour
EXACTLY!
let alone it was on for too long
@@daDurvisJealously over salary . Aldas success continued
Wonder why
Amen brother!
@@Plasmastorm73_n5evv exactly
The first three years of this show was magic. The onscreen chemistry with key actors show cased on this documentary makes me think back to being a kid watching this show that was always on top of the do list back then. When Stevenson left it was the beginning of the end to this show as Cornel Blake was such a favorite character. The night I watched Blakes departure and Hawkeye sending him off I remember getting something out of the fridge and almost changed the channel. The scene in the operating room when Radar came in with the telegram about the plane crash and no survivors; Henry Blake was dead; stopped me in my tracks and the cracking in Radars voice, the scalpel dropping then hearing Hotlips start to cry, I to started to sob. I remember a phone call from a friend of mine who I use to go to school with and race motocross with ask me if I saw the show tonight. He to was verbally upset. A night engrained in one of many child hood memories. Imagine that sobbing over a T.V show. That how much that show was a part of my whole families life as well friends and relatives. When the key characters started to leave so did the vibe of that show. Hate to say this they seriously made the wrong choice leaving that show in its infancy.
Alda made it all about him. Took the top surgeon Trapper, a heart surgeon, and Hawkeye the best buddy to the camp personality/ nickname and made it 1 character best surgeon camp buddy. So it's all about him. He was writing scripts not long after the show started AND OF COURSE all about him. Wayne Roger's leaving the show went downhill. Especially with M. Steven's also left. Hell, the last episode was all about Alda total ME ME
Alan Alda was unbearable after season 2. Trapper was my favorite character and the show declined after he left.
Oh but Mike Farrell brought a lot to the show too.
@@asmith8947 way more than trapper did.
@@chr970 yeah I'm gonna have to agree with you.
@@asmith8947Definitely. There was more time with him, and his character had a different morality for Hawkeye to play against. ❤
Gary Burghoff I respect the most. never remarried after divorce. Got the hell out of hollywood and kept perfecting his Jazz drumming and did wildlife art work. Relocated to a small city area out in the south. Good man.
Erm... he remarried after his first divorce... just not after his second, which lasted way longer.
He lives in Northern California. I met him in a local gun shop that no longer exists. I was not impressed.
People get so critical of actors who choose to leave a show. Its a job, people. Most people quit a job and move on for various reasons. Maybe its money, maybe the boss, possibly coworkers or it could ba that the job isn't a challenge anymore. Why are actors expected to be any different?
For one thing, regular actors on a show have contracts; they're not at-will employees.
If they break the contract or negotiate to get out of that contract early, they get a reputation for being "difficult".
I still preferred the original film to tv show
Same.
is the book called mash also?
@user-vg8tt2pr4l
Yes. Book is titled M*A*S*H, by Richard Hooker
Boy, ain’t that the truth
💯
When the actors realized they were funny, they weren’t funny anymore.
True
One of the best things about M*A*S*H, was that for each characters that left early: Colonel Henry Blake, Trapper John and Frank Burns, they actually brought in an even better character. Col Potter, Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt and Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III were even more interesting, dynamic characters who were able to grow. Larry Linville wanted to have his character mature like the others were starting to, but the writers kept him pigeon-holed as a jerk who was also a bad doctor (which you couldn't change). They were smarter with Winchester and made him a snob, but an excellent surgeon. He was able to eventually grow his character into someone starting to care about others.
Totally disagree
Blake was great, his goofy character is what the show was about. Potter? Anytime someone said, “I was once in..” He would interrupt with a long personal story . I know he was really liked, but many found him incredibly annoying.
"You'd operate on a yellow red before a white American. That sounds pretty pinko to me comrade"
Colonel Flag
"Couple of cutey pies ain't ya " 😅
It wasn't the shows that were genius, it was the relatable characters. People fell in love with them & watched them grow. It started as pure silliness, eventually becoming a platform to protest war, but how the characters faced changes & tried to adapt or at least cope was absorbing. If you binge watch, it's easy to find yourself getting depressed in spite of the humor. Even the score "Suicide is Painless" contributes to this effect. A miracle mix of talent made it worth seeing once, though.
