I'm guessing it's not, but, this would have been even better if it had been in the episode where 'Hawkeye's' dad has his operation, at least for a personal insight of Alan. As a personal opinion, as well-acted and brilliant as the conversation between Hawkeye and Charles is, when recounting the relationship between the man and their respective father, it may have hit an even more poignant note if Robert had featured in that episode.
@@nrkgalt your right Alan Aldas father Robert and Alans much younger half brother Anthony Alda were all in one episode. Anthony sadly passed away in 2009 at age 52 of cirrhosis of the liver.
@The Vinyl Music Life - Perfect balance? And some of the hijinks would be construed by Alda's character could be construed as sexual harassment. Wayne Rogers acting skills were wasted as "Trapper John" whose dialog was pretty much limited to "I'll drink to that." Even worse was the one dimensional character of Frank Burns, played by Larry Linville. This man deserved better. A decent show. Often, in my opinion, overrated but, over the years, it improved. Harry Morgan and David Ogden Stiers were brilliant additions to the show.
@The Vinyl Music Life - The show, in my opinion, was not all that great for the first 3 years or so. It was centered around Hawkeye, Burns. and Hot Lips. That's the main reason Wayne Rogers left. I think the scripts improved greatly as well. Great actors had their talents largely wasted the first years of the show. It was a good 5 or 6 years in, until I began to say the TV show is better than the original movie.
@@tommcgeethree - The show got better when the character, Frank Burns was retired and Charles Emerson Winchester III stepped in. Burns was scrip0ted as a clueless nitwit. Winchester was an insufferable snob but a worthy foil toe Hawkeye.
Ha. I was thinkin the same thing. He was in an episode of “The Incredible Hulk” and he talked the exact same way. His delivery can make any line sound intense.
The interesting part is that later on in the series, Hawkeye does develop a drinking problem and it takes him a while to recognize it. It happens at Rosie's one evening when he says "I need that drink" and the bar goes completely silent, everyone looking at him. It finally dawned on him and he said "I'll be back when I want that drink, not need it..." and leaves. Great scene here though, two outstanding actors and a very good script brought to life.
Isn't that also the Radar gets injured episode? Where the episode ends with Radar and Hawkeye at Rosie's. They both get their usual a beer and a grape nehi. Only hawkeye grabs the soda and lets radar have the beer.
It’s not the Radar episode. It’s the one where Hawkeye tells everyone that he is going to stop drinking for a week. He doesn’t quite make it. After a harrowing experience in the O.R. (wrestling with a patient holding a live grenade), Hawkeye shows up at the bar “needing” a drink. The rest of the group is there but he changes his mind (“I'll be back when I want it, not when I need it.”) and walks out.@@lucielm
There was. Back in 2002. Someone posted a video of them watching it on TH-cam. I remember watching it with my parents when FOX aired it. At the time, I think only McClean Stevenson and Larry Linville had passed. Most of the main actors and actresses were there to reminisce for the 30th Year Anniversary of Pilot.
I remember the very first time I saw this episode years ago. I thought it was odd how both actors look alike and were similar. I did not discover until years later that they were actually father and son lol
At one point in the series (not this episode), Colonel Potter commented: "None of my people ever works in an impaired condition." Given how we saw Hawkeye, Trapper and B.J. drinking throughout the series' run, this would be an ABSOLUTE impossibility. The M*A*S*H staff never knew when casualties would be coming in, or how many there would be. What WOULD have happened is that the doctors and nurses would have mastered the art, from bitter experience, of how to work effectively under pressure WHILE "in the bag". That isn't an impossibility. During the Civil War a hard-drinking field officer (NOT Ulysses Grant) was ordered to go on the wagon by his superiors right before a major battle. His command performance was his worst ever. One historian later commented: "However desirable sobriety may be in theory, it was probably not a good idea to wrench him out of his usual mode of living so dramatically." However unorthodox their individual elements, the 4077th's 97% success rate spoke for itself. As the old saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
In reality there was no booze allowed in front line MASH units. Same as navy ships and army front line combat units. You had to be on a pass to be at a R&R location.
@@steveconkey7362 It's interesting to hear that. It certainly makes sense, even if (as was surely the case) there was a certain amount of surreptitious drinking going on out of the sight and hearing of the officers. I can't even begin to imagine how -- or IF -- I'd have survived living in such a slaughterhouse. I might very well have ended up like Dr. Newsome, the capable and engaging replacement (played by Edward Hermann) who had a complete nervous breakdown under the pressure. What a Russian officer said at Stalingrad is probably true of all combat situations: "In this place, buildings are pulverized, rocks are crushed -- only men endure."
There's a clip floating around on YT of Robert Alda being the surprise mystery guest on an episode of What's My Line, with Alan on the panel trying to figure out who it was (they were all blindfolded and Robert was talking in a funny high pitched voice. It was a great father/son moment as well as an absolute stitch!
I can understand what Dr. Borelli getting at asking Hawkeye if that was a bubble gum machine he was leaning on. So at that point in the show Hawkeye had never been too drunk to operate-that happened 3 seasons later in "Fallen Idol"-but still he was very much dependent on having that there and filled with booze to get by.
