Monday M*A*S*H Discussions offers fans the opportunity to offer their opinions on a wide variety of topics relating to M*A*S*H. Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. My hope is these discussion posts will continue to elicit comments in the weeks and months after they’re initially published. Have a suggestion about something you think might be worth discussing? Let me know and maybe it will become my next Monday M*A*S*H Discussion topic.
Today’s topic is: How long was your longest M*A*S*H marathon?
Remember Those FX Marathons?
When I started watching M*A*S*H on cable channel FX in late 1998 or early 1999, I know I sat in front of the TV for hours on end whenever FX aired a marathon. FX often aired M*A*S*H marathons on Memorial Day and Labor Day. So did Hallmark Channel when it acquired cable rights to M*A*S*H. Both TV Land and MeTV have done the same. Marathons have also aired on SundanceTV, Decades, and WGN America.
The longest cable TV M*A*S*H marathon of all time likely the incredible 53-hour, 106-episode marathon SundanceTV aired earlier this year from May 25th to May 28th. But I doubt anyone watched all 53 hours.
I don’t remember how long the longest marathon I watched on FX was. Probably at least 10 hours. I’m almost positive I watched all 12 hours of Hallmark Channel’s “M*A*S*H Bash ’07” marathon on January 1st, 2007. Wayne Rogers hosted the marathon, which featured 20 uncut episodes. I think I also watched the “M*A*S*H Bash ’07: Klinger Edition” marathon on May 28th, 2007. Hosted by Jamie Farr, it also ran for 12 hours and 20 episodes.
Thanks to DVD (and before that, VHS), M*A*S*H fans have been able to enjoy marathons of their own making since the mid-1990s. Back in December 2006, I watched the first 21 episodes from Season 6 on DVD in one sitting. It took roughly 7.5 hours. That’s the longest DVD marathon I can remember. I don’t know why I didn’t start earlier or stay up later to finish off the final three episodes from the season.
Let’s Discuss
Have you ever watched a marathon on cable from start to finish? Have you watched an entire season on DVD in one sitting or created your own marathon of favorite episodes? Or do you prefer to watch M*A*S*H one or two or three episodes at a time?
Hit the comments with your thoughts.
I watched most of that Sundance marathon back in May. In fact, I’m watching MASH right now on Sundance. It’s on every Monday morning until 10 or 11 AM Arizona time.
Also, today on TV Land, they are starting a special week-long celebration where they will be showing episodes with “special guest stars,” like Leslie Nielsen, Ron Howard, and Patrick Swayze. According to my guide on DISH, it will start at 1:30 PM Arizona time (or 4:30 EDT), and run until 5-ish (the usual end time).
Back in 2012, since nobody was celebrating the show’s 40th anniversary, I decided to binge-watch as much of the show as I could during the anniversary weekend. Now, of course, I didn’t stay up for two days straight, but from Friday evening through Monday afternoon, I would watch the DVDs from the time I got up till the time I went to bed . . . the only problem was I couldn’t possibly fit seven seasons (the only ones I watch), GFA, and the two reunion specials into that amount of time (I think at the rate I was going I would have only gotten through the first four seasons in that time), so at some point I had to start using my DVD player’s “Rapid Play’ feature to try to speed things up a little since playing the show at x1.3 faster, a 25-26-minute episode becomes 17 minutes. Don’t remember how far I got though, lol.
The TV show I watched the longest in marathon mode was Cheers Sam & Diane episodes I taped on VHS from reruns and, later, NBC.
But, M*A*S*H-wise, the longest I probably watched one was me doing a Colonel Flagg marathon from DVDs. Since he’s my favorite character (most satirical), I had fun watching those 7 episodes in chronological order, and did the same a couple more times. I did include the Halloran ep. “Deal Me Out”.
I did do a shorter one featuring Sydney Freedman when Allan Arbus passed away (I only have seasons 1-7 on DVD).
The Mash Bash ’07 with Wayne Rogers was my longest marathon of the series. I did not have Seasons 1-3 and wanted to see the episodes uncut.
Yep. Hallmark Channel used to air episodes uncut on special occasions such as this. And lest we forget MASH BASH: The Klinger Edition.
Hmmmm. I’ve certainly let television marathons and DVDs play in the background, and of course I’ve watched more than a single episode in one sitting, but truth be told, I generally don’t like to sit around only watching TV for TOO long, so I’d guess that around two hours of really WATCHING watching has been my tops. The extra-long GFA being an exception, of course.
I’m not sure if this would be my actual longest, but it’s the M*A*S*H “marathon” that comes to mind first for me: back in the summer of 2012, we were over a relative’s house for the 4th of July, and I was feeling pretty awful. Unbeknownst to me, I had an infection from a recent surgery that would eventually result in ANOTHER surgery soon thereafter (it was a mess and too long a story to relate here). Anyway, I had let my cousin borrow my M*A*S*H season six DVD set prior, and while everyone was eating and such downstairs, I was laying up in his room, watching sixth season episodes for I don’t know how long, because I simply didn’t feel well enough to do much of anything else.
Not the most fun M*A*S*H viewing session I’ve ever had, but hey, that’s what comes to mind!
In my country, on tv we hade once a MASH marathon maybe 12 years ago, a seson. But I do my marathon or I just play several episod from time to time. I think that my longest marathon was 6-7 hours. I just love everything about MASH… an unique production with so special actors! ! It makes me laugh, cry, relax, understand things…… Thank you M.A.S.H.!!!
I received the MASH dvd set years ago. Although there have been times where i made a mini-marathon out of this or that set of episodes, I guess what I have done over these years is to view them regularly in episode order, not just because MASH, in my view, is the best sitcom ever produced but also because it contributes materially to certain skills I use regularly, my careful attention to it continuing to sharpen those skills considerably.
We might say that the last 10 years have constituted a sort of slow-motion marathon of maybe an episode a day (sometimes two) most days of a week, taking me through the series about once every 10.5 months or so, and then back to the start. I find that I now can anticipate most of the more notable lines in every episode.
My longest MASH marathon would be the Valentine’s quadrilogy of “Love Story”, “Margaret’s Engagement”, “Margaret’s Marriage”, and “Ain’t Love Grand”. Going off-topic, the next Monday Discussion topic should be “What’s Your favorite Potterism?” My favorite is “Suffering Buffalo Chips”.
duck life says If you have a solid base of running at least 3 days a week and 15 miles per week, you can train for a half marathon in 4 weeks.
05.22.2023. regarding M*A*S*H. Absolutely luv the show! The earlier episodes funnier than the later ones but all good and everyone has got their favs. ONE of the very best TV Series along with Smallville and PBS Frontline and PBS Sesame Street and BeWitched and Mythbusters. By the way, MASH has never been off the air and in syndication somewhere since the movie and last episodes. AND luv it that they actually had real Chinese and Koreans speaking the language on the series rather than some fakes. Insightful. FYI: Trapper left MASH unfortunately because he never got the scripts that incoming BJ got. FYI: Bob Foxworth of Falcon Crest was asked to be on MASH but turned it down, unfortunately. FYI: the longest serving on MASH were Hawkeye, Margaret, Igor, Nurse Kelly. There almost all 11yrs. MAYBE Larry Linville was the best actor overall because it’s a difficult role to play a bad guy like that? ALSO, yes, MASH was a liberal show, don’t deny it, as see their stances on racism, war, human rights. We need more progressives Democrats liberals in this country not fewer.
Reply to Ahole raelyn hall ducklife link…Get this corporate fascist trash off here. Just spam selling trash FU Republicans and Trump sh*t.