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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
7/12/2015 5:05:46 PM
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Hazel
Posted:
7/13/2015 1:34:05 AM
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Big Daddy O'Reilly
Posted:
7/13/2015 4:41:27 PM
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As I mentioned many times before, Henry actually started to show signs of growth and evolution his final season. Again, look at "Aid Station", he's actually dead-dog serious about the situation at hand, and actually acts like a commanding officer - even barking at Hawkeye for messing around in the personnel files. You can tell he was finally beginning to grow into his job, so I think had he stayed longer, he probably would have proven himself to be a more competent commander than he used to be, and perhaps Frank and Margaret would be going over his head less and less.
Had Trapper stayed, he and Hawkeye may have stayed the same for a lot longer. I think losing Trapper and getting the more serious B.J. as his bunky took away some of Hawkeye's reasoning to behave the way he did in earlier seasons. As I've said, Hawkeye and Trapper's friendship really seemed to be out of convenience, because they seemed to share common goals: booze their brains out, chase nurses, and torment Frank. Beej drank too, and he also enjoyed tormenting Frank, but he wasn't about chasing nurses, so with Hawkeye having to go solo, that probably took some of the fun out of it for him; I believe keeping Trapper would have prolonged both his and Hawkeye's childish behavior.
Frank clearly already deevolved into a one-dimensional character his last seasons due to losing Margaret and spending almost the entire season either sleeping in the Swamp or trying to win her back. There really was nothing more that could be done for Frank, so had they not replaced any of the original characters on the show, I don't believe it would have survived past a fifth or sixth season.
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
7/14/2015 1:49:15 AM
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
7/14/2015 1:54:38 AM
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hossFREE hec
Posted:
7/16/2015 7:15:29 PM
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FinestKindinTN
Posted:
8/4/2015 11:30:31 PM
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Ruptured Brook
Posted:
8/6/2015 1:59:41 PM
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wdm1219inpenna
Posted:
8/19/2015 8:59:52 PM
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Ruptured Brook wrote:
I agree with that, Finest--
Cheers changed once Diane left, and the show moved toward Woody & Kirstie's characters (for better or worse). Roseanne and All in the Family never really had anyone leave, and those shows both became relatively stagnant (though it should be noted that there wasn't anywhere else to go but down for those two!).
I did not watch "Cheers" very much, but I did watch "All in the Family", even have all 9 seasons on DVD, in addition to all 11 MASH seasons :)
I agree with your point about Roseanne & AITF becoming somewhat stale. I didn't watch Roseanne after the first 4 or 5 seasons, when the kids were younger. Big Bang Theory is another example. The novelty of the "nerd meets girl, nerd loves girl, nerd wins girl" schtick has gotten rather old for me and I stopped watching it regularly after about the 5th season.
All in the Family I tend to watch the first 5 seasons, before Mike and Gloria moved next door. The last season they were not on as they moved to California, and that's when Edith's little niece Stephanie entered the Bunkers' lives. Indeed AITF became rather stale after the 5th season.
That MASH had so many shake-ups in the cast over 11 seasons I believe helped keep it somewhat fresh. Let's face it though, after season 8 (the first year after Radar's departure) MASH began becoming somewhat stale too. Figure half of the original cast left and were replaced within the first 5 years. From season 6 on, the only cast change was Radar leaving.
Three's Company had a good long run too due to three major cast departures and the addition of Don Knotts, although I thought Don and his talents were underused on the show. The cast changes though did keep the show and the premise somewhat fresh at least.
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Cartoonistguy
Posted:
9/30/2015 2:09:28 AM
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...I've pondered many a scenario about MASH, over the years, and basically came to the conclusion that the "glue", for me, was Gelbart and Reynolds. For instance, I used to wish Rogers, at least, had stayed on. But, I wouldn't have wanted that if Gelbart and Reynolds weren't at the helm. Ideally, I'd want G&R to be at the helm for as many seasons as MASH would have remained. Henry could leave halfway (and get home), not because Morgan was better by any means. But, he was good as Potter for a few seasons. Same thing with Linville and Stiers. Personally, when McLean wanted out, I think it would have been great if he agreed to do a few eps each season, and have Morgan as Potter and Mary Wickes as Col. Reese fill in as commanders in between. I think Klinger should have remained section-8 Klinger, and maybe Igor fill in for Radar (all under the helm of Gelbart and Reynolds, as stated).
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
10/2/2015 4:57:10 PM
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Big Daddy O'Reilly
Posted:
10/2/2015 6:36:33 PM
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Nah. That was shiptease at best. Sure, there was clearly a mutual attraction to each other (though I think Margaret was really more attracted to Trapper and B.J.), and even though they eventually let their walls come down and develop more of a mutual respect and friendship for each other (the tag of "Inga" had a nice moment between them, considering it's an otherwise "meh" episode), I think their overall personalities in general would continue to clash, and they'd probably argue and bicker with each other in a regular basis. Hawkeye, while dedicated to his work, was otherwise still the laid-back, wise-cracking, nurse-chasing boozer; Margaret, while she could let her guard down on occasion, was still a strict military brat who demanded respect, satisfaction, and did not tolerate anything less. Not particularly a good match.
I honestly believe that with the exception of Carlye Walton (nee Breslin) that Hawkeye could never be a faithful man to whomever he's with: he's a wanderer, and always will be.
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FinestKindinTN
Posted:
10/2/2015 9:11:05 PM
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
10/4/2015 1:49:10 AM
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
10/16/2015 4:42:52 PM
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Big Daddy O'Reilly
Posted:
10/16/2015 6:41:36 PM
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FinestKindinTN
Posted:
10/17/2015 2:07:23 AM
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wdm1219inpenna
Posted:
12/6/2015 11:52:45 PM
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
12/23/2015 8:09:57 PM
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FinestKindinTN
Posted:
12/30/2015 1:10:58 PM
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
1/15/2016 6:18:19 PM
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Cartoonistguy
Posted:
1/15/2016 10:22:46 PM
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BeccaLeo1972 wrote:
A Potter, Hawkeye, Trapper combination would've worked or Potter, Hawkeye, Trapper, B.J. set up with Frank still around in either scenario?
...in whatever paperback book I used to have (All About MASH?), it was written after Stevenson left but before Rogers decided to. So, the assumption was that Rogers would be back, meaning a Potter, Hawkeye, Trapper scenario. It would have been interesting, certainly. At 50, I still go through "if only's" and "what ifs" with MASH, all the time. If I were 50 back in the 70's, I'd have begged Gelbart and Reynolds to stay longer.
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FinestKindinTN
Posted:
1/19/2016 12:33:46 AM
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BeccaLeo1972
Posted:
3/28/2016 2:31:13 AM
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Big Daddy O'Reilly
Posted:
3/28/2016 3:04:24 AM
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