I remember the very first time I saw this episode I had never heard of Robert Alda, but I remember thinking to myself how similar they looked to each other, of course years later when I discovered they were father and son it all made sense
Hawkeye would be on the other end of the lecture in the season 6 episode 'Fallen Idol', when, guilt-ridden over getting Radar wounded, he'd go on a drinking binge, then would be too hungover to operate, and would have to walk out on a patient. This is so much harder to watch after that episode.
@Maximillian Wylde Grounded in Faith? Faith in what? In Oneself like a self righteous fool? In whatever god one might choose from the various doctrines? Faith in Mankind which can be a bit of a rollercoaster of the best and worst that a Doctor can experience? Faith does little good against reality.... HOPE, hope on the other hand, can get you through the worst of times, and help you appreciate the best of times, yes you can lose it, but you can also find it again. I don't see Hawkeye as a Hypocrite, he's a man demanding fairness in an unfair situation, in an unfair world. And he RAILED viciously against anyone who relished in that unfairness, Burns constantly using the 'Military Doctrine' as justification for him being a shit person, joyed constantly when that unfairness benefitted him, and whined like a child whenever it didn't go his way, and only by having the undeserved rank of 2nd in Command of the Unit was he ever able to inflict himself on others. But Hawkeye fought when it was unfair for ANYBODY, not just himself, he fought and fought and fought to the point he did break down, not due to hypocrisy but the weight of fighting day after day, and for every victory afforded to him, personal and otherwise.... he lost a thousand more. People dying around him while the War is prolonged due to people delaying Peace Talks for months on end because they can't agree on what order their ambassadors enter the room, and how much time they should be afforded to sit before the other 'weaker' nation comes in. It's not Hypocrisy to hold people accountable for how they act, how they TAKE from the world around them. Hawkeye wasn't perfect, he had his flaws, he made mistakes, but he did usually quite openly admit them, and WHEN those flaws impacted those around him, he did his best to correct it. Rather than blaming others, or the circumstances around him to excuse them as 'justifiable', or 'military'. He was a man who HOPED for something better, and faced the world around him with Humor when he couldn't make it happen, stress and strain took it's toll on him more than once, but HOPE usually brought him back, sometimes he needed help, just like we all do.
Great bit of M*A*S*H trivia! Only a true fan would know that. I never watched M*A*S*H much in my younger years, but after getting out of highschool and going into the Marine Corp reserve, the girl I was dating at the time was somewhat of a fan from watching it with her grandmother. Knowing my grandfather served in Korea as a marine, I wanted to understand the conflict better and exactly what led us to getting involved with the Korean war. I started getting into to it and began collecting the all seasons on DVD (a time before streaming) and became hooked. Believe it or not, there is some factual information and events that pop up in the series as well as some (somewhat) authentic visualization of what it would look like to be on a army surgical field hospital. The tents, uniforms, gear, weapons, even most of the vehicles. Like the school bus that radar was driving in the episode where ferret face thought he captured a surrendering p.o.w and the dodge power wagon/panel van ambulances. There is an exception for some of the jeeps, if you pay attention and happen to know a little about jeep and the different generations, you'll see that they used a few that were late 60s/ mid 70s jeeps that wouldn't be available in the 50s. But I only recognize such things because I have always had a fascination with jeeps and military surplus vehicles.
@Maximillian Wylde Great analysis. You have some knowledge in character writing and especially this show. Hawkeye is a character of the old era of television, so he has a trademark of nice guy, and most of the people sees him as one (including myself), but he's not just that of course. It could be said, that he isn't even that. The show itself is not hiding that he has a big ego, something that he calls Charles has, but in the first seasons it is shown more or less as something cool. In later season we see it more as his problem (ep. Ida). So this showing a huge weakness (as you said) or I would say maybe deconstruction of his personality is somewhat the vision of the writing team in later seasons. Already mentioned ep. Fallen Idol where Hawkeye after all the stress and downfall is showing us his suppressed feelings when he's suddenly on the other side of the argument, when he is showing how you must behave when you are in war, instead of doing everything to avoid this cruel lifestyle. In the final episode, I see him as a tragic character, when he's the one who's been trying to spread joy all the time. For me personaly, later seasons have better writing and better characters. Less archetypes, more character development. And, may I ask, how's that Blake is your favorite? I like him very much, but isn't he alot of time comic relief? In opposite of Potter, who is to me one of the favorites.
Robert Alda was in another episode but I think he was playing a different character. I remember he and Hawkeye went to an aid station and the medic that was working there was played by Alan Alda's brother ( I forgot his name). So you have three Aldas in one scene
Robert Alda played the same character, guessing Hawkeye was still bitter at Borelli from the episode above. I remember Hawkeye and Borelli had some arguments and the medic (Alan's stepbro) telling them to stop this crap, lives are on the line.
