M*A*S*H: Movie vs. TV show (1 Viewer)

[Coressel]

The final episode was originally broadcast in '83 without a laugh track. Smart move, but again there wasn't that much to laugh at in the first place.
I know, I'm being cruel to a 20 year-old tv program.
Time to get a life...

 

[DonMac]

Well, I know I'm in a distinct minority, but I think the movie M*A*S*H is great -- one of the best films ever -- but I absolutely and completely hate the TV show. To me, the TV show was a pale, white-washed version of the film with what was probably the most annoying fake laugh-track in television history. I also think the cast of the show was weak and full of actors with only marginally comedy skills, hence I never found it to be funny even once. And, finally, the show had Alan Alda - a smarmy and pompous actor whose most accurate depiction in anything, IMO, was when Woody Allen intercut him with images of Mussolini in the film Crimes and Misdemeanors. I think the show somewhat besmerches the memory of the film and would rather the show had been never made. Of course, I dislike most TV shows in general, so this is just my personal opinion and I respect the opinions of everyone who both disagree with me and -- more importantly -- vastly outnumber me. ;-)

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I personally love the TV series. But to say how do I feel about the movie compared to the series, well, first I have to see it!

 

[Ron Eastman]

Last night was my first viewing of the film. After so many years of the television show I expected the movie to feel like a 2-hour pilot episode. Boy, was I wrong.
The movie was fine but I didn't find it to be as funny as friends had described it and the football game seemed out of place to me. I'll watch it again in a few weeks and see if my opinion has changed.
By the way, I prefer After MASH.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Reading this thread reminded me how much I enjoyed McLean Stevenson's Col. Blake way back when. Maybe I will pick up the first season DVD after all. The movie, like all of Altman's movies, I found way too pretentious for its own good. While it's certainly a better adaptation of Hooker's novel than the series, to which it bears nearly zero resemblance, my recollection is that Hooker also hated the movie (but that's a dim memory of an interview 25+ years ago, so I could be wrong on that).

 

[Coressel]

Hooker once said he liked Altman's film a lot, but hated Alda as Hawkeye in the show.