“I’ve got a soft spot for Klinger. He looks a little like my son, and he dresses a lot like my wife.”
- Col. Potter (Harry Morgan)
On March the 3, one of my very favorite actors, David Ogden Stiers, passed away. Now, most people my age probably knew him as the voice of Cogsworth in Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast or as the voice of Jumba in Lilo and Stich or even as Governer Ratcliff in Pocahontas. Can you tell that Disney loved him?
But what I loved him most in was the TV show M*A*S*H. When I've talked to other people my age about the show, most give me the same response. They vaguely remember watching it on their grandparent's tv when they were young in much the same way that they remember The Andy Griffith Show or Dallas.
M*A*S*H may have gone off the air in 1983, but that doesn't mean this show about an army hospital during the Korean War isn't relevant or enjoyable anymore. Here are 10 reasons you'll still love M*A*S*H, even if you were born after the finale.
1. Alan Alda
"Did anyone ever tell you, you have the voice of a songbird slowly drowning in tar? "
Alan Alda is the wise-cracking, slightly insane Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, the head surgeon at the M*A*S*H unit.
2. Loretta Swit
"I am not so think as you drunk I am."
Loretta Swit plays the head nurse, Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan. Not only is she smart and capable of standing up the antics of Hawkeye, you get to see her grow into her own independent person as the show progresses.
3. Larry Linville
Larry Linville plays the very incompetent surgeon, Frank Burns. While he leaves halfway through the series, he always had the best unintentionally self-deprecating one-liners.
4. Gary Burghoff
"Get away from me before I get physically emotional! "
Gary Burghoff is the only main cast member that was in both the original movie and the tv show, and it has to because he makes such a great "Radar" O'Reilly. Company clerk Radar manages to be both an adorable teddy-bear and a conniving sneak at the same time.
5. Jamie Farr
Jamie Farr plays Maxwell Klinger, an enlisted man who spends the majority of his time trying to convince the army he's crazy so they'll send him home. Not only does he completely fail, but his craziness just matches everyone else's.
6. David Odgen Stiers
"Ah, Klinger, my constant reminder that Darwin was right! "
David Ogden Stiers is the pompous surgeon Charles Winchester who comes to the show when Larry Linville leaves. Unlike Frank, Winchester isn't just a victim of Hawkeye's pranks and will turn the tables on him quite often.
7. Mike Farrell
" I haven't volunteered since the day my draft board tied me up and sent me here."
Mike Farrell also plays a latecomer to the show, surgeon B.J. Hunnicutt. B.J. both fits into the craziness and manages to bring some humanity to it, being one of the most relatable characters on the show.
8. Harry Morgan
"It's 3 'blessed' a.m.! Even roosters are comatose!"
Harry Morgan plays Col. Potter, an old army surgeon who's taking one last command before retirement. Somehow, Potter is both as mean as a snake and a sweet father-figure to the surgeons he commands.
9. William Christopher
"You'd be surprised what a priest can get away with. "
William Christopher plays Father Mulcahy, the camp priest. He's the very soul of the camp (pun intended) and manages to keep the unit grounded and hopeful when the question their point in life and the war.
10. All the awesome guest characters!
What do Patrick Swayze, Laurence Fishburne, and Joan Van Ark have in common? They and many other actors got their start in M*A*S*H as nurses, doctors, and soldiers. M*A*S*H was only Swayze's third role ever.
