Above is a photo of real MASH doctors.Several times studios and networks have come to my writing partner, David and me asking us to create another MASH. Well, that can’t be done. MASH is unique. It’s a comedy. It’s a drama. It’s a life and death situation. And the entire premise is built around insanity. The insanity of war, the insanity of doctors treating patients who never should be there in the first place. Comedy that comes from pain, from futility.
When you watch MASH, as well as hopefully being entertained, please appreciate the sacrifice these young soldiers and all American soldiers have made for their country.
Our thanks and prayers go to them and their families on this Memorial Day.
Well stated, Mr. Levine. On all fronts.
ReplyDeleteBlessings on the departed. All of them...
There is already another MASH... it's called Grey's Anatomy.
ReplyDeleteGrey's is unique... so much as any show set in a hospital can be.
Grey's WANTS to be a comedy... they sound like jokes, but the punchline is missing.
Grey's TRIES to be dramatic... but sad music doesn't create drama, emotions need to be conveyed.
Grey's always seems on the brink of death, but I imagine some network exec's wife loves the show and that keeps it "alive".
The entire premise is built around the fact that other shows set in hospitals seem to do well. Until the "will they/won't they" dynamic dries up. And the actors should never have been put on television, or at least not in that show.
Somebody is laughing alright, all the way to the fucking bank.
Wait a couple of years to see if this whole Iraq thing finishes up anytime soon, maybe a new MASH may come from that... IRASH.
Okay, the title needs work.
My prayers will be said for those who perished and for those under threat from perishing.
ReplyDelete*puts his World Domination Tour T-Shirt on*
ReplyDeleteThanks for D-Day. I drink to those who made civilized life for me and my family possible. I also want to remind everybody of the Luftbrücke which is a great example how something great could be accomplished without any use of guns. The other way. Using all parts of the military to stage a huge supply campaign. Great stuff. Cheers!
Amen, Mr. Levine.
ReplyDeleteSalute.
I couldn't have said it better!
ReplyDeleteI grew up watching MASH, and while I have been entertained, I've definitely been challenged and hit with the reality of the need for sacrifice. If I didn't have a disability that precludes me from serving, I would gladly and proudly serve in the military. The gratitude we should have for the sacrifices that service personnel and their families have made and continue to make cannot be expressed adequately enough!
Please, show respect for those who sacrificed everything so that we may be here today....by flying the "Stars and Stripes"
ReplyDeletethat's the eight-o-double-nickel, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteeven though you said that MASH couldn't be remade, if you had the chance to write for the same cast as 35 years ago (and nobody had aged a day), where would you set the story today?
My childhood dentist was the actual dentist at the 4077 MASH in Korea. He was a terrible dentist - at least he was by 1985 when I was in high school and old enough to demand switching dentists.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he was in all other respects a very nice man and hats off to him for serving his country in the best way he could. He's no longer with us, but I still think of him from time to time and on occasions such as this.
Incidentally, I have no idea how, um, accurate the John Shuck portrayal of the dentist was in the movie. And honestly, I don't want to even think about it.