I loved the movie M*A*S*H. I saw it on an Air Base when I was serving in the RAAF. I was introduced to the TV series in late '72 while serving in Butterworth, Malaysia. I dismissed at at first because it was just reguritating all the slapsick in the film. I was discharged in 74 and became a regular viewer of MASH. In an interivew Alan said everybody knew the hijinks and slapstick would only go so far and they had to do something to make it more than just a sitcom. The great thing was, the viewers saw all the characters at their best and at their worst.
Hawkeye, didn't really saluted him, he wanted to, put couldn't , because he knew he was right, what he said to him, so he adjusted his hat, saying to him that he was right
Yesterday ME-TV went off the air on WMOR-DTV, in the Tampa/St. Petersburg LPM market, with No Signal on 32-2. Fortunately I can still see it on WESH-DTV from the Daytona/Orlando LPM.
Hawkeye was always a smug, strutting, self absorbed jerk. The line about not having compassion is still one of the most telling of any line ever put on television. Kudos to the Aldas, father and son, marvelous actors both. And the brilliant writers.
The best characters on MASH were all deeply flawed. Hawkeye, as you put it, was a smug strutting self absorbed jerk. Charles was a boorish pompous ass who adored shoving his money and breeding under noses, Margaret was a bossy pain in the neck who demanded that everyone else live up to her own perfectionist impulses. Yet their imperfections gave us many wonderful hours of television viewing. BJ by contrast was "Mr Perfect", insufferably so. I'm falling asleep just thinking about him.
@@thehair1474 I'll give you that. Margaret didn't put up with crap. That's why I say they lost a golden opportunity in wasting the 'seriously wounded" card, which you can really only do one one character" on Radar. Margaret should have been the character. She goes on some sort of medical conference and comes back badly wounded. Hawkeye is panicked and realizes that he doesn't just "like her" but has seriously deep feelings for her...he saves her life but gets absolutely toasted at Rosie's bar...it's a way better episode. Margaret fights being sent home and insists that she stays with her nurses.... That's an episode. In any event Hawkeye Margaret episodes are always my favorites.
@@yummyyum36719 the series finale with them saying goodbye is all telling. They were most likely in love with each other and should have been together. They made each other better human beings in the end. Hawkeye always publicly said she was a fantastic nurse, and the memorable scene when Margaret bascially tells Frank that he was not nearly as good a doctor as Hawkeye is unforgetable.
@@thehair1474 That mutual respect started at the battalion aid station episode, which I believe is either in the 2nd or 3rd season of the show. Hawkeye is so impressed with her ability to stay calm and not lose a step as a nurse when they were very much in harm's way that he gains deep respect for Margaret the nurse, as opposed to "Hotlips the play officer", which is how he sees her at first. Meanwhile Margaret learns that Hawkeye, for all his lack of interest in military regulations, is in fact a very brave, albeit pacifistic, military officer, as well as the finest surgeon in Korea (this is prior to Charles of course. One could say that Hawkeye is the blunt force trauma specialist needed in every emergency room whereas Charles is the fine specialist. Both have their places.) By the time Margaret and Frank are no longer an item she is in fact quite disrespectful to Frank in terms of his weak surgical skills. Frank is a "let me send you to a specialist" doctor, not someone who saves your life but someone who helps your medical insurance out with a prescription to a real doctor. Back home Frank does just fine. Perhaps he because quite wealthy even. By their big romantic hook up episode Hawkeye and Margaret are both ready sexually but not yet emotionally, which is the bittersweet tragedy of it. Hawkeye is frigging crazy about Margaret. It's obvious. He thinks she's gorgeous and is constantly teasing in a sexually randy manner her about her butt, her figure, her lips...you name it...like a little boy dipping curls in ink. Margaret later goes as far as to say her minimal standard for a man needs to be "10% her father, 10% Sculley (the corporal with which she has an affair) and 10% Hawkeye". He is honored by the comment. There is no way that those two characters leave each other alone after the war. I say Margaret being Margaret, always willing to charge in, made the first move.
Alan, I know your dad is gone. Lets remember the good times. Lets remember that alcoholism isn't a choice. Trust me, it's not a choice. We do the best we can. Our choice is to forgive those who've broken our trust. Today is a perfect day! Live in the moment Alan and trust that your dad hears your every complaint and disappointment. He hears you. He HEARS you. Rest Easy Alan, your dad hears you. God Bless, you are loved and forgiven.
There was another episode where Hawkeye and Borelli go up the an aid station and both get injured and have to help each other treat a patient. They are working with a Medic who was played by Antony Alda, Alan Alda's half-brother and Robert Alda's son.
One of the best things in mash! I can’t speak for other people better personal relevance in this for me. Before you judge people take a good look at your own life!
So many good episodes came from the first three years. This one, “The Consultant,” was one of them. This scene is played extremely well by father and son. The acting is restrained and holds your attention, particularly Robert Alda. The problem with these reruns is the editing to fit in more commercials. The epilogue, in which Hawkeye apologizes in his own way, is usually omitted. Unfortunately, star-writer-director-“creative consultant” Alan Alda did a follow-up years later, titled “Lend a Hand.” Robert Alda’s character returns to Korea - why, I’m not sure. But he is turned into an annoying, nit-picky sort totally removed from his earlier appearance. This sets the stage for a shouting match (a.k.a. “dramatic conflict”) characteristic of the later episodes. Basically, it’s another Alan Alda vanity project, also featuring his stepbrother Antony. The result is an episode best forgotten.
