Hawkeye (M.A.S.H.) told it like it is... and not just in the Middle-East, either.

[albacore]

Hawkeye: War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
Father Mulcahy: How do you figure that, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them — little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

[Srkdqltr]

1. Hawkeye was right.

[stopdiggin]

2. the brass - and the power hungry megalomaniacs that unleash them. -(nt)-

[czarjak]

3. God's will though?

[spike jones]

13. What God Wants, God Gets.

[link:

|

[Kennah]

14. Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.

[ms liberty]

4. Hawkeye speaks truth. He did that a lot. n/t

[cornball 24]

5. Still watch it every night! Never tire of it. As years go by, it becomes more profound

regarding the insanity of war.

[BOSSHOG]

15. Great show

I think my favorite (amongst favorites) was when he, and I think BJ, kept a young soldier alive until December 26th so they wouldn’t have to put Christmas Day on his death certificate, and spare his family that grief. So much good amidst so much bad.

[Rebl2]

21. One of

my favorite episodes too.

[Orrex]

16. Same

When I was younger I used to prefer the early seasons, because they're generally more laughs per minute. But as I've matured, I really have begun to appreciate the later episodes, especially seeing how Major Houlihan grew over the years, taking less shit from men and really finding her own voice.

I have access to two streaming platforms that run M*A*S*H 24/7 and I'll watch at least one episode almost daily.

In the entire run, I think the only episode that I really don't like is Edwina from season 1.

[Rebl2]

23. As an

older person, I agree. The later episodes where Houlihan stood up to the men and they grew to respect her were my favorite episodes.

[Unwind Your Mind]

24. I prefer the later seasons too

For Margaret and also because I love Charles and his development. Plus I can’t stand Frank anymore and his relationship with Margaret was so cringy.

Through it all, I always love Hawkeye. He’s the reason my ‘type’ is nice looking boys who are up to something naughty and fun

[Orrex]

25. Something else I've noticed as an aging viewer

The later seasons really toned down Hawkeye's serial womanizing, and we see an overall toning-down of the openly sexist or homophobic humor that was more common in the first few seasons (and which has aged rather poorly).

Granted, this is a perspective from 40-50 years after the fact, and M*A*S*H was quite progressive for its day. Still, I've seen many online complaints that the show got "less funny" when "Alda got all preachy," etc., so it seems that such broad comedy still has its devotees.

[Unwind Your Mind]

28. Another thing I notice too

There was a lot of adultery going on with the earlier set of characters.

They moved away from that with BJ and Colonel Potter.

My guess is they had to tone all of that stuff down when the show became successful.

[Orrex]

35. Good point

I'm not hardcore enough to know episode titles by heart, but I looked it up, and Taking the Fifth (season 9, episode 9) really seemed to mark the end of Hawkeye's cavalier womanizing.

Creatively it was a clever choice, because the episode has him scheming to score a night with a nurse, but the entire nursing staff turns it around on him, more or less permanently closing that chapter on the character.

[underpants]

30. Alda had no relationship to the character when it started

I’ve listened to two of his autobiographies. Very entertaining. One is called “Don’t stuff the dog” which his father did once.
He grew up on a vaudeville train/bus. His parents thought it was the best education he could get but they were told they couldn’t have a school age kid with them. Local authorities might snoop around on that. His dad got work in LA doing contract shows.

Alda was happily married when he got the role. He went from a movie about prison right onto the lot in the desert/ mountains where it was filmed. He said he has no idea or hadn’t had time to develop the character. It was really sudden.

[Orrex]

34. That makes perfect sense

And of course Alda took on more of the show's creative development as it went along, so he was able to steer the character more effectively.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

36. Alda was such a devoted husband and father

That he flew home to New Jersey every weekend during the four months of filming M*A*S*H, rather than uprooting his family for a move to LA. I think he did it over all 11 seasons of the show.

[underpants]

37. That's a cool story.

He really didn’t talk a lot about MASH in either of the books.

[ItsjustMe]

6. .

[Abolishinist]

7. Alan Alda is a national treasure!

We attended an event several years ago for which he was the main speaker. He had recently informed the public that he has Parkinson's, which was slightly evident, mostly one of his hands as I recall, but not overtly so. Mr. Alda partnered with the renowned scientific institute Scripps Research to bring immersive communication training to scientists and medical professionals on the West Coast.

