MASH

[sholio]

I got utterly steamrolled by a cold this past week, and spent the time very usefully flat on my back watching several seasons of M*A*S*H. Technically rewatching, because I watched the whole show in syndication (probably multiple times per episode) when I was a teenager, but I haven't seen most of it in 30+ years.

I semi-liveblogged this to sheron.

Me on Dec. 4:
It's turning out to be a pretty good accompaniment to the current fandom. It's not making me fannish-feeling by itself, but it's good background inspiration for h/c-on-a-mission type feels.
[...] I can tell you exactly the point when it MIGHT make me fannish, and that's when the sympathetic antagonist character shows up 😔

Dec. 5:
Sholio — 12/5/24, 9:41 PM
MASH update: I have skipped ahead to the episodes with the character I mentioned earlier 😔
Everything is fine
Further updates to come

Everything was not fine.

By Dec. 6, Sheron, being the good friend that she is, reminded me of the Stages of the Abyss:

Stage 0: This looks like my kind of show
Stage 1: This show is fun but not for me.
Stage 2: I have done nothing else in my free time but watch this show (and I don't want to write anything for it) <--- YOU ARE HERE
Stage 3: I may want to write something for it, but it's really just h/c and platonic hugging
Stage 4: ???? abyss.

Me:
I have only progressed as far as thinking about fic and reading h/c on AO3, thank u very much

Anyway I'm almost done with season seven, and I believe I've passed stage 3 and I'm into stage 4 because I'm absolutely loving scioscribe's Hawkeye/Charles fic on Ao3.

(I am completely gone on Charles right now, or as this Tumblr post called him and I shall henceforth forever think of him, "fancy little swamp prince." No criticism will be taken at this time. I continue to think fondly of rionaleonhart's immortal words about finding the worst character in the canon and making a beeline for them, although this is the SECOND worst, thank u very much, because Frank exists. Also David Ogden Stiers is a comic genius and I am very much not over the way his eyes sparkle when he's being smug.)

Comments

[snickfic]

Haha thank you for not picking Frank as your favorite. That would be TOO FAR.

Anyway I am very 👀 about you getting into a fandom I could potentially follow you to. I watched a ton of MASH reruns back in the day, and I do have a couple of seasons on DVD... (S3 and 4, I think, because I wanted some from both the Trapper/Blake era and the BJ/Potter era.) AND I have someone I follow on bsky who's also deep into MASH at the moment.

Also I love how you're like "I'm loving scioscribe's fic for this ship" and it's two fics totaling less than 4k. This cannot sustain the body for long, my friend!

[sheron]

As if Sholio isn't going to write something to enjoy now XD We eagerly await consequences of these actions ahahaha

[sholio]

It's nice to branch out a bit! I think this is also one of those shows/fandoms that a lot of people are at least vaguely familiar with. I was surprised to find it has quite a good-sized presence on Tumblr; I think it might be going through a bit of a nostalgia revival.

[sheron]

To be fair I knew this was inevitable when you casually mentioned this show to me months ago because you were definitely going to watch it, I just knew the rest will follow XD

Happy flush of new fandom feels! ♥

p.s. you cannot advance to stage 4 without written fic, sorry, you're still in Stage 3.

[sholio]

You are correct. I stand corrected. 😔 Check back later.

(I am having a great time. <3333)

[sgatazmy]

I hope you are feeling better. What a wonderful way to spend your time, though. I love the abyss idea. It's so true! I went 5 years without any sga and then suddenly it's my entire life again.

I LOVE M*A*S*H and I have seen many episodes several times over. That show gave me sooooooo many feels.

[sholio]

I am feeling a lot better, thanks! I'm having such a good time with this show.

[rionaleonhart]

I can tell you exactly the point when it MIGHT make me fannish, and that's when the sympathetic antagonist character shows up

Deeply relatable. I'm glad you're enjoying your fancy little swamp prince.

I love the Stages of the Abyss; so true!

[sholio]

The Stages of the Abyss has followed us around from fandom to fandom, and will never go out of style.

