MASH and the Waltons

[markb]

Good morning everybody. I hope everyone is well and ready for Christmas, we are just starting on that here.

I had a random thought this week. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, so I'll flick on TV Land and watch old episodes of MASH. It occurred to me this week that it had almost the same run as the Waltons and there are some similarities in the shows even though the topics and story lines are so different. They ran almost the same time period, throughout the 70s and a bit into the 80s. They were 70s shows that tried to capture earlier periods. They both started out slow and then gained a huge following, had incredible runs. And what I noticed this week is that both shows kind of ran out of gas at the end. That's not a very original observation, I know, but it occurred to me how difficult it can for shows to continue to be fresh and original. On that note, I noticed that the costumes and sets seemed less authentic (everyone on both shows starts to sport late 70s hairdos toward the end), the energy is lacking (for example, Alan Alda seems to be sleepwalking through the later episodes and Jamie Farr is really not very good without the section 8 stuff), and they both repeat storylines. Remember the last episode of the Waltons when they rehashed the Baldwin sisters' reunion plot? Well, I noticed this many times with MASH too -- for example, in a 1982 episode they do a placebo story where they run out of some kind of medicine and use sugar pills instead. That was very similar to an earlier episode.

Sorry for the random comment but it was just something I noticed this week. They are two of the best shows ever on TV and I was lucky to live when both of them aired. Have a good weekend.

[ncwaltonsfan]

My dad loved MASH. He watched every week during its original run. My parents used to have the reruns on also and my mom still watches sometimes. MASH had some great shows.

[stevew]

And you will see several of the same actors on both shows--Ron Howard, Mary Ellen's suitor, and several others as guests on both shows.

[john8486]

I love MASH !! I watched it during the original run, and I watch it now in reruns on TVLand. I do agree that it too ran out of steam at the end. It was, and still is, a great show though. I was wondering if they filmed MASH in the same general California location as the Waltons, because I think that some of the far off mountain scenery in both shows is similar. Does anybody else agree or am I watching too much tv ?

[ncwaltonsfan]

John Ritter (Rev. Fordwick) guest starred on an episode of MASH. I think the actor who played Lyle on the episode "The Genius" was also on an episode of MASH if I am not mistaken and one of the actors who played Sweet Billy if memory serves. Being a Little House fan as well, I saw Kevin Hagen (Dr. Baker) on an episode of MASH.

[markb]

John8486, I totally agree about the Northern California scenery and have though that myself how much it looked like the Waltons. Maybe we are both watching too much TV, heh heh. I guess it's hard not to look back at both those shows for me with fondness -- they represent when I was a little kid, when my parents were alive and life was a lot easier. Lots of good memories.