Alda was the founder of Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science in the Stony Brook University, a cross-disciplinary organization that helps scientists in learning how to communicate more effectively. Their training at this center helps them immensely in their communications with the media, funders, policymakers, and students.

“When you allow yourself to fully relate with another person, you’re listening and engaged, riding the waves of uncertainty inherent in any conversation,” Alda says. “When you embrace that uncertainty, rather than try to control it, that’s when you hit gold. That’s when you have the opportunity to make a meaningful connection.”

He is a great story-teller, and this on a topic I had never thought of before... how to more clearly communicate to those not in the sciences the essence of what they are attempting to convey. Amazing how changing a few words here and there can make a day/night difference. And I wish him the best with his continuing medical struggles.

https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2020/20200116-alda-communication.html#:~:text=Coast%20%7C%20Scripps%20Research-,Iconic%20actor%20Alan%20Alda%2C%20Scripps%20Research%20join%20forces%20to%20bring,with%20clear%20and%20vivid%20communication.

[True Dough]

8. Hawkeye was no Frank Burns or Charles Emerson Winchester III

but he could be insightful, I suppose.

[Bo Zarts]

9. "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque

"The wisest were just the poor and simple people. They knew the war to be a misfortune, whereas those who were better off, and should have been able to see more clearly what the consequences would be, were beside themselves with joy." - Paul Bäumer

[hueymahl]

10. Wonder what Hawkeye would have to say about Ukraine?

Nothing good, I assume.

[Paladin]

11. I still like the "M.A.S.H." movie a lot more than the TV series.

Alan Alda got a bit too sanctimonious for my taste, as the TV show progressed.

My favorite memory of the movie: Watching it in a theater for the first time, when the padre uttered the "He was drafted" line. That got a 5-minute standing ovation, there in big-time anti-Vietnam War Austin, Texas.

[underpants]

27. There's no soundtrack for the first 1/2 of the movie

Robert Altman wanted to make it dark and have no lightness to it I guess.

Before the movie, Gary Burghoff played drums in a band fronted by Lynda Carter. She obviously was the attraction.

https://www.metv.com/stories/hold-up-gary-burghoff-and-lynda-carter-were-in-a-band-in-the-1960s

[Paladin]

31. Interesting. Thanks. (nt)

[brooklynite]

12. Consider that, when MASH was on TV, people didn't understand how really oppressive NK would become.

If the UN hadn't sent in military forces to push back against the North Korea invasion, 50,000,000 more people would likely be worshiping Kim Jong Il and family.

[Fichefinder]

17. Is Hawkeye still working....

..at the "Finestkind Fish Market and Free Clinic"?
MASH goes to Maine

[cayugafalls]

18. M.A.S.H. was a tour de force rollercoaster ride of comedy and tragedy.

A worthy add to any media library or playlist.

[calimary]

32. It still holds up.

No matter the color of the skin, everybody bleeds the same red.

[bronxiteforever]

19. The show was never about the Korean War

Based on the 1970 movie, itself based on a novel, MASH was designed as a “black comedy” set during the Korean War.

It was really a thinly veiled critique of the war in Vietnam raging at the time.

The creators of the show knew they wouldn’t get away with making a Vietnam war comedy. Uncensored news broadcasts showing the viciousness of Vietnam were transmitted straight to the American public who were, by now, growing jaded of the increasingly brutal war.

Setting the series 20 years earlier allowed the creators to mask their criticisms behind a historical perspective – but most viewers realised the true context.

https://theconversation.com/m-a-s-h-50-years-on-the-anti-war-sitcom-was-a-product-of-its-time-yet-its-themes-are-timeless-190422#:~:text=Based%20on%20the%201970%20movie,making%20a%20Vietnam%20war%20comedy.

I guess not all viewers realized the true context.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

29. As someone who grew up watching it, we knew.

I mean, sure, some people are dumb, but that it was an anti-war movie and then television show wasn't exactly subtle.

[bigtree]

20. Alan Alda talks 'M*A*S*H'

[Snooper9]

22. mythical hell doesn't exist so the whole damn thing is moot

nt

[JoeOtterbein]

26. K n R with....

...tears.

[Jrose]

33. Besides his apparent opposition to the Vietnam War during that era..

Alda has always been a strong and very vocal supporter of women's rights (abortion rights, equal employment opportunities, etc.).