Favorite Era
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:54 pm
I've read that Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds, and Burt Metcalfe tend to break up the show into three "eras": Seasons One through Four, Season Five as it's own, and Seasons Six through Eleven; in a way it makes sense, because One through Four is when Larry was in charge, Five was when Gene was in charge, and Six through Eleven was when Burt was in charge.
But among fans, we all know how the eras of the show are broken up: Seasons One through Three, Seasons Four and Five, Seasons Six and Seven, and Seasons Eight through Eleven. We know that...
Seasons One through Three =
Seasons Four and Five =
Seasons Six and Seven = (and )
Seasons Eight through Eleven =
Most fans consider the eras as "The Gold" (1-3), "The Silver" (4-5), "The Bronze" (6-7), and "The Copper" (8-11).
IMHO, my favorite era is "The Bronze": to me, the writing and the cast was well-rounded and solid by then, but Charles was such a wonderful addition to the cast, especially after Frank really de-evolved and became such a one-dimensional character, he actually gave Hawkeye and B.J. a challenge; plus comedy was still at the forefront. Closely followed by "The Silver": they took a bold risk replacing two beloved characters, but they did it well, because B.J. and Potter were totally different from Trapper and Henry, but they still were just as appealing and as believable characters as their predesesors, not to mention, by then, they really started to find their voice, writing-wise; less network scrutiny meant doing more of what they wanted to do from day one, which was tackle serious issues underneath the hijinks in this hospital. I also like "The Gold", while the first year certainly had some memorable episodes, I think Season Three was the best season during that era, the characters were set, and the writing was completely solid.
On a personal note though, I have a slightly different interpretation of the eras... to me, I think they should be broken up as Seasons One through Six, Season Seven, Seasons Eight through Eleven: 1-6 was mostly comedic, 8-11 was mostly dramatic, 7 seems to me to be the "transition" season, I think it has a feel of it's own, it's not as comedic as 1-6 were, but it's not as dramatic as 8-11... it was just an unusual season.
And has anyone besides me noticed this: as Season Four progressed, it seemed to become darker and darker with each passing episode (like on DVD, watching an episode from disc 3 is pretty different from an episode on disc 1), but they seemed to do an about-face with Season Five, and it went back to being more light-hearted again?
But among fans, we all know how the eras of the show are broken up: Seasons One through Three, Seasons Four and Five, Seasons Six and Seven, and Seasons Eight through Eleven. We know that...
Seasons One through Three =
Seasons Four and Five =
Seasons Six and Seven = (and )
Seasons Eight through Eleven =
Most fans consider the eras as "The Gold" (1-3), "The Silver" (4-5), "The Bronze" (6-7), and "The Copper" (8-11).
IMHO, my favorite era is "The Bronze": to me, the writing and the cast was well-rounded and solid by then, but Charles was such a wonderful addition to the cast, especially after Frank really de-evolved and became such a one-dimensional character, he actually gave Hawkeye and B.J. a challenge; plus comedy was still at the forefront. Closely followed by "The Silver": they took a bold risk replacing two beloved characters, but they did it well, because B.J. and Potter were totally different from Trapper and Henry, but they still were just as appealing and as believable characters as their predesesors, not to mention, by then, they really started to find their voice, writing-wise; less network scrutiny meant doing more of what they wanted to do from day one, which was tackle serious issues underneath the hijinks in this hospital. I also like "The Gold", while the first year certainly had some memorable episodes, I think Season Three was the best season during that era, the characters were set, and the writing was completely solid.
On a personal note though, I have a slightly different interpretation of the eras... to me, I think they should be broken up as Seasons One through Six, Season Seven, Seasons Eight through Eleven: 1-6 was mostly comedic, 8-11 was mostly dramatic, 7 seems to me to be the "transition" season, I think it has a feel of it's own, it's not as comedic as 1-6 were, but it's not as dramatic as 8-11... it was just an unusual season.
And has anyone besides me noticed this: as Season Four progressed, it seemed to become darker and darker with each passing episode (like on DVD, watching an episode from disc 3 is pretty different from an episode on disc 1), but they seemed to do an about-face with Season Five, and it went back to being more light-hearted again?