MASH: Season Seven

MASH: Season Seven, 1978-1979. Hijinks in an army hospital.

Created by Richard Hooker (novel) & Larry Gelbart (developer). Directed by Charles Dubin (6 episodes), Burt Metcalfe (5), Alan Alda (4), George Tyne (2), Tony Mordente (2), William Jurgensen (2), Mel Damski (1), James Sheldon (1), Harry Morgan (1), & Mike Farrell (1). Written by Ken Levine (8 episodes), David Isaacs (8), Larry Balmagia (5), Ronny Graham (4), Tom Reeder (3), Alda (3), Mitch Markowitz (2), Sheldon Bull (1), David Lawrence (1), Johnny Bonaduce (1), Gary David Goldberg (1), Erik Tarloff (1), Bernard Dilbert (1), & Metcalfe (1). Starring Alda, Farrell, & Morgan, with Loretta Swit, David Ogden Stiers, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, & William Christopher.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: D
Enjoyment: One of the show's best seasons so far. There aren't a lot of episodes that stand out as particularly memorable or important, but there's a consistently high quality - with the exception of the clip episode. B

GPA: 2.8/4

MASH: Season Six

MASH: Season Six, 1977-1978. Hijinks in an army hospital.

Created by Richard Hooker (novel) & Larry Gelbart (developer). Directed by Alan Alda (5 episodes), Burt Metcalfe (5), Don Weis (4), Charles Dubin (4), George Tyne (3), Hy Averback (2), William Jurgensen (2), Stuart Millar (1) & Harry Morgan (1). Written by Jim Fritzell (6 episodes), Everett Greenbaum (6), Alan Alda (5), Ken Levine (4), David Isaacs (4), Burt Prelutsky (3), Laurence Marks (2), Ronny Graham (2), Larry Balmagia (2), Bill Idelson (1) & Allyn Freeman (1). Starring Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit & David Ogden Stiers.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Winchester replaces Burns this season. He's a better character, but considerably less funny.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). Wow - a sudden and drastic drop in quality. It maintains the tone of season five, which is great, but that's about all this season has going for it. It's rarely funny, and when it's serious it's never compelling. Also, it's turning into The Alan Alda Show. Although the episodes he wrote and directed in earlier seasons were some of the series' highlights, now he seems to just be doing it for the sake of having more screen time than everyone else. So, the big question is: will the show pick up again in season seven, or did it just run for 11 seasons because people were in the habit of watching it?
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

MASH: Season Five

MASH: Season Five, 1976-1977. Hijinks in an army hospital.

Created by Richard Hooker (novel) & Larry Gelbart (developer). Directed by Gene Reynolds (8 episodes), Burt Metcalfe (5), Alan Alda (4), Alan Rafkin (2), William Jurgensen (2), Joan Darling (1), George Tyne (1), Harry Morgan (1) & Joshua Shelley (1). Written by Jim Fritzell (6 episodes), Everett Greenbaum (6), Gene Reynolds (6), Jay Folb (4), Ken Levine (3), David Isaacs (3), Burt Prelutsky (3), Allan Katz (2), Don Reo (2), Alan Alda (2), Gary Markowitz (1), Linda Bloodworth (1), Richard Cogan (1), Bill Idelson (1), Sid Dorfman (1), John D. Hess (1) & Reinhold Weege (1). Starring Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit & Larry Linville.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). A little better than season four. Frank Burns has a less important role in most episodes, which is nice. And Colonel Potter has loosened up, so it makes a little more sense that all the shenanigans (and the increasingly dangerous Frank Burns) are tolerated. The tone of the show is pretty solidly locked in to match the movie by this point, with only a couple breaks from realism early in the season.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 (Good)

MASH: Season Four

Lynn’s Druthers Marathon, part 22

Data
Title: MASH: Season Four
Year: 1975-1976
Network: CBS
Episodes: 25, at 25 minutes each
Creators: Richard Hooker (novel); Larry Gelbart (developer)
Directors: Gene Reynolds (9 episodes), Alan Alda (4), Larry Gelbart (3), Burt Metcalfe (3), William Jurgensen (2), John Erman (1), George Tyne (1), Harry Morgan (1), Charles Dubin (1)
Writers: Larry Gelbart (10 episodes), Jim Fritzell (9), Everett Greenbaum (9), Simon Muntner (4), Gene Reynolds (4), Burt Prelutsky (2), Glen Charles (1), Les Charles (1), Rick Mittleman (1), John D. Hess (1), Jay Folb (1), Linda Bloodworth (1), Gary Markowitz (1), John W. Regier (1)
Starring: Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr
Music: Johnny Mandel (theme); Lionel Newman (music supervisor)
I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), over the past few weeks
Synopsis: hijinks in an army hospital