And thank you! <3

[philomytha]

This sounds like great fun and a very effective use of miserable coldy days! You're making me wish I would ever manage to get productively fannish about visual media, so far I have only ever succeeded in writing for book fandoms... but I've never seen MASH, so who knows... ;-)

[sholio]

Not to be all "dragging people into my fandoms" or anything, but I legitimately think you might like MASH. The first season has a somewhat different feel from later seasons imho (it's more mean-spirited and shallower; the show becomes much sweeter later on) but it seems to me that the combination of a detailed depiction of vintage 20th-century warfare + vivid characters who love each other + a lot of episodes that are About Something (and that Something is usually "can we just stop killing each other and get along) seems like a show that would be highly relevant to your interests.

(p.s. I guessed "and elephants" was yours! One of my favorites in FIAB. <3)

[ysande]

Falling into a new fandom feels very much like falling in love! The same excitement and butterflies and sense of wonder and endless possibilities. Our partners should all be grateful this is how we choose to chase those feelings 🤣

[sholio]

I have sometimes thought it is EXACTLY like that. <333 (I may not ever tell my husband this. XD)

[yalumesse]

Lol, I never watched MASH but I can entirely relate to the Stages of the Abyss. Good luck, don't drown, have fun!

[sholio]

The Stages of the Abyss are highly relatable and will never stop being so.

[rheanna]

My mum liked MASH and I remember watching quite a bit of it with her when it was shown on BBC in the UK in, hmmm, I want to say the mid or late 1980s? I liked it but was much too young to get some of the more mature themes they tackled.

Is Charles a sort of proto-Rodney McKay, a bit? I feel there's some interesting meta in there somewhere.

LOL at the Stages of the Abyss. Accurate.

[sholio]

Is Charles a sort of proto-Rodney McKay, a bit?

He is, a bit! I can see that. Although I think Charles is more legitimately confident. Rodney is confident in the lab and fakes it everywhere else.

[lunabee34]

This is such a damn good show. Genuinely funny, genuinely sad, full of pointed social commentary that doesn't feel like a sermon.

There's a fair amount of good fic for it, too, as you are discovering. :)

Here's my recs in case there's anything here you haven't seen yet:

https://lunabee34.dreamwidth.org/tag/recs:+mash

[sholio]

Thank you for the recs! Quite a few of them were relevant to my interests, and I found some good stuff there. :D

[madripoor_rose]

MASH is such a great show! I am regionally obligated to have Klinger as my favorite, lol, but Charles is definitely in the top five.

[sholio]

Klinger is also an excellent fave!

[heavenscalyx]

MASH has always been a great show. I still have episodes stuck in my head after watching them when they first aired (because I don't recall ever watching them in syndication). Charles was a great character, such an improvement over Frank, and the removal of Frank let Margaret actually grow as a character.

Now I'm wondering if the Trapper John spinoff series ever actually referenced anything from MASH other than his name or if it was just a spinoff name slapped on a generic medical series -- my parents never watched it, so I never actually saw any of it.

[sholio]

I never saw any of the spinoff/sequel shows! The fact that they seem to have vanished while the original stuck around probably says it all.

But yeah, I still remember specific episodes from when I was a kid (which wasn't quite that long ago, but was probably late 80s).

[osprey_archer]

I was reading this going "NO how could you like this worst guy, he WAS the worst," till I got to the end where you mentioned Frank and I went, oh yeah, Frank IS the guy I'm thinking of, this Charles is someone different.

I'm not sure I ever saw any episodes with the fancy little swamp prince. (I saw a smattering of MASH in syndication and enjoyed it, but never watched it systematically.) Do you have some favorite episodes?

[sholio]

HAHAHA I know, Frank is beneath even my incredibly low standards for favorite character status.

I don't know if I've watched far enough along to really be able to give you a solid favorites list (at this point I've watched the first season and seasons 6 and 7, plus scattered episodes from elsewhere), but so far they include:

6x01-02 - Charles's introductory 2-parter (genuinely a really enjoyable double-length episode)
6x07 - not actually for the Charles of it all, but because the premise is hilarious and adorable: the entire camp passes around a murder mystery and goes out of their minds trying to guess whodunnit
6x11- again not specifically a Charles episode, but a really delightful team episode in which the whole camp competes against each other in made-up athletic games, which as far as I'm concerned should be a plot on every show forever.
6x24 - Charles gets hooked on self-prescribed amphetamines to keep himself going in the punishing pace of field surgery. Also needs to be a plot in every show forever. (Also, the show canNOT convince me that everyone isn't doing this from time to time, though it tries.)
6x25 - just a really fun episode in which the surgeons try to out-tall-tale each other.
7x08 - Charles is stranded in the field with wounded soldiers during a storm and has to do surgery under primitive conditions.
7x09 - A military publication wants to profile Charles and Stuff Happens.
7x22 - Charles is bribed into spying on his tentmate; possibly one of my favorite Charles Being Sneaky episodes.
7x26 - really cute team episode in which the cast try to arrange a group party for their families back home.
9x13 - the guy who sent Charles to Korea shows up in camp.
10x20 - peak adorable Charles episode, 10/10 no notes.

