Praise for seasons 1-3 + alternate universe

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Zelmo Zale
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Praise for seasons 1-3 + alternate universe

Post by Zelmo Zale »

I have been watching MASH since 1981 and I never got into the Trapper/Henry seasons because I never found them to be very entertaining. Whenever I watched the show in syndication, I'd skip the episode if Potter and Hunnicutt were not in it. Lately, I purchased the first 7 seasons on DVD and watched the first three seasons in order. I watched each episode 2 or 3 times to take notes for my blog.

I have to admit these seasons are REALLY funny and I enjoy McLean Stevenson immensely as Blake. I always wrote him off as a spineless clown. Well, he is, but McLean brought a goofy charm and likability to his character. I was sad to see Trapper and him go. Let me tell you...if you have the DVDs, watch them in order with minimal breaks between each episode. You get SO much more out of watching them.

This made me think of an alternate MASH universe. Let's say McLean doesn't leave after season 3 but Blake gets demoted to Major for being incompetent and moves in the Swamp. Harry Morgan still comes aboard as Colonel Potter and Mike Farrell still replaces Trapper, giving you Pierce, Hunnicutt, Burns, and Blake in the Swamp and Potter is C.O. Workable? I think it would be a goldmine of laughs.
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Big Daddy O'Reilly
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Re: Praise for seasons 1-3 + alternate universe

Post by Big Daddy O'Reilly »

I like the first three seasons myself, in a league of their own. For the most part, I do prefer the B.J. and Potter years, but I did like Henry as a comedy character, he was a genuinely funny character, and you really couldn't help but feel sorry for him over his own incompetence, and how Margaret and Frank ALWAYS went over his head. I think, had Mac Stevenson stayed, MAYBE, perhaps, Henry may have developed more as a character... if you look at Season Three, you can kind of see the beginning of some evolution in his character: learning that Lorraine had also been cheating on him seemed to put him in his place as far as his horsing around went, and he even had a few moments of seriousness where he really exercized his command ("Aid Station" is a great example of this)... I think had he stayed, Henry could have very well grown into his job, and may have become something of a decent commanding officer. Trapper on the other hand, he was just too similar to Hawkeye in personality, and the two of them getting together got a little old and tiresome after a while... even when they were in serious trouble, they couldn't stop cracking jokes... I know they originally wanted Hawkeye and Trapper to be interchangable leads, but I think they may have been a mistake, there was really no dynamics to their relationship. While Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers DID have some wonderful chemistry with one another, still, there was much more substance to Hawkeye and B.J.'s friendship.
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