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, ). Pretty much the same as season three.  Which is odd, since there are some major cast/character changes - B.J. replaces Trapper, and Col. Potter replaces Col. Blake. B.J. is a definite improvement over Trapper, who was kind of an awful sleazeball. Blake is missed, though; Potter would be a nice enough character, but the dynamic between him and Frank Burns doesn't make sense. I keep waiting for the scene from the movie where Burns is hauled away in a straight jacket.
Objective Rating (Average):

MASH: Season Three

Lynn’s Druthers Marathon, part 15



Data
Title: MASH: Season Three
Year: 1974-1975
Network: CBS
Episodes: 24, at 25 minutes each
Creators: Richard Hooker (novel); Larry Gelbart (developer)
Directors: Hy Averback (11 episodes), Don Weis (4), Gene Reynolds (4), Larry Gelbart (2), Alan Alda (1), William Jurgensen (1), Lee Philips (1)
Writers: Larry Gelbart (8 episodes), Jim Fritzell (6), Everett Greenbaum (6), Laurence Marks (6), Simon Muntner (3), Sid Dorfman (2), Linda Bloodworth (2), Mary Kay Place (2), Gary Markowitz (1), John W. Regier (1), John D. Hess (1), Robert Klane (1), Arthur Julian (1)
Starring: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Gary Burghoff
Music: Johnny Mandel (theme); Lionel Newman (music supervisor)
I saw it: on video (have on DVD), over the past few weeks
Synopsis: hijinks in an army hospital

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, ). The first couple seasons are pure sitcom (relatively intelligent, socially conscious sitcom, but still sitcom in tone). But right from the start of season three, the show is suddenly taking its subject matter seriously - still comedy the vast majority of the time, but not afraid to go a long time without laughs when it's called for. (Not that anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for 35 years doesn't know that MASH is like that, but I was surprised to see how abrupt the change was.)
Objective Rating (Average):

MASH: Season Two

Lynn’s Druthers Marathon, part 7



Data
Title: MASH: Season Two
Year: 1973-1974
Network: CBS
Episodes: 24, at 25 minutes each
Creators: Richard Hooker (novel); Larry Gelbart (developer)
Directors: Jackie Cooper (10 episodes), Don Weis (5), William Wiard (2), Gene Reynolds (2), Hy Averback (2), Norman Tokar (1), Alan Alda (1), Larry Gelbart (1)
Writers: Larry Gelbart (14 episodes), Laurence Marks (14), Sheldon Keller (3), Keith Walker (1), Jerry Mayer (1), Alan Alda (1), Robert Klane (1), Marc Mandel (1), Carl Kleinschmitt (1), McLean Stevenson (1), Richard M. Powell (1), Bernard Dilbert (1), Linda Bloodworth (1), Mary Kay Place (1), Ed Jurist (1), Paul Richards (1), Erik Tarloff (1), Gerry Renert (1), Jeff Wilhelm (1), Gene Reynolds (1), Gary Markowitz (1), John W. Regier (1)
Starring: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Gary Burghoff
Music: Johnny Mandel (theme); Benny Golson, Duane Tatro; Lionel Newman (music supervisor)
I saw it: on video (have on DVD), over the past few weeks
Synopsis: hijinks in an army hospital

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, ). A little better than season one. Not funnier, but more focussed stylistically.
Objective Rating (Average):

MASH: Season One

Lynn’s Druthers Marathon, part 3



Data
Title: MASH: Season One
Year: 1972-1973
Network: CBS
Episodes: 24, at 25 minutes each
Creators: Richard Hooker (novel); Larry Gelbart (developer)
Directors: William Wiard (4 episodes), Gene Reynolds (3), Hy Averback (3), Don Weis (3), Jackie Cooper (3), Earl Bellamy (2), Michael O'Herlihy (1), E.W. Swackhamer (1), Lee Philips (1), Bruce Bilson (1), Terry Becker (1), James Sheldon (1)
Writers: Larry Gelbart (8 episodes), Laurence Marks (6), Robert Klane (4), Burt Styler (2), Hal Dresner (2), Sid Dorfman (2), Bruce Shelly (1), David Ketchum (1), Jerry Mayer (1), Carl Kleinschmitt (1), Sheldon Keller (1), Alan Alda (1), McLean Stevenson (1), Richard Baer (1)
Starring: Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Gary Burghoff
Music: Johnny Mandel (theme); Lionel Newman (music supervisor)
I saw it: on video (have on DVD), over the past couple weeks
Synopsis: hijinks in an army hospital

My reaction
Concept:
Story:
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music: Get it out of my head!!!
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, ). Works a lot better as a TV show than a movie, even if it does have a laugh track. At times it gets a bit McHale's Navy, what with the zany antics and bumbling higher-ups, which is kind of annoying since for the most part it's an intelligent show. There are no bad episodes, though; at its worst, it's pleasantly amusing.
Objective Rating (Average):