As a M*A*S*H fan, I generally appreciate the four episodes that the Hallmark Channel airs each night (though I'd appreciate them more if they weren't on from 11 pm to 1 am). Tonight, though, would be the perfect line-up for someone trying to demonstrate the lack of quality in the later seasons:
"Sons and Bowlers," which features a 4077th versus Marines bowling tournament. The subplot, where learn a lot about the relationships that Hawkeye and Charles have with their respective fathers, keeps this from being a complete stinker.
"Picture This," where Potter's attempt to paint the gang are disrupted by a feud between Hawkeye and BJ. Not a horrible episode, just predictable in how it turns out.
"That Darn Kid," where a goat eats the company payroll. I don't think I have to elaborate.
"The UN, the Night and the Music," where a visit by a UN group turns the camp upside-down. About the only good part of this episode is Charles trying to out-snob the British member of the delegation.
While none of these is a bottom five stinker (OK, the goat eating the payroll is in the running), these four demonstrate three things that make the later episodes so difficult at times:
1. An increasing need to use melodrama or teach a lesson.
2. A tired writing staff, evident where the plots become obvious and the ideas not so great.
3. Over-reliance on formerly minor characters. I'm thinking mostly of Klinger here, as he was great in small doses, but more likely to be used in an over-the-top fashion when he became a main character. Oddly, I think they could have done more with Father Mulcahey in this regard, but kept his story lines pretty limited.
2 comments:
1. Simply the result of Alan Alda taking over creative control of the show several seasons earlier.
2. Related to #1. About the only thing Alda and Gene Reynolds didn't tell the writers to do was to have the cast hold signs and wear shirts that say "War is Hell," "Meatball Surgery," etc. God knows a cast member said the latter phrase at least once an episode during the later years.
3. Since a majority of the "major" characters were no longer being used as comic relief/comic foil, the show turned to minor or new characters to find a cheap laugh. Unfortunately, I could never find the likes of Sgt. Rizzo (I'm Cajun! Ain't I funny?) or Igor the cook entertaining.
I did like the Hawkeye-Charles subplot in Sons and Bowlers, although the line "Where I had a father, you had a dad." was treacly in the extreme.
I don't even remember That Darn Kid.
I don't know what you have against impotent Swedes.
Chris
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