M*A*S*HCast #130 – M*A*S*H Olympics

10 responses to “M*A*S*HCast #130 – M*A*S*H Olympics”

1. Still no Radar 🙁

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2. Really great discussion on a fun lighthearted episode! I know MASH wasn’t big on continuity, but I always wonder why Donald apparently let it go that Hawkeye and BJ pulled that practical joke with the leg cast on him in the season five finale. Of course maybe Donald forgot about it because he’s a different actor here!

   Also I always am curious about that scene where Potter expects doctors and the head nurse to be able to push over a jeep. Wouldn’t that be a job for enlisted personnel, not surgeons? That seems like pretty strenuous manual labor. In season three Margaret refused to let Hawkeye change a flat tire because he’s a surgeon and couldn’t risk injuring his hands. But as you guys correctly note, this is a lighthearted episode so I guess we’re not meant to worry about that here!

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3. I really appreciated the opportunity to come on and chat about this show. The more episodes I watch, the more I understand how important and wonderful it was. I really appreciate the work, time, care, and love you put into this show Rob. Thank you for sharing your passion with us.

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4. As much as I love the dramatic episodes of MASH, where the stakes are high, this is a very nice little “breather” of an episode, I think it’s quite charming.
   I personally don’t care one bit about sports of any kind, but the MASH Olympics? I’m into it! 🙂

   Of course, I am delighted to see the arrival of the better Donald 🙂 Well not delighted, I still hate him as a character, but I mean this one at least seem to be alive. Donald number 1 could never compete in the Olympics, he doesn’t even look like he can bend! 🙂 Mike Henry has more of a natural charm to him, and if there is one version of Donald who is a somewhat believable cheater with a nail-fetish, it’s his version of the character for sure.

   I really like how excited Margaret gets when he drives into camp, the way her whole body language changes. That combined with her pigtails (which she looks super cute in, I love how she does her hair like that when there are some fun and games going on, same in Bulletin Board), makes her seem like a little girl. Like she is a kid, super excited about her father showing up at school. And that says a lot about her, really, since we know (or will find out) that her relationship with her father isn’t great. Maybe deep down she is just looking for someone who will accept her and tell her she is good enough, someone she can be herself with. I feel like she always plays roles so far into the show in relations to men. Cute and bubbly here with Donald, sultry vixen with the Generals, whatever the situation demands, and maybe she has never really been herself in any relationship. We know that she isn’t comfortable with showing emotions, except for anger – anger is safe for her, no one can hurt you if you’re angry. It’s interesting to think about.

   I wonder, though, why in the world would Margaret choose Klinger for the race, for someone as competitive as her, Klinger doesn’t seem to be the natural choice… He wouldn’t be my choice for sure, but then again – I’m a very tall woman so sitting on someones shoulders would be a near death-experience, and maybe I should choose someone shorter… The shorter the man, the shorter the fall. 🙂
   Anyway, I’m more than willing to go along with it, since it’s needed for the plot and the episode is so charming.

   I also wonder about the whole flipping over the jeep-thing, that seems very risky. In a MASH-unit where wounded can arrive any minute especially. “Sorry, soldiers, no available surgeons today, they have been crushed under a jeep.” But again, the charm of the episode wins, so I’ll go along with it. 🙂

   Thank you for another great episode, and a fun conversation!

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5. Fun podcast as always, thanks! Just one quibble – Margaret and Donald aren’t R&Ring in Tokyo; they’re going to Manila. That’s why Donald came to pick her up, so they could travel there together.

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6. Oh man, to be experiencing MASH for the first time. I agree, I’m kind of jealous. Not that it doesn’t hold up on repeated viewings of course.

   And I agree with the idea that not every episode has to have its deeper meaning, and it’s good to have fun with it. I mean, a deeper episode is more likely to be among my favorites, but it’s great to have fun with the characters in episodes like this, especially when done well. And ironically, lighter episodes like this also help make the characters more well-rounded, so we can see them at their higher points as well as their low point, and it helps give those more serious parts more impact.

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7. Another great episode, and a terrific contribution from Cpl. Heinichen…here’s hoping he makes his first general’s star before too long!

   It’s a shame that the nurses from the series intro seemed to have been assigned to Post Op during this, because as we saw every week, those ladies could run!

   I can see the smug Mike Henry version of Donald cheating on Margaret, whereas Beeson Carroll’s Penobscott is too upstanding, in my view.

   And I think this episode solves a long-standing mystery: How does Klinger rate his own tent? Because no one else can stand living with this stinky salami stash!

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8. Always a fun episode. Great explanation on your rank Rick. Welcome to a wonderful journey.

   The reason this Donald works for me is that Margaret really could have fallen for a this man. Not that she didn’t look for more but it did come out of left field and he might have been very charming at first but as we’ve already seen this season, he’s not a great guy and probably full of himself. He’s already hitting on other women, months or even weeks after marrying Margaret. The first Donald might have been the man she marries but this is the man she divorces.

   Great listening.

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9. Klinger also had a giant salami that he traded for a Life magazine in the episode where Hawkeye wrote his will.

   Margaret wouldn’t be interested in Donald because he is dumb? Frank Burns says hello.

   I also enjoy the goofy episodes.

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10. Iron Guts, great new guest, and as always, a great podcast episode. I mainly remember this MASH episode for the appearances of Lieutenant Colonel Penobscot and the nurses in civilian clothes. But the Sergeant Ames plot hits close to home.

    As Corporal Heinichen pointed out, the military has fitness standards for all its personnel. That includes even my beloved Chair Force (I can say it; don’t anybody get any ideas). Over the last twenty years of combat in hot and often high altitude environments, all the services have emphasized fitness even more. As you probably remember from our face-to-face meeting, I do not have the lean runner’s physique of the Marine Corps’ Mike Farrell. In fact, twelve years and several dozen pounds ago, an Army Ranger who saw me doing physical training told me I was built like Ben Grimm. Consequently, I could max out strength events without much effort, but I occasionally struggled with low running speed and excess girth. This was especially true if I let work, family time, or just lack of discipline keep me out of the gym or off the running trail.

    Even in my first year of commissioned service, this was an issue. When I left the stress and frenetic activity of the Air Force Academy, I immediately gained ten pounds. I’m sure my bachelor diet helped, also. Before a Monday morning weigh in, a fellow Air Force lieutenant and former 82nd Airborne paratrooper put me through a weekend fast and training regimen much like what Hawkeye and BJ put Sergeant Ames through. As you point out, it probably wasn’t good for me in the long term, but just like with Ames, it worked.

    All this is a good reminder of the importance of a healthy diet and consistent exercise. I think I’ll start easing back into it right now with a long after dinner walk. Fortunately, I have a Fire & Water Network podcast I can listen to.

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