This was one great scene. Had no idea it was father and son. Hawkeye can barely tolerate the one WAR... much less two more. As it is he has to go to Sidney ( my FAV irregular regular in the cast ) 2x during this war. I don’t think he’s signing up for another. EVER!
one of the best scenes in M*A*S*H pretty ironic self righteous Hawkeye demeaning the older surgeon of three wars by insinuating that he has a drinking problem while he sips on his.....
The three signs of old age 1) gray hair 2) a bit of a middle-aged spread 3) feet of clay So true. The tragedy is that the higher you put people up on a pedestal the less human they become. You forget that that only do they have their fears and faith they are also capable of hurting and doing evil.
I like the one better when all three of them (Alan, Tony, and Robert) are together while on the front. The way the scene played out I think it was deliberately done because they are related.
![일상 속 기분 좋음 [Proto disco meme]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DwmEIaZ7XGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember first view. My Dad was watching, and he said " War is hell, but nothing like the feeling of having Dad hand you your ass and walk away."
Powerful scene. Talent runs deep in the Alda family.
A Real Honor, 2 Great Actors, but Most Importantly, A Tremendous Father & Son sharing a scene together. Never Be Topped!!!
I'm guessing it's not, but, this would have been even better if it had been in the episode where 'Hawkeye's' dad has his operation, at least for a personal insight of Alan.
As a personal opinion, as well-acted and brilliant as the conversation between Hawkeye and Charles is, when recounting the relationship between the man and their respective father, it may have hit an even more poignant note if Robert had featured in that episode.
The father returned for an episode several years later with another son also joining him.
@@nrkgalt your right Alan Aldas father Robert and Alans much younger half brother Anthony Alda were all in one episode. Anthony sadly passed away in 2009 at age 52 of cirrhosis of the liver.
Agreed. Highly recommend Alans podcast CLEAR AND VIVID
@@nrkgalt wonder if that’s on you tube
Hands down best show ever. Tackled so many topics back in the day when they were never even talked about
And regardless of the topic, the liberal, excuse me, "progressive" point of view prevailed. Best show ever? Maybe your personal favorite, Dave.
@The Vinyl Music Life - Perfect balance? And some of the hijinks would be construed by Alda's character could be construed as sexual harassment. Wayne Rogers acting skills were wasted as "Trapper John" whose dialog was pretty much limited to "I'll drink to that." Even worse was the one dimensional character of Frank Burns, played by Larry Linville. This man deserved better. A decent show. Often, in my opinion, overrated but, over the years, it improved. Harry Morgan and David Ogden Stiers were brilliant additions to the show.
@The Vinyl Music Life - The show, in my opinion, was not all that great for the first 3 years or so. It was centered around Hawkeye, Burns. and Hot Lips. That's the main reason Wayne Rogers left. I think the scripts improved greatly as well. Great actors had their talents largely wasted the first years of the show. It was a good 5 or 6 years in, until I began to say the TV show is better than the original movie.
The best show ever until Winchester showed up. Then it slowly declined and they all became self righteous jackasses. But I still watch it of course.
@@tommcgeethree - The show got better when the character, Frank Burns was retired and Charles Emerson Winchester III stepped in. Burns was scrip0ted as a clueless nitwit. Winchester was an insufferable snob but a worthy foil toe Hawkeye.
Just lost my father this past year and I couldn't think of anything better than to have something like this to look back on. Miss you pop
I'm sorry for your loss. I lost my mum about 7 years ago and I still miss her every day. All I can do is look at the fun times and remember fondly.
My condolences on the loss of your father.
I'm sad for your loss
A father & son
What a great voice Robert Alda had...nice scene :)
Ha. I was thinkin the same thing. He was in an episode of “The Incredible Hulk” and he talked the exact same way. His delivery can make any line sound intense.
The interesting part is that later on in the series, Hawkeye does develop a drinking problem and it takes him a while to recognize it. It happens at Rosie's one evening when he says "I need that drink" and the bar goes completely silent, everyone looking at him. It finally dawned on him and he said "I'll be back when I want that drink, not need it..." and leaves. Great scene here though, two outstanding actors and a very good script brought to life.
Isn't that also the Radar gets injured episode? Where the episode ends with Radar and Hawkeye at Rosie's. They both get their usual a beer and a grape nehi. Only hawkeye grabs the soda and lets radar have the beer.
It’s not the Radar episode. It’s the one where Hawkeye tells everyone that he is going to stop drinking for a week. He doesn’t quite make it. After a harrowing experience in the O.R. (wrestling with a patient holding a live grenade), Hawkeye shows up at the bar “needing” a drink. The rest of the group is there but he changes his mind (“I'll be back when I want it, not when I need it.”) and walks out.@@lucielm
I thought that scene “I’ll be back when I want that drink, not need it” was at the Officers Club?