[lunabee34]

Charles has a Rodneyness to him, I think.

[rosanicus]

I watched all of MASH before the fandom renaissance (I would say I watched in 2014 and the current fandom started to actively exist in like... 2016?) and I am so delighted you're partaking!

My favourite era to watch is seasons 4-6 (I feel like they were really On It with the dramedy) but Charles is such a delight it's hard to resist later seasons. I really love how he plays along with Hawkeye and BJ as the relationships develop, and he has such a sweet streak. Very good character. I confess my shipper's heart leant towards Hawkeye/Mulcahy but Hawkeye and Charles is intriguing!

[sholio]

I have acquired an icon!! (Thank you, Tumblr.)

I'm forcing myself to slow down on the later seasons and go back and rewatch earlier ones so it lasts longer, so I will be watching some episodes from those seasons shortly! But yes, I love the generally developing camaraderie between the tentmates (he can really keep up with Hawkeye and BJ on pranks and general snark, which is immensely appealing) and the occasional flashes of Charles's sweet side. The whole cast is just so lovely and fun.

[scioscribe]

I've been so delighted by getting your MASH emails. <3 Especially with all the Charles appreciation! And I'm just rubbing my hands together waiting for the fic to come.

[sholio]

*deploying a MASH icon I found on Tumblr*

It's been so lovely being able to talk to you about it! I find it absolutely hilarious and probably predictable that I fell hard and fast for your blorbo(s) as well. Can't wait for Candy Hearts!

[musesfool]

MASH is such a great show! So many awesome characters (and then, Frank)!

[sholio]

So many awesome characters (and then, Frank)

SO ACCURATE.

I'm having a great time! I should have rewatched this show years ago.

[nocowardsoul]

I unintentionally started watching it in 2020 when I was doing some old-fashioned channel surfing. It's great, and Charles and Margaret and Hawkeye are my favorite characters.

[sholio]

They are also mine, so I applaud your taste!

[starwatcher]

I look forward to any fic you write. I'm old enough to have watched it during first run -- with my dad, who'd been an Army medic at the tail end of WWII and after -- and have all the DVDs. Gotta say, Charles isn't my favorite -- but he did allow a softer, more human side to show occasionally. I remember Charles finding one-handed music for the pianist whose hand was damaged, and how he sat with Hawkeye while H waited for news of his father's surgery, and the way he protected and encouraged the soldier who stuttered. Hm, yeah, as someone else said, kind of Rodneyesque.

Anyway, it'll be fun to see what you do with him.

[cofax7]

you will want to read Salieri's / Troyswann's MASH fic as well. It's really good.

[sholio]

Thanks for the rec! What characters/pairings/tropes do they tend to write about? (I'm pretty specific in my fic tastes at the moment.)

[silverflight8]

Congratulations on falling down *checks notes* your fifteenth rabbit hole? :D?

[sholio]

That few? XD

[black_bentley]

I haven't watched MASH in years, but I can completely understand the love for Charles :DDD

... although I expect it'll surprise precisely nobody to learn I'm definitely a Hawkeye girl ;)

[sholio]

I can completely see you being a Hawkeye girl. :D (To be fair, I love everyone in this bar mobile army surgical unit. Hawkeye is delightful! <3)

[leesa_perrie]

Love the exchanges, lol!! :D

But yeah, the abyss beckons!!

I have vague memories of the show. I loved Radar and Hawkeye, but I was a kid when watching it, so who knows who I'd love now!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, dear!

I confess I had a soft spot for Charles myself. Never could stand Frank! Charles is pompous and arrogant, and I can't remember why I cared about him, but I felt for him.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Oops—this is me! I didn't realize I'd been logged out. How'd that happen?