The TV thread

MASH sucks. I have to say it every time that show is mentioned.

 

I watched those shows when they were first aired. The seasons with MacLean Stevenson were very good. As the show progressed it took itself seriously, then too seriously and finally they treated it as if they were dispensing Papal Bulls every week.

 

It was a reliably consistent show - I don't think they ever reached the "peaks" you see from other long-running series. Big Weddings, huge cliffhangers etc. - it just kind of was there and a pleasant way to kill 30 minutes. It was never a #1 or #2 show (and its first season was the #46 show) and aired on every night of the week during its run but Wednesday and Thursday.
Still, 100 mil for the finale? It's never going to be topped.

 

My dad, a Korean War vet, told me to "turn that crap off" every time he saw me watching it. Boy, did he ever hate that show.

 

My mom did the same thing for Hogan’s Heroes. There was nothing funny about it, she said of WWII.

 

Never got the hate for the late M*A*S*H. Yeah, Alda and the rest delivered messages. They were generally pretty good messages. And more than any other show at the time, it delivered the bad with the good. Ideas were brought to the screen on M*A*S*H that weren't even considered on other shows. It was among the greatest series of all time, beginning to end.

The death of Henry Blake was a Pretty Big Moment.

 

And thankfully, they didn't tease it with "Next week - a big death" to make the devastation real.

Regarding Mel Brooks, Hogan's Heroes and Nazis - a decent interview.
SPIEGEL Interview with Mel Brooks: “With Comedy, We Can Rob Hitler of his Posthumous Power” - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International

 

I concur. Still my favorite TV show ever, and the DVD boxed set with all the episodes, the movie and the restrospective specials is one of the best purchases I ever made. Yes, I enjoy the earlier episodes a little more. I liked Trapper a little better, but BJ was cool. I loved when Frank Burns was on there, but Winchester had his moments. It got a bit preachy in the later years. But even, when it was at its "worst," it was still better than about 99% of the stuff on TV, IMHO.

 

Started "Black Mirror"; well done, Twilight Zone for 21st Century.

 

The Army doctor who wrote the book on which MASH was based loved the Altman movie and didn't care for the TV show. Go figure.

 

Altman's movie was "darker" - MASH too many guffaws.

Watched Psych The Movie recently. I miss that show - yeah its stupid, but I'm a sucker for 80s references and a voice-over by SE Hinton as a talking pony.

 

Finished Altered Carbon a few nights ago. I'm exactly not sure what to think, but it seems like there was the skeleton of a really good show in there that was never really fleshed out enough.

I liked Joel Kinnaman in The Killing, so it was cool to see him in another series.