@@cruiseguitar It was at the officer's club.
@@neighborhoodthreattv
I’m watching the entire series right now. I’m in season 8 and I just watched that episode the other day.
One of the best scenes in any program.
I have seen these Mash episodes over and over and I still don't get tired of them.
I wish there could have been a reunion before many had passed away!
There was. Back in 2002. Someone posted a video of them watching it on TH-cam. I remember watching it with my parents when FOX aired it. At the time, I think only McClean Stevenson and Larry Linville had passed. Most of the main actors and actresses were there to reminisce for the 30th Year Anniversary of Pilot.
@@andrewm6424 Thanks, I need to look it up!
Same....
Tremendous scene. "What's that, a bubble gum machine you're leaning on? I wish you better luck in your third war".
Yep, we all heard it
Like father like son. Alan inherited sarcasm as an actor from Robert.
Ty
>I wish you better luck in your third war".
It wasn't hawkeye's desire to be IN the war.
@@leef_me8112 Great “my dude!
A good example of how MASH could show the complexity of its characters. A reason for its popularity
MASH was one of the best TV shows ever made. I could sat and watch reruns all day long.
How proud he would have been to be in his son’s huge hit of a series!
I remember the very first time I saw this episode years ago. I thought it was odd how both actors look alike and were similar. I did not discover until years later that they were actually father and son lol
Congrats, I just found out today
I don’t see the resemblance.
The voice also kind of sounds alike. If you listen closely Father and son have that same timbre and cadence to their voices.
@@EditDeath Same.
If you listen , their speaking voices are very similar also!
Robert Alda played George Gershwin in the movie "Rhapsody in Blue" and was the original Sky Masterson in the musical "Guys and Dolls."
WSenator1 Robert Alda was also on the NBC soap opera Days Of our Lives.....I hope you will reply to this
A tremendous pair.
At one point in the series (not this episode), Colonel Potter commented: "None of my people ever works in an impaired condition." Given how we saw Hawkeye, Trapper and B.J. drinking throughout the series' run, this would be an ABSOLUTE impossibility. The M*A*S*H staff never knew when casualties would be coming in, or how many there would be. What WOULD have happened is that the doctors and nurses would have mastered the art, from bitter experience, of how to work effectively under pressure WHILE "in the bag". That isn't an impossibility. During the Civil War a hard-drinking field officer (NOT Ulysses Grant) was ordered to go on the wagon by his superiors right before a major battle. His command performance was his worst ever. One historian later commented: "However desirable sobriety may be in theory, it was probably not a good idea to wrench him out of his usual mode of living so dramatically." However unorthodox their individual elements, the 4077th's 97% success rate spoke for itself. As the old saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Thanks for pointing out that the Civil War officer you referenced was not Grant--I believe his reputation for hard drinking exceeded the reality.
In reality there was no booze allowed in front line MASH units. Same as navy ships and army front line combat units. You had to be on a pass to be at a R&R location.
Well said. I’m going to be nit-picky here though. Trapper was never under Colonel Potter’s command.
@@steveconkey7362 It's interesting to hear that. It certainly makes sense, even if (as was surely the case) there was a certain amount of surreptitious drinking going on out of the sight and hearing of the officers. I can't even begin to imagine how -- or IF -- I'd have survived living in such a slaughterhouse. I might very well have ended up like Dr. Newsome, the capable and engaging replacement (played by Edward Hermann) who had a complete nervous breakdown under the pressure. What a Russian officer said at Stalingrad is probably true of all combat situations: "In this place, buildings are pulverized, rocks are crushed -- only men endure."
Except the success statistic was all made up to support the story of insubordination being tolerable.
Mash was a heart wrenching show loved it❤️
Hi MeTv , so that's what Alan Alda's dad looks like , what a memorable moment ! 👍😘🎥
Nice to see a father and son scene. Reminds me in "Village of the Giants" Ronnie Howard's father made a cameo as the deputy.
Damn good scene. Great writing, great acting.
VERY, well written and acted scene...imo.
☮
I so wish they would keep in the scene where he hawkeye salutes him when he's taking off in the copter
There's a clip floating around on YT of Robert Alda being the surprise mystery guest on an episode of What's My Line, with Alan on the panel trying to figure out who it was (they were all blindfolded and Robert was talking in a funny high pitched voice. It was a great father/son moment as well as an absolute stitch!
I've think I saw that video
I can understand what Dr. Borelli getting at asking Hawkeye if that was a bubble gum machine he was leaning on. So at that point in the show Hawkeye had never been too drunk to operate-that happened 3 seasons later in "Fallen Idol"-but still he was very much dependent on having that there and filled with booze to get by.
Pristine writing delivered by two of the greatest actors of the time. We were lucky.
I remember the very first time I saw this episode I had never heard of Robert Alda, but I remember thinking to myself how similar they looked to each other, of course years later when I discovered they were father and son it all made sense
One of my all time favorite MASH episodes, Robert Alda could really bring it. That scene is so well done, really put Hawkeye in his place
Just wow! That last line really bought Hawkeye down to reality.
