A total of 422 people voted in the latest MASH4077TV.com poll, open during March and April. It asked “When did M*A*S*H jump the shark?” and the majority of responses (57%) said never. Not surprising at all. 14% said Season 8 was when the show jumped the shark, also not surprising. A lot of fans have pointed to Season 8 as the beginning of the end.
I am a little surprised that 6% voted Season 11. By that point the show was pretty much set in its ways and I cannot think of any episodes other than perhaps the series finale that could people could have really had a problem with. Note that 2% said the series jumped the shark with Season 1.
Here are the full results:
Never! (57%, 239 Votes)
Season 8 (14%, 57 Votes)
Season 11 (6%, 27 Votes)
Season 7 (5%, 20 Votes)
Season 6 (5%, 19 Votes)
Season 4 (4%, 17 Votes)
Season 9 (3%, 13 Votes)
Season 10 (2%, 8 Votes)
Season 1 (2%, 8 Votes)
Season 2 (1%, 6 Votes)
Season 5 (1%, 5 Votes)
Season 3 (0%, 3 Votes)
For the record, I voted Never.
May’s Poll: A special one-month poll asking readers to vote for their Favorite Allan Arbus Episode.
I voted Season Eight, however, I’ve expressed my displeasure with Season Eight many, many times here already, and I really don’t feel it necessary to repeat myself, so I’m not going to.
The only reason I say it jumped the shark in Season 11 was that some of the episodes were just unbelievable and forced – Run for the Money, Say no More, parts of Friends and Enemies and as Time Goes By – a lot of it seemed overacted, as if the cast was almost making charicatures out of themselves. It is interesting to note that none of the episodes of this season were written by Alan Alda – save one (which happens to be one of my favorite episodes “Hey Look me Over” – and NONE were directed by him – so maybe I’m an Alda fan!!!
He co-wrote and directed GFA.