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.
Monday, May 31, 2021
Memorial Day
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
19 comments :
Well, another dramedy about a ragtag bunch of Army doctors during the Korean War is out of the question...but how 'bout one centered around the staff of a "Stars & Stripes"-esque newspaper during WWII?
Well, the network did go to Gene Reynolds and Larry Gelbart asking them to create another M*A*S*H . . . and they did . . . but, it tanked.
M*A*S*H's sister show, ROLL OUT!, starring Stu Gilliam, Hilly Hicks, Teddy Wilson, Garrett Morris, Sal Bisoglio, Ed Begley, Jr., a sitcom set during WW2, and focusing on a mostly black supply unit in France, barely even lasted a single season, but was an attempt to bank on M*A*S*H's newfound success, which is why it failed for that very reason. It'd be like if the network approached Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld to make another sitcom about how a comedian gets his material after SEINFELD became a hit - you just can't recapture lightning in the same bottle.
Having already gotten together with family yesterday, I've been honoring Memorial Day this morning with TV viewing. Besides a Three Stooges short where they thwart the nazis, I watched some Hogan's Heroes that were on the Sundance channel. I also watched the MASH episode "The Late Capt. Pierce", since that fit in with the theme of the day. (An aside on that: I noticed the scene when Hawkeye gets off the bus, aborting his intent to leave in the face of coming casualties, that they framed the 4077th sign so the viewer could read "The best care anywhere" during the entire sequence after the bus stopped. Brilliant writing and/or directing!)
The other military-based sitcom I watched was Gomer Pyle. I deliberately chose a season 1 episode because, in the title sequence where they show Pyle and Sgt. Carter marching, the other marchers, which were plentiful, were all real life marines. And every one of them were killed on Vietnam.
A different version of that was filmed for the color episodes. It's a better-staged marching scene, but, as far as I know, not the same real-life fate.
Every year, I watch the Memorial Day Concert with Joe Montagna and Gary Sinise hosting and every year, I get touched by many actors playing various real-life veterans telling their stories through them...
I think if you tried to make a modern version of MASH that maintained the same outlook and attitude as the original, the resulting show would become ground zero of the current nonsensical culture war.
MASH fairly regularly mocked the US Army as an institution, and wasn’t shy about depicting the upper command structure as, at best incompetent, and at worst, deliberately corrupt. That outlook doesn’t surprise me, since MASH premiered during the waning days of Vietnam when the tide of popular opinion was turning against our involvement there. MASH consistently made fun of the idea of American imperialism and exceptionalism, and just as consistently showed compassion towards enemy Chinese soldiers. In a country that has basically fetishised the military for the last 40 years, is now flirting with fascism, and is enjoying a marked increase in intolerance against Asians, I have no problem imagining Tucker Carlson doing a weekly two hour show on how the new MASH is single handedly bringing about the downfall of Western civilization with their libtard Communist inspired attacks on traditional wholesome American values. All the furious tapping fingers on Twitter as right and left argued would put the energy consumed by Bitcoin mining to shame.
I remember a line from Laugh-in (I think) where they suggested that instead of sending Bob Hope to Vietnam to entertain the troops, they should send the troops back home to see him here.
And other military comedy/drama that came and went was, “Six O’Clock Follies.” The night of the Premier, NBC threw a big party to watch the West Coast feed only to have it interrupted by a news report claiming there was an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the hostages that were Iran. My husband, Randall Carver, was one of the stars of the show and he said he never saw a party clear out faster in his life. The show ran for six episodes and featured a cast that included Phil Hartman, Lawrence Fishburne, and Philip Charles McKenzie.
Have a safe Memorial Day, Ken. And thank you for your service.
This is the best way to honor Memorial Day that I can think of. MASH has done more to humanize the realities of war than any speech or platitude. It dramatizes the horrors of war and the mechanization of the military and the chaos it creates.
Also, can Igor go easier on the liver and fish? We want something else.
"China Beach"
So now wait. Studios and networks asked you to create another MASH. Did you outright respond, "It can't be done"? Or did you try but the attempt was ultimately rejected? After all, it's an opportunity for work. It's an opportunity for getting your ideas out to the masses. It's a chance for making money, and therefore, a living as a writer.
I know what MASH was and still is. Classic and with a message. Considering your position, you wouldn't want to at least try to do something similar for a current audience? I realize that MASH itself is still there for a current audience, but again: work, ideas, money.
No, you can't replicate MASH. You can do something new is a similar vein. It wouldn't even have to be set in a foreign land. It could be set right here in the States. How about a hospital during Hurricane Katrina? Or rather, leading up to, during and after Katrina. The Korean War lasted how long? Three years? MASH took those years and ran it out to eleven very successful seasons. You might get three or four years out of Katrina. Not bad for modern day TV.
The victims, the survivors, the incompetent President and the "heck of a job" being done by government officials. The Heroes. Set it in and around a hospital in the place hit hardest, New Orleans. I've even got the title for you. "N.O. Mercy".
There you are. Go make millions!
Throughout history, things have not always been all roses and lollipops for the US. But on this Memorial Day, the current political discourse, hostility, and disturbing rise of violence makes me want to apologize to all the men and women who lost their lives fighting wars for this county. So I did.
"Ere I Saw Elba"...
Okay, enjoy the cream of weenie soup!
Joseph Scarbrough, you left out one more notable cast member of "Roll Out!": Mel Stewart, who previously was a place setter for Sherman Hemsley on "All in the Family" playing George Jefferson's brother Henry during the time Hemsley was honoring his contract to finish his performances in Purlie on Broadway.
I still think that someone could create something special out of the experiences of those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years....
@tavm Thank you, I felt like I was forgetting somebody, but I couldn't place my finger on who(m).
You're welcome, Joe.
Since you had contact with people who are veterans of/experts in the Korean War, and I assume, readers who are "MASH" fans and might be involved with Korean War history, could you please pass this along?
My late father was in the Army Photo Corps in Korea (he got to fly over enemy positions in a helicopter shooting at them with a camera while they shot at him with rifles.) I was recently going through his home movies, and I found a metal box full of slides that he took in Korea. They are incredible. Lush Kodachrome color shots of his camp and comrades that look like stills from "MASH," photos of locals from when he got leave, and other amazing shots of life in Korea during the war. My dad used to watch "MASH" and say he didn't know where they shot it, but it looked just like where he was stationed: all mountains, scrub brush and gravel. He was telling the truth.
I've tried to find someone who would take them for history/preservation, but nobody has gotten back in touch. Shamefully, there appears to be no official museum honoring Korean War vets. There was one in Illinois, but it closed. There's a reason why it's called the Forgotten War, but it shouldn't be.
If anyone has any suggestions of a Korean War organization that might want these photos, please send me a message via the Hollywood HiFi Facebook page linked from my name. Thanks.
You beat me to it.
M.B.
Sorry for your loss, Ken.
Post a Comment