This was a heartfelt scene personal in Variety remembered between alan and dad robert alda😅
One of the best series! I still watch it occasionally.
One of my favorites
Hawkeye would be on the other end of the lecture in the season 6 episode 'Fallen Idol', when, guilt-ridden over getting Radar wounded, he'd go on a drinking binge, then would be too hungover to operate, and would have to walk out on a patient. This is so much harder to watch after that episode.
@Maximillian Wylde Excellent analysis. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
@Maximillian Wylde Grounded in Faith? Faith in what? In Oneself like a self righteous fool? In whatever god one might choose from the various doctrines? Faith in Mankind which can be a bit of a rollercoaster of the best and worst that a Doctor can experience? Faith does little good against reality....
HOPE, hope on the other hand, can get you through the worst of times, and help you appreciate the best of times, yes you can lose it, but you can also find it again.
I don't see Hawkeye as a Hypocrite, he's a man demanding fairness in an unfair situation, in an unfair world. And he RAILED viciously against anyone who relished in that unfairness, Burns constantly using the 'Military Doctrine' as justification for him being a shit person, joyed constantly when that unfairness benefitted him, and whined like a child whenever it didn't go his way, and only by having the undeserved rank of 2nd in Command of the Unit was he ever able to inflict himself on others. But Hawkeye fought when it was unfair for ANYBODY, not just himself, he fought and fought and fought to the point he did break down, not due to hypocrisy but the weight of fighting day after day, and for every victory afforded to him, personal and otherwise.... he lost a thousand more. People dying around him while the War is prolonged due to people delaying Peace Talks for months on end because they can't agree on what order their ambassadors enter the room, and how much time they should be afforded to sit before the other 'weaker' nation comes in.
It's not Hypocrisy to hold people accountable for how they act, how they TAKE from the world around them. Hawkeye wasn't perfect, he had his flaws, he made mistakes, but he did usually quite openly admit them, and WHEN those flaws impacted those around him, he did his best to correct it. Rather than blaming others, or the circumstances around him to excuse them as 'justifiable', or 'military'. He was a man who HOPED for something better, and faced the world around him with Humor when he couldn't make it happen, stress and strain took it's toll on him more than once, but HOPE usually brought him back, sometimes he needed help, just like we all do.
If they drank this much, they would have to operate either drunk or hung over, one. Just going by the law of averages.
Great bit of M*A*S*H trivia! Only a true fan would know that. I never watched M*A*S*H much in my younger years, but after getting out of highschool and going into the Marine Corp reserve, the girl I was dating at the time was somewhat of a fan from watching it with her grandmother. Knowing my grandfather served in Korea as a marine, I wanted to understand the conflict better and exactly what led us to getting involved with the Korean war. I started getting into to it and began collecting the all seasons on DVD (a time before streaming) and became hooked. Believe it or not, there is some factual information and events that pop up in the series as well as some (somewhat) authentic visualization of what it would look like to be on a army surgical field hospital. The tents, uniforms, gear, weapons, even most of the vehicles. Like the school bus that radar was driving in the episode where ferret face thought he captured a surrendering p.o.w and the dodge power wagon/panel van ambulances. There is an exception for some of the jeeps, if you pay attention and happen to know a little about jeep and the different generations, you'll see that they used a few that were late 60s/ mid 70s jeeps that wouldn't be available in the 50s. But I only recognize such things because I have always had a fascination with jeeps and military surplus vehicles.
@Maximillian Wylde Great analysis. You have some knowledge in character writing and especially this show. Hawkeye is a character of the old era of television, so he has a trademark of nice guy, and most of the people sees him as one (including myself), but he's not just that of course. It could be said, that he isn't even that. The show itself is not hiding that he has a big ego, something that he calls Charles has, but in the first seasons it is shown more or less as something cool. In later season we see it more as his problem (ep. Ida). So this showing a huge weakness (as you said) or I would say maybe deconstruction of his personality is somewhat the vision of the writing team in later seasons. Already mentioned ep. Fallen Idol where Hawkeye after all the stress and downfall is showing us his suppressed feelings when he's suddenly on the other side of the argument, when he is showing how you must behave when you are in war, instead of doing everything to avoid this cruel lifestyle. In the final episode, I see him as a tragic character, when he's the one who's been trying to spread joy all the time. For me personaly, later seasons have better writing and better characters. Less archetypes, more character development.
And, may I ask, how's that Blake is your favorite? I like him very much, but isn't he alot of time comic relief? In opposite of Potter, who is to me one of the favorites.
I used to love MASH so much. I watched it all the time in high school. Because it dealt with the real issues of life.
A lot of sitcoms back then did exactly that. I liked Mash very much, but my personal favourite was All in the Family.
I don't look at credits.... I *never* knew that it was actually Alan Alda's real-life father...
Alan Alda's brother Antony also appears in the episode Lend A Hand.