FASCINATING FUN FACT: For a little while before his "MASH" audition, Gary Burghoff was the drummer for a band called The Relatives, featuring a pretty young girl named Lynda Carter and her cousins.
Larry Linville, LEDGEND. RIP SIR. & Thank you.
I read sometimes back the writer of the book wasn't a fan of the series on TV. He really was a guy that had respect for the Military and didn't agree with the direction of the show.
@@CaptainJimNoss,
I understand he loved the movie, especially Donald Sutherland (RIP).
@@mousetreehouse6833 But it drove the author nuts that they never followed the script when filming. They basically let Sutherland do whatever he wanted and it worked.
And why should our war waging, civilian murdering military get any respect?
No, according to what I've read, it wasn't so much that Richard Hooker respected the military (no need to capitalize) as he didn't respect the actors in the show.
The original cast, of the first 3 seasons, were the best, none of the replacements were as good as the ones they replaced!
Alda's sidekick replacement was a big libturd like him. Couldn't stand watching from that point on.
I liked Winchester because he could equal and surpass the
Self-centered Hawkeye character.
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!!!!!
Potter & Winchester were good to offset Hawkeye's preaching - BJ was there to support Hawkeye's liberal ideals (BJ from CA was so true of CA liberal socialist stance even then in the 70's)
I prefer season 4 and on. While the 1st 3 seasons was funny; I liked the later seasons better for the humor and better scripts.
This show was what the world needed, a blend of war-time sadness and great comedy,, I don't think any show I have ever seen was any better
The original mash cast was great. Honeycutt made me want to vomit as did alda after a while with his rants. Funny it seems South Korea is doing pretty well these days. Guess that was an accident
The Honeycutt character drove me nuts. I couldn't stand him. Beta male and p***y.
No, not an accident that South Korea is doing well these days. Between American aid after the war and the Korean work ethic, it's not a surprise they are successful. I watch K-dramas and they are terrific.
Agreed, I was being sarcastic 👍
They didn't mention William Christopher or Jamie Farr in the cast
...because they did not leave the show!
They were talking about people that left the show.
There's a reason ...
Jaime Farr was hilarious!!
Wasn't every actor/character overshadowed by Alda/Hawkeye?
That was what I thought. It just felt like he had to be “on” all the time. He was just so annoying.
So in essence they left because they didn't want to play second fiddle to Alan Alda on what would become the Alan Alda Show.
A sad thing I heard, was some dopes had to go and have a survey, who's more popular as lead funny man, WAYNE ROGERS or ALAN ALDA?! ALAN won the poll, and WAYNE was hurt. He ended up leaving the show after that, career took a dive.
NOW why did they have to go and ask that? BOTH were important in their own ways and great together , and not a looks and popularity contest!
Good attempt at telling a story as to why the actors left. Instead of just telling the truth, they could not stand a certain actor who tried to make everything about himself.
During that final episode (Farewell MASH), I was in Grade 9 and I distinctly remember the tears rolling down my cheeks during the final moments of that installment.
Velox Versutus Vigilans
On RUclips there's an interview I saw a while back of producer Larry Gelbart. Stevenson and Rogers did leave largely because they didn't like MASH becoming the Alan Alda show. Part of the reason Blake was killed off and not just written out was because CBS was angry at him for leaving the show. Killing the character made sure he couldn't return even if he wanted to. His leaving was known so the episode was crafted for his departure. Rogers, on the other hand, left for summer hiatus without signing the contract for another 3 years. He finally decided not to return, leaving the show in a lurch. He also got sued by CBS. He won since the network didn't have a legal leg. That's all why the 4th season opening seems thrown together like it does. It was, the casting of MIke Farrell was fairly hasty.
