Author Topic: What Happened to M*A*S*H?  (Read 468 times)

Offline Barney Fife

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What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« on: February 11, 2014, 09:19:03 am »
Why has M*A*S*H practically disappeared from syndication?
TVLand canned it,ION canned it,and Hallmark canned it.What's the deal?

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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2014, 12:40:22 pm »
M*A*S*H is still on MeTV at 7:00 and 7:30 every weeknight.

I rarely watch M*A*S*H on TV. I have the first seven seasons on DVD, and it's a much better alternative, as the picture quality is far more superior, and the episodes are uncut.

Offline Barney Fife

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2014, 07:07:09 pm »
Oh yeah,I forgot about MeTV.I WOULD watch it on DVD,too,but I only have the Goodbye,Farewell and Amen collector's edition set.
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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2014, 09:20:19 pm »
I'll tell you what though, if you ever get any of the seasons on DVD, you'll be amazed at how much stuff they cut out in syndication... heck, entire scenes are cut! I'll give you just one little example:

In "Dear Dad... Again", there's an entire scene where Frank gets so drunk after his little spat with Margaret, that he pretty much stays up all night in his drunken stupor and wants Hawkeye and Trapper to play with him... it's hilarious, and this is also where we learn where his nickname Ferret Face originated from. That whole scene is cut completely.

"Last Laugh" is also edited rather poorly in syndication as well: there's a subplot where Klinger's latest scheme is an invisible camel named Habibi... every one of those scenes is cut, which is a shame, because it was one of Klinger's funnier schemes.

Offline Barney Fife

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2014, 10:36:34 am »
I wonder why they edit so much out.I mean,is one company REALLY going to suffer just because their stupid ad that no one cares about isn't shown?
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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2014, 09:00:40 pm »
I'll tell you this much though, admittedly, the quality of the episodes vary season by season.

Seasons 1-3 have pretty good picture, though you can kind of tell they're transfers: digital artifacts and pixelizations and such, but they're better looking than TV prints. Seasons 4 and 5 are kind of poor... 4 is particularly fuzzy and grainy, 5 isn't as bad, but the episodes have an orangish look to them for some reason. 6 and 7 are a lot better and look really good... and I'm guessing the rest are even better. I bought the slim re-release of Season 8 as a splurge (I have 1-5 in a limited edition gift set, and the original box-set releases of 6 and 7) and it's quality is really clear and sharp, as is GFA (I have that same set too: I was among the several who complained to 20th Century Fox about releasing the complete series set with special features after all those years of releasing individual season sets with no special features, which is why they temporarily pulled the complete series set from shelves and offered that GFA set as a substitute).

I once heard that M*A*S*H suffered from it's own popularity, from being reprinted over and over again for various different syndication markets, thus wearing the original master prints. Makes sense though. From observation, of the different classic shows I have on DVD, HOGAN'S HEROES seems to have been preserved the best, as its picture is incredibly clear and sharp.

Offline A Lotta Moms

Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2014, 04:23:25 pm »
One of my earliest childhood memories is watching the helicopter on  the M*A*S*H* intro. 

If you remember Dr. Sidney Freedman, check this out (viewer discretion on the second one):


http://theslumsofelwood.forumotion.com

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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2014, 05:33:28 pm »
*Blink* Did Old Man Marley just break Sidney Freedman's ****?!

Offline A Lotta Moms

Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2014, 06:40:57 pm »
Lol...I think he did.  And as I'm sure you probably noticed, that really was Tattoo from Treasure Island.
I could watch this movie over and over it's so completely WTF. 
Even funnier is the fact that Robert Downey, Jr. makes a cameo as the little boy who is brutally murdered by God during the night.  The movie was made by his (obviously) completely insane father, Robert Downey, Sr.
If you want to see the whole train wreck, here it is:

« Last Edit: February 17, 2014, 06:48:53 pm by A Lotta Moms »
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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2014, 11:51:43 pm »
Lil'-known factoid: did you know "Tattoo" was something of a stand-in for Oscar the Grouch? Whenever you saw Oscar the Grouch actually walk around in his trashcan, with his legs and feet sticking out the bottom, that was him.

Offline A Lotta Moms

Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #10 on: February 18, 2014, 12:00:52 am »
I did not know that... amazing how these things are all interconnected, isn't it?
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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2014, 12:46:45 pm »
Have you ever seen the biopic about Allan Arbus' wife? Nicole Kidman played her, she was a photographer, who seemed to have mental issues or something... I haven't seen the movie in its entirety, but I saw this really long, strange scene where she visits their neighbor in their apartment building, who I believe was a circus freak or something (like a human dog or something)... I'll tell ya what, I don't think anybody could understand any of this even if they were high.

But, looking at this kind of stuff, it kind of makes sense now why Allan was so convincing as army shrink Sidney Freedman... he seemed to have one messed up life, lol.

Offline A Lotta Moms

Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #12 on: February 18, 2014, 05:25:02 pm »
I actually haven't, but I'm familiar with Diane Arbus's short, troubled life and photography.  In fact, I wasn't even aware that there was a biopic of her.  Now, I'll just have to track it down and watch the b'jeezus out of it. 
I'll say, if his wife didn't mess him up then playing a pink-fedora, zoot-suit wearing Old West messiah surely did the trick.  He actually just passed away a little while ago at the hearty young age of 95.
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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2014, 05:45:08 pm »
True. I gotta hand it to you Jews, you hold the secrets to longevity... Abe Vigoda's gotta be over 200 by now... Don Rickles maybe 100... Joan Rivers... well, it's hard to tell, she's had so much work done, but nevertheless.

But yeah, I believe the biopic was entitled something along the lines of FUR: A PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS, or something like that. I'm sure it's right up your alley! :p

I remember in the 30th anniversary reunion special of M*A*S*H, Allan Arbus mentioned one time when his daughter had an operation, and the doctor proceeded to discuss everything with him as if he really was a doctor himself, which he thought was crazy, lol. Alan Alda also admitted that he was so convinced by Allan as Sidney that he used to actually discuss his problems, and other aspects of psychology with him between takes.

I must admit, psychology is an interesting subject.

Offline A Lotta Moms

Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2014, 06:18:34 pm »
We hide the secret in our noses.  I'd share it right here and now, but the Mossad would surely pull a Black September on me for treason.

Thanks for the recommendation - I absolutely love films about strange, disturbed, self-destructive artists.

Psychology is fascinating.  I was tempted to take it as a major in college, but steered into boring old finance because I didn't want to spend 12+ years in college for a Ph.D just so I could finally have a marketable degree in my field.  lol 
Although I have to admit, "Dr. Moms" does have a nice ring to it...

 
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Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #15 on: February 20, 2014, 10:22:47 am »
Hey, I just discovered yet another M*A*S*H connection with  this movie: "Coocoo" was Father Mulcahy in the pilot episode before William Christopher got the part.

Offline Gomer Says Hey

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Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #16 on: February 23, 2014, 10:31:41 am »
Okay, what is up with that sunset?! We still have that nice little music score from the father and son being ressurrected, then all of the sudden, it sounds like Homer Simpson being abducted and probed by aliens with vacuum cleaners.

Offline A Lotta Moms

Re: What Happened to M*A*S*H?
« Reply #17 on: February 24, 2014, 05:14:41 pm »
http://theslumsofelwood.forumotion.com

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