I always loved when him and his dad acted together on mash
Robert Alda was in another episode but I think he was playing a different character. I remember he and Hawkeye went to an aid station and the medic that was working there was played by Alan Alda's brother ( I forgot his name). So you have three Aldas in one scene
No, Robert Alda returned as Dr. Borelli for that episode, with Anthony Alda playing a frontline medic at an aid station.
Robert Alda played the same character, guessing Hawkeye was still bitter at Borelli from the episode above. I remember Hawkeye and Borelli had some arguments and the medic (Alan's stepbro) telling them to stop this crap, lives are on the line.
"I wish you luck on your third world war." WoW... silence.
I don't think the line included 'world' but I agree that it was powerful.
Hey Richard, what he said took balls.
Very true statement
The the stinging accuracy of what he says reminds me of family reunions
Better luck
I loved the father and son episodes. I read that real reconciliation happened between them as a result of their time together on the show.
I loved the movie M*A*S*H. I saw it on an Air Base when I was serving in the RAAF. I was introduced to the TV series in late '72 while serving in Butterworth, Malaysia.
I dismissed at at first because it was just reguritating all the slapsick in the film. I was discharged in 74 and became a regular viewer of MASH.
In an interivew Alan said everybody knew the hijinks and slapstick would only go so far and they had to do something to make it more than just a sitcom.
The great thing was, the viewers saw all the characters at their best and at their worst.
Its neat that they where to do this together on screen.
Were
It’s a damn good point, he saw 3 wars it makes sense that this one would be the point he finally broke
You can see where Alan inherited his talent.
You can pick out some vague similarities between the two men, but Alan's style is VERY distinctive.
Two handsome actors. Fantastic!
They do sound like each other. Someone mentioned having the comments too. I had to go back and watch this clip. Yep.
Robert Alda looks amazing here at 61.
My favorite scenes!
Such a great show!
Great scene.
Powerful. Nothing less.
It's so easy to talk down to someone else, that is, until you experience something first hand.
Hawkeye, simply unforgettable! Love you 💕...
Rob Alda looks exactly like an older version of Alan.
Alan has wider face.
@@mattender8323 I reckon he does!
The stinging accuracy of that scene reminds me of family reunions
Incredibly similar voices. You can tell they are related!
I so wish they would have kept in the scene where he Hawkeye salutes him when he's taking off in the copter
Hawkeye, didn't really saluted him, he wanted to, put couldn't , because he knew he was right, what he said to him, so he adjusted his hat, saying to him that he was right
Holy cow. I didn't know that was his dad
Great show.... Paved the way for every medical show after it.
Great episode.
How handsome was Robert Alda !
they sound very similar ❤️
Yesterday ME-TV went off the air on WMOR-DTV, in the Tampa/St. Petersburg LPM market, with No Signal on 32-2. Fortunately I can still see it on WESH-DTV from the Daytona/Orlando LPM.
Good writing!
That's good stuff...I'd like to know who wrote that scene
Wow this was a good scenes. The voices al mi ost sound the same. Papa's voice obviously a bit deeper.
Season 8 episode 20 was Alan Alda, Robert Alda and Antony Alda.
Wow 👍🏻
Powerful Shit! Never Duplicated.
Hawkeye was always a smug, strutting, self absorbed jerk. The line about not having compassion is still one of the most telling of any line ever put on television. Kudos to the Aldas, father and son, marvelous actors both. And the brilliant writers.
The best characters on MASH were all deeply flawed. Hawkeye, as you put it, was a smug strutting self absorbed jerk. Charles was a boorish pompous ass who adored shoving his money and breeding under noses, Margaret was a bossy pain in the neck who demanded that everyone else live up to her own perfectionist impulses. Yet their imperfections gave us many wonderful hours of television viewing.
BJ by contrast was "Mr Perfect", insufferably so. I'm falling asleep just thinking about him.
@@yummyyum36719 but virtually NO ONE called Hawkeye out, except maybe Margaret. Unlike the others, Hawkeye RESPECTED Margaret, and visa versa.
@@thehair1474 I'll give you that. Margaret didn't put up with crap. That's why I say they lost a golden opportunity in wasting the 'seriously wounded" card, which you can really only do one one character" on Radar.
Margaret should have been the character.
She goes on some sort of medical conference and comes back badly wounded. Hawkeye is panicked and realizes that he doesn't just "like her" but has seriously deep feelings for her...he saves her life but gets absolutely toasted at Rosie's bar...it's a way better episode.
Margaret fights being sent home and insists that she stays with her nurses.... That's an episode.
In any event Hawkeye Margaret episodes are always my favorites.
@@yummyyum36719 the series finale with them saying goodbye is all telling. They were most likely in love with each other and should have been together. They made each other better human beings in the end. Hawkeye always publicly said she was a fantastic nurse, and the memorable scene when Margaret bascially tells Frank that he was not nearly as good a doctor as Hawkeye is unforgetable.