When "Trapper John" left the series ,,,, that was not good. His replacement was the worthless, unfunny, waste of oxygen "B.J." Honeycutt. ugh!
What a sweetheart.
I'm in complete agreement with you about that character!!👏 Not only was he about as funny as a funeral, but he was a beta male and quite the p***y.
He (the character & actor) are liberal socialist yahoos -
"Trapper John" was very funny. "Huneycutt" on the other hand, was just meh and flat, no real depth. I thought they could've ended the show after the 3rd or 4th season.
@@stacybridges9528 : Agreed!!
My grandfather was the second cameraman for the movie. He gave us copies of pictures he took with his Nikon HP using Kodak Tri-X.
I eventually came to hate this show. It became preachy. Hawkeye became so virtuous he practically walked on water, and toward the end, a lot of the humor was groan-inducing puns.
My God I loved this series, read for it a few times in my career then did a movie for Alan's Brother, Tony RIP.....and those who leave because they feel underused in an ensemble show- I just will never wrap my head around that....Producers are there for a reason- they see the big picture. There is a reason this show ran for 11 years
Alan got wayyy too serious about himself and forgot everyone else
How prophetic when they had Patrick Swayze in one episode with leukemia.
@@Plisken65I can see the irony of it. Both are cancers, and in the 50's there was little hope for leukemia patients, and there is little hope for pancreatic cancer now.
I never thought of that! That is right!
McLean made a bad decision leaving MASH. I think to this day the final episode of MASH still holds the record for the being the most watched episode of any tv show at any one time of all time. I’m talking about when it initially aired (not reruns of it) it set a world record for the amount of people watching it and it hasn’t been broken. The sadder thing is I think Alan Alda is the only one who had a real movie career after MASH. Sure not Tom Cruise movie famous but he’s done some films compared to the rest of MASH cast.
I loved watching M.A.S.H. until it became the ‘Hawkeye Show.’ Alan Alda could have intervened but chose not too.
Hell he was in charge, why you think it was the Hawkeye show,
The cool thing about the episode in which Henry dies is that none of the cast was informed ahead of time. It was a surprise to everyone, so the reactions are genuine.
Larry Linville got the part by reading Hawkeye's lines as Col. Burns, which sounds very hard. Personally, I think the show tanked after the third season. The original cast was wonderful.
i agree..
Again, there are MISTAKES in this script Burghoff is NOT the only actor from the film who was asked to do the series. I talked to Fred Williamson, and he stated that ALL the actors from the film were asked to do the series. Williamson was not interested in a series. Timothy Brown was in both rhe film and series. So was Corey Fischer and G. Wood. Burghoff and Wood played the same characters. Timmy played Williamson's character, and Fischer played a new character. PLEASE do NOT rely on Google as your sole source of information. Otherwise, a good look at a terrific series.
I read years back that Stevenson's character was killed off because the producers never wanted him to come back as he had been a royal pain in the arse. Ironic that he regretted it years later.
I heard that McLean Stevenson didn't know his Henry Blake character would be killed off until it happened. There was also talk that Alan Alda had a hand in the decision to do it.
@@LarcRk
Yeah radar was great my favourite❤❤
I loved Mash. I watched all of it back then & still watch the reruns today. I loved all the actors.
MASH was a wonderful series - each and every season. There was a reason it lasted so long. It was quality.
It lasted so long because there was nothing better to watch in that time slot on any other stations.
It became the Alan Alda preaching show. But those first couple of years were magical!
I saw an interview with Stevenson where he said he thought the audience liked and wanted to see HIM....he didn't figure out till later that they liked HIS CHARACTER
you gotta be a fool not to have seen THAT
He never got to express enough range for us to see past the facade of Henry Blake. The character I saw was likable enough but very one dimensional.
Col Potter was my favorite. A talented actor.
It became The Alan Alda Show. Hawkeye became Groucho Marx. R.I.P. Donald Sutherland, the real Hawkeye.