This TV series was definitely easier to watch than most. Unlike other comedies, it was very very funny. That put it in the upper 40% right away. It had a lot of "Ha ha" to it, probably a lot of laughs that rank 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. (this still made it superior to most comedies.) The early episodes relied on a scapegoat, Frank Burns, who quite frankly was used too much to be believable, but it did make the show much funnier. The later shows had a very good wit attitude to it, with the addition of what were obviously better characters. The comic aspect scores very high. The emotional aspect. Of course there were some standout episodes. The notable episode, the one I'm sure most people would say was the very best, was the one in which the young man with amnesia was hypnotized into remembering how he searched for his brother. This episode lead all of them in emotional wallop, but there were others: the death of the move lovable MASH surgeon, the pilot who thought he was Christ (although this also counts as a humor episode.), maybe some others. Emotionally it scored pretty high. The aspect of accomplishing what it wanted. There are a few aspects here. The main one is the peace, not war aspect. On this the series deserves recommendation. By the amount of war mongering going on even today, one wonders if anyone ever saw this show, or if they just conveniently forgot about the lessons. Still, it succeeds on the message of peace being better than war. Next, characters. Start with the mainstays: Hawkeye-obviously a winner, and well drawn character. I can't understand how some people called him a wimp, the times he faced down guns, joked in the line of fire, and belted Frank Burns. Someone has to explain to me how he could be a wimp? I don't think so. Hot Lips-the worst character ever in any TV series. I just kept hoping she'd step on a land mine. No one, even horror movie ogres, were as mean and vicious as she was to underlings, although she kissed butt of superiors. Kissing butt is excusable, the horrible attitude towards those smaller isn't. Especially in a zone so dangerous that nervousness could get you killed. Later episodes tried to make her better, but they didn't work. She was always a vile despicable ogre! Father Mulcahey-this is probably the least realistic character of any TV series. Certainly a likable person, but a myth. No priest, especially in that time frame would have condoned pagan behavior, but he seemed to relish it. It was ridiculous to have Burns be the one who objected to paganism instead of the father. It was a stupid and ineffective way for the director to express his own viewpoints. Only a person who would buy the Eiffel Tower could be naive enough to buy it. Maybe I don't care for fundamental religion, either, but this smacked of real prejudice and ignorance. Klinger-even after he stopped being one dimensional, he was one dimensional. An attempt to be cool like this is what is call "Dork". The ones who came and went or came later Blake-the most lovable character. Fairly close to the movie version. Rates high on character because he could be identified with easily. Trapper John-as often as he appeared, he still remains a mystery., True men of mystery are like this; they don't try to be mysterious, they just are. Radar-way too one dimensional, always the butt of jokes and disdain. Anyone who was really Radar would've gone insane long before he left. Burns-created just to be the butt of jokes and be a swine. Potter-this character mostly brought in all the old war stories and jokes from past wars to put into the series. Not a bad character. Winchester-easily the most complex character. The writers had the most leeway with him, and they made the most of it. He was a stick in the mud, but he was absolutely marvelous and hilarious, and what's more, he was probably the most realistic character for the era. Scores high Friedman-hard to say how real a character he could be. His profession was a rare one, and he would stick out. I could buy his portrayal. Flagg-okay, a complete farce, but he was hilarious and he made the point the producers wanted. All in all, with the vast number of hours they had to produce characters, this is an extremely poor showing for character development. Another detriment was that the MASH crew always seemed to find cures for everything from some local native thief. I never bought that. The overkill factor was a bit too preachy. One has the sense that if a poisonous snake bit someone, they would get the cure from some pagan ritual. While the knowledge of poisonous snakes was especially in its infancy then, this would be too much of a stretch. Great comedy, poor characters overall, great message, poor credibility.