@@thehair1474 That mutual respect started at the battalion aid station episode, which I believe is either in the 2nd or 3rd season of the show. Hawkeye is so impressed with her ability to stay calm and not lose a step as a nurse when they were very much in harm's way that he gains deep respect for Margaret the nurse, as opposed to "Hotlips the play officer", which is how he sees her at first. Meanwhile Margaret learns that Hawkeye, for all his lack of interest in military regulations, is in fact a very brave, albeit pacifistic, military officer, as well as the finest surgeon in Korea (this is prior to Charles of course. One could say that Hawkeye is the blunt force trauma specialist needed in every emergency room whereas Charles is the fine specialist. Both have their places.)
By the time Margaret and Frank are no longer an item she is in fact quite disrespectful to Frank in terms of his weak surgical skills. Frank is a "let me send you to a specialist" doctor, not someone who saves your life but someone who helps your medical insurance out with a prescription to a real doctor. Back home Frank does just fine. Perhaps he because quite wealthy even.
By their big romantic hook up episode Hawkeye and Margaret are both ready sexually but not yet emotionally, which is the bittersweet tragedy of it.
Hawkeye is frigging crazy about Margaret. It's obvious. He thinks she's gorgeous and is constantly teasing in a sexually randy manner her about her butt, her figure, her lips...you name it...like a little boy dipping curls in ink.
Margaret later goes as far as to say her minimal standard for a man needs to be "10% her father, 10% Sculley (the corporal with which she has an affair) and 10% Hawkeye". He is honored by the comment.
There is no way that those two characters leave each other alone after the war. I say Margaret being Margaret, always willing to charge in, made the first move.
Alan, I know your dad is gone. Lets remember the good times. Lets remember that alcoholism isn't a choice. Trust me, it's not a choice. We do the best we can. Our choice is to forgive those who've broken our trust. Today is a perfect day! Live in the moment Alan and trust that your dad hears your every complaint and disappointment. He hears you. He HEARS you. Rest Easy Alan, your dad hears you. God Bless, you are loved and forgiven.
I've watched that a dozen times over the years and never realised it was his dad.
The best 👌
There was another episode where Hawkeye and Borelli go up the an aid station and both get injured and have to help each other treat a patient. They are working with a Medic who was played by Antony Alda, Alan Alda's half-brother and Robert Alda's son.
Robert Alda was a great actor
Heavy!
One of the best things in mash! I can’t speak for other people better personal relevance in this for me. Before you judge people take a good look at your own life!
A great episode
Alan and Robert acting together ❤❤
Hold up, I have watched mash since I was little and watched this episode many many times and I never saw that his father was in it?????
So many good episodes came from the first three years. This one, “The Consultant,” was one of them. This scene is played extremely well by father and son. The acting is restrained and holds your attention, particularly Robert Alda. The problem with these reruns is the editing to fit in more commercials. The epilogue, in which Hawkeye apologizes in his own way, is usually omitted.
Unfortunately, star-writer-director-“creative consultant” Alan Alda did a follow-up years later, titled “Lend a Hand.” Robert Alda’s character returns to Korea - why, I’m not sure. But he is turned into an annoying, nit-picky sort totally removed from his earlier appearance. This sets the stage for a shouting match (a.k.a. “dramatic conflict”) characteristic of the later episodes. Basically, it’s another Alan Alda vanity project, also featuring his stepbrother Antony. The result is an episode best forgotten.
Which year or episode was this
The Consultant - Season 3 1975
This was one great scene. Had no idea it was father and son. Hawkeye can barely tolerate the one WAR... much less two more. As it is he has to go to Sidney ( my FAV irregular regular in the cast ) 2x during this war. I don’t think he’s signing up for another. EVER!
one of the best scenes in M*A*S*H
pretty ironic
self righteous Hawkeye
demeaning the older surgeon of three wars
by insinuating that he has a drinking problem
while he sips on his.....
Alda's actual dad, not Hawkeye Pierce's dad. Alda's brother is also in the episode later.
The three signs of old age
1) gray hair
2) a bit of a middle-aged spread
3) feet of clay
So true.
The tragedy is that the higher you put people up on a pedestal the less human they become. You forget that that only do they have their fears and faith they are also capable of hurting and doing evil.
#1….erm, no.
When i was in high school in the 1980’s, one of my classmates had been born with streaks of gray hair.
I like the one better when all three of them (Alan, Tony, and Robert) are together while on the front. The way the scene played out I think it was deliberately done because they are related.
Unfortunately you didn’t show the end where hawks saluted his pops departing helicopter
The saddest part of this is how true it is.
God bless The United States Military 💜
Ouch.
Robert Alda looks like another famous actor (not referring to his son Alan). Is it Cary Grant? I'm not certain, but he reminds me of someone.
If you listen closely you can hear the mic drop.
Bill Haders impression of him is uncanny
Wow, great writing, great acting and no computer graphics....lol
For those who do not know rest in peace Robert alda
Remember the first part? "You're not fit to operate". I know. That close up.
Robert Alda, good looking guy!
that was really his dad.. wow
Had no idea Alan Alda's dad was George Gershwin (or Carl Sagan, or Gore Vidal).
Now Alan is older than his dad was back then.
Very poetic considering Hawkeye was always writing his dad