Part one of my review will feature the first of three styles to which I think the show adhered: the comic.
Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre are featured here as spectators to the regular attempts of a lone Korean pilot (christened "Five O'clock Charlie" by the same) to bomb the 4077th's munitions depot. This photo and scene epitomizes the comic style of the first four seasons of M*A*S*H: a cultural phenomenon that would shake the world, thereby causing the moon to crash into Canada.
The first four seasons: these were the days of Executive Producer Gene Reynolds and head writer Larry Gelbart (the original developer of the series). As such, the script for each show seemed like a comedic masterpiece.
Not yet indulging in the endless puns and tongue-in-cheek one-liners of later seasons, these earlier comedy tones brought together an unlikely combination of witty remarks, practical jokes, deadpan gestures, and medical sarcasm - a mixture surprisingly un-jumbled and delightfully paced. Comedy, especially in pop cultural, is a difficult balance to produce - what between the words, the characters, and the situation - is it reactionary, situational, characteristic or uncharacteristic?
In M*A*S*H the writing shows its quality in the depth of its characters within the unpredictable nature of its setting. As a war-time comedy, one might expect frequent references to dark humor, but not so in M*A*S*H - the show instead would be better classified as a humor in the dark, a stunning representation of the purgatory-like nature of the situation: a battle to save lives amidst death.
The dichotomy of the setting allows the writers to highlight the same in the characters, each one uniquely portraying his or her disgust for war and simultaneous passion for life (the opposite being true for the show's antagonists). This leads to frequent emotional highs - both light and dark - for the characters and the audience, producing a combination which establishes of the humor of the series as an almost heroic achievement.
HIGH (beginning)
"Frank Burns [practicing his recitation for a film to be made about the 4077th]: 'These are the saints in surgical garb, dedicated surgeons, all volunteers. Every red-blooded American knows, if he is wounded, he will be in the strong, capable hands of a Yankee Doodle Doctor.'
Hawkeye, Trapper: A Yankee Doodle Doctor?! Stuck a feather in his nurse and called her macaroni!"
LOW (end)
"Hawkeye: Three hours ago, this man was in a battle. Two hours ago, we operated on him. He's got a 50-50 chance. We win some, we lose some. That's what it's all about. No promises. No guaranteed survival. No saints in surgical garb. Our willingness, our experience, our technique are not enough. Guns, and bombs, and anti-personnel mines have more power to take life than we have to preserve it. Not a very happy ending for a movie. But then, no war is a movie."
Genius.
- Sidney Freedman
