Okay, here's my problems with M*A*S*H...

[stang]

1/ If Col. Potter is so good and on a first name basis with so many Generals, then why is he not yet a General? There's gotta be some dirt on him they are hiding?

2/ Why does Klinger, only a Corporal, have his own private tent? (except for the single episode of coarse when he was bunked with Boots Miller).

Doesn't make sense!

 

[HG Hunter]

And I thought I had too much time for idle thoughts.

 

[Gyaos]

1/ If Col. Potter is so good and on a first name basis with so many Generals, then why is he not yet a General? There's gotta be some dirt on him they are hiding?
2/ Why does Klinger, only a Corporal, have his own private tent? (except for the single episode of coarse when he was bunked with Boots Miller).
Doesn't make sense!

1) Because a Colonel in the Marines is equivalent to a Captain in the Navy (but a Captain in the marines is lower than a Captain in the Navy). He'd have to rank a few steps higher before becoming a full fledged General, including a Lt. General (which is simply called General for simplicity). He'd have to do a lot of counter-intelligence too.

2) Because a Corporal is the highest rank in the order above a Lance Corporal, and therefore an NCO. Since this was commissioned combat, he gets a tent (or shared one).

3) This is television. Writers with no military backgrounds make mistakes now and then as M*A*S*H is The Army and not The Marines.

Gyaos Baltar.

 

[Aardvark154]

1) Because a Colonel in the Marines is equivalent to a Captain in the Navy (but a Captain in the marines is lower than a Captain in the Navy).

It was a U.S. ARMY Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

The rest is correct, but Colonel is the next junior rank (although there is a large step between them) to Brigadier-General (which the British and Canadian armies also used until 1922.


By the way Dr. Richard Hooker, M.D. the author of the book despised the television series.

 

[Gyaos]

It was a U.S. ARMY Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. By the way Dr. Richard Hooker, M.D. the author of the book despised the television series.

If you read #3, I said it was the army and that writers, like Hooker, created their own little environment of perfection making it like the Marines......I knew you'd come in with that before reading the rest, Aardvark154. LOL. Much like George Lucas said "in my world, there's sound in space."

And yes, what better place than to tell everyone a hooker wrote the thing.

Gyaos Baltar.

 

[Steve Harper]

1/ If Col. Potter is so good and on a first name basis with so many Generals, then why is he not yet a General? There's gotta be some dirt on him they are hiding?

2/ Why does Klinger, only a Corporal, have his own private tent? (except for the single episode of coarse when he was bunked with Boots Miller).

Doesn't make sense!

1. Potter always talked about enlisting as an underage a 15 year old in the Great War. The US didn't enter WWI until 1918 which makes him born about 1903. The Korean War ended in 1953 & Potter stated in his first episodes that he had 1 year left before retirement. That makes him about 49 yrs old in the series. However, Harry Morgan looked about 75 when he started playing Potter. What casting.
(This doesn't really answer the OP's question, but is my stupid point on the subject.)

2. Klinger played a transvestite which in the 1950s was quite taboo. Who would want to share a tent with a tranny? Even today, no one wants to share a tent with a tranny. That's just the way it is.

PS. Col. Flagg is the #1 character on that show.

 

[GDLLover]

Contrary to popular belief, very much like the corporate ladder, not everyone wants to climb all the way in military rank.

More rank = more decisions and pressure.

 

[Mervyn]

1/ If Col. Potter is so good and on a first name basis with so many Generals, then why is he not yet a General? There's gotta be some dirt on him they are hiding?

Doesn't make sense!

As per the show , he started his career very young in the cavalry, and as such probably got most of his combat experience before he became a surgeon.This is probably were he met other soldiers, made friends who later went on to become Generals.

Once becoming a Surgeon, his combat duties would be reduced and therefore so would his promotion opportunities. Generally those in combat can earn promotions faster than those behind the lines.

 

[Brill]

I didn't like the laugh track, I think the audience should decide what's funny like in the original movie.
They should have ended the show when Trapper John left.

 

[WhaWhaWha]

Also, how come Hunnycut, Pierce and Macintyre were captains and Burns and Winchester were Majors? They were all equally educated and qualified as surgeons with equally zero military experience prior to their appointments.

 

[Bear669]

Excellent points-

Contrary to popular belief, very much like the corporate ladder, not everyone wants to climb all the way in military rank.

More rank = more decisions and pressure.

Wow a lot of great trivial knowledge here. But

Gyaos- is on another planet for various reasons

Actually Corporal is NOT the highest NCO in any army (Sargents of various levels, and Warrant Officers)

Harper- USA declared war on April 6, 1917. And, Klinger was I think, a very good dog robber.

Mervyn- good points

WhaWha- Good chance that the Majors were ass kissers with political connections. Or possibly since the fun guys were ALWAYS in trouble, they missed the promotions.

And expanding on GDL's point, who would give an aged Colonel the star when he so indulgently ran a looney bin?

 

[HAMSTER INSPECTOR]

Colonel Potter is a full bird or full colonel as opposed to Lt. Colonel Blake. Potter is one step higher, just below the rank of brigadier general. He is also the commander of the MASH medical unit and also a doctor and a surgeon. Medical personel are almost never promoted to genereral unless they are administrative, which means that they will work at headquarters making decisions but never working as an actual doctor or surgeon.

