Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic The M*A*S*H Appreciation Thread

As some of you know, I've been bingeing (sp?) on M*A*S*H DVDs since last Saturday.

I'm on the last few episodes of season six, and I'm LOVIN' IT!

There are, however, a couple of things I'd like to point out. I think it's fun to pick apart my favorite shows like this (LnC anyone?).

The writers of M*A*S*H, like many TV show writers, had problems with continuity. Here are three examples.

1. In the first 3-4 seasons, Hawkeye not only had his dad at home, but a SISTER as well. In season 4 or 5, he suddenly became an only child (I can't remember which season the change was made, but I'm pretty sure he said it in two separate episodes that season). Curious.

2. When B.J. first arrived at the 4077 at the beginning of season 5, he told Hawkeye that Peg was pregnant with their first when he left for Tokyo, and there was even an episode when the baby was born after that.

But in a certain season 6 episode, he mentions that he misses being home, seeing Peg, and taking care of/burping (or something to that effect) Erin, the baby. Interesting how he can miss something he never got a chance to do before he was shipped to Korea, don't you think?

3. Father Mulcahy's sister, the sister, was originally named Kathy--but called Mary Angelica (I think) when she took her vows as a nun. In a further episode, Mulcahy said her name was something other than Kathy, and then I think that in an episode after that one, she might have been called Kathy again, but I can't remember--I HAVE just watched almost six seasons (that's nearly a gross of episodes) in a week.

I think, though, that the episodes I'm talking about with this were "Bug Out" (first episode of the fifth season--when they were reading the mail on the way to their new location), the one when Father Mulcahy was distraught that his sister seemed to want children of her own, and another episode that I can't remember at the moment.

I'll play! Haven't done this in ages...

Oh, it's worse than that! He loses not only his sister but his poor mother as well. In the first "Dear Dad" ep, he closes with "Kiss Mom and Sis for me" or something to that effect, and at some other point in one of the early seasons, the mystery sister knits him a huge sweater. Later, of course, the sister and the mother both disappear and it's made clear that Daniel Pierce is a widower and Hawkeye is an only child. We find out much later in season 10's "Sons and Bowlers" that the mom died of cancer (I think, though it wasn't explicit) when Hawkeye was ten or so.

Actually, if you go back and re-watch the Kimpo O-Club scene in "Welcome to Korea", I think you'll find that Peg was pregnant when BJ was drafted into the military and started his training, but that he didn't actually get sent overseas until the baby was a few months old. They were out on their first date since the baby was born, and when they got home the babysitter 'Norma Jean' gave them the message that he was to report to wherever to ship out...something like that.

It seems like Henry might have had a baby born while he was in Korea, though I may be misremembering that and can't think of which episode it could be. (I used to be better at this...!) There was definitely one where Col. Potter's grandchild was born (and his family was even more flexible than Hawkeye's when it came to appearing and disappearing at the whim of the writers. Did he have one son? One daughter? One of each? And just how old were those grandchildren, anyway? ) but Erin was clearly born before BJ left for Korea. By the time Mike Farrell joined the show, the writers were able to spend more time on creating a character's back story, so there were fewer goofs of that sort in the later seasons. They didn't disappear entirely, though: In addition to his appearing and disappearing children, Col. Potter's hometown was in Nebraska for a while before switching to Hannibal, Missouri. His wife's name was consistently Mildred, but Henry's wife started out as Mildred and then switched to Lorraine. I've always wondered which of the writers had such a love of the the name Mildred, but there were other duplicated names on MASH, I noticed. Both Trapper and Frank were married to women named Louise, for instance. Mulcahy's sister was Kathy, and so was Trapper's daughter. The writers' creativity was being expended on things other than naming off-screen characters, I think.

And speaking of Father Mulcahy's sister, I do tend to think of her as Kathy, so I think they used that more often than not. Of course, his name was "John Francis Patrick" and IIRC he was called both "Johnny" and "Francis" at various times in his life by various family members, so maybe they were just a family that gave a lot of names

Caroline

Oh yeah! It's been a couple of days since I watched that particular episode. And I don't think I understood it WHILE I was watching it. Thanks for straightening me out.

Those two are definites. Henry had a baby born while he was at the 4077 (a son who wasn't mentioned afterward, not even after he died), and Col. Potter had a grandkid (a girl) born too.

I never really pay enough attention to Col. Potter's mentions of his kids/grandkids, so I guess I'll have to take your word for it that some disappear and reappear.

Although . . . wasn't that granddaughter that was born supposed to be his FIRST grandkid during that episode? Then, when Klinger tried to pawn off pictures of other MASH personels' children/grandchildren as his own, Col. Potter said that one of them was his grandson, Corey--and he was definitely older than a baby. Maybe I HAVE paid enough attention to notice that some of them disappear and reappear after all!

Father Mulcahy's first name was Jonathan? I never heard that. I've always heard he was Francis Mulcahy.

Yes, "Little Cory" was mentioned several times and was clearly older than the baby born while he was in Korea - who was a girl anyway and was named Cheryl Pershing Potter, IIRC. And the baby was obviously born to his son, since her last name was Potter, but at some point there's an ep where Potter's son-in-law Bob Wilson comes to Korea, so he has a daughter, too. But I think there are references to both the son and the daughter being his only child.

It only matters, of course, if you happen to be writing post-war fan fiction and have to sort it all out for your story. I think I gave him both the son and the daughter.

Caroline

I haven't yet delved into M*A*S*H fanfic. Know any good sites/fics? Maybe I'll read them once I'm caught up on the LnC stuff--and I've gotten my data all straightened out from the hard drive crash and my own LnC WIPs finished.

It's been ages, but I could probably muster up a few recs . Let me know when you get ready to read, and I'll be happy to help you get started.

Caroline

Wow, and I thought I was nit-picky! I just found a whole LIST of nitpicks at BestCareAnywhere.net:

Nitpickers Guide to M*A*S*H

BCA is a great site! This site is a good one, too, with a very active board, if you're interested. Though I think Andy took all the fic down from there and now most people just use FF.net or LJ these days.

Caroline

Ooh! Another site to play in! I read most of BCA (the non-fic parts) yesterday. And I started watching season 10 last night, so I'll be looking for fic pretty soon--now I've got two sites to look at.

*SIGH*

I watched "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" this evening. Cried during the last 10-15 minutes or so, plus intermittently throughout.

I'd seen the goodbye scenes at the end before (my dad and sister were watching it on TiVo one day before we got the DVDs), but I'd never seen the whole thing.

I didn't even know Hawkeye went to the sanitarium until I was talking about M*A*S*H with a co-worker a few days ago! And then I read the episode descriptions at BCA, and I'm like "*GASP!* Smothering her own baby!?!?"

Good thing I was prepared though--that scene would've been MUCH worse for me if I hadn't been.

I think I'll split my time between here, the archive, Zoom's boards, BCA, and MASH4077.co.uk from now on.