Corperal Klinger is the company clerk, which means that all orders and communications coming into the unit and all information going out of the unit goes through him. He is also in charge of procurement and dispersement which means that anything the camp needs he has to arrange with quartermater ( army supply unit ) it is then sent to the company clerk and he is then in charge of storing and dispersing the supplies and equipment when needed. He is in fact the equivelant of Seargeant Major of the unit. ( highest rank below lieutanant ) That would entittle him to his own quarters because he may have to attend to army affairs anytime during the day or night.

IMHO - It would have been much more realistic if the writers would have promoted Klinger when Radar left.

Another mistake was written into the last episode was Klinger married a Korean girl and the ceramony was preformed by Father Mulcahy. In the 1950s a Catholic priest was not allowed to preform a marriage if one person had been previously married.


BTW - Patrick Swayze was in an episode of MASH

 

[moviefan]

I was surprised to learn they wrote off the "Spearchucker" character early in the first season when the producers learned there weren't any black doctors in the Korean War.

Points for technical accuracy, I guess, but can you imagine someone making a decision like that today?

 

[papasmerf]

Through early morning fog I see
visions of the things to be
the pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see...

[chorus]:

That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.

I try to find a way to make
all our little joys relate
without that ever-present hate
but now I know that it's too late, and...

[Chorus]

The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
so this is all I have to say.

[Chorus]

The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I'm beat
and to another give my seat
for that's the only painless feat.

[Chorus]

MASH
The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger...watch it grin, but...

[Chorus]

A brave man once requested me
to answer questions that are key
'is it to be or not to be'
and I replied 'oh why ask me?'

'Cause suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
...and you can do the same thing if you choose.


Words from the MASH Theme

 

[Ref]

I met Gary Burghoff at a wrap party a few years back. Nice guy and a pretty good sense of humour. Anyhow, as the evening dragged on, and Gary had had a few, he asked if he could give me a blow job. I said sure, let's go.

We went into the mens room into a stall and Gary sat on the toilet and I undid my pants for him. When he was sucking me off I hummed the theme to M*A*S*H. He asked me not to come in his mouth, but I ignored his request and blew a sweet load down his hatch.

Gary spit it out on the floor and yelled at me asking why I came in his mouth. I said, "Aren't you Radar? Shouldn't you know when I'm going to come?"

I guess his sense of humour wasn't that great after all.

 

[moviefan]

I met Gary Burghoff at a wrap party a few years back. Nice guy and a pretty good sense of humour. Anyhow, as the evening dragged on, and Gary had had a few, he asked if he could give me a blow job. I said sure, let's go.

We went into the mens room into a stall and Gary sat on the toilet and I undid my pants for him. When he was sucking me off I hummed the theme to M*A*S*H. He asked me not to come in his mouth, but I ignored his request and blew a sweet load down his hatch.

Gary spit it out on the floor and yelled at me asking why I came in his mouth. I said, "Aren't you Radar? Shouldn't you know when I'm going to come?"

I guess his sense of humour wasn't that great after all.

LOL.

I was suspicious the minute you said he was a nice guy. Apparently, the people who worked with him on MASH hated him.

 

[WhaWhaWha]

WhaWha- Good chance that the Majors were ass kissers with political connections. Or possibly since the fun guys were ALWAYS in trouble, they missed the promotions.

Burns was an ass kisser. But also incompetent. No way he would have achieved rank by making connections.
Winchester was tricked into joining. No way he would kiss ass. Unless it was to go home.

 

[Aardvark154]

1. Potter always talked about enlisting as an underage a 15 year old in the Great War. The US didn't enter WWI until 1918 which makes him born about 1903. The Korean War ended in 1953 & Potter stated in his first episodes that he had 1 year left before retirement. That makes him about 49 yrs old in the series.

Actually the U.S. entered the First World War in 1917

However, let's say Potter was confused and enlisted in 1916 (perhaps in the National Guard) for the Mexican Expedition. Even so even if he was discharged in early 1919 (age 18, still he had to graduate from University and then graduate from Medical School and then go through Residency that's a decade right there. Let's say he was in civil practice from then until 1940 or more likely 1941 (39 or 40) (the U.S. Army was a ridiculously small force in 1939, as I recall Yugoslavia had a larger standing army). Let’s say having a bit over a decade of practice, prior service and maybe he was in the National Guard perhaps in the Cavalry; he came in as a Major and then was able to stay in after the end of the Second World War. . .

So in 1953 he'd have been 53. The math doesn't work well.

 

[Aardvark154]

Contrary to popular belief, very much like the corporate ladder, not everyone wants to climb all the way in military rank.

Contrary to the Commonwealth System, and the U.S. Army prior to W.W. II. After World War II the U.S. Military adopted the up or out system. Hence for Commissioned Officers, if you were not promoted on your second time before the promotions board you were discharged or retired.

 

[Aardvark154]

If you read #3, I said it was the army and that writers, like Hooker, created their own little environment of perfection making it like the Marines......I knew you'd come in with that before reading the rest, Aardvark154. LOL. Much like George Lucas said "in my world, there's sound in space."

I'm